The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he next expects the Friends of Syria Group to meet next.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Core Group of the Friends of Syria are due to meet in London on 22 January at senior official level, following the meeting of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Mexican counterpart on strengthening UK-Mexico business relations.
Mr Hugo Swire
I visited Mexico from 2 to 5 November and held High Level Political Talks with Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Meade and Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos de Icaza. We discussed a broad range of topics which included our respective efforts to tackle Ebola, countering extremism across the globe, human rights, as well as strengthening UK-Mexico business relations. The UK and Mexico are committed to doubling bilateral trade from 2010 levels by the end of this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-01-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of new cases of historic child abuse which have come forward in the last 12 months; and what recent assessment she has made of the capabilities of police forces to deal with such cases.
Lynne Featherstone
Child sexual abuse is a reprehensible crime which this government is determined to stamp out. We have been clear that if anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, or knows of someone who has been a victim, then they should
report it to the police so that it can be thoroughly investigated. The Home Office does not collate statistics on the number of historic cases of child abuse being reported. The resourcing for individual operations investigating child sexual abuse is an operational matter for the relevant Chief Officer.
Operation Hydrant is the national policing response to the oversight and co-ordination of all child abuse investigations concerning persons of public prominence or those offences which took place historically in institutional
settings. Overseen by the National Policing Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigations, Operation Hydrant is responsible for the production of best practice guidance for Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs) investigating
relevant allegations.
The College of Policing has also produced Authorised Professional Practice (APP) for forces on Managing complex child abuse investigations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders given custodial sentences for offences committed during the public disorder in London in August 2011 were given terms of imprisonment of 12 months or less.
Mike Penning
Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent judiciary, taking account all of the circumstances of the case. Numerous offences were committed during the disorder including theft, criminal damage, burglary and various disorder offences but most commonly violent disorder. As of 10 August 2012, of the 2,138 persons sentenced, 1,396 (65 per cent) were sentenced at the Crown Court, of which 1,137 (81 per cent) received immediate custodial sentences with an average custodial sentence length (ACSL) of 19.6 months. This compares to an ACSL of 11.3 months for offenders committed for sentence at the Crown Court for similar offences in England and Wales 2010.
The latest available data shows that the number of offenders given a custodial sentence of 12 months or less for offences committed during the public disorder in London in August 2011 was 640.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-01-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the comments by Lord De Mauley on 13 January relating to United Kingdom milk production, whether they will examine the French system for the marketing of milk with a view to improving the economic prospects for dairy farmers in England.
Lord De Mauley
The French system for the marketing of milk helps dairy producers maximise their revenue through the use of Geographical Indicators (GIs). We are already supporting the marketing of high value cheese and other dairy products by encouraging British food specialities to apply for protected status.
We are also pushing for better Country of Origin labelling to help promote British dairy products. We have raised this with the new EU Agriculture Commissioner and the Commission is due to publish a report on the feasibility of mandatory labelling next month.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-01-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the percentage change in spending on rights of way and countryside access by each local highway authority between 2010–11 and 2014–15.
Lord De Mauley
Local highway authorities are responsible for protecting the rights of the public to use footpaths and other rights of way. They are also responsible for determining their own local spending priorities and it is for local people to hold them to account. Consequently, the information requested is held by each local highway authority, not centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-01-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have made of the situation of human rights in Turkey.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We and our EU partners monitor closely the human rights situation in Turkey. The UK supports the EU Commission’s assessment of human rights in Turkey, given in its 2014 Annual Progress Report on Turkey’s EU accession. In 2014, Turkey made progress on its human rights reform agenda and adopted an Action Plan for the Prevention of Human Rights Violations. Turkey also continued to build the capacity of its human rights institutions. We welcome this progress and the continuing efforts of the Turkish government aimed at resolving the Kurdish issue.
However, as the EU’s report has underlined, there is still much to do to implement action plans, strengthen further the human rights institutional framework, and bring Turkish human rights legislation in line with European and international standards, including on rights for minority religious and ethnic groups.
The report also highlighted areas of concern over the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the rule of law, and restrictions on the freedom of expression, including temporary bans on social media imposed by the Turkish government. We will continue to work with our EU partners and international institutions, such as the EU and Council of Europe, to support Turkey in its continuing reform agenda.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans the Department for Education have to increase funding for summer schools.
Lord Nash
Since 2012, the Department for Education has provided funding to enable secondary schools to run a summer school for their new pupils who are classed as disadvantaged. These events provide an excellent opportunity for secondary schools to help disadvantaged pupils understand what and how they will be studying in key stage 3, and also to help those who are behind in key areas such as literacy and numeracy to catch up with their peers.
The 2015 summer schools programme opened for registrations on Monday 19 January 2015. As in previous years, schools will receive £250 (if running a one-week summer school) or £500 (if running a two-week summer school) for every eligible pupil who confirms they want to attend the summer school.
Any decision on the future of the summer schools programme would be made as part of the next Spending Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boswell of Aynho on 2015-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each government department, from January to June 2014, (1) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Lords was overridden, (2) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Commons was overridden, and (3) in respect of how many documents an override occurred in (a) both Houses or (b) either House.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government seeks to avoid breaching the Scrutiny Reserve Resolutions, continuing to account for overrides in writing to the Committees. The European Union Committee’s Report on 2013-14 (House of Lords Paper 6) published on 1 July 2014, recognised that continued positive engagement between the Committee’s secretariat and Departments has seen the number of overrides fall significantly since 2010, noting that many of the overrides that continue to be recorded relate to sensitive and fast-moving foreign policy matters, which cannot be made public beforehand, and where a scrutiny override may be difficult to avoid. That remained the case in the period January-June 2014 where of the 25 overrides across both Houses, 21 were in this category in the House of Lords and 22 in the House of Commons. During this period, 476 Explanatory Memoranda were submitted.
The figures requested are set out below:
|
Department |
(1). House of Lords Override |
(2). House of Commons override |
(a). No. of overrides in both Houses |
(b). Total no. of overrides |
|
Foreign and Commonwealth Office |
19 |
21 |
19 |
21 |
|
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills |
4 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
|
Totals |
23 |
23 |
21 |
25 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patel of Bradford on 2015-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the 32 per cent rise in the number of deaths from heroin or morphine abuse between 2012 and 2013; and how many of the 765 people who died as a result of heroin or morphine abuse in 2013 had left drug treatment in the month that preceded their death.
Earl Howe
At this stage it is not possible to draw any definitive conclusions about a longer-term trend in deaths from one year’s data. Public Health England is currently analysing the data to better understand the reasons for the increase.