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Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to overcome the problem of race hate crimes on Britain’s railway networks in the light of the figures collected by the British Transport Police that show an increase in such crimes of 37 per cent in the past five years.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government considers the safety of passengers on the railway to be of paramount importance. The British Transport Police (BTP) is committed to providing policing services that meet the needs of all passengers and people who work on the railways. In line with the College of Policing’s National Hate Crime Strategy, BTP is working with partners to reduce hate crime and the harm that it causes, increasing the confidence of victims to report, and to identify and prosecute those who commit such crimes.

BTP will also work with Train Operating Companies and Network Rail to improve awareness, vigilance and reporting on hate incidents, and to identify locations and patterns.

01/01/2023
Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by Credit Suisse that Britain leaving the EU could cause a snap recession and reduce GDP by up to two per cent.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we can get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.

The Government notes wider evidence on an ongoing basis.

01/01/2023
Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to better inform all landlords of the new rules that oblige them to check new tenants’ immigration status.

Lord Bates

The Home Office has undertaken a proactive engagement and communications campaign to raise awareness about the roll out of the scheme. This has involved private rented sector engagement, media engagement and the distribution of communications materials across a range of Government and partner channels. We are continuing direct engagement with the private rented sector through a consultative panel, chaired by the Immigration Minister and Lord Best, which includes housing experts and homelessness charities. The Home Office has also undertaken a programme of engagement including training events for all local authorities and presentations at sector conferences.

The panel has helped to shape the communications strategy for the scheme and has collaborated on communications tactics and methods. The Home Office has collaborated with the panel to produce various communications materials which have been shared with the sector and published on GOV.UK. Since October 2015, there has been an increase in web traffic to Right to Rent guidance on GOV.UK with over 80,000 unique views of key pages.

The Home Office will continue proactive engagement and communications activity in the months ahead to ensure landlords and tenants are aware of the materials and guidance available.

01/01/2023

Lord Rooker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rooker on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 July 2014 (HL939), what was the ranking of the UK in the Health at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators report for (1) infant mortality, (2) numbers of MRI and CT Scanners, (3) low birth weight infants, (4) overweight and obesity amongst adults, (5) overweight and obesity amongst children, (6) mortality from cardiovascular disease, and (7) mortality from cancer; how these rankings compared to those for 2013; and what plans they have to improve the UK rankings.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The United Kingdom’s rankings among OECD member states (as shown by the 2015 and 2013 Health at a Glance reports) are the following:

	Health at a Glance 2013	Health at a Glance 2015
Infant mortality	25th lowest out of 34	19th lowest out of 34
Low birth weight infants	21st lowest out of 34	21st lowest out of 34
MRI units	7th lowest out of 28	4th lowest out of 32
CT scanners	3rd lowest out of 29	3rd lowest out of 32
Obesity among adults	28th lowest out of 34	27th lowest out of 34
Overweight and obesity among children (measured)	18th lowest out of 34	32th lowest out of 33
Mortality from cardiovascular disease (ischemic heart disease)	19th lowest out of 33	18th lowest out of 34
Mortality from cardiovascular disease (cerebrovascular disease)	22nd lowest out of 33	14th lowest out of 34
Mortality from cancer	25th lowest out of 33	26th lowest out of 34

The Government welcomes the OECD reports as an authoritative contribution to the development of health policy in the UK. For the health service in England, we have taken note of the OECD’s findings. The underlying data on health outcomes informs the development of our mandates and other guidance to the health and care system, in particular to NHS England and Public Health England.

01/01/2023

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Quin on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what ways they are currently supporting the education and advancement of women in Afghanistan.

Baroness Verma

The UK has prioritised education for girls as part of its development support to Afghanistan. The UK provides £58 million through its Girls Education Challenge Fund, which supports over 180,000 girls in some of the poorest rural and hard to reach areas of Afghanistan to have better access to a quality education. In addition the UK supports the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), a World-Bank managed multi-donor fund. A proportion of this is used to support education and as a result, in 2015 there were more than 3.2 million Afghan girls attending school compared to virtually none in 2001.

The UK also supports programmes to protect women from violence, promote women’s economic empowerment, and strengthen political participation – all necessary to achieve lasting and transformative change for women in Afghanistan.

01/01/2023
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department of Health has begun to carry out a survey of pregnant women where either partner has been to Brazil or other neighbouring countries where there has been a significant outbreak of the Zika virus.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Public Health England (PHE) is actively exploring the feasibility of working with other parts of the United Kingdom to undertake the systematic collection of data on pregnant women presenting to National Health Service maternity services where they have travelled to a country with active Zika virus transmission during pregnancy or within four weeks of conception. The aim of such work would be to measure the impact of Zika virus on obstetric services and on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes for women.

PHE has been working with appropriate Royal Colleges to provide updated guidance for healthcare professionals, including midwives, on the management of any symptomatic patients (particularly pregnant women) returning from affected countries. A copy of this guidance is attached.

01/01/2023
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had, or intend to have, talks with the British Athletic Association about the case for Team GB considering withdrawing from the 2016 Olympic Games due to the risk posed by the Zika virus to pregnant mothers and unborn children.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

My Department is in regular contact with the British Olympic Association and the British Paralympic Association on a range of issues. The risk to those travelling to the regions affected by the Zika virus will continue to be monitored.

01/01/2023
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how and when they intend to introduce and implement a comprehensive plan in relation to the Zika virus to (1) inform fully the British public about that virus, (2) advise on travel to Central and South America in the light of that virus’ prevalence in that region, and (3) clarify all known means of transmission of that virus.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Public Health England (PHE) and the National Travel Health Network and Centre have issued travel advice to people who may be travelling to the affected countries, particularly pregnant women and provided information for the general public through the NHS Choices website.

PHE has been working with appropriate professional groups to develop information and guidance on Zika for clinicians. They have worked in partnership with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to develop specifically targeted at primary care which is available on the PHE website and has been cascaded by the RCGP. A copy of this guidance is attached.

PHE have also issued a Central Alerting System update alert letter to clinicians, which includes specific information and guidance about Zika virus and pregnancy and general guidance on Zika virus and travel. A copy of this is attached.

Although some evidence of sexual transmission exists and there is the possibility that blood transfusions may be able to transmit the virus this will be very rare. Transmission from mother to fetus via the placenta is also possible. If a person acquires Zika abroad and becomes ill on their return to the United Kingdom, mosquito-borne transmission will not occur as the mosquito is not present in the UK.

Information on these issues is available on the PHE website. The Government continues to monitor this situation very closely and will continue to take action as appropriate.

01/01/2023
Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many newspaper journalists and publishers received awards in honours lists published between December 2011 and December 2015, broken down by individual list.

Lord Bridges of Headley

This information is published on GOV.UK.

The number of newspaper journalists and publishers receiving awards in honours lists published between December 2011 and December 2015, broken down by individual list, is given below:

New Year 2012 – 1
Birthday 2012 – 3
New Year 2013 – 4
Birthday 2013 – 1
New Year 2014 – 3
Birthday 2014 – 1
New Year 2015 – 2
Birthday 2015 – nil
New Year 2016 – 1

01/01/2023
Baroness Jolly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many reserve police officers of the Royal Air Force Police they estimate will be deployed in (1) 2015–16, (2) 2016–17, (3) 2017–18, (4) 2018–19, and (5) 2019–20.

Earl Howe

As at December 2015, the strength of the Royal Air Force Police Reserve, trained or in training, was 150. The liability for the Royal Air Force Police Reserve is 200 for the financial years 2015-2016 to 2019-2020 inclusive.

01/01/2023