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  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the conduct of the recent census in Burma.

    Baroness Warsi

    The UK (through the Department for International Development) joined an international effort to provide funding to the census in 2014 because it will be a critical step in the country’s development process, underpinning better planning and delivery of vital services and infrastructure, such as schools, roads and hospitals.

    The UK, UN and other international donors argued strongly for the right of all people to be enumerated fairly and to be able, where necessary, to self-identify their ethnicity in the census. In most areas where the census was conducted, self-identification was permitted. We were deeply disappointed that, in the case of the Rohingya, the Burmese government contravened its long-standing assurance that all individuals would have the right to self-identify their ethnic origin. We have been clear that this decision is contrary to international norms and standards on census conduct. The Minister of State, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), summoned the Burmese Ambassador on 7 April to make these concerns clear.

    Reports from independent international observers of the census suggest that, with the exception of Rakhine and parts of Kachin state, the enumeration process appears to have been largely carried out effectively. We continue to closely monitor the process.

  • Lord Laming – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Laming – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laming on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to improve the services for sufferers of dementia and their carers.

    Earl Howe

    On 26 March 2012, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia. The Challenge sets the commitment to increase diagnosis rates, raise awareness and understanding and double funding for research for dementia by 2015.

    On the 28 February 2014, the Secretary of State announced his ambition for improving dementia care and support for people with dementia, their family and carers. This signalled the importance of a tailored plan of care as part of a package of high quality, personalised dementia care and support.

    The co-chairs of the three Champion Groups supporting delivery of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia have reported their progress to the Prime Minister on the second year of the Challenge. They have also set out their ambition for driving improvements in year three of the Challenge and beyond and to highlight cross-cutting themes and challenges shared across the champion groups, which they will continue to work on together. For example, working together to support the work on global action on dementia; increasing public and professional awareness and understanding of dementia and; the need to accelerate learning across the system on making integrated care and support a reality.

    Since the launch of the Challenge, we have also made significant progress across all three strands of the challenge, but there is still work to be done.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Newby on 6 May (WA 314), what is their estimate of the average additional weekly cost of food to United Kingdom families arising from membership of the Common Agricultural Policy.

    Lord De Mauley

    As stated in the previous response to WA 314, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) calculates the annual monetary value of gross transfers from EU consumers arising from policies underpinning the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

    The OECD estimates that EU consumers faced higher food prices equivalent to approximately €16 billion in 2012. This equates to 4% of consumption expenditure on agricultural commodities (at farm gate prices), and compares to an average 71% in the late 1980s.

    Agricultural commodity prices are a key factor in determining food retail prices but other factors are also important, such as energy prices and exchange rates. Therefore the impact of CAP on consumers’ weekly cost of food will be less than the 4% figure reported above.

    There is no agreed OECD methodology to disaggregate estimates to individual EU member states, so these figures are not available at the UK level.

  • Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to implement fully the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010, including the secondary legislation and a programme to ensure that the public is aware of the dangers of sunbeds.

    Earl Howe

    The Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 came into effect in 2011 to ensure sunbed businesses are properly supervised. In England some local authorities choose to enforce the under 18 ban enshrined within the primary legislationand the Department has published guidance to support them

    www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_125656

    The Government has recently received a report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin which gives a number of recommendations including the introduction of secondary regulations in England and how the public can be fully informed. Government has noted the report and is currently considering how to progress the recommendations.

  • Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much public money from the Heritage Lottery Fund has been awarded to each local authority area for activities to commemorate the First World War.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    Since April 2010, across various programmes, the Heritage Lottery Fund has allocated over £56 million pounds to projects throughout the United Kingdom marking the First World War centenary. This includes awards from the First World War: Then and Now programme for smaller, community-led, projects. The breakdown of this funding by local authority area will be placed in the libraries of both Houses.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 14 May 2014, Official Report, column 600W, on Bangladesh, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to make it compulsory for all UK clothing companies which use suppliers in Bangladesh to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

    Mr Alan Duncan

    The Accord is an independent and legally binding agreement between unions and international companies that source their clothes from Bangladesh. As such it is not the Government’s place to compel companies to sign up. However as referred to in my previous response, I would very much encourage them to do so, and would encourage consumers to make their expectations clear to the retailers and brands from which they buy their clothes.

    In September 2013 the UK launched its action plan on business and human rights, laying out the expectations for business in line with the UN Guiding Principles. Signing up to the Accord not only demonstrates that companies are serious about their responsibilities but will also help them to ensure that workers in their supply chains are safe and treated properly.

  • John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of children in poverty in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK in each year until 2020.

    Esther McVey

    The Government does not produce forecasts of the number of children living in income poverty either locally or nationally. The number of children in poverty is dependent on a number of factors which cannot be reliably predicted, including the median income.

    The Government does not believe it is possible to accurately project child poverty to 2020. Poverty projections are rarely accurate. For example, IFS projections in October 2011 suggested the number of children in relative poverty would fall by 100,000 in 2010/11, whereas in fact it fell by 300,000.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will assess the merits of introducing tax-rate floors to contracts involving Private Finance Initiative arrangements.

    Danny Alexander

    In December 2012, the Government launched Private Finance 2 (PF2). PF2 introduces significant reforms to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and gives a new approach to the delivery of public infrastructure. It is based on the outcomes of a wide call for evidence held across both the public and private sectors.

    The Government seeks to ensure that the UK tax system is competitive for all companies and that the UK is an attractive place to do business, while retaining proportionate anti-avoidance protection.

    A special purpose vehicle set up for the purposes of delivering a PFI project is no different from any other corporate entity and is therefore required to pay corporation tax in accordance with government rules.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether officials in his Department consulted their Northern Ireland counterparts before publishing the draft Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Department for Transport officials worked closely with Northern Ireland colleagues throughout the Traffic Signs Policy Review. A meeting was held with the Devolved Administrations in February 2014, at which the proposed changes to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions were presented.

    The Northern Ireland Executive has also been invited to respond to the public consultation on the draft regulations.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made on Single Fraud Investigation Service; what plans he has for its roll out; and if he will make a statement.

    Esther McVey

    Progress has been made with regard to the implementation of the Single Fraud Investigation Service and this will commence from 1 July 2014.