The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Murphy on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many family members of each of the service personnel who died in Afghanistan will be able to attend the service of commemoration at St Paul’s Cathedral on 13 March 2015.
Anna Soubry
Invitations have been extended to the Next of Kin and one guest.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of comments by United Nations Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman that the human rights situation in North Korea can only improve if the Kim family is removed and a new leadership is installed.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We continue to be extremely concerned by reports of gross violations of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). We have repeatedly urged the DPRK authorities to address these violations, including by immediately closing political prison camps. We have also made clear that we will respond positively if the regime demonstrates a genuine willingness to deliver improvements on the ground. However, until and unless such improvements take place we will continue to work with partners to maintain international pressure on the DPRK. We support the work of the Special Rapporteur in monitoring the human rights situation in the DPRK and briefing the UN Human Rights Council as an important part of these efforts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Murphy on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many guests he plans to invite to the service of commemoration at St Paul’s Cathedral on 13 March 2015; and what proportion of those guests are family members of service personnel who died during operations in Afghanistan.
Anna Soubry
Approximately 2,000 invitations will be issued, of which over 900 have so far been allocated to the families of those who lost their lives in the conflict. A further 900 or so have been allocated to Service personnel and veterans.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that the government of North Korea uses forced and uncompensated labour, including school children, in the construction of tourist sites visited by United Kingdom tourists; and whether United Kingdom legislation prohibits the use of such sites by United Kingdom-based businesses or individuals.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are aware of reports regarding the use of conscripted military personnel in the construction of sites that foreigners visit in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and of the use of forced and uncompensated labour for construction projects more generally. Our Embassy in Pyongyang has seen activity corroborating these reports, such as military personnel working on the new Pyongyang airport terminal and Masik Pass Ski Resort, and we are aware of situations in which university students have been taken out of classes to participate in construction projects. We are unaware of specific reports regarding the use of school children in the construction of tourist sites, and we have not witnessed this in Pyongyang. Our officials have seen children, who appear to be of school age, taking part in extracurricular activities including street cleaning and grass cutting, and also being used as agricultural labour at harvest time.
There is no legislation prohibiting the use of, or access to, DPRK tourist sites by UK-based business or individuals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel are taking part in the Seedcorn initiative; what the location is of each such member of personnel; with what equipment those personnel are training; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the Seedcorn initiative in each of the next two years.
Mr Mark Francois
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 February 2015 to Question 223239, giving the number of personnel, their location, and type of equipment those personnel are training on, as part of the Seedcorn initiative.
The cost of the Seedcorn initiative in financial year 2015-16 is £2.5 million. Funding beyond that date is yet to be determined.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by stored for patients’ use or “stored for donation” on 2015-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 8 January 2013 (WA 24–6), 24 February 2014 (WA 174–5) and 5 February 2015 (HL4367), whether the total number of embryos allowed to perish as stated as 1,717,375 between 1991 and 2011 represents the same set of embryos recorded in the earlier answer as stored for research” or “discarded”
Earl Howe
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that the number of embryos allowed to perish between 1991 and 2011 is 1,717,375, as stated in my written answer of 5 February 2015 (HL4367). In relation to the figures given in my written answer of 8 January 2013 (WA 24-6), the comparator would be the figures recorded as “Embryos reported on the Treatment form as being discarded” and “Embryos reported on the Gamete Movement form as being removed from storage and discarded”.
The total figures differ from the later answer (HL4367) because the latter does not include embryos stored for research. Any further difference in the figures is due to reconciliation work performed on the data since my answer of 8 January 2013.
The descriptive term “head of a pin” was intended to give the noble Lord an indication of the size of the embryo involved, in my written answers of 24 February 2014, HL5165 (WA 174-5), and 5 February 2015, HL4367.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what briefing his Department provided to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on (a) the promotion and sale of arms and military equipment and (b) human rights before his trip to the Middle East; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Philip Dunne
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Tobias Ellwood) to Question 224052.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to adopt the measures contained in the Football Governance Bill.
Mrs Helen Grant
In recent years, the football authorities have introduced greater independence to the FA’s main Board, stricter rules around club ownership, and improved financial transparency and reporting rules to ensure clubs are sustainably run.
Government is allowing the football authorities more time to make the necessary reforms to the game themselves
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2015 to Question 220134, whether the 90 per cent 4G geographical coverage will cover the Outer Hebrides.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The agreement announced on 18 December 2014 will improve coverage throughout the UK, and we expect the Scottish Islands will see one of the greatest improvements of any area. Under the agreement each mobile network operator (MNO) will provide voice and text coverage to at least 90% of the UK landmass by 2017, and we understand that data coverage will improve in many areas. This will lock in £5bn of investment in UK mobile infrastructure, halving partial not-spots and cutting complete not-spots by two-thirds. The MNOs have now made the agreed coverage obligations legally binding, by requesting that Ofcom vary their spectrum licences on a voluntary basis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne McIntosh on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to expedite the restoration of landline and internet services to more than 25 residences in Rillington and Sherburn in Ryedale following the breakage of a telephone pole on 20 January 2015.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Ofcom expects providers to resolve network faults, however caused, as quickly as possible. The regulator also expects providers to deal fairly and sympathetically with consumers who experience a loss of service as a result of network issues. This could include giving compensation or by allowing customers to exit their contract without penalty.
The Communications Act requires telecoms providers to take appropriate measures to protect the security and resilience of their networks and services. When a security or availability incident occurs which has a significant impact on the operation of a network or service, the legislation requires the provider to report this to Ofcom. Ofcom monitors these reports closely and has the power to intervene if they believe a provider is not taking the appropriate measures.
Ofcom has imposed minimum targets on Openreach requiring 80% of fault repairs to be completed within one to two working days of being notified and the company to report publicly on its performance, allowing Ofcom to monitor and intervene if required.
Consumers can pursue claims for compensation caused by line outages by contacting their communications providers. If they are unhappy with the outcome of their complaint or how their complaint has been handled, they are able to pursue the case through the registered Alternative Dispute Resolution service – a free and impartial service that Ofcom requires all communications providers to have in place.