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Tag: 2014

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been done to implement the recommendation of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations in North Korea (1225, h: p 371) that States which have ties with North Korea, such as diplomatic relations, should form a Contact Group which would communicate human rights concerns to the regime and support initiatives that help improve the human rights situation on the ground.

    Baroness Warsi

    The UN Commission of Inquiry’s (COI) report on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) recommended that states with historically friendly ties, major donors and potential donors and those states engaged in the DPRK through the Six-Party Talks framework form a human rights contact group. Although the UK does not fall into the aforementioned categories, a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office official did meet COI members in April to discuss a range of issues associated with human rights in the DPRK, including the proposal to form a contact group. However, the group has not yet been formed nor have potential members formally been identified. The Minister of State, my Right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), also discussed this with Ambassadors and senior UN Officals in Geneva on 18 June.

    The UK continues to raise concerns over the DPRK human rights situation during meetings with the authorities, most recently with the DPRK Ambassador to the UK in May, but also in Pyongyang where we do so both bilaterally and alongside other EU diplomatic missions.

  • Ms Karen Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ms Karen Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Karen Buck on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many households have been placed in temporary accommodation by London councils in each local authority area outside London since March 2010.

    Kris Hopkins

    [Holding Reply: Monday 17 March 2014]

    I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her of 19 December 2013, Official Report, Column 713W.

  • Baroness Parminter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Parminter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of sixth form colleges in England offered Religious Studies at A-level in 2009 and 2013.

    Lord Nash

    The Department for Education does not hold information on the proportion of sixth-form colleges that offer religious studies at A level.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-03-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what areas they operate drones; and for what use.

    Baroness Kramer

    The Ministry of Defence operates Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) globally for operational surveillance, precision attack and for training purposes.　 Reaper RPAS is the only armed system.　 It operates only in Afghanistan, and professional, qualified pilots follow the exact same Rules of Engagement as pilots of other aircraft types.

    Whilst the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not used any RPAS, its Centre for Environment Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, Food & Environment Research Agency, Environment Agency, Natural England and Royal Botanic Gardens have used small RPAS to support work on flood defence and coastal erosion, and the monitoring of crops, plants and nature reserves.　 All flights were carried out within the UK except for an aerial plant survey in Peru carried out by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

    The Home Office does not itself operate RPAS and the only police force operationally using a system (albeit very occasionally) is Staffordshire. This system is mostly used for patrol sweeps of car park and camping areas at V Festival, security sweeps for VIP events at the National Arboretum, they have also carried out some missing person, search and rescue, and counter-poaching tasks.

    Sussex Police have completed formal training and are now in the process of gathering experience with their own RPAS system – although if an important operational task came up RPAS would be deployed. The formal start date for the trial is in the near future.

    Kent Police, as part of the 2 Seas project, have hosted some RPAS trial flights to assess the performance of the system. They are planning to host an event about the project in July.

    　

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the European Union Fourth Railway Package is likely to preclude nationalisation or re-nationalisation of national railways as a whole or in part.

    Baroness Kramer

    The proposals published by the European Commission on 30 January 2013 would, if adopted, strengthen requirements for the formal separation of infrastructure manager and train operator responsibilities. The proposals make no assumption about the status of the infrastructure manager. They do, however, require the competitive tendering of rail public service contracts in most circumstances.

    There is no particular bar on public companies competing for such tenders, and exemptions to tendering are proposed for small networks and in emergency situations.

    The Italian Council Presidency (Jul-Dec 2014) intends to start Member State level Working Groups about the market opening proposals in July. As these proposals are still under discussion it is too early to say what we think the effect is likely to be.

  • 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 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders received a driving ban alongside a prison sentence of a longer length in each of the last five years.

    Jeremy Wright

    When the courts impose a driving ban and a custodial sentence at the same time, they already make some allowance for the length of time that the offender would normally serve in prison before becoming eligible for release, in order to ensure that disqualification has the desired impact. There are provisions in the Coroner’s and Justice Act 2009 which will give this statutory force. These will be commenced in due course.

    We want to make sure that road traffic offenders face the full consequences of the punishment for their offence. When an offender commits a serious road traffic offence that attracts both a custodial sentence and disqualification from driving, it is essential for public confidence in the criminal justice system that the driving ban has full effect on the offender; he should not benefit from, in effect, a reduction in the length of the ban whilst he serves time in prison. These provisions will ensure that, as now, the court will determine the appropriate length of the ban for the purposes of the offence but it will then be required to extend the ban to take account of time to be spent in prison. This will ensure that there is consistency of action in every case and that driving bans bear equally on all offenders.

    The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. This centrally held information records the period of disqualification into one of thirteen bands. As the exact length of driving ban is not available, it is not possibly to identify how many offenders received a driving ban alongside a prison sentence of a longer length. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MoJ. As such, the information requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Colwyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Colwyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the sub-committee of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation which is investigating extending the human papillomavirus immunisation programme is expected to publish its conclusions and recommendations.

    Earl Howe

    The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Human papilloma virus (HPV) sub-committee will report its findings to JCVI following consideration of ongoing studies by Public Health England on the impact and cost-effectiveness of extending HPV vaccination to men who have sex with men (MSM) and/or adolescent boys.

    It is expected that the MSM modelling study will be completed at the end of 2014 at the earliest, and the adolescent boys modelling study will be completed at the end of 2015 at the earliest. The JCVI will then consider the findings of the HPV subcommittee before deciding what advice or recommendations can be made.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people and what proportion of the working age population have been in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance for over (a) two years, (b) five years and (c) 10 years in each region of England.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is shown in the tables below.

    Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in each Region in England by duration of claim and as a percentage of the working age population – as at August 2013

    Region

    All

    %

    Duration of 2 to 5 years

    %

    Duration of 5 to 10 years

    %

    Duration of over 10 years

    %

    North East

    77,400

    4.9

    14,330

    0.9

    300

    –

    50

    –

    North West

    166,260

    3.8

    22,990

    0.5

    1,400

    –

    180

    –

    Yorkshire and The Humber

    140,760

    4.3

    23,660

    0.7

    810

    –

    110

    –

    East Midlands

    87,700

    3.2

    12,900

    0.5

    630

    –

    40

    –

    West Midlands

    141,210

    4.2

    23,410

    0.7

    1,490

    –

    120

    –

    East of England

    93,300

    2.6

    13,370

    0.4

    420

    –

    50

    –

    London

    191,590

    3.5

    30,990

    0.6

    1,420

    –

    250

    –

    South East

    107,830

    2.1

    13,550

    0.3

    610

    –

    80

    –

    South West

    68,750

    2.2

    8,530

    0.3

    180

    –

    50

    –

    Source: DWP IGS 100% WPLS and ONS Mid-2012 Population Estimates

    Notes:

    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages are shown rounded to one decimal place. “ – “ denotes nil or negligible.
    2. Working age population figures are defined as males aged 16-64 and females aged 16-59.

    “

  • Bob Stewart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Bob Stewart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the practice of Palestinian youths being tried by military courts and sentenced to prison for minor offences.

    Hugh Robertson

    The Government is concerned over the dual court system that is employed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, under which all Palestinians, except those living in East Jerusalem, are subject to trial in military courts irrespective of the charges against them while Israeli youths are tried in civil courts. We also have serious concerns about the treatment of Palestinian children under the Israeli military court system, which we raise regularly with the Israeli authorities. More details can be found at: http://www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/

    “

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Executive on the closure of the Independent Living Fund.

    Mike Penning

    The devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland have been informed of the decision to close the Independent Living Fund on 30 June 2015. I will be writing to Ministers with further details shortly.