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  • David Burrowes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    David Burrowes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy that UK public funds should not be used for the purposes of campaigning for more liberal abortion laws in another country.

    Lynne Featherstone

    In many countries abortion may be permitted only on limited or highly restricted grounds. In these circumstances, we can consider support to increase awareness among policy-makers, legislators, national health authorities and health personnel of the circumstances under which abortion is allowed. We can also work to highlight the consequences arising from the complications of unsafe abortion, such as the burden of maternal ill-health and high health service costs.

    In addition we can also consider support to locally-led efforts to enable legal and policy reform in circumstances where the existing law and policy are contributing to high maternal mortality and morbidity; and to regional or international initiatives that are working to prevent unsafe abortion.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase trust in the Metropolitan Police.

    Damian Green

    The majority of police officers serving in London and elsewhere do their jobs
    well, serving their communities with dedication and professionalism. We are
    building on this by:
    • Delivering the first-ever Code of Ethics, which is due to be published
    shortly by the College of Policing. The Code sets out clearly the high
    standards of behaviour expected from all police officers and staff of all ranks;
    • Establishing, through the College of Policing, a set of national registers of
    chief officer reward packages, gifts and hospitality and business interests
    including second jobs. The College is also producing a national register of
    "struck-off" officers to record those dismissed for misconduct, ensuring that
    those individuals are not re-employed by the police;
    • Legislating for a new offence of police corruption, supplementing the
    existing offence of misconduct in public office and focusing clearly on those
    who hold police powers, as an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill
    already before Parliament;
    • Strengthening the Independent Police Complaints Commission so that it will
    have responsibility for dealing with all serious and sensitive cases involving
    the police. HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary has also been commissioned to
    look specifically at the anti-corruption capability of police forces, including
    professional standards departments;
    • Advertising now for Direct Entry to the police this autumn at Superintendent
    level, which will bring a fresh perspective and approach and will open up
    policing culture; and
    • Introducing a comprehensive package of reform to stop and search which will
    contribute to a significant reduction in the overall use of the powers, better
    and more intelligence-led stop-and-search, and improved stop-to-arrest ratios.

  • Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual cost to her Department is of providing UK border control services at (a) Paris Gare Du Nord station, (b) Bruxelles Midi station and (c) Calais port and Eurotunnel terminus.

    James Brokenshire

    The annual costs of providing UK border control services are as follow:
    Paris Gare Du Nord station – £4.6 million
    Bruxelles Midi station – £3.3 million
    Calais port – £21.8 million
    Eurotunnel terminus (Coquelles) – £21.2 million

    The above resource costs are based on the last financial year’s data(2013/14)
    and are taken from the Home office accounting system Adelphi. These have not
    yet been audited. Publication of the annual set of accounts will not present
    these costs in this level of detail.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will digitise all evidence relating to Hillsborough which is being reviewed by the IPCC and Operation Resolve investigations; and if she will make it her policy to publish such evidence electronically upon completion of both investigations.

    Damian Green

    The IPCC and Operation Resolve are responsible for the publication of the
    findings of their investigations. Decisions on whether to publish will be made
    once the investigations are complete.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of contraband cigarettes entering the UK were originally manufactured in the UK.

    Mr David Gauke

    The information requested is not available. HM Revenue & Customs records data on seizures of illicit products but this does not include the country of manufacture.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department intends to create a strategy to mitigate the effect of air pollution on public health.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Government recognizes the impact poor air quality can have on human health and the environment and has put in place a framework for delivering improvements via the Air Quality Strategy and Local Air Quality Management. The European Commission also has requirements for Member States to meet legally binding limits for key pollutants to protect public health and ecosystems.

    The Government is committed to ongoing work to reduce this impact and has invested many billions of pounds in measures that will help to reduce air pollution from transport, energy and industrial sources, including over £1 billion in ultra-low emission vehicles and sustainable transport measures, incentives and infrastructure projects for electric and hybrid vehicles, a Local Sustainable Transport Fund of £490 million, a fund of around £100 million for less polluting bus services and investment in measures to promote cycling and walking. All these measures are helping to reduce transport emissions, which are the main contributor to air pollution in towns and cities.

    In addition to these national measures, local authorities have a responsibility to manage local air quality and to put in place plans to improve air quality where national objectives are not met. Local action is also supported by the Government’s air quality grant programme, which has provided over £50 million since 1997 for innovative projects.

    Defra works with Public Health England, the Department of Health and other Government departments to maintain and develop methodologies for assessing air quality impacts on health and the environment, and to develop evidence-based measures to ensure air quality is appropriately prioritised and integrated into local strategies. For instance the Government has established an Air Quality Indicator as part of the new Public Health Outcomes Framework. Local authorities will be expected to deliver against 68 measurable outcomes (indicators) for health, including for air quality.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Government Minister took the decision that there were no grounds for a futher inquiry into the events in Amritsar in 1984.

    Mr William Hague

    The Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, was asked by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) to lead a review to establish the facts relating to the UK’s involvement in Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple. The report was submitted to the Prime Minister and as I told Parliament in my statement to the House on 4 February 2014, Official Report, columns 139-142, it clearly showed the limited nature of UK advice on Operation Blue Star, and that there were no grounds for a further inquiry.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he or officials of his Department last raised the issue of torture of prisoners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the government of UAE.

    Hugh Robertson

    The Government unreservedly condemns the use of torture and urges all countries to comply with international law. Our close relationship with the UAE allows us to discuss sensitive issues, including human rights concerns, at every level.

  • Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the First Minister of Scotland has received from (a) the British embassy in Washington and (b) consular offices in the US ahead of his upcoming visit to that country.

    Mr David Lidington

    The British Embassy in Washington, and the New York Consulate, have provided support for the visit this week of the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, to the US. The Consul General in New York hosted a lunch at his residence on 7 April, in association with Scottish Development International (SDI), for the First Minister and 17 Scottish companies from the First Minister’s accompanying trade mission, to which key business figures were invited. The British Embassy in Washington worked with the New York Consulate to organise port courtesies for the First Minister, upon arrival in New York ,to allow the Scottish Affairs Office (based in the British Embassy Washington) to greet the First Minister at the airport and expedite customs and immigration procedures.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Greek counterpart on whether protests will be permitted to coincide with the upcoming EU meeting.

    Mr David Lidington

    Ihave not raised this specific issue with my Greek counterpart. Authorities in Greece have the constitutional right to place restrictive or preventative measures on outdoor demonstrations. No such restrictions were in place on 4 and 5 April 2014, the dates on which the informal meeting of EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held in Athens.