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  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many journalists have been imprisoned in the occupied Palestinian territories since October 2015 and what representations they have made to the government of Israel.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As of the beginning of March 2016, we were aware of four Palestinian journalists from the West Bank arrested since October 2015. We are also aware of a Gazan journalist who was detained for seven hours at Erez crossing. We are clear that journalists should have the necessary protection to do their jobs in safety, and strongly believe freedom of the media is an important human rights principle.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to enable UNRWA to deliver urgent aid to Palestinian refugees trapped in Yarmouk camp in Damascus.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK is extremely concerned about the situation in Yarmouk camp in Syria, especially given intense fighting between Daesh and Al-Nusra Front in recent weeks. According to UNRWA, the intensified fighting has acutely aggravated shortages of food and clean water for the approximately 6000 civilians residing inside Yarmouk. We condemn in the strongest terms the grave crimes committed by Daesh and Al-Nusra Front against civilians in the camp, and continue to call on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians, ensure humanitarian access to the area, and allow the safe passage and evacuation of civilians.

    We welcome UNRWA’s efforts in protecting and assisting vulnerable Palestinian refugees. To date, the UK has allocated over £59 million to UNRWA to provide assistance for Palestinian refugees affected by the violence in Syria and the region.

    The UK has given support to the UN and international NGOs since the start of the conflict to deliver aid to besieged and hard to reach areas and continue to use our position in the UN Security Council to push for humanitarian access to be granted to these areas. We are also part pf the International Syria Support Group that agreed at its meeting on 11 February that humanitarian access would be opened to a number of priority areas, including Yarmouk, as a first step to accelerating full and sustained access across Syria. Since then, UNRWA has delivered 21 convoys with multi-sectoral assistance to 19,000 people in Yalda, Babella, Beit-Sahm, including thousands of residents in and from Yarmouk.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take in response to Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality plan to demolish Palestinian homes to make way for a tourist complex in the Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have not raised the specific issue of demolition of Palestinian homes to make way for the Kedem Compound. We are not aware of any impending home demolitions to make way for the site.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the remarks by the Foreign Secretary in 2010 that the window of opportunity for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would have closed by 2016, they have plans to announce the end of the possibility of such a solution.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We believe a negotiated two-state solution remains the only way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict once and for all. We continue to press both sides strongly on the need to refrain from taking action which make peace more difficult. We believe that if both parties show the bold leadership and political strength necessary to find a way forward, a two-state solution remains possible.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning its possession of nuclear weapons and the admission of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have regular discussions with the Government of Israel on a wide range of nuclear-related issues. Israel has not declared a nuclear weapons programme.

    Israel does have a facility-specific safeguards agreement in place with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The agreement applies to a single facility in Israel, which is the Soreq Nuclear Research Reactor. The facility is inspected by the IAEA to ensure that it is not used for weapons purposes. We continue to call on Israel to upgrade this arrangement to a full scope Comprehensive Safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered the risk to the solvency of the Pension Protection Fund of owners of companies with funding deficits selling the business for a nominal consideration or to an unsuitable purchaser.

    Baroness Altmann

    The independent Pensions Regulator, which oversees worked based pensions, has a statutory objective to reduce the risk of situations arising which may lead to compensation being payable from the Pension Protection Fund. It was given a significant range of anti-avoidance powers in the Pensions Act 2004, which can be deployed where it is appropriate and where the legal tests laid down in legislation are met.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had any talks with the owners, managers or advisers to BHS; and whether they will take any action to protect employees, creditors and pensioners.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    This is a worrying time for the BHS workforce and their families.

    I understand that there are no plans for immediate store closures and that the administrators are looking to sell BHS as a going concern.

    Clearly if this proves not to be possible, then we stand ready to help those affected, including through Jobcentre Plus’ Rapid Response Service, to help people move into new jobs as quickly as possible.

    The Insolvency Service continues to liaise with the administrators, and stands ready to provide statutory assistance to employees in the event that the commercial situation changes.

    I understand that the BHS schemes are in the early stages of a Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment period, during which the PPF will determine the final funding position of the scheme and whether it should assume responsibility for a scheme. We cannot comment on this, or any other individual case directly.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will establish an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding BHS being placed in administration, and in particular in to the implications for employees, pension scheme members and creditors.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    When a company enters administration, the administrators have to report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills within three months on the conduct of the directors.

    In the case of BHS the Insolvency Service is making early contact with the administrators to discuss the directors’ conduct and to consider whether further steps, such as a detailed investigation, may be necessary.

    Where misconduct is established it can lead to disqualification of a director for between 2 and 15 years.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the legislation protecting creditors in the event of business failure.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    We do keep insolvency legislation under review. We seek to ensure that the legislative framework strikes the right balance between rescuing a business, which may also save jobs, and the rights of creditors who may lose out financially.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the financial strength of the Pension Protection Fund.

    Baroness Altmann

    The Pension Protection Fund is run by an independent Board and reviews its financial position regularly. It manages over £23 billion of assets and, in the 2014/15 Annual Report, the last published, declared a funding ratio of 115.1 per cent and a surplus of £3.6 billion.