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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of calls for a UN Commission of Inquiry into alleged human rights abuses by Egyptian security forces including those alleged to have taken place in July and August 2013.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware that calls were made for a UN Commission of Inquiry shortly after the events of July and August 2013, as well as on the recent anniversary of these events. In December 2013, Interim President Adly Mansour established a Fact-Finding Committee into the events that followed the removal of former President Morsi in July 2013. The Egyptian government released an executive summary of the Committee’s findings on 26 November 2014, which included recommendations for the police, educational institutions, the legislature, investigative authorities and the media. Since the publication of the summary of the Fact-Finding Committee’s report, the UK has encouraged the Egyptian government to release the report in full, and has stressed the importance of accountability for the deaths that took place during the clearances.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will designate Egypt as a country of concern in the next FCO annual report on human rights and democracy.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Foreign and Commonwealth reviewed the use of the designation “countries of concern” earlier this year. We now highlight “human rights priority countries” that we wish to work positively with wherever possible to improve their human rights trajectory.

    Our criteria in designating a human rights priority country is an evidence-based assessment. We utilise internationally respected indicators and indices, such as the UN Gender Inequality Index and the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, to form our assessments. Once we have the relevant data, we will take informed decisions as to which countries will be human rights priority countries in 2016.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their criteria for identifying countries of concern in the FCO annual report on human rights and democracy.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    In the 2014 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy, we continued to use the criteria published in the 2012 report to determine whether a country should feature as a country of concern:

    • the gravity of the human rights situation in the country, including both the severity of particular abuses and the range of human rights affected;

    • whether a deterioration or improvement in the human rights situation in the country would have a wider impact in the region;

    • whether the human rights situation in the country has an impact on wider UK interests; and

    • whether we are able to influence the human rights situation there.

  • Lord Inglewood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Inglewood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the social security benefits budget last had a clean and unqualified audit report from the NAO.

    Lord Freud

    It is the DWP consolidated resource account (not budget) that is audited each year by NAO.

    In his certificate of the 2014/15 accounts the Comptroller and Auditor General stated to the House of Commons that, in his opinion, the Department’s financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the Department’s and the Departmental Group’s affairs as at 31 March 2015.

    The consolidated resource account has been given a qualified regularity opinion in each of the years that it has been audited (since 1999-00) because of the level of fraud and error in certain benefits.

    The qualification is due to material amounts of fraud & error in benefit expenditure. In the 14/15 accounts this was estimated at 1.9% of benefit expenditure, the eventual outturn was 1.8%.

  • 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 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to remind the government of Turkey of its undertakings contained in the Dolmabahçe Declaration of 27 February.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We welcomed previous steps taken by the Turkish government to take forward the Kurdish peace process, including through discussions with Abdullah Öcalan and his representatives. We understand that the Government of Turkey did not commit itself to specific undertakings following the talks at the Dolmabahçe Palace in February. We have been very clear that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) violence must end and that the peace process should be resumed, in the interests of Turkey and the wider region. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government  what measures they are taking to help to prevent sexual predators taking advantage of refugees, including children, (1) in the UK, and (2) in the rest of Europe.

    Lord Bates

    Any child who arrives in the UK unaccompanied, either as a result of resettlement or via another route, would be expected to receive the same protection and support as a child who is resident in the UK, under the provisions set out in the Children Act 1989, as amended, and related statutory guidance.

    In Europe, the UK, through the Department for International Development, has committed funding to humanitarian organisations which are working to assist and protect vulnerable people, including children.

    This includes funding to the Red Cross, UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration, as well as humanitarian NGOs working in southern Europe and the Balkans. These programmes have specific activities which identify unaccompanied children to ensure that they are referred to appropriate services, including psychosocial support and child-friendly safe spaces.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to assist the organisations and volunteers in the UK taking action to help refugees (1) in the Calais area, (2) in the Dodecanese islands, and (3) elsewhere in Europe.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. The UK has pledged over £1.12 billion, our largest ever humanitarian response to a single crisis. We are the second largest bilateral donor after the US and have done more than any other European country.

