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  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will call on the government of Israel to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on torture to visit places of arrest and holding of suspects in the West Bank, together with prisons and detention centres in Israel.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have no plans to call on the Israeli authorities to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on torture to visit Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to respond to the report from the Prison Reform Trust In care, out of trouble; and whether they will publish an assessment of the position of children in care within the criminal justice system.

    Lord Nash

    As at 31 March 2015, five per cent of 10-17 year olds who had been in care for a year or more had been convicted of an offence or were subject to a final warning or reprimand.[1] Proven offending by young people, including looked after children has fallen significantly in recent years. Since the peak in youth offending in 2007, proven youth offending is down 79%; first-time entrants to the youth justice system are down 82%. Youth offending teams work with the police and other agencies to prevent looked after children from offending and coming in to contact with the youth justice system.

    The Government has asked Sir Martin Narey to review residential care for looked after children and he will make recommendations on criminalisation. Charlie Taylor is leading a review of youth justice. We will respond to those reviews in due course.

    I am grateful to the Prison Reform Trust for their contribution to this important debate. The Minister of State for Children and Families recently met with Lord Laming to discuss the contents of the Prison Reform Trust’s report ‘In care, out of trouble’.


    [1] Department for Education Statistical First Release – 34/2015

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will raise with the Palestinian Authority the recent reported increase in arbitrary arrest and allegations of torture and ill-treatment of their detainees.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are deeply concerned by these reports, and have raised our concerns around the conduct of the security forces with the Palestinian Authority. Through our Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, we are working with the Palestinian Authority to support reform of the Palestinian security sector, aiming to strengthen civilian oversight and accountability of the security forces.

  • FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by FALSE on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by a delegation of British lawyers Children in Military Custody published in June 2012 and the recommendations of the UN Committee against Torture published on 4 May, whether they will call on Israel (1) to incorporate the crime of torture in its penal code, as defined in Article 1 of the UN Convention Against Torture, (2) to remove the defence of necessity” as a possible justification of torture in national legislation

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK is firmly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as compliance with international humanitarian law. We regularly discuss implementation of those obligations with the Israeli authorities. We are aware that Israel is in the process of incorporating the crime of torture into national legislation.

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) funded and facilitated an independent report on Children in Military Custody by leading British lawyers in 2012. Ministers and our Ambassador in Tel Aviv have urged Israel to take action on the recommendations in this report. We remain concerned at the number of Palestinian minors held in Israeli detention and continue to push for further measures to ensure that international standards are upheld in regards to the treatment of those detained. We welcomed progress made in recent Israeli policy amendments, such as the increase of the age of majority from 16 to 18 years old, and the enactment of a special statute of limitations for minors. We continue to encourage Israel to introduce mandatory audio-visual equipment for all interrogations.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment have they made of the case for removing the Lesser Duty Rule.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government believes that effective trade defence measures should be proportionate, not protectionist, and strike a balance between removing the injury to producers caused by unfair trade, and avoiding imposing unnecessary costs on user industries, retailers, consumers and the rest of the economy.

    The evidence we have shows that duties that have been imposed under the Lesser Duty Rule on imports of Chinese steel into the EU have been effective in delivering rapid, substantial and sustained reductions in imports. For example, imports of wire rod, organic coated steel and stainless steel flat products are down by more than 90%. We have said we would look at evidence that others might provide.

    There are a number of examples where the Lesser Duty Rule has avoided unnecessary costs to the rest of the economy. In the case of solar panels for example, the removal of the Lesser Duty Rule could have cost the downstream UK solar sector around £500m in one year.

    We support looking at the methodology under which injury is calculated. Where the European Commission has set duties that we believe to be too low to remove the injury caused to EU industry by unfair trade, we will push for them to be increased, as we have done in the reinforcing bar and cold rolled flat products cases.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to devolve Airline Passenger Duty to the Welsh Assembly or Welsh Government.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government is considering the case and options for devolving APD to the Welsh Assembly, informed by a review of options to support English regional airports from the potential impacts of APD devolution. At Summer Budget 2015, the government published a discussion paper exploring three options and is carefully considering the responses. An announcement will be made in due course.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the future contribution of tidal lagoons to meeting the UK’s energy requirements and decarbonisation targets.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The Government recognises the potential that could exist in harnessing tidal energy around the coastline of the UK. That is why we have commissioned an independent strategic review to assess the case for tidal lagoons and consider whether they could represent value for money for the consumer. Charles Hendry will lead the independent review.

    The review is underway and the Government will carefully consider the recommendations from the review before making decisions on future development of tidal lagoons.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy on the UK withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government’s position on the European Convention of Human Rights remains clear. We cannot rule out withdrawing forever, but our forthcoming proposals do not include it. We are confident that we can replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights and reform our relationship with the Strasbourg Court.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to improve east-west transport connectivity in the North of England.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government is committed to improving transport connectivity across the North of England, including east-west routes. Current work includes upgrades to the road network as set out in Road Investment Strategy: for the 2015/16 – 2019/20 Road Period (March 2015).

    Work has already started to deliver improved rail journeys between Liverpool and Manchester. The Ordsall chord will enable direct links from the Northeast to Manchester Airport. Sir Peter Hendy’s rail upgrade re-plan (Hendy review – Replanning Network Rail’s investment programme: a report from Sir Peter Hendy to the Transport Secretary (Nov 2015)) includes significant benefits for the North of England, such as the Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme, which is aligned to Rail North’s Long Term Rail Strategy (September 2015). Current proposals are to deliver faster journeys and more capacity on the existing railway line between Leeds and Manchester. This work is expected to provide up to six fast trains per hour, with a target journey time of 62 minutes between Manchester and York and 40 minutes between Leeds and Manchester.

    Additionally, the new TransPennine Express (TPE) and Northern franchises, which came into effect on 1 April, will deliver a range of significant benefits to their passengers, including increases to services between Manchester and Newcastle, more daily services to Hull from Manchester and Leeds, and 44 new 125 mph TPE trains fitted with free Wi-Fi and real-time passenger information screens.

    The Government is also working with Transport for the North on future transport plans in the North of England. As set out in the Northern Transport Strategy: Spring 2016 Report (March 2016), these plans include east-west connectivity improvements through HS3/Northern Powerhouse Rail and the strategic studies investigating the cases for a trans-Pennine road tunnel and upgrading the A66 and A69.

    All four documents referred to in this reply have been placed in the libraries of both Houses.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that the members of combined authorities are not all male.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Membership of a combined authority is a matter for the democratically elected councils in the area, or the area’s electorate in the case of a combined authority mayor.