The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for Rural Community Councils.
Rory Stewart
The Secretary of State discussed a range of issues with the Chancellor of the Exchequer as part of the Spending Review. The Chancellor announced the outcome of the Spending Review on 25 November.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding has been received by organisations in Northern Ireland from the Community Covenant Grant Scheme.
Mark Lancaster
All of the applications from Northern Ireland under the first round of the 2015-16 Small Grant Covenant Grant Scheme were successful, amounting to just over £35,000. This is in addition to the £80,000 already awarded under the now closed Community Covenant Grant Scheme.
This funding is in addition to the £35 million of Libor money which the Chancellor agreed to transfer to support the Armed Forces community. The fund has supported 96 charities and good causes in a variety of ways across the UK. We anticipate that the Armed Forces community in Northern Ireland will benefit from a number of UK-wide projects which have received funding.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has for long-term sustainable household energy efficiency measures in the period after 2017.
Andrea Leadsom
We are providing support for households to improve their energy efficiency through a reformed domestic supplier obligation (ECO) from April 2017.
This will upgrade the energy efficiency of over 200,000 homes per year to 2022, help to tackle the root cause of fuel poverty and continue to deliver on our commitment to insulate 1 million more homes this Parliament.
We are also looking at a range of policy levers for driving take up of low carbon heat and energy efficiency in non-fuel poor households.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff have been seconded to his Department to analyse responses to the BBC Charter Review consultation.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Given the number of responses, DCMS brought in additional resource into the BBC policy team. Based on demand, an average of 25 additional people per week supported the process to review the consultation responses, which included 19 staff seconded from other departments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luke Hall on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what sanctions the Certification Officer can implement against trades unions which fail to compile and maintain an accurate register of members; and on what occasions such sanctions have been used in the last 10 years.
Nick Boles
Section 24(1) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 currently requires trade unions to keep registers of their members’ names and addresses and to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that these registers are accurate and up-to-date.
Under the 1992 Act, if the Certification Officer finds that a union has breached this duty, he must make a declaration of his findings and may make an enforcement order. Failure to comply with the Certification Officer’s enforcement order may be treated as contempt of court.
In the last 10 years, the Certification Officer has made one declaration that Unite the Union breached section 24(1) of the 1992 Act. This case was Mr J Hicks v Unite the Union (No2) (D/32-39/14-15). The Certification Officer decided that it was not appropriate to issue an enforcement order in this case.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeffrey M. Donaldson on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland is a Crown body or a non-departmental public body; and what the planned budget for that office is for 2016-17.
Mr Ben Wallace
The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is a statutory officer holder. He/she is supported by the employees of the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland who are recruited directly by the Chief Electoral Officer under s.14A of the Electoral Law Act 1962.
An initial resource budget (excluding depreciation) of £2,011,000 has been allocated to the Chief Electoral Officer. Further funding – both capital and resource – will be made available to support the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland transformation programme which includes the introduction of digital registration.
The Chief Electoral Officer will also receive funding from the Consolidated Fund and the Northern Ireland Assembly to support the EU Referendum and Northern Ireland Assembly elections that are due to take place in 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the recent British Medical Association report In Good Hands: Tackling labour rights concerns in the manufacture of medical gloves.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department has worked with its national contracting and logistics partner, NHS Supply Chain to develop a range of ethical procurement interventions that increase the scrutiny applied to suppliers, based on the risks presented.
All suppliers contracted by NHS Supply Chain are required to adhere to the NHS Supply Chain – Supplier Code of Conduct. A copy of the Code of Conduct is attached.
This code of conduct includes requirements for suppliers to work in line with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and makes specific reference to forced and compulsory labour. The Supplier Code of Conduct has been a contractual requirement of all Framework Agreements since 2009.
For categories of products where the risk of labour standards abuses has been assessed as high, by the nature of the manufacturing processes, employment practices or location, NHS Supply Chain require all suppliers to implement a Labour Standards Assurance System to specified standards.
NHS Supply Chain continually review the wider contract portfolio, and where appropriate, the Labour Standards Assurance System requirements will be applied to new contract areas.
Contract terms will require suppliers to implement and improve their Labour Standards Assurance System, in line with stipulated milestones, during the life of the framework agreement.
Suppliers are contractually required to evidence compliance by providing details of independent third party audits conducted on their Assurance System.
Where suppliers do not meet the specified standard within the stipulated timescales, their contract will be suspended in the first instance, and then terminated if remediation actions are not undertaken in a suitably timely manner.
NHS Supply Chain provides support for suppliers required to implement a labour standards assurance system with webinars that provide access to expert support and capability building material.
In relation to the British Medical Association (BMA) report In Good Hands, all suppliers awarded on the current Framework Agreement for Examination and Sterile Surgical Gloves are subject to the NHS Supply Chain Code of Conduct and contractual requirements to operate a Labour Standards Assurance System.
Since the framework agreement launched in December 2015, a webinar workshop has been held with all suppliers to explain the Labour Standards Assurance System and implications of the Modern Slavery Act.
Of the manufacturers named in the BMA report, two are currently awarded under the NHS Supply Chain national framework agreement for medical gloves.
In both cases the Department in conjunction with NHS Supply Chain has investigated the allegations thoroughly by working with specialist independent third party audit bodies, who have undertaken assessments at the identified facilities.
Audit findings have not identified any specific cases of slavery or human trafficking, or any serious systemic abuses of worker or human rights, however, improvements in management procedures, communications and training were recommended to reduce the potential for abuses to arise.
Both suppliers have acknowledged these findings and have agreed actions, as part of contractual remediation plans, to address these.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients whose records are contained in Clinical Practice Research Datalink datasets have a GP note of malnutrition contained in such records; what proportion of the population have GP records contained in Clinical Practice Research Datalink datasets; and if he will make a statement.
Nicola Blackwood
The Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) hosts the world’s largest validated computerised database of anonymised longitudinal medical records from primary care. We have searched the CPRD database for patients with a record indicative of Malnutrition. There are 582 patients with a record of Malnutrition currently registered with practices which are actively contributing data to the CPRD database.
The CPRD database of patients whose details are available for query by the disease code for malnutrition represents 4.30% of the United Kingdom population.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the report by Amnesty International, published on 29 September 2016, on the use of chemical weapon attacks against civilians in Darfur.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We monitor all allegations of chemical weapons use in close cooperation with international partners and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). We are aware that the OPCW is looking into the allegations contained in the Amnesty International report. We unreservedly condemn chemical weapons use by anyone, anywhere.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the reported abduction of girls for arranged marriages in that country.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are seriously concerned about reports of abduction of girls for forced marriage in Pakistan. It is the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan to ensure it guarantees the rights of all its citizens, regardless of their gender, faith or ethnicity. We raise the issues of women’s rights and religious freedom on a regular basis at a senior level with the authorities in Pakistan and press for greater protection of all citizens’ rights. The Girl Summit, hosted by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), in July 2014, included a commitment to end child, early and forced marriage.