    The UK’s priority is to stop the deaths of migrants making perilous journeys. We believe the right approach is to support people to stay in a place of safety in their home or host countries. To this end we are increasing our work to support longer term stability and resilience-building inside Syria and in neighbouring countries.

    We are providing £15 million to organisations working in Europe, which includes immediate humanitarian support to migrants and refugees who have made the journey to Europe. Our package of support includes life-saving aid to protect the most vulnerable people, as well as support to governments in managing registration in Europe and the Western Balkans.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) how many refugees are currently around Calais waiting for an opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom, and (2) how many of those refugees are (a) accompanied, and (b) unaccompanied, children; what assessment they have made of the problems that the onset of winter might cause those refugees; and what additional measures they will take to help to address those problems.

    Lord Bates

    The management of the migrant camps in Calais is the responsibility of the French Government. The French Government has recently stated that there are approximately 6,000 migrants living in makeshift camps in the Calais area. The UK Government does not routinely assess the numbers of migrants in Calais or hold a breakdown of the ages of migrants.

    The UK Government is working to decrease the opportunities available for migrants to enter the UK illegally by investing tens of millions of pounds to bolster security infrastructure in Calais as part of a major programme of work in close collaboration with the French Government to improve security in the area. Alongside this, the French Government has opened up thousands of new places in its asylum system encouraging migrants to claim asylum in France and not travel to the UK.

    The French Government is responsible for the care of migrants in Calais, including support over the winter. However, both governments are committed to finding a sustainable solution to the situation in Calais. The UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015 committed the UK to providing £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help support a range of work to manage the migrant population in Calais, in particular to provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (or €750,000) to fund the France Terre d’Asile Project to identify those in the camps who are especially vulnerable and at risk of trafficking and exploitation, and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by KPMG Skills to Build?, stating that housebuilding capacity could be restricted by a construction skills shortage; and whether they will take steps to increase the amount of education and training places for construction trades.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government has made no separate assessment of the KPMG report. There are a number of reports that provide a good indication of the skills the construction industry believes it will require between 2015 and 2019, for both housing and wider construction.

    The Government values post-16 education, including construction education and training, highly. We have made substantial progress driving up the quality and rigour of the post-16 offer, and area-based reviews of 16+ provision are providing an opportunity for institutions and localities to restructure provision to achieve maximum impact.

    Initiatives, by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), or flowing from the work of the Construction Leadership Council, are seeking to encourage more young people into construction careers including the launch of the GO-Construct website and work with the National Careers Service and Construction Ambassadors for schools. In addition the CITBhas developed a range of initiatives, working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions, the Armed Forces resettlement service and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to encourage experienced individuals into the sector.

    While CITB returned over £42m last year, supporting 18,500 first, second and third year construction apprentices, it is clear that the sector is not currently offering enough apprenticeships nor opportunities for young people to train. The 17,000 apprenticeships starts in 2015/16 is still some way below the 27,000 offered in 2006. The CITB has developed a number of shared apprenticeships schemes and reformed the grant process to encourage apprenticeship take up. In addition, the Government continues to pay AGE grant, on top of its usual support for the training of young apprentices, to encourage companies to take on their first apprentices.

    At the summer budget the Chancellor announced a levy on large employers across all sectors to fund apprenticeships. This will link larger employers directly to its skills investment and promote the value, and drive the uptake, of apprenticeships.

    The Chancellor will announce further details of the apprenticeship levy, including the scope and rate, at the Spending Review.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord German on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current political situation in the Maldives.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), said in his press statement on 4 November, the British Government is deeply concerned by recent developments in the Maldives. We believe the State of Emergency declared on 4 November impinged on the basic human rights of the Maldivian people and further undermined confidence in the country’s democracy.

    On 10 November the Maldivian government lifted the State of Emergency. As Mr Swire said in his tweet on 10 November, we welcome the lifting of the State of Emergency and look forward to further positive progress in the Maldives.