UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they were represented as observers or otherwise at the conference in al-Hassakeh on 8–9 December that formed the Council of Democratic Syria; and what assessment they have made of that conference’s final statement.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK was not an observer or participant at the Democratic Syria Conference for Opposition Forces. The UK does not have any diplomatic presence in Syria and staff are unable to travel to Syria due to significant security threats. This conference brought together Syrian Kurdish and Arab parties that reside in Northern Syria. They discussed the future of the country after four years of war and agreed on the creation of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political branch of the Syrian Democratic Forces. Their final statement says that the Syrian crisis must be solved through negotiation, the fight against terrorism and political change through a transition, followed by free and fair elections and a new constitution. The UK continues to work towards transition in Syria on the basis of the Geneva Communiqué.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what projection his Department has made of the annual spend on the contracted-out element of back to work support for the forthcoming Work and Health Programme; and how that spend compares with the annual spend on the current Work Programme and Work Choice.

    Priti Patel

    We are currently working on the design of the new Work and Health programme and we will publish the design and funding in due course.

  • Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to his Written Answer on 10 February (HL5554), whether partners and spouses of Catering and Retail Services staff are also entitled to receive meals without charge.

    Lord Laming

    Partners and spouses are not entitled to receive meals without charge.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what submission she has made to the Prime Minister in preparation for the European Council on 17-18 March on the proposal to raise the EU’s greenhouse gas target for 2030 to take account of the Paris Agreement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department works very closely with the Cabinet Office to prepare for European Council discussions on climate and energy. The assessments of the Paris Agreement conducted by the European Commission and the Presidency of the Council of the EU following the December European Council do not propose an increase in the EU’s greenhouse gas target for 2030 at this stage.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to open her Department’s consultation on the timetable for closing all coal-fired power stations in the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in her speech on 18 November that the Department will be launching a consultation to close all coal fired power stations. A consultation will be launched shortly.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what warnings and advice they intend to give to the public, in the light of research on the severity of community-onset boils and abscesses in the UK, published in Epidemiology and Infection in December 2014 by Laura Shallcross et al.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE) is not planning to launch any new guidance or introduce warnings in light of the study referred to in the question and any public advice now falls within the remit of NHS Choices.

    PHE published national guidance for the diagnosis, treatment and management of PVL-positive strains of S Aureus (PVL-SA) infections, an element of this includes the management of skin boils and abscesses caused by PVL-SA. PVL-SA are strains of a bacterium called Staphylococcus aureus that can produce a particular toxin (Panton-Valentine Luekocidin or PVL). Such strains are strongly associated with skin boils and abscesses which can be aggressive and recurrent in nature. A copy of the Guidance on the diagnosis and management of PVL-associated Staphylococcus aureus infections (PVL-SA) in England is attached.

    PHE produced two leaflets called Patient Information Sheet – Staphylococcus aureus and Boils and Skin Infections: Information for the Public advising individuals on boils and abscesses caused by PVL-SA in response to particular “at risk” local environments and scenarios including schools, sporting groups and military recruits. The main advice in these leaflets is information as to where PVL-SA bacteria can be found, the infections it can cause and practical advice on how patients can minimise the risk of transferring the bacteria to others and experiencing repeated infections. Copies of both leaflets are attached.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many reports of non-compliant vehicles were sent by the DVLA to NSL Services Ltd in the last year for which information is available; and how many such reports resulted in enforcement action being taken.

    Andrew Jones

    During the last financial year, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) received a total of 191,715 reports from members of the public about vehicles that were potentially unlicensed. These reports are passed to NSL Services Ltd for action, as appropriate.

    In addition, the DVLA also provides NSL Services Ltd with information about vehicles which could potentially be non-compliant. This information includes instances where vehicles have been declared off road.

    During the last financial year, enforcement action was taken in 87,844 cases.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the recommendations of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report of 25 February 2016, what assessment her Department has made of introducing a two-year probationary period for continued self-regulation of greyhound industry.

    George Eustice

    Defra’s Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 made an assessment of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s (GBGB) enforcement of the standards contained in the 2010 Regulations at GBGB affiliated tracks. The Review found that the standards at GBGB affiliated tracks were being maintained in an effective manner by the GBGB. However, the GBGB’s ability to self-regulate track standards is dependent on them maintaining their United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accreditation as a certification body for those standards. Should GBGB lose its UKAS accreditation then, under the 2010 Regulations, it would immediately lose the right to self-regulate standards at GBGB affiliated tracks. Therefore, for regulating conditions at tracks, the Government would not support extending to two years such a probationary period. For other areas of GBGB’s self-regulatory work, prior to EFRA’s Greyhound Welfare report, the GBGB had already agreed with Defra a period of two years, up to 2018, to: develop a consensus standard for trainers’ kennels and to extend its current UKAS accreditation to cover the enforcement of these new standards; and begin publishing annually aggregate figures for dogs injured or euthanized at GBGB affiliated tracks, as well as dogs leaving GBGB racing.

  • Baroness Jolly – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Jolly – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Iraqi interpreters contracted by the armed forces during military operations between 2003 and 2009 have been granted asylum in the UK in each year from 2009 to 2015.

    Lord Bates

    Information on the previous occupations of asylum applicants is not centrally recorded and is held in an individual’s paper case file or within the notes section of the case information database (CID). Such data are not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean this question could be answered only through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.

    The Home Office publishes immigration statistics annually and quarterly, which are available from the Home Office research and statistics website.

    This includes information on asylum applications by nationality. The latest statistics can be found in asylum volume 1, data table as_01 at the following link : https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2015-data-tables

  • Lord Naseby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Naseby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Naseby on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many items of correspondence the Department of Health has received from (1) the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, and (2) the Chair of the House of Commons Health Select Committee, in each of the last five years that originated from a postal or email address belonging to the group Action on Smoking and Health.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department of Health’s central correspondence database recorded 90 items of correspondence from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health received in the last five years that originated from a postal or email address belonging to the group Action on Smoking and Health.

    There was no record of any such correspondence having being received from the Chair of the House of Commons Health Select Committee in this period.