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  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recommendations of the UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in North Korea, published in February 2014.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK has strongly supported the work of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and we remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in the DPRK that the report outlined. We have urged DPRK authorities to respond in detail to the contents of the report and to address the human rights violations that it documents. We also maintain pressure on the DPRK on human rights through multilateral fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council, and through our critical engagement with the regime both in Pyongyang and London.

  • Kwasi Kwarteng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kwasi Kwarteng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kwasi Kwarteng on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will provide assistance to farmers in Zimbabwe who are forced from their land by the policies of the government of that country.

    James Duddridge

    I share My Right Honourable Friend’s concerns about the devastating impact of land seizures in Zimbabwe. The British Embassy in Harare frequently raises land security – and the importance of upholding the rule of law – with the Government of Zimbabwe. Most recently, they highlighted the British Government’s serious concerns that the seizure of the land of Zimbabwean farmer, Mr Philip Rankin, did not follow the provisions of the Zimbabwean constitution. The British Government has always said that it would support a fair, transparent and pro-poor land reform programme in Zimbabwe. This is vital if Zimbabwe is to realise its great economic and social potential.

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether a Minister from his Department plans to attend the high-level meeting on global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees hosted by UNHRC in Geneva on 30 March 2016.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    No Foreign Office Minister is planning to attend this meeting. We understand that a Home Office Minister is considering attendance and will make a decision in the coming weeks.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the recital in paragraph one of section C of the revised version of the draft EU decision on a new settlement for the UK, what assessment he has made of whether the objectives of political integration enjoys wide support in the union.

    Mr David Lidington

    There is clearly support in some governments within the European Union for further political integration, but there are other, more sceptical voices, too. The recital in paragraph one of section C makes clear that “the United Kingdom, in the light of the specific situation it has under the Treaties, is not committed to further political integration into the European Union”.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she intends to answer the letter to her dated 4 January 2016 with regard to Ms J. Ellis.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    I responded to the Rt. hon. Member’s letter on 14 January.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons the Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion and Belief was not re-established after the 2015 General Election; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Lidington

    Since the General Election, we have adopted a new strategic approach to human rights, refocusing our work around three themes: democratic values and the rule of law; strengthening the rules-based international system; and human rights for a stable world. Our work on freedom of religion or belief is an integral part of each of these themes.

    The Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, as with our other former thematic human rights advisory groups, provided important contributions to our policy and activities. Under our new approach, our thematic advisory groups remain part of the expert constituency to which we turn when designing and delivering human rights initiatives. For example, we involved members of the former Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief in a workshop on Christians in the Middle East that we held in November 2015. We put forward another expert to form part of the Independent Review Panel of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund. We continue to convene regular meetings of the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Group on Human Rights to discuss a range of topics of interest to its members.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The following table shows the average hourly rates of pay for all Civil Servants in the Department by gender and by working pattern for the last five years. The average hourly rate calculation uses net hours for both full-time and part-time staff.

    March 2012

    March 2013

    March 2014

    March 2015

    January 2016

    Female

    £22.34

    £22.23

    £22.23

    £22.45

    £22.48

    Male

    £25.37

    £25.41

    £21.69

    £24.40

    £24.56

    Part-time

    £22.95

    £22.64

    £23.60

    £24.08

    £23.95

    Full-time

    £23.74

    £23.75

    £23.12

    £23.11

    £23.21
  • Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the financial implications of removing the quality and outcomes framework indicator for seizure freedom (EP002) in 2014.

    Alistair Burt

    When the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator EP002 was retired, all of the funding in relation to it was reinvested back into general practitioner (GP) contract core funding (global sum) payments and into new enhanced services to be delivered in general practice. The reduction in the number of QOF indicators was intended to reduce bureaucracy, unnecessary patient testing and unnecessary frequency of patient recall and recording. It was also to allow GPs to use their professional judgement to treat their patients according to best practice guidelines.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people under the age of 18 have epilepsy.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department does not collect this information centrally. The Joint Epilepsy Council in Epilepsy prevalence, incidence and other statistics, (December 2011) estimated that around one in 220 (0.5%) children under the age of 18 have epilepsy in the United Kingdom.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25396, if she will place in the Library the recovery plan in place at the Metropolitan Police Service for improving performance in completing Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

    Karen Bradley

    The operational performance plans of police disclosure units are matters for Chief Constables in association with Police and Crime Commissioners.

    The DBS regularly publishes detailed datasets showing statistics against internal performance standards which form the basis of its monthly reports to the Home Office. This includes performance against their target to issue 95% of all disclosures within 56 days and the number of disclosure applications in progress each month. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-1-disclosure-progress-information-disclosed-and-update-service-subscriptions.

    DBS also publishes datasets showing statistics against service level agreements with police forces. These apply to the performance of police disclosure units and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-5-police-disclosure-unit-performance.