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Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to seek a United Nations Security Council Resolution on the human rights situation in North Korea, following the findings of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry; and if so, whether they will sponsor such a Resolution if it appears to face resistance from Russia or China.

Baroness Warsi

The UK believes strongly that there should be no impunity for serious international crimes, such as those which the Commission of Inquiry found are being committed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). We played an active role in ensuring a strong DPRK resolution at the March UN Human Rights Council, including a call for the UN General Assembly to submit the report of the Commission of Inquiry to the UN Security Council for its consideration and appropriate action. In April we and other Security Council members took part in a public “Arria” briefing by the Commission. This was the first time the Security Council had considered DPRK human rights in this way. We also raised the need for a continued focus on human rights during a UN Security Council Sanctions Committee meeting in May.

On June 18 the Minister of State, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), visited Geneva, where he took part in an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the DPRK, Mr Mazuki Darusman. Mr Swire also raised the importance of DPRK human rights with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and stressed the importance of UN action. The next step will be to ensure there is an appropriate focus on DPRK human rights at this autumn’s UN General Assembly (UNGA) session and that there is a strong DPRK resolution, strongly supported, in the UNGA Third Committee.

We will keep the prospect of a UNSC Resolution under review.

01/11/2022
Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support autistic adults receive to protect them from abuse and neglect; and whether they have any plans to increase that support.

Earl Howe

The Care Act 2014 sets out the local authority’s responsibility for adult safeguarding for the first time in primary legislation. This is vital to ensure clear accountability, roles and responsibilities for helping and protecting adults with care and support needs, including autistic adults, who are experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect.

The Act requires local authorities to carry out a safeguarding enquiry where they have reasonable cause to expect a person is at risk of abuse or neglect. Authorities must consider what if any actions are needed, and who should carry these out, to stop abuse and neglect taking place. The draft guidance clarifies that where a local authority has started a safeguarding enquiry it should continue the needs assessment for care and support in parallel, and determine whether the person has eligible needs which it must meet.

The Act places the establishment of Safeguarding Adults Boards on a statutory footing, so as to ensure local authorities, National Health Service and police (as well as any other agency deemed appropriate) work together to develop and implement adult safeguarding strategies and conduct safeguarding adult reviews in serious cases to ensure lessons are learnt and applied. This will better equip local agencies with relevant care and support functions both to prevent abuse and to respond when it occurs.

Transforming care, the Government’s programme to address issues identified by the abuse of people at Winterbourne View hospital aims to ensure that people with learning disabilities and autism are safe and get good quality care when they are in hospital, and where appropriate following an assessment of their care and needs, they are able to live with support in the community.

01/11/2022
Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent in each of the last five years to adapt National Health Service hospitals for obese people.

Earl Howe

This information is not collected centrally. Decisions on spending are a matter for local National Health Service organisations.

01/11/2022
Baroness King of Bow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-06-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to tackle employment discrimination amongst transgender people.

Baroness Northover

The Government is strongly committed to advancing equality for transgender people and ending discrimination in the workplace. The Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination because of gender reassignment in employment.

In March 2011 the Government published Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality: Moving Forward; and in December 2011 Advancing transgender equality: a plan for action both of which set out the actions to be taken across Government to enhance equality for transgendered individuals. Actions included the Department for Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs improving the experiences of transgender people seeking work. These include providing employers with help on employing transgender people and ensuring training is available to Jobcentre Plus staff on the specific challenges faced by transgender people.

01/11/2022
Baroness Brinton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Brinton on 2014-06-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Sri Lanka about the attacks on Muslims on 15 June by Buddhists in Aluthgama; and what information have they received from the government of Sri Lanka about its plans to halt the sectarian violence.

Baroness Warsi

We continue to raise our concerns about the recent communal tensions and the significant surge in attacks against members of religious minority groups in Sri Lanka including those of 15 June, with the Sri Lankan authorities. Our High Commissioner to Colombo has met Muslim community representatives to discuss their concerns. The Head of the EU Delegation has raised recent developments with the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary. The EU delegation has released a statement in agreement with EU Heads of Mission in Sri Lanka condemning the violence and have called on the Sri Lankan government to uphold law and order.

Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa and other senior Sri Lankan Ministers have visited the area affected by violence, and the army and police have been deployed to those areas. President Rajapaksa has also urged restraint and pledged that those responsible for the violence would be held to account. We continue to watch the situation closely.

01/11/2022
Lord Clement-Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2014-06-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making on their consideration of (1) protection of metadata, (2) remedies against lookalikes, and (3) equalisation of penalties for physical and digital copyright infringement.

Viscount Younger of Leckie

(1) The issue of protection of metadata was considered as part of the industry-led Copyright Hub project, to which the Government contributed initial funding. This involved key players seeking cross-industry agreement to help keep metadata with copyright works and resulted in the publication of a voluntary Code of Practice on Creating and Maintaining Metadata in Images. It is clearly important for industry to take up that code of practice, before Government could consider whether or not any further action may be appropriate.

(2) The Government is considering the case for granting a civil right of action to business against lookalike packaging, for which it launched a review of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs). The Review commenced this spring, and the initial call for evidence closed on 19 May. The Government is keen to continue engaging with stakeholders on this issue; a structured roundtable has been scheduled for 14 July. The final report is expected to be published in October.

(3) The Intellectual Property Office has commissioned Inngot Ltd to carry out a review of the use of copyright infringement sanctions. The review has commenced and is expected to report in November. Data gathering for copyright infringement sentencing is already underway, with a broad range of industry stakeholders being consulted including trade bodies; IP rights owners and IP legal professionals. The Government will consider what further action is needed once the final report has been published.

01/11/2022
Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-06-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their (1) current estimate, and (2) projected estimate as of 7 May 2015, of the number of (a) 16 to 17 year-olds, and (b) 18 to 24 year-olds, in the United Kingdom; and, of their current estimate, what proportion of (1) 16 to 17 year-olds, and (2) 18 to 24 year-olds, in the United Kingdom are currently registered to vote.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) mid-2013 UK Population Estimate can be found here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/population-estimates-for-uk–england-and-wales–scotland-and-northern-ireland/2013/index.html. The ONS has not made a projected estimate for 7 May 2015.

Data on the proportion of 16 to 17 year olds and 18 to 24 year olds registered to vote is not held.

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01/11/2022
Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-06-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to encourage (1) attainers, and (2) all eligible voters, to apply to register to vote online; and, whether they have plans to combine (1) electoral registration, and (2) voting, with incentives such as discounted council tax or local prize-draws.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

UK Youth and Scottish Youth Parliament, who both received a share of the £4.2 million funding for maximising registration, are developing and testing approaches to promote engagement of young people with the democratic process. The Government has made available for free the Rock Enrol! learning resource, and is working with the Higher Education sector to promote on-line registration during course enrolment for students. Over the summer the Electoral Commission will be running a nationwide media campaign which will make prominent reference to the new online registration page.

The Government has no plans to legislate to require Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers to incentivise electoral registration and voting, such as with discounted council tax or prize draws.

01/11/2022

Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to increase the number of Registered Intermediaries available for use by child victims and witnesses of sexual abuse; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Green

As at 19 June 2014, 29 Registered Intermediaries (RIs) were available for use by child victims and witnesses in the Greater Manchester police force area that covers Bolton, 25 RIs for Lancashire, 81 RIs for England and 26 RIs for Wales. Support for vulnerable witnesses is a devolved matter in Scotland.

We recruited over 25 RIs this year, to increase the numbers of Active Registered Intermediaries to be used across the 43 police forces to help vulnerable witnesses.

Registered Intermediaries are available for work across multiple police force areas and the numbers quoted above do not reveal the total number of active RIs.

The number of child victims and witnesses involved in sexual abuse cases that have benefitted from the use of an RI in the last four years since the Witness Intermediary Scheme has been operational are provided in the table below. We do not hold data on cases before this time.

	Age 0 to 4	Age 5 to 11	Age 12 to 17	Yearly Total
2010		131	152	351
2011	62	107	171	340
2012	87	173	165	425
2013	168	257	261	686
TOTAL	385	668	749	1802

The Ministry of Justice continues to monitor the number of Registered Intermediaries and is considering future recruitment plans. We are working with the CPS and police so that RIs are used to help more vulnerable witnesses to give their best evidence.

01/11/2022