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Tag: 2014

  • Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will assist in the implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for diamonds coming from the Central African Republic.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Government implements its commitments under the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) in full. In order to maintain the integrity of the KPCS, the Central African Republic (CAR) was temporarily suspended from the KPCS in May 2013, preventing the possible introduction of rough diamonds produced in CAR into the legitimate diamond trade. This suspension was upheld in June 2014. It is likely to remain in place until the security situation in CAR improves significantly and the government of CAR is able to re-establish compliance with the KPCS.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the inclusion of a sustainable development goal to reduce inequality within and among countries by 2030 on the list of proposals being considered by United Nations member states.

    Baroness Northover

    The UK supports a focus on “leaving no one behind” across the post-2015 framework, as was recommended by the High Level Panel Report on the post-2015 development agenda, which was co-chaired by the Prime Minister.

    In practice, “leaving no one behind” means that targets must be met across all income and social groups.

    Language on inequality is included in the most recent draft list of goals and targets released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June. The final goals and targets in the post-2015 development framework will however be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to school clothing grants via (a) vouchers and (b) cash or cheque to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

    Mr David Laws

    There is no national school clothing grant operating currently in England.

    Individual local authorities and academies may choose to provide school clothing grants or to help with the cost of school clothing in cases of financial hardship. In such cases, it is for the local authority or academy concerned to decide the criteria upon which pupils are entitled to this support. Local authorities and academies which choose to run such schemes must do so from within their existing delegated budgets.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to benefits from the pupil premium to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

    Mr David Laws

    Universal credit will be fully rolled out in the next Parliament from 2017/18, and no pupil premium spending decisions for that period have yet been taken. For example, the per-pupil funding rates have not been decided beyond 2014/15. This means that it is not possible to estimate the potential cost of extending entitlement on the pupil premium budget.

  • Austin Mitchell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Austin Mitchell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Austin Mitchell on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inshore fisheries and conservation authorities in England have bylaws to prohibit the setting of intertidal nets; and how many land-based officers in each authority police and enforce those bylaws.

    George Eustice

    Most Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) in England have byelaws which affect net fishing activities in the intertidal zone. These byelaws vary between IFCAs, with each Authority prescribing certain net specifications, geographic areas, time restrictions and other limitations. Details of each IFCA’s byelaws can be found on their respective websites.

    The IFCAs with byelaws relating to intertidal nets are:

    · Cornwall IFCA

    · Devon and Severn IFCA

    · Eastern IFCA

    · Kent and Essex IFCA

    · North Eastern IFCA

    · North West IFCA

    · Northumberland IFCA

    · Southern IFCA

    · Sussex IFCA

    Isles of Scilly IFCA is the only Authority not to have any byelaws relating to intertidal nets, as this is not a fishing activity that takes place in the Isles of Scilly.

    Most IFCAs have enforcement officers based both on land and at sea. These officers enforce all byelaws, not specifically those concerning intertidal nets. The latest figures held by Defra are:

    Cornwall IFCA: 12 officers

    Devon and Severn IFCA: 8 officers

    Eastern IFCA: 10 officers, 3 land based

    Kent and Essex IFCA: 2 land based officers, 6 sea based officers

    North Eastern IFCA: 6 officers, 2 dedicated land based

    North West IFCA: 8 mostly land based officers

    Northumberland IFCA: 8 officers and 1 part time

    Southern IFCA: 10 officers

    Sussex IFCA: 4 officers

  • 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 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise the case of Fowzan al-Harbi with the Saudi Arabian government.

    Hugh Robertson

    We are aware of the case of Fowzan al-Harbi. We maintain a regular dialogue with the Saudi authorities on a range of human rights issues, including of human rights defenders.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children aged (a) under 10 and (b) 10 years and over were admitted to hospital with a (i) primary and (ii) secondary diagnosis of liver disease in each year since 1997.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The attached tables give the number of finished admission episodes for children aged (a) under 10 years and (b) 10 – 17years,who were admitted to hospital with a (i) primary and (ii) secondary diagnosis of liver disease from 1997-98 to 2012-13.

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times the Gold Suite has been opened at each Immigration Removal Centre in England and Wales in the last year; and what the nature was of each incident that caused it to be opened.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office command suite structure for the management of serious
    incidents is based on the model operated by the Prison Service. Silver Command
    Suites are opened in the establishment where the incident occurred.

    A Gold Command Suite is opened in Prison Service Headquarters for incidents
    where the Home Office requests mutual assistance from the Prison Service and is
    attended by a Home Office senior manager.

    Any other serious incident, which does not require mutual assistance but
    requires ongoing management, is dealt with by opening a Gold Command Suite at
    Detention Operations headquarters.

    The number of times Silver Suites have been opened in the past year in
    immigration removal centres is detailed in the table below for January 2013
    to March 2014 and is provided in line with the data periods for published statistics.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost per (a) prison place and (b) prisoner in each category of prison was in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Department routinely publishes average costs per prisoner and prison place, based on actual net resource expenditure for each private and public sector prison and in summary form for the whole of the prison estate in England and Wales on an annual basis after the end of each financial year. This includes a breakdown of these costs by prison category and individual prison within each category, and separately by prisoner gender.

    The most recently published figures are for financial year 2012-13 which give an average annual Overall cost per place of £36,808 and average annual Overall cost per prisoner of £34,766. An average annual cost per male prisoner of £34,306 and £44,746 per female prisoner, based on Overall resource costs, is also published.

    The information for financial year 2012-13 is available in the Cost per Place and Prisoner and Supplementary Information files on the Department’s website at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201213

    Figures for 2013-14 will be published alongside the Management Information Addendums to the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts in October 2014.

    Continuing to reduce prison unit costs is one of the key targets for the Department. Between 2009/10 and 2012/13 prison unit costs (based on Overall prison costs) have reduced in real terms by 16% per place and 13% per prisoner.

    “

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which official welfare-related engagements in Scotland (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have attended together with Ministers in the Department of Work and Pensions since May 2010.

    David Mundell

    The Secretary of State for Scotland and I have carried out a series of welfare related visits from which we have fed back to DWP Ministers. DWP have also carried out a series of welfare related meetings. Specific accompanied visits are:

    In 2011 the then Secretary of State for Scotland undertook in April a visit to High Riggs Jobcentre Plus with Chris Grayling, and in May attended a youth employment event in Irvine with Iain Duncan Smith.

    In November 2012, Lord Freud and I undertook a series of welfare related engagements including meeting with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Edinburgh Council and Dunedin Canmore Housing Association; discussions with locally elected members from Dumfries and Galloway, West Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire; and meeting with the Scottish Parliament Welfare Reform Committee.

    In July 2013, Lord Freud and I met with both the Scottish Minister for Housing and Welfare, Margaret Burgess MSP and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), at Lord Freud’s office in London.

    Lord Freud and I also attended the 2013 Annual COSLA Conference where Lord Freud gave a key note speech on welfare reform.

    I recently completed a second round of meetings with all 32 local authorities in Scotland to seek their feedback on how the welfare reform changes are working in practice. I was also pleased to give evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee on the 26 June 2014.