UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how his Department observes the Sea Empress ruling in its observation of the Pilotage Act 1987; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Under the Pilotage Act 1987, it is Competent Harbour Authority’s duty to keep under review what pilotage services are needed for safe navigation and to provide those services accordingly, for which a proper assessment of the interests of safety is relevant as spelt out in the Sea Empress case.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to protect the Golan Heights from further Israeli settlement expansion, discriminatory policies against the native Syrian population, and the extraction of natural resources from the area.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government regards the Golan Heights – along with East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza – as Occupied Territory. We continue to call on Israel, as the Occupying Power, to uphold its obligations under international law in the Occupied Territories, including abiding by UN Security Council Resolution 497 (1981). We have been clear that Israel must comply with its obligations under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations her Department has received on the future of the school milk subsidy scheme since the outcome of the EU referendum.

    George Eustice

    Following the outcome of the EU Referendum we continue to receive views across the range of the Department’s responsibilities. Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the EU and current EU funding arrangements will continue unchanged. The UK currently claims around £3.5 million a year under the current EU milk scheme, compared with the much larger nursery milk scheme for children under 5 which is funded by UK Health and Education departments, and is worth £67m a year.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities’ children’s social work services have been rated inadequate; and if she will make a statement.

    Edward Timpson

    The following local authorities are currently rated as ‘inadequate’ under Ofsted’s Single Inspection Framework:

    Birmingham, Bromley, Buckinghamshire, Coventry, Cumbria, Darlington, Doncaster, Dudley, Knowsley, Lambeth, Lancashire, Leicester City, Manchester, Norfolk, Reading, Rotherham, Sandwell, Slough, Somerset, Sunderland, Surrey, Torbay, Wandsworth, West Berkshire and Wirral.

    The Government does not use set criteria to require local authorities to contract out their statutory children’s social care services.

    The Department for Education has statutory powers to intervene in local authority children’s services under section 497A of the Education Act 1996. This legislation allows the Department to remove day-to-day operational control of children’s services from the local authority, for a period of time, if the Secretary of State believes that the local authority is failing to secure its relevant statutory functions by delivering children’s services to the required standard.

    As a matter of policy, the Government has decided that any authority rated by Ofsted as ‘inadequate’ across all the key judgements in any one Ofsted inspection is deemed to be failing ‘systemically’, and any authority that is rated inadequate twice overall in any five year period is deemed to be failing persistently.

    In these circumstances the Secretary of State appoints a children’s services commissioner to review services and then provide advice to the Secretary of State on whether they should remain in local authority control.

    Once the Secretary of State has received the commissioner’s advice, she will decide whether to direct the authority to enter into a contract with a third party – for instance a Children’s Services Trust – to deliver those services on its behalf.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from her Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department has made no estimate on the value of any stationery (a) lost or (b) stolen in any of the last five fiscal years.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Avebury on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the recommendation by Human Rights Watch in its report on the treatment of detainees in Bahrain, The Blood of People Who Don’t Cooperate, that the UK should suspend funding, support and training for security service reform until Bahrain enacts listed reforms and issues a standing invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government consistently and unreservedly condemns torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to combat it wherever and whenever it occurs. We are aware of ongoing allegations against Ministry of Interior personnel, and we have expressed our concerns to the authorities. The Government of Bahrain has previously committed to consider ratifying the Optional Protocol of the Convention Against Torture. The UK strongly supports this and we have been working with the authorities to share best practice on torture prevention measures. We also continue to ask the Government of Bahrain to allow a visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

    We welcome the progress made by Bahrain on their reform programme particularly in the areas of youth justice, the establishment and increasing effectiveness of the Ombudsman’s office, the Prisoner and Detainees’ Rights Commission and the reformed National Institute of Human Rights. We continue to work with the Government of Bahrain to ensure momentum and progress on its reforms, for the benefit of all Bahrainis.

    The Government of Bahrain has asked the international community for their assistance in implementing the reforms necessary to improve the human rights situation, including in the security services. We strongly support them in their efforts and that is why we will continue to offer bilateral assistance for Bahrain’s reform programmes. In August, following a meeting with His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), reiterated the UK’s support for ongoing political reform in Bahrain but encouraged His Majesty to continue to demonstrate substantive progress in all areas. Our package of technical assistance is focused on strengthening human rights and the rule of law, in line with the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and the Universal Periodic Review.

  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Colombian counterpart to ensure that the Mothers of Soacha are able to keep their relatives’ graves in their current cemetery without incurring financial costs.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Any claim in negotiating compensation for the preservation of the graves must be requested directly via the government of Colombia, through the local compensation courts. Her Majesty’s Government is unable to interfere directly in this process.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 24477, which railway stations in which regions are fitted with ITSO-compliant smartcard readers.

    Claire Perry

    Further to the answer to Question 24477 the attached tables list railway stations by region that are fitted with ITSO-compliant smartcard readers.

    The table contains 710 rail stations – this is 8 fewer than the previous answer, because in the answer provided to the Hon. member on 2nd February, three stations operated by more than one train operator were split into multiple entries and the five stations in addition to Gatwick Airport that were involved in January’s extension of Oyster were also listed twice. This duplication has been removed.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what recent representations he has made to officials working on the Chilcot Inquiry; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to Sir John Chilcot’s letter to me of 28 October 2015, and my reply of 29 October, copies of which can be found on the Iraq Inquiry website.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding his Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    DCMS received no funding from the European Social Fund (ESF) programme during the period specified.