The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what financial and other resources the Government makes available to UK Trade and Investment trade envoys.
Anna Soubry
To fulfil their overseas and UK travel commitments, there is a dedicated budget for the Trade Envoys.
Total cost of the programme to date has been £424,529
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his Department’s policy to ensure that brain tumour symptom cards are distributed to child health clinics and health visitors.
Jane Ellison
The Department has highlighted the value of the Headsmart awareness raising materials with Directors of Public Health, health visitors and school nurses, to encourage their use by professionals in signposting to specialist advice if needed. The Department and Public Health England will continue to liaise with health professionals to increase awareness of brain tumours.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Graham on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has undertaken or commissioned research into the relationship between people who are convicted of multiple breaches of restraining orders and commission of stalking offences.
Dominic Raab
The Government recognises that stalking is an insidious crime that can have a devastating impact on the lives of victims and their families. That is why the coalition Government created specific stalking offences in 2012 and why we continue to look at ways to protect victims of stalking, ensure stalking is recognised early and dealt with effectively and, where an offender is convicted, provide the courts with appropriate sentencing powers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to limit online financial fraud.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
This Government is clear that more must be done not only to disrupt and prosecute criminals but also to protect people and businesses from becoming victims of fraud. In February this year the Government launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce a genuine collaboration of banks, law enforcement and government. It is the first time these organisations have come together to tackle fraud, and particularly to focus on those issues that have been considered too difficult for a single organisation to manage alone. The Taskforce has five work strands which are:
– Understanding the Threat – Bringing together data to agree key threats, vulnerabilities and drivers of fraud;
– The Collective Response – Better targeting to disrupt and catch fraudsters, through increased cooperation between banks and law enforcement;
– Victims & Vulnerability – More efficient identification of victims, including addressing the barriers preventing return of funds to victims;
– Behaviour Change – better targeted messaging on fraud prevention and,
– Tackling systemic vulnerabilities – Designing out vulnerabilities and loopholes in systems and processes which fraudsters exploit.
The Government has also published in March this year "A Guide for Consumers: Staying Safe When You Shop and Bank Online." The report draws on real life, anonymised examples of reported crimes and provides simple but effective advice on how the people can protect themselves from these types of frauds: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-guide-for-consumers-staying-safe-when-you-bank-or-shop-online
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has raised with his Turkish counterpart the issue of Turkish academics being banned from international travel.
Sir Alan Duncan
The UK Government has strongly condemned the attempted coup on 15 July and stands firmly in support of Turkey’s democratically elected government and institutions. I visited Turkey on 20-21 July to reiterate our support for democracy in Turkey. In meetings with Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, amongst others, I stressed the need for Turkey to respect human rights and the rule of law.
We have been concerned to hear reports of academics being suspended and investigated. Freedom of expression is vital in a democratic society, and especially in education. That includes the right to express views we might think are mistaken, or one-sided. Public debate should be encouraged –not suppressed. Private travel for most academics remains unimpeded. As with all Special Passport holders, academics with a Special Passport need a letter from their employer stating they have permission to travel. Academics can travel abroad for work with permission from their rectors and a written invitation from the hosts.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely and to stress to the Turkish government the importance of ensuring that all measures taken are proportionate and justified
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Recommendation 3 of the report of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary on Royal Navy Police, published in September 2016, what steps that police force has taken to establish a system for collecting feedback from victims of crime; and if he will make a statement.
Mark Lancaster
In response to Recommendation 3 of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s (HMIC) report, Provost Marshal (Navy) has started work to introduce a new process to provide victims of crime the opportunity to express any views about their experience of interaction with the Royal Navy Police.
Following discussions with HMIC, this new process is expected to be introduced by the end of 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Higgins on 2015-10-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that migrants rescued from drowning by the British Navy in the Mediterranean are no longer disembarked in the European Union, in order to discourage migrants from travelling in unseaworthy vessels provided by people smugglers.
