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  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment have they made of the case for removing the Lesser Duty Rule.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government believes that effective trade defence measures should be proportionate, not protectionist, and strike a balance between removing the injury to producers caused by unfair trade, and avoiding imposing unnecessary costs on user industries, retailers, consumers and the rest of the economy.

    The evidence we have shows that duties that have been imposed under the Lesser Duty Rule on imports of Chinese steel into the EU have been effective in delivering rapid, substantial and sustained reductions in imports. For example, imports of wire rod, organic coated steel and stainless steel flat products are down by more than 90%. We have said we would look at evidence that others might provide.

    There are a number of examples where the Lesser Duty Rule has avoided unnecessary costs to the rest of the economy. In the case of solar panels for example, the removal of the Lesser Duty Rule could have cost the downstream UK solar sector around £500m in one year.

    We support looking at the methodology under which injury is calculated. Where the European Commission has set duties that we believe to be too low to remove the injury caused to EU industry by unfair trade, we will push for them to be increased, as we have done in the reinforcing bar and cold rolled flat products cases.

  • FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by FALSE on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by a delegation of British lawyers Children in Military Custody published in June 2012 and the recommendations of the UN Committee against Torture published on 4 May, whether they will call on Israel (1) to incorporate the crime of torture in its penal code, as defined in Article 1 of the UN Convention Against Torture, (2) to remove the defence of necessity” as a possible justification of torture in national legislation

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK is firmly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as compliance with international humanitarian law. We regularly discuss implementation of those obligations with the Israeli authorities. We are aware that Israel is in the process of incorporating the crime of torture into national legislation.

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) funded and facilitated an independent report on Children in Military Custody by leading British lawyers in 2012. Ministers and our Ambassador in Tel Aviv have urged Israel to take action on the recommendations in this report. We remain concerned at the number of Palestinian minors held in Israeli detention and continue to push for further measures to ensure that international standards are upheld in regards to the treatment of those detained. We welcomed progress made in recent Israeli policy amendments, such as the increase of the age of majority from 16 to 18 years old, and the enactment of a special statute of limitations for minors. We continue to encourage Israel to introduce mandatory audio-visual equipment for all interrogations.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will raise with the Palestinian Authority the recent reported increase in arbitrary arrest and allegations of torture and ill-treatment of their detainees.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are deeply concerned by these reports, and have raised our concerns around the conduct of the security forces with the Palestinian Authority. Through our Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, we are working with the Palestinian Authority to support reform of the Palestinian security sector, aiming to strengthen civilian oversight and accountability of the security forces.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to respond to the report from the Prison Reform Trust In care, out of trouble; and whether they will publish an assessment of the position of children in care within the criminal justice system.

    Lord Nash

    As at 31 March 2015, five per cent of 10-17 year olds who had been in care for a year or more had been convicted of an offence or were subject to a final warning or reprimand.[1] Proven offending by young people, including looked after children has fallen significantly in recent years. Since the peak in youth offending in 2007, proven youth offending is down 79%; first-time entrants to the youth justice system are down 82%. Youth offending teams work with the police and other agencies to prevent looked after children from offending and coming in to contact with the youth justice system.

    The Government has asked Sir Martin Narey to review residential care for looked after children and he will make recommendations on criminalisation. Charlie Taylor is leading a review of youth justice. We will respond to those reviews in due course.

    I am grateful to the Prison Reform Trust for their contribution to this important debate. The Minister of State for Children and Families recently met with Lord Laming to discuss the contents of the Prison Reform Trust’s report ‘In care, out of trouble’.


    [1] Department for Education Statistical First Release – 34/2015

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will call on the government of Israel to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on torture to visit places of arrest and holding of suspects in the West Bank, together with prisons and detention centres in Israel.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have no plans to call on the Israeli authorities to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on torture to visit Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the arrest in Diyarbakir on 10 May of Mr Kamuran Yüksek of the Democratic Region Party and make appropriate representations to the government of Turkey.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK as well as in Turkey, continues to mount deadly terrorist attacks in Turkey, particularly in the country’s south-east. In the course of security operations in that region, a number of Democratic Regions Party officials have been detained, including Kamuran Yüksek. We regularly urge the Turkish authorities to respect human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, in the course of anti-terror operations, and to support the rule of law. We will continue to monitor these issues closely.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Turkey about the planned removal of parliamentary immunity from a large number of elected deputies in the Grand National Assembly, in particular from the Peoples’ Democratic Party; and whether they plan to make representations to the government of Turkey about its obligations as a member of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and NATO.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The lifting of parliamentary immunity is a matter for the Turkish parliament. As a modern democracy and candidate for EU accession, we would expect Turkey to undertake any subsequent legal processes transparently and fully respect the rule of law.

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of the present design of ballot papers for persons with difficulties of sight.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The design of ballot papers used in elections and referendums in the UK was revised by the last Government to make them clearer and easier to understand for voters. The changes were subject to a programme of user-testing involving representative samples of the voting public. RNIB, who were consulted on the changes, considered that they did not raise significant issues for blind and partially sighted people

    Returning Officers are required to display an enlarged version of the ballot paper in each polling station and provide upon request a large hand-held sample copy to assist visually impaired electors to vote. They must also ensure each polling station is equipped with a tactile voting device to assist blind / partially sighted electors. This device has raised numbers and numbers in Braille and fits over the ballot paper. When the Presiding Officer or a companion reads out the list of candidates or parties to the voter, it enables them to cast their vote independently and in secret.

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is permissible for the ballot papers sent to postal voters to be a different colour to the ballot papers issued in a corresponding polling station.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Ballot papers for any given poll have a consistent appearance in order to reduce the risk of completed votes being identifiable as having been submitted by a particular voter or voters when they are verified and counted. That could happen if, for example, coloured ballot papers were used for postal voting (but not voting in person) and there was low use of them. Different coloured ballot papers are already used to help voters distinguish between different polls where polls are combined, and further use of different colours could lead to confusion.

  • Lord De Mauley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord De Mauley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord De Mauley on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of each of the issues raised in the response of the British Horse Society to their consultation on a draft cycling and walking investment strategy.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are now analysing the feedback received during the draft Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy eight week consultation period, which closed on Monday 23 May. We expect to publish the final Strategy this summer along with a Government response to the consultation.