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  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 23 March (HL6930 and HL6954), how the patient information and consent forms originally submitted to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) explicitly described the process of genome editing in human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9; whether such previously licensed research has now commenced; if so, when the HFEA received evidence of ethics approval; and what have been the reasons for the further delay in commencing such research in the light of previous complaints about delays by the person responsible in her correspondence to the HFEA dated 15 December 2015 and 12 January 2016.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the original patient information is part of the information presented to the Licence Committee and this was sent to the noble Lord on 7 March 2016. The research involving gene editing has not yet started. The HFEA is awaiting final confirmation that the changes to the patient information and consent forms requested by the research ethics committee have been made.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the freedom to receive information inside North Korea, and (2) the number of South Korean and US radio broadcasters that tailor and transmit programming to North Korean citizens.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea found that North Korean citizens are denied the right to access information from independent sources and all media is heavily censored. There are a number of US and South Korean broadcasters that are currently transmitting programming into North Korea, or have recently, including Voice of America and Korean Broadcasting System Korea Global Radio.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether North Korea is seen as a priority country by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the light of the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry regarding wide-ranging and ongoing crimes against humanity in that country.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has long been, and continues to be, a priority country for our global work on human rights and regional stability. The UK strongly supported the work of the UN Commission of Inquiry and we continue to press the North Korean regime to make tangible progress on improving its appalling human rights record. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), recently discussed DPRK and Human Rights with Ambassador Robert King, Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea, and Danny Russel, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US State Department.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether North Korean citizens are given disproportionately harsh punishments for listening to foreign radio broadcasts than for other comparable offences.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea releases no reliable information about prosecution of offences, so it is hard to make a judgement on the proportionality of punishments imposed for listening to foreign radio broadcasts.

  • Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings or other communications took place between Cabinet Office ministers and Mr Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs relating to government funding of voluntary organisations in the twelve months prior to the announcement on 6 February of the new clause in grant agreements restricting the use of government grants for lobbying purposes.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Institute of Economic Affairs’ written research into the misuse of government grants was acknowledged at the time that the clause was first introduced by the Department of Communities and Local Government before the last general election, and also by the Cabinet Office when it published its guidance on the new clause.

    Details of Cabinet Office Ministers’ meetings, and those of the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretaries, are centrally collated and routinely published in transparency returns available on the Gov.uk website.

    Information relating to the meetings and communications of Cabinet Office civil servants, including special advisers, is not routinely collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings or other communications took place between Cabinet Office officials and Mr Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs relating to government funding of voluntary organisations in the twelve months prior to the announcement on 6 February of the new clause in grant agreements restricting the use of government grants for lobbying purposes.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Institute of Economic Affairs’ written research into the misuse of government grants was acknowledged at the time that the clause was first introduced by the Department of Communities and Local Government before the last general election, and also by the Cabinet Office when it published its guidance on the new clause.

    Details of Cabinet Office Ministers’ meetings, and those of the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretaries, are centrally collated and routinely published in transparency returns available on the Gov.uk website.

    Information relating to the meetings and communications of Cabinet Office civil servants, including special advisers, is not routinely collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings or other communications took place between Mr Sheridan Westlake, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, and Mr Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs relating to government funding of voluntary organisations in the 12 months prior to the announcement on 6 February of the new clause in grant agreements restricting the use of government grants for lobbying purposes.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Institute of Economic Affairs’ written research into the misuse of government grants was acknowledged at the time that the clause was first introduced by the Department of Communities and Local Government before the last general election, and also by the Cabinet Office when it published its guidance on the new clause.

    Details of Cabinet Office Ministers’ meetings, and those of the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretaries, are centrally collated and routinely published in transparency returns available on the Gov.uk website.

    Information relating to the meetings and communications of Cabinet Office civil servants, including special advisers, is not routinely collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made towards realising receipts through the disposal of high-value Ministry of Defence estate in Scotland since the 2011 Basing Review.

    Earl Howe

    The receipts received by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) through the disposal of parts of the MOD estate in Scotland since the financial year 2010-11 are shown below:

    Financial Year

    Disposal Receipts (£ million)

    2010-11

    4.09

    2011-12

    4.08

    2012-13

    1.32

    2013-14

    12.66

    2014-15

    0.92

    2015-16

    0.41

    Total

    23.48
  • Lord Colwyn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Colwyn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Health will conduct an assessment of the potential effects of the recent increase in patient charges for NHS dental services in England on people’s ability and inclination regularly to visit a dentist.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department published an Impact Assessment which considered the impact of uplifting patient dental charges by 5% in 2016/17 and 2017/18, a copy of which is attached. We considered that the impact of increasing patient dental charges will mainly affect those of working age, for whom a proportionate increase to their charges is considered reasonable. Those on low incomes and other protected groups will remain exempt. Those not entitled to exemption but on low incomes may also be eligible to receive help with health costs. We do not consider that the uplifts to patient charges for National Health Service dental services in England will have any significant impact on people’s ability and inclination to regularly visit a dentist.

  • Lord Colwyn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Colwyn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much revenue was raised from patient charges for NHS dental services in each of the last ten years.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is able to provide data for patient charge revenue from 2006/07 to 2014/15. Data is not held by the HSCIC prior to this date. Data for 2015/16 will be published in August 2016.

    Year

    Patient Charge Revenue

    £

    2006/07

    475,413,015

    2007/08

    531,433,254

    2008/09

    571,728,263

    2009/10

    597,620,482

    2010/11

    614,270,550

    2011/12

    634,741,351

    2012/13

    657,636,481

    2013/14

    685,093,493

    2014/15

    714,185,948