The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish his review of employment tribunal fees.
Dominic Raab
We will announce the conclusions of our review of fees in the Employment Tribunals in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Henderson on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect of traffic lights on the A2500 on (a) traffic flows and (b) the economy and quality of life on the Isle of Sheppey; and if he will take steps to expedite the building of a new roundabout at the junction with Barton Hill Drive.
Andrew Jones
The design, installation and maintenance of traffic management measures including traffic lights and roundabouts are the responsibility of the local traffic authority, in this case Kent County Council. It is for them to determine which solution is appropriate for a particular road or junction, taking into account local circumstances. I am grateful to my Honourable Friend for raising this issue and have written to Kent County Council to ask them to respond to him directly on it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Collins of Highbury on 2016-09-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding has been allocated from the Magna Carta fund for projects related to freedom of religion or belief.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
In 2016/17, the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy is funding seven projects, with a total value of £670,037, that directly relate to strengthening freedom of religion or belief (FORB). This represents an 18% increase in funding from 2015/16, when the fund supported freedom of religion or belief projects worth £550,016. Freedom of religion or belief remains a core strand of the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. Many of the Fund’s other projects also indirectly support the creation of more tolerant societies, through strengthening representation of minority groups, supporting freedom of expression and promoting just and fair rules-based systems of government.
The seven FORB projects this year promote positive FORB outcomes through different methods and strategies, from attempting to working with NGOs to lobby for the removal of laws which discriminate on religious grounds, to more upstream interventions which seek to change public opinion and promote a culture which is more accepting of religious diversity. A good example of a hybrid of these methods is a project this year working with teachers across the MENA region to develop a school curriculum that supports freedom of religion and belief. This project promotes a more progressive education curriculum, and ensures the next generation of students have a greater awareness of the important right to freedom of religion or belief.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the announcement by BAE Systems on jobs, related to production of the Eurofighter Typhoon on 12 November 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs in each production location that will be lost which are related to the production of that aircraft.
Mr Philip Dunne
BAE Systems issued a statement on 12 November 2015 confirming that the company was taking action to reduce the Eurofighter Typhoon production rate; it also confirmed its intention to reduce the workforce within its Military Air and Information business by up to 371 roles. The majority of the affected posts are based at the company’s Samlesbury site, with the remainder at its Warton facility.
Decisions on the capacity and capability of any company, including the division of work between sites, primarily rests with the company concerned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of young people who own their own home since 2010.
Brandon Lewis
The Government is committed to increasing the number of first time buyers. Action taken in support of this Includes:
– extending the Right to Buy – which has supported council tenants into home ownership for decades – to housing association tenants. This will give another 1.3 million families the chance to purchase a home at right to buy level discounts;
– Help to Buy schemes, targeting those wanting to get onto the housing ladder with 80% of sales going to first time buyers, which have so far enabled over 130,000 families to purchase a home;
– launching, on 1 December 2015, the Help to Buy: ISA which will help first-time buyers save for their first deposit. The Government will top up savings by 25%, up to a maximum top-up of £3,000; and
– a £2.3 billion fund to deliver 200,000 Starter Homes by 2020, to be exclusively offered to first time buyers under 40 at a 20% discount on market value.
Information on housing tenure and the age of the household reference person in England, based on data from DCLG’s English Housing Survey, can be found (in Annex Table 1.4) at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hollins on 2016-01-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will link GP registers of people with learning disabilities and ONS mortality data to enable comparisons of age and cause of death between people with learning disabilities and the general population at a national level, and to measure change over time.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department of Health is currently working with Public Health England, NHS England, the Health and Social Care Information Centre and the Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme to consider the feasibility of linking different datasets in order to compare outcomes for people with learning disabilities with the general population. This aims to help reduce inequalities and poor outcomes, including premature mortality, in people with learning disabilities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will conduct an assessment of the appropriateness of the definition of houses in multiple occupation; and if he will make a statement.
Brandon Lewis
The Department considers the definition of a house in multiple occupation, as set out in the Housing Act 2004, is appropriate and has no plans to change it. We have recently issued a technical discussion paper on whether to extend mandatory licensing to those houses in multiple occupation with fewer than three storeys and plan to publish our response and proposed next steps in the coming months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to promote battlefield tourism in England in the next 12 months.
David Evennett
The Heritage Lottery Fund is able to support projects concerned with historic battlefield landscapes. Over the coming months the Heritage Minister will be visiting several battlefield sites both at home and abroad to commemorate important events such as the Battle of Hastings and to promote battlefield tourism. The Battlefields Trust is on hand to help preserve and promote battlefield heritage across the UK and local authorities may also be able to help promote battlefields.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Simpson on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which of the security service files in the series KV2/1500 held in the National Archives on SS Sturmbannführer Kriminaldirektor Horst Kopkow are closed; and for what reasons such files are closed.
Mr John Hayes
The Security Service’s historic files on Horst KOPKOW were made available to the public at The National Archives in March 2004 (reference numbers KV2/1500 and KV2/1501). KOPKOW also appears in a report on a file at The National Archives relating to the Gestapo that was made available in February 2005 (reference number KV3/109). None of the files held in The National Archives on Horst KOPKOW are closed. Any redactions made to these files have been made for reasons of national security. The Government is committed to releasing historical files to the National Archives where it is appropriate to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the application of parity of esteem applies to those in jail in Northern Ireland but who have a residence elsewhere.
Lord Dunlop
This Government understands the concept of parity of esteem, as set out in the 1998 Belfast Agreement, as placing a general obligation on the UK Government to treat people of different traditions in Northern Ireland fairly and with equal respect. In the Agreement it is clearly expressed and defined in relation to people living in Northern Ireland.
As a general obligation there is no definition of particular circumstances in which it does or does not apply.
As I have set out in previous replies to the Noble Lord, this Government is firm in its commitment to the protection of people against any form of discrimination, and the promotion of opportunity for all, across the whole of our United Kingdom.
In respect of the Noble Lord’s question about those who might march wearing army uniforms but who are not members of an army, the concept of parity of esteem clearly does not absolve people from upholding the law. This Government has made clear many times that we will never accept any form of equivalence between members of the security forces and those who engage in terrorism or other forms of paramilitary activity.