Lord Bates
As set out in the Government’s response to written questions HL2307 and HL2339 under international law the UK has a duty to not return people who are rescued at sea to countries where they would be at risk of serious harm. Migrants rescued in the Mediterranean must therefore be disembarked at the nearest safe country.
The Government, however, maintains that the link must be broken between getting on a boat and automatically achieving residence in the Europe. The UK continues to push for action through the EU and UN to tackle the causes of illegal migration in order to discourage people from making these dangerous journeys. The UK is pursuing and disrupting the organised crime groups profiting from the people smuggling trade, including through the creation of an Organised Immigration Crime Task Force.
Migrants who do reach the EU need to be registered, screened and processed when they arrive to control their movement as well as to distinguish between those in real need of international protection and economic migrants. The UK is supporting the EU ‘Hotspots’ initiative which will help give effect to this.
The UK is leading the way for a sustainable and effective approach to the migrant situation and at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 8 October the Home Secretary reiterated that in order for EU Member States to focus their resources on helping those in genuine need, an effective returns system for those not found to be in need of international protection is vital.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that every young person covered by the youth obligation receives appropriate financial advice, education and support for the first six months as part of their preparation for work.
Priti Patel
From April 2017, we will be introducing the new Youth Obligation for Universal Credit claimants aged 18-21 who we expect to look for work. This new programme of support will help young people develop skills and experience to get on in work.
The first three weeks of this will be a Work Coach led Intensive Activity Period (IAP), where young people on the Youth Obligation will complete a set curriculum of activity designed to help establish them as effective full time job-seekers straight away and support them into work as soon as possible.
Once the claimant has completed the curriculum they will continue to see a dedicated IAP Work Coach who will work with them, continuously reviewing what was achieved during the intensive start-up period.
We will be conducting a stakeholder engagement exercise to help inform the design of the Youth Obligation and will be inviting stakeholders with an interest in the provision of financial advice.
We will set out our policy design for the Youth Obligation in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 14919, what decisions have been made on how to spend the remaining funds that was allocated for perinatal mental health for 2015-16; and whether NHS England plans to spend the full £15 million allocation by the end of 2015-16.
Alistair Burt
The Budget in March 2015 and the Spending Review in November 2015 both recognised perinatal mental health services as a priority area for additional investment.
On 11 January the Government set out an additional £290 million which will be made available over the next five years to 2020/21 to invest in perinatal mental health services. This builds on the initial investment announced at the Spring Budget, making a total investment from 2016/17 to 2020/21 of £350 million. This new funding, together with the recommendations of the forthcoming report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce, will enable NHS England to design a broader transformation programme to build capacity and capability in specialist perinatal mental health services, with the aim of enabling women in all areas of England to access NICE-concordant care by 2020/21.
In the context of this planned broader programme, NHS England anticipates spending up to £5 million of the original 2015/16 funding of £15 million in this financial year, to lay the foundations for this longer-term work through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services. This will include, for example, a £1 million investment in strengthening clinical networks across the country. It is also expected to include providing national and regional benchmarking data and analytical support to regions, and developing clinical leadership capacity. Additional work will support both the development of specialist Mother and Baby Units in those regions identified as most in need of new services, and training and developing the perinatal workforce to build skills and capabilities within specialist teams.
NHS England will work with partners over the coming months to develop the new programme for improving specialist perinatal mental health services. This will include setting detailed plans for how the additional investment will be targeted over the period to 2020/21.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received on the protection of hedgehogs in Regent’s Park from trucks using the London Zoo car park for the construction of High Speed 2.
Mr Robert Goodwill
12 petitions to the 3rd additional provision to the Phase One hybrid Bill were received that included concerns regarding the impact on the hedgehog population in Regent’s Park of the proposed lorry holding area in the London Zoo car park. Additionally, one of the responses to the AP3 Environmental Statement Consultation raised concerns about the hedgehog population in the Regents Park area. As part of the ongoing engagement with the Zoological Society of London, HS2 Ltd are considering locations for replacement habitats to mitigate the impact on the hedgehog population.