The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many meetings of the Government industry solar strategy group have taken place since it was established in 2012; and on what dates that group met.
Gregory Barker
The Solar PV Strategy Group has met three times, on the following dates:
They plan to meet again early this summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2014, Official Report, column 785W, on conditions of employment, what estimate he has made of the number of indirect employees of his Department who are on zero-hour contracts.
Stephen Hammond
My Department employs no individuals via contingent labour contracts on a zero hour basis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Freeview about reasons to extend full Freeview services to (a) Monmouth constituency and (b) all other parts of the UK that are currently not provided with such services.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Ofcom estimates that 98.5% of UK households have access to 17 channels including those from the public service broadcasters (PSBs) on the digital terrestrial TV (DTT, or Freeview) platform, and that approximately 90% of UK households are also able to receive additional commercial DTT channels. Around 1.5% of UK households cannot easily receive DTT services with less than 0.5% not able to receive DTT services at all. However, DTT, cable and satellite digital television services together cover practically 100% of UK households, so that in all but the most exceptional of cases, everyone should be able to get digital television by one means or another. As well as subscription services, digital satellite TV offers non-subscription reception options for a one-off equipment and installation cost, but with no on-going monthly payments.
We have had no discussions with Freeview or Digital UK, who manage the DTT platform, about extending services and there are no plans to require broadcasters to improve the DTT coverage levels agreed for digital television switchover in 2006.
Purely commercial DTT services are not subject to the ‘near-universal’ coverage requirements which apply to PSB DTT services, and while the operators of the commercial DTT services were given the opportunity to extend their networks at the time of digital switchover, the operators determined that it was not commercially viable for them to build-out their services to additional transmitter sites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to how many immigration appeal hearings the Home Office failed to send a presenting officer in each of the last four years.
James Brokenshire
I will write to the Rt Hon. Member.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka; what recent representations he has made to the government of Sri Lanka about the arrest and detention of human rights defenders; and what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart about the use of that country’s Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Mr Hugo Swire
We continue to have serious concerns about respect for human rights in Sri Lanka, in particular continued intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders and activists. We have consistently made clear to the Sri Lankan government the importance of safeguarding freedom of expression and protecting human rights defenders, and continue to urge the Sri Lankan government to uphold their international human rights obligations and to ensure that civil society, human rights defenders and activists are allowed the space to act freely.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights Report for 2013 and the quarterly updates to the report, which are available online, includes Sri Lanka as a ‘Country of Concern’ for human rights and outlines our assessment more fully.
I made clear to the Sri Lankan government following the arrest of Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen – who have now been released – that it is important that human rights defenders are not subject to intimidation and have a right to freedom of expression. We are also aware of the arrests of Mrs Jeyakumari Balendran and others in Sri Lanka. Officials at our High Commission in Colombo have raised concerns with the Sri Lankan government, in particular on the lack of clarity around the evidence against the suspects and the charges brought.
We have previously raised concerns with the Sri Lankan government about the length of time individuals can be detained without charge under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. On 27 March, the UN Human Rights Council agreed a resolution which calls on the Sri Lankan government to make progress on human rights issues and to implement Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations, which includes the re-evaluation of detention policies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what cross-departmental government scrutiny will take place of the forthcoming Implementing and Delegated Acts of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.
Jane Ellison
During the negotiations on the revised Tobacco Products Directive, the Government sought to ensure that any delegation of powers to the European Commission, to propose further rules, was limited, appropriate and well defined. The Government’s proposed negotiating position on any Implementing and Delegated Acts put forward by the Commission will be subject to the normal cross government clearance and scrutiny procedures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2014-05-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 17 March 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr Asif Rafiq.
James Brokenshire
I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 8 May 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Matthew Offord on 2014-05-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual cost is of the asylum and immigration hotline open to hon. Members.
James Brokenshire
I wrote to the Hon. Member. on 12 May. A copy of the letter was also placed in
the House Library.
The MPs’ hotline is a dedicated resource, for Members, based in Croydon and
answers queries on Members’ constituents’ immigration queries. The staffing
costs of the MPs’ hotline for 2013 were £180,240.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-05-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of her Department to Brighton; and if she will make a statement.
Karen Bradley
The Department has no plans to (a) relocate staff to Brighton and
(b) relocate offices to Brighton.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2014-05-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what safeguards are deployed to prevent a sensor-fused munition operating in automatic mode from confusing a military target with a civilian target.
Mr Philip Dunne
The targeting process, not the weapon, takes discrimination, proportionality and precautions in attack into account. The decision whether to use lethal force against a legitimate military target is made through a rigorous targeting process, the targeting directive for a specific theatre of operations and rules of engagement which ensure adherence to international humanitarian law.
Since 1999, when the requirement to do so under the Geneva Conventions Additional Protocol I Article 36 came into effect for the UK, all new weapons, means and methods of warfare entering service have been subjected to a review in order to ensure they are capable of being used lawfully in armed conflict. The UK is committed to upholding the Geneva Conventions and encourages others to do the same.