The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department will reply to the report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin into sunbed regulation in England.
Jane Ellison
Government has noted the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin report and is currently considering the recommendations and the implications.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of 13 May 2014, Official Report, columns 200-3WH, what representations he has made to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the recent acquittal of 14 officers of the armed forces of that country on charges of mass rape and murder.
Mark Simmonds
I welcome efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to prosecute perpetrators on charges of mass rape and murder – but more must be done to deliver justice for the victims. I met with the Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the DRC in London last week when he was attending the Global Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict. I emphasised to him that ending impunity was fundamental to tackling the scourge of sexual and gender-based violence. He confirmed his Government’s commitment to tackling sexual and gender based violence and to ending impunity for the perpetrators.
The British Embassy in Kinshasa sponsors a range of projects to tackle sexual violence in the DRC focusing on security sector reform and improving service provision for survivors. During his visit to eastern DRC in March 2013 the Foreign Secretary announced over £1 million in funding to a range of organisations tackling rape and sexual violence. The UK has supported the deployment of an international expert to build capacity of health and legal professionals to address accountability and the investigation and documentation of sexual violence crimes.
The Foreign Secretary has publicly called on the Congolese authorities to continue in their efforts to seek out and prosecute the remaining perpetrators. Senior officials at our Embassy in Kinshasa have, jointly with EU Heads of Mission and independently, also raised the issue directly with the Government of the DRC.
The International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, which was field tested in the DRC, was launched at the Global Summit on 12 June. I hope that the Protocol will be deployed widely, helping to ensure that more and more perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence the world over will be brought to justice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2014-06-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of whether Atos is an appropriate body to conduct (a) the delivery of tax-free childcare and (b) other outsourced work on behalf of National Savings and Investments.
Nicky Morgan
On the 23 May the Government published a further consultation on the delivery of childcare accounts within Tax-Free Childcare. The consultation will be open until 27 June and the Government will consider the responses alongside those to the first consultation before it makes its decision on the provision of childcare accounts.
Atos was awarded the contract to provide services to NS&I, and to use the NS&I related assets, processes and infrastructure to provide services to others on a shared service basis subject to assessment of scope and nature, and agreement of NS&I. The contract was awarded following an open and competitive tender process and commenced on the 1st April 2014, and is subject to ongoing scrutiny based on defined service levels, transparency requirements and a clear risk strategy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cancer patients aged between 13 and 24 have (a) accessed treatments through the already approved Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list, (b) applied for individual CDF requests, (c) had individual CDF requests put forward for consideration by the CDF panel, (d) had individual CDF requests approved by the CDF panel and (e) had individual CDF requests refused by the CDF panel in each of the last three years.
Norman Lamb
Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority and information on the age of patients who received cancer drugs was not collected.
NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and advises that it does not analyse Cancer Drugs Fund data by age ranges.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Prime Minister, for what reasons the G7 Summit Declaration does not mention Iraq; what discussions took place at that summit on (a) the rise of Al Qaeda-linked organisations in western and northern Iraq and (b) other issues relating to Iraq; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Cameron
I refer the hon. Member to my Oral Statement on the G7 on 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 549.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.
Jeremy Wright
I have met with the Nigerian Attorney General twice on 1 October 2013 and 9 January 2014 to discuss justice issues and was accompanied by officials on both occasions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.
Mark Simmonds
No FCO Ministers have met the Nigerian Attorney General since January 2012. Given the range and frequency of meetings between FCO officials with the Nigerian Attorney General, I am unable to offer a full list of them. The Metropolitan Police Proceeds of Corruption Unit are investigating complaints made about the case of oil block OPL-245 in Nigeria. Because this is an on-going investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment any further.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.
Mr Francis Maude
Details of meetings held by Ministers and Permanent Secretaries with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at Gov.uk.
Information on meetings by other officials is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the financial penalties for non-compliance with the minimum wage issued by HM Revenue and Customs in 2013-14 were for the then maximum sum of £5,000.
Mr David Gauke
The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously. HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (0800 917 2368). In addition, HMRC conduct targeted compliance activity based on data received from various sources and robust risk assessment processes, to identify the sectors and employers across the United Kingdom, who are considered more likely to be failing to pay NMW.
The Government has increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent and the maximum penalty has increased from £5,000 to £20,000. The revised penalty is calculated as 100 per cent of the total underpayment for all of the workers specified in a Notice of Underpayment relating to pay reference periods that commence on or after 7 March 2014.
HMRC issued the maximum penalty of £5,000 to 52 employers identified as owing workers arrears of pay under national minimum wage legislation in 2013/14.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many of the employers issued with a notice of underpayment of the minimum wage by HM Revenue and Customs since 1 October 2013 have been considered for naming and shaming by his Department; how many of those employers have successfully appealed against being named and shamed; how many employers have been named and shamed; and how many cases remain under consideration.
Jenny Willott
Under the revised Naming Scheme the Government will name all employers that have been issued with a Notice of Underpayment (NoU) unless employers meet one of the exceptional criteria or have arrears of £100 or less.
Employers have 28 days to appeal against the NoU. If the employer does not appeal or unsuccessfully appeals against this NoU, BIS will consider them for naming. The employer then has 14 days to make representations to BIS outlining whether they meet any of the very exceptional criteria: naming by BIS carries a risk of personal harm to an individual or their family, or there are national security risks associated with naming, or there are other factors which suggests that it would not be in the public interest to name the employer or company. Of these, the public interest criteria will only apply in very exceptional circumstances. If BIS do not receive any representations or the representations received do not meet the criteria, the employer will be named via a BIS press release.
One employer has made a representation that was successful and four employers have had arrears of under £100. We are unable to release information on how many cases are under consideration.
The Government has already named 30 employers under the revised scheme. Between them they owed workers over £50,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £24,000.