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  • Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he is making to encourage the government of St Lucia to take steps to progress the trial of the defendants accused of murdering Gloria Greenwood.

    Mark Simmonds

    As soon as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was informed of the death of a British national, consular officials contacted the St Lucian authorities about the investigation into Mrs Greenwood’s tragic death. They remain in regular contact. Most recently, St Lucia’s Crown Prosecution Service informed our officials that a pre-trial hearing had been adjourned until 8 May. We will continue to press upon the St Lucian authorities the importance we place on bringing this case to trial. Consular officials have updated Mrs Greenwood’s family and continue to provide full consular assistance.

  • Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the St Lucia government on delays in the criminal justice system in homicide cases in that country.

    Mark Simmonds

    Our officials have had a number of discussions with the Government of St Lucia about delays in the criminal justice system, particularly in relation to cases involving British nationals. In December last year, our High Commissioner to St Lucia raised the issue with the St Lucian Home Affairs Minister and in April 2014, the British Resident Commissioner raised the issue with the St Lucian Prime Minister. I also wrote to the Prime Minister of St Lucia in September about the delays in the criminal justice system.

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office supports wider government efforts to build the St Lucian Government’s capacity to prosecute serious crime. This includes the deployment of a Crown Prosecution Service Criminal Justice Advisor (CJA) to the Eastern Caribbean. The CJA provides strategic analysis and advice to politicians and practitioners (judiciary, prosecutors and investigators) in order to improve the efficiency of the justice system and remove blockages to effective prosecutions.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to bring forward draft regulations for the introduction of standard packaging for tobacco products.

    Jane Ellison

    Before reaching a final decision on standardised packaging of tobacco products, and in order to ensure that the decision is properly and fully informed, we intend to publish the draft regulations to make sure that intentions are clear, alongside a final short consultation.

    This consultation will ask, in particular, for views on anything new since the last full public consultation that is relevant to a final decision. The content and timing of the consultation will be announced shortly.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to bring forward regulations for the introduction of the ban on smoking in cars with children present.

    Jane Ellison

    The Children and Families Act 2014 contains regulation making powers to prohibit smoking in private vehicles carrying children. The Department is currently drawing up proposals for how this could be achieved, which we will consult on. We plan to introduce these regulations during the lifetime of this Parliament.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will take steps to ensure the negotiations between her Department and Praxis result in the continuation of the Secret Garden Service provided by that organisation.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The decision to invite Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) to take over management of Hillsborough Castle will provide a secure future for the castle and bring considerable economic benefits to the surrounding area.

    To deliver those benefits, HRP need control of the site currently used by Praxis in order to construct the infrastructure necessary to enable substantial visitor numbers to be welcomed to Hillsborough.

    The terms of Praxis’ use of the Walled Garden site were always clear that they would need to leave if given one month’s notice. Praxis confirmed over a year ago that they would leave if given one month’s notice.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her priorities are for extending the scope of the National Crime Agency in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the UK.

    Karen Bradley

    The National Crime Agency is committed to assisting the Police Service of
    Northern Ireland in tackling serious and organised crime as far as the
    restrictions on its powers permit.

    Discussions continue in order to achieve full operating powers for the National
    Crime Agency in Northern Ireland to ensure the response to organised crime in
    Northern Ireland is more effective. This is a priority.

    The National Crime Agency does have full operating powers elsewhere in the UK.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of support available to families with children with autism.

    Norman Lamb

    The Care Bill has simplified the process for adult carers in England to access an assessment of need for social care, based on the appearance of a need for support.

    The Children and Families Act has introduced new arrangements for supporting young people with a special educational need, and their families. A single assessment involving professionals and commissioners, and the child’s family, will identify the care needs for the child or young person (from ages 0 to 25) to inform an individual Education, Health and Care Plan focusing on outcomes and the integrated services to deliver them.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the change has been in the number of passports which were (a) issued and (b) reported (i) lost and (ii) stolen between 2008 and 2013, by issuing passport office.

    James Brokenshire

    Passport applications are distributed across Her Majesty’s Passport Office
    estate based on capacity and resources in each office. Data for 2008 to 2013
    is shown in the following table.

    [INSERT TABLE 1]

    (a) figures prior to 2013 do not include UK passports issued by FCO. 2013 was the transistion year. Full repatriation of this activity completed in early 2014.

    Lost and Stolen data is collated at national level only and not available
    separated by issuing office. The following table provides a breakdown of how
    many passports have been reported (i) lost, and (ii) stolen between 2008 and
    2013.

    [INSERT TABLE 2]

    The category "other" is used by Her Majesty’s Passport Office predominantly
    when a passport is declared damaged or destroyed.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what level of assistance has been offered by UK personnel in efforts to locate the missing Malaysian airliner MH370.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The search for the missing Malaysian Airliner MH370 is an extremely difficult and complex operation. The UK has made a number of contributions to the investigation and search for MH370. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has appointed an accredited representative and an advisor to assist in the investigation, and representatives from Rolls Royce and Inmarsat also provided initial support. Experts from the UK Ministry of Defence, the Hydrographic Office, and the Met Office, have also co-operated with Malaysia and other international partners to analyse available data to help locate the aircraft.

    In addition, the UK deployed submarine HMS Tireless and survey vessel HMS Echo to support the search effort for a signal from MH370’s black box. With the Australian command assessing that there is no prospect of further acoustic detections associated with the aircraft’s black box, HMS Tireless and HMS Echo have been stood down. RAF personnel have also participated in Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force operations to search for wreckage of MH370.

    The Air Accidents Investigations Branch, working as part of an international team, continues to give its full support to the investigation and to share its expertise and analysis with the Malaysian authorities and international partners.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that as economic recovery takes hold proportionately more inward investment will be directed to areas beyond the South East.

    Michael Fallon

    UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) has overall responsibility within Government for the attraction and retention of foreign direct investment across the UK. UKTI works in partnership with each of the Local Enterprise Partnerships in England, and through representatives of each of the Devolved Administrations and London, to maximise the potential of the UK to attract inward investment. UKTI operates under the “UK First” principle, providing foreign investors with all the information and advice necessary to ensure that the UK is the preferred global location for their investment.

    UKTI is supporting cross-government efforts to rebalance the economy in line with the Government’s Industrial Strategy. For example, UKTI focuses on promoting the UK’s strengths in industry sectors, such as advanced manufacturing and food and drink, where the opportunities for the UK to compete for foreign direct investment projects are often in areas beyond the South East. In 2012/13, UKTI recorded a total of 1,599 inward investment projects won for the UK including 67 projects in Wales, 38 projects in Northern Ireland, 111 projects in Scotland, 759 projects in England (excluding London) and 584 projects in London.