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  • Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what particular projects under the Department of Health and the Department for Education will be funded in the current spending review period as a result of the allocation of £40 million for specialist domestic and sexual violence services.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Over the spending review period the £40 million ring-fenced funding for specialist domestic and sexual violence services consists of £28 million
    allocated by the Home Office. This funding is provided directly to local areas not other government departments and is used to support independent domestic violence advisors, independent sexual violence advisers, and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinators. £900,000 a year is used towards the running costs of national help lines for victims of domestic violence and stalking.

    The Ministry of Justice contribution of £12 million is used to fund 78 local rape support schemes.

  • Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what projects other than refuges for women who are the victims of sexual violence will be set up by the Home Office with the £28 million for the spending review period allocated by the Home Office for specialist domestic and sexual violence services.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Over the spending review period the Home Office funding of £28million provides for:

    144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and 75 funded IDVA training places; 87 dedicated Independent Sexual Violence Advisers; 54
    Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinators and funding to Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse to provide support and advice to MARACs, as well as running a programme of quality assurance; and £1.2 million for 3 years from 2012 to improve services for young people suffering sexual violence in major urban areas.

    The Home Office also provides over £900,000 per year to support the following free phone national helplines: the National Stalking Helpline which offers information and advice to stalking victims; the National Domestic Violence Helpline which offers support for victims of domestic violence and is run jointly by Women’s Aid and Respect; Broken Rainbow which offers help to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims; the Male Advice (and Enquiry) Line which offers help to male victims of domestic violence and advice to perpetrators; and RESPECT which offers information and advice to people who are abusive towards their partners and want help to stop.

    Decisions about the provision of refuge accommodation for victims of domestic abuse are a local matter and it is the responsibility of the individual local authority to identify any gaps in service provision and put in place appropriate solutions to address this. We would expect local authorities to build services based on the needs of their communities, taking account of locally available data sources.

  • Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the £40 million ring-fenced funding for specialist domestic and sexual violence services will be allocated to the Department of Health, and how much to the Department for Education.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Over the spending review period the £40 million ring-fenced funding for specialist domestic and sexual violence services consists of £28 million
    allocated by the Home Office. This funding is provided directly to local areas not other government departments and is used to support independent domestic violence advisors, independent sexual violence advisers, and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinators. £900,000 a year is used towards the running costs of national help lines for victims of domestic violence and stalking.

    The Ministry of Justice contribution of £12 million is used to fund 78 local rape support schemes.

  • Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which Ministers, if any, were present at the presentation to the Department for Education on the threat of radicalisation in Birmingham schools given by head teacher Tim Boyes in 2010.

    Lord Nash

    The Secretary of State has asked the Permanent Secretary to conduct an internal review into how the Department for Education dealt with warnings in Birmingham since the formation of this Government in 2010, and before.

  • Baroness Hollins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Hollins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hollins on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that people with learning disabilities are not excluded from NHS England’s five-year strategic plan for National Health Service commissioners to improve quality of and access to health care, outlined in Everyone Counts: Planning for Patients 2014/15–2018/19.

    Earl Howe

    The Government’s Mandate to NHS England, sets out our ambitions for the health service, which include an objective that NHS England ensures clinical commissioning groups work with local authorities to ensure that vulnerable people, particularly those with learning disabilities and autism, receive safe, appropriate, high quality care. NHS England sets out how it will achieve the objectives in the Mandate in its 2014-15 – 2016-17 business plan. The Government will hold NHS England to account for its achievement.

    Everyone Counts: Planning for Patients 2014/15 to 2018/19sets out a framework within which commissioners will need to work with providers and partners in local government to develop five year plans to secure the continuity of sustainable high quality care for all. Building on Everyone Counts, NHS England is beginning a programme of work to consider how to improve quality of and access to health care for people with learning disabilities. Within the framework there is specific reference to Transforming Care: A national response to Winterbourne View Hospital. This is a non-negotiable item that NHS England expects to be part of every relationship between commissioners and providers. As part of this, clinical commissioning groups, local authorities and specialised commissioners should work together to implement the core specification which describes the core principles that must be present in all education, health and social care services for children, young people, adults and older people with learning disabilities and/or autism who either display, or are at risk of displaying, behaviour that challenges.

    NHS England is committed to work to reduce premature mortality amongst people with learning disability, including actions in response to the Confidential Inquiry into Premature Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with their European partners with regard to listing Israeli settler groups such as Hilltop Youth as terrorist groups, following the United States State Department’s description of recent settler acts of violence as terrorist incidents.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    We do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.

    A decision to proscribe an organisation must be based on a belief that it is concerned in terrorism as defined in the Terrorism Act 2000, and it must be proportionate.

    The list of proscribed terrorist organisations can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301777/ProscribedOrganisationsApril14.pdf.

    “

  • Lord Rennard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Rennard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that online completion of census data could be combined with online electoral registration.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    With the introduction of online registration in England and Wales on 10 June and September in Scotland, registering to vote is now more convenient and accessible.

    The Government will continue to explore the mutual benefits of collaboration between online electoral registration and preparation for the online Census.

  • Lord Rennard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Rennard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to include, in their consideration of the future of the national census, the possibility of collecting data for electoral registration purposes in addition to other purposes.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will answer the question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 11 June (HL Deb, col 418) about what action is being taken to ensure the safety of those reported to have fled the city of Mosul following its capture by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham.

    Baroness Northover

    As of 17 June, following the advance of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) –led alliance in Northern Iraq, the UK is providing an initial £3 million of emergency humanitarian assistance to help displaced civilians. Following an assessment of needs on the ground by DFID humanitarian experts who deployed to Erbil last Thursday 12 June, this includes:

    (i) – Activation of the UK’s Rapid Response Facility (RRF), which provides emergency support via pre-approved organisations in the event of a humanitarian crisis overseas. This initial package of UK support comprises clean water and sanitation, essential medicine, women-friendly hygiene kits and basic household items, which will be provided from £2 million of RRF funding to NGOs in the region.

    (ii) – Protection for vulnerable girls and women through the deployment of dedicated UN safety and welfare teams in key internally displaced person and refugee camp sites and areas, secured through £1 million of funding to the UNHCR.

    The UK will continue to monitor the situation closely and we are considering urgently what other assistance we could provide.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will answer the question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 10 June (HL Deb, col 236), and on 11 June (HL Deb, col 418), about whether asylum in the United Kingdom will be offered to Meriam Ibrahim, who has been imprisoned and given a death sentence in Sudan.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it. Each claim for asylum is carefully considered and where we find individuals are in need of our protection, asylum is given. However, to be eligible for international protection, a person must be located outside of their country of origin.