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  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and other victims of serious violence are aware that they can reregister to vote anonymously.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Electors who need to keep their name and address anonymous are able to submit an application for anonymous registration. As part of their application, electors must satisfy the Electoral Registration Officer that their safety, or that of people they live with, would be at risk if the register contained their name and address. For this purpose electors must provide either a court order or an attestation by a “qualifying officer”, which includes senior police officers and chief social workers. The evidential threshold for applications for anonymous electoral registration is to ensure that it is available only to those whose personal safety would genuinely be at risk if their details appeared on the electoral register. Domestic violence charities and other Non-Government Organisations may partner with Individual Electoral Registration Officers to ensure those in their area who may need to register anonymously are able to do so.

  • Lord Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kinnock on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions for failure by employers to pay the National Minimum Wage have been undertaken since the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 came into force; what plans they have to improve the legal enforcement of the National Minimum Wage; and when those improvements will come into effect.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Since the introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Act there have been 9 prosecutions for NMW offences.

    However, prosecutions are not necessarily the best approach in most cases. Criminal sanctions against companies mean that employees – the ultimate beneficiaries of enforcing the NMW – end up waiting longer for their lost earnings to be paid back.

    From April this year we increased the civil penalties incurred by non-compliant workers to 200% of the arrears owed to the worker, up to a maximum of £20,000 per worker – having recently increased the penalty cap from £5,000 per employer. We have also increased the enforcement budget for the National Minimum and Living Wage to £20 million for this year, up from £13.2 million in 2015/16. The additional funds will be used to bolster HMRC’s resources through an increase in the number of compliance officers available to investigate NMW abuses, as well as to conduct risk-based enforcement in sectors or areas where there is a higher risk of workers not being paid the legal minimum wage.

    We will also continue to publically name and shame eligible employers in Government press notices. We expect this tobe a deterrent to employers who would otherwise be tempted not to pay the NMW, but also an incentive for all employers to make sure that they are consistent with the law.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission is a credible body to investigate human rights violations committed by the Ethiopian security forces in their response to the Oromo protests.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government remains deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and has repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian Government over the ongoing situation in Oromia. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns with the Ethiopian Government, including on the use of force.

    The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been appointed to look into the handling of the protests in Oromia. We will not pre-judge the outcome of their investigation and we await the publication of their report. We will continue to urge the EHRC and the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that their report is credible, transparent and leads to concrete action. We will take a view on what further lobbying, if any might be appropriate following the publication of the EHRC report.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to support a statement on Ethiopia at the June session of the UN Human Rights Council, in the light of the government of Ethiopia’s response to the Oromo protests.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors. We have repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian government over the ongoing situation in that region. We will consider the merits of a statement, with likeminded countries, on Ethiopia’s response to the Oromo protests at the UN Human Rights Council in June.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Ethiopia was not classified as a priority country in the FCO’s recent report on human rights and democracy, in the light of the government of Ethiopia’s response to the Oromo protests.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Any list of priorities has to be limited. Our concept of Human Rights Priority Countries is not intended to an exhaustive list of trouble spots. Nor is it a homogenous group. We have chosen to focus on 30 countries where we judge the UK can make a real difference on human rights over the duration of this Parliament. Our concerns are not limited to those countries; our interests are global. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy highlights specific human rights issues, which we are keen to work on with other countries to address. We have consistently expressed our concern at the human rights situation in Ethiopia, and have made representations specifically in response to the Oromo protests.

    We remain deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and have repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian government over the ongoing situation in that region. The Secretary of State for International Development, the Rt Hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening), raised our concerns with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 21 January. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), raised our concerns with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Dr Tedros, at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 27 January. Our Ambassador to Ethiopia also raised the issue with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 26 April. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns with the Ethiopian government, including on the use of force. We will continue to work with our partners, including the US, in urging the Ethiopian government to use restraint in their handling of the protests in Oromia.

  • Lord Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the reported decision by the BBC to discontinue the BBC Food website, and other services that digitally repurpose content that the BBC has already paid for, is in accordance with its vision of the future of the BBC.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Decisions in relation to the BBC’s online content are a matter for the BBC which is editorially independent of the Government.

  • Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance they are providing to the government of Ethiopia in dealing with the displacement of people as a result of the recent flash flooding in southern Ethiopia.

    Baroness Verma

    Extensive spring rains have come at a time when Ethiopia is experiencing its worst drought in 30 years, which has already left 18 million people in urgent need of relief. Britain is scaling up its response to help the Government of Ethiopia provide lifesaving support to thousands of families in urgent need after severe flooding.

    Emergency humanitarian supplies – including 34,000 shelter kits, 60,000 blankets, 30,000 kitchen sets, clean water devices and other equipment – have begun arriving in Ethiopia to help 150,000 people in immediate need cope with the aftermath of intense flooding.

    The UK is already the second largest bilateral humanitarian donor in Ethiopia, and this new support, at around £3.5 million, brings our total funding to the current humanitarian response in Ethiopia to £145 million.

  • Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the current gap in donor funding to tackle the food shortages in Ethiopia, and what steps they are taking to encourage other donor countries to meet their obligations.

    Baroness Verma

    Britain is working closely with the Government of Ethiopia and the international community to ensure adequate funding for drought response activities. Britain’s overall funding for the drought to date is £145 million, making the UK the second largest donor.

    In December, the Government of Ethiopia and the United Nations launched an appeal for 2016 to fundraise $1.4 billion (~£923 million) to respond to the drought in Ethiopia. By the beginning of May, 66% of the required funds had been raised.

    DFID is working closely with other donor governments to monitor the response and to lobby for support for the Government of Ethiopia and the UN appeal. Most recently, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Hurd discussed the current crisis with EU Commissioner Stylianides and in particular how to encourage others to step-up. DFID has also been working closely with the Ethiopian Government to support their leadership of the humanitarian response. To date, the Government of Ethiopia has allocated $381 million (~£269 million) to address the crisis. This is commendable.

  • Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their representatives at the IMF and other international financial institutions will make clear that international financial assistance should not be made available to the government of Zimbabwe unless and until it enacts and implements the provisions of the constitution of Zimbabwe in full.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK continues to emphasise that any future financial assistance to Zimbabwe from the international financial institutions will need to be based on evidence of comprehensive reforms.

    We welcome the inclusion of the commitment to align legislation with the Constitution in the package of reforms being discussed with the IMF and the Government of Zimbabwe’s letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund Board.

  • Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the likely efficacy of international financial assistance to the government of Zimbabwe in the light of the decision by the Reserve Bank to start issuing bond notes.

    Baroness Verma

    If Zimbabwe clears its arrears to the International Financial Institutions, any future financing would need to be based on comprehensive reforms and a firm commitment to sound macroeconomic management. The UK shares concerns that the introduction of bond notes could be damaging to confidence in the Zimbabwean economy, if not managed appropriately by the Government of Zimbabwe.