The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-06-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of 2014DIN03-010 Impact to outputs of defence electronic warfare center due to five yearly electrical testing.
Mr Philip Dunne
DIN reference 2014DIN03-010 “Impact to outputs of Defence Electronic Warfare Centre due to five yearly electrical testing” was cancelled and withdrawn by the Sponsor on 22 April 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to review the arrangements for providing court interpreters in the light of recent criticism by the President of the Family Division.
Lord Faulks
The arrangements for the provision of interpreters are kept under review.
There has been dramatic improvements in performance in the last two years. The Ministry continues to manage contracts to ensure this improvement is maintained.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the consultation on the proposal to introduce Contracts forDifference auctioning was published; when the European Commission adopted the final state aid guidelines for environmental protection and energy for 2014–2020; and when the Government’s response to the consultation was published.
Baroness Verma
The move to competitive allocation of Contracts for Difference has been a long-standing feature of Electricity Market Reform. In early 2014, the Government consulted on proposals to move straight to competitive allocation for some technologies. This consultation ran from 16 January 2014 to 12 February 2014; the Government’s response was published on 13 May 2014.
EU Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020 were adopted in principle on 9 April 2014. Prior to that adoption, the Commission worked with member states on the development of the guidelines, including draft versions and receiving comments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether officials or Ministers of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Home Office or the Cabinet Office have met Bello Adoke, the Nigerian Attorney General, since 2012; and if so, what was the date of each meeting.
Baroness Warsi
Given the the range of frequency of the many meetings by Government officials with the Nigerian Attorney General I am unable to offer a full list of these. However, I can confirm that from the list of Government departments requested, at Ministerial level only the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, my Hon. Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam (Mr Wright), has met the Attorney General, Bello Adoke, in Abuja on 9 January 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the rules relating to the release of patients’ private medical information to insurance companies by general practitioners.
Earl Howe
General practitioners (GPs) must ensure that patients have provided explicit consent before disclosing information to insurance companies. Additionally, under the provisions of the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, patients have the right to view medical reports prepared for insurance companies and, where a patient has exercised this right, a GP cannot disclose the report to the insurance company until the patient has had the opportunity to review it or if the patient withdraws their consent.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dykes on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are considering with the United States authorities and other countries to counter cyber virus crime and extortion.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime, which the National Crime Agency (NCA) published in May this year, makes clear that the threat from organised crime groups using cyber tools to commit fraud and online attacks is an increasing risk. This Government has taken significant action to transform the way the UK responds to the cyber threat, including cyber crime, underpinned by £860m additional investment between 2011/12 and 2015/16.
The UK is working closely with US authorities and with a wide range of other countries to tackle the problem of cyber crime and the associated problem of extortion. The recent international operation between the NCA, the FBI and 9 other countries to disrupt the communications used by criminals to connect with computers that are infected with malicious software (‘malware’) known as GameOverZeus and Cryptolocker illustrates the level of international cooperation that the NCA undertakes. This included close coordination in delivering protective security advice through GetSafeOnline and Cyber Streetwise.
We are also working overseas to help increase the capability and capacity of other countries to tackle cyber crime, through support for improved legislative arrangements, such as the implementation of the principles of the Budapest Convention on Cyber Crime and the development of capacity internationally to tackle cyber crime.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent stonings in Pakistan; and what steps they will take to ensure that the values set out in the Commonwealth Charter are being upheld in that country.
Baroness Warsi
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), made a statement on 29 May urging the Government of Pakistan to do all in its power to eradicate honour killings and calling on the Pakistani authorities to investigate fully the murder of Farzana Parveen. We continue to urge the Pakistan government to bring the perpetrators to justice. I am pleased that Prime Minister Sharif condemned the murder and immediately demanded action.
Pakistan is included as a “country of concern” in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights Report and we regularly raise the subject of human rights for all Pakistan’s citizens with the Pakistani government. We continue to encourage Pakistan and all Commonwealth countries to uphold the values as set out in the Commonwealth Charter signed in 2012.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 14 May (WA 511), why they have no set date for the full ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.
Earl Howe
The Government does not support eugenic practices. It is not considered helpful to interpret the term ‘eugenic practices’ other than by reference to its ordinarily understood meaning. Any attempt at a working definition would risk the unintentional exclusion of practices whose unacceptability is no less great than that of practices captured by such a definition.
As previously stated, in the United Kingdom, the complex nature of devolved responsibilities in this range of policy areas has delayed consideration of full ratification. In the meantime, the UK continues to take an active role in Council of Europe negotiations and development of relevant protocols.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what length of cables between onshore windfarms and connecting sub-stations has been placed (a) above ground and (b) underground in each of the last five years.
Michael Fallon
The Department does not hold this information. Windfarms usually own the cables connecting them to substations. Gathering the information requested would, therefore, require contacting individual windfarm developers at a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what official agreements were made between her Department and the Afghan Investment Support Agency for any work relating to the (a) Bost Agri Industrial Park and (b) Bost Airfield.
Justine Greening
The Bost industrial business park proposal was originally approved by officials in 2009 at a time when Ministers did not approve spend under £40m. In 2012 it became clear that the project could no longer be completed within the original timeframe and in good order. To avoid wasting taxpayers’ money I decided that UK funding for the project should be cancelled. The completed park designs have been handed over to the Afghan authorities to enable them to pursue the project over a revised time frame. DFID’s work on Bost Airfield was completed in November 2013.
DFID put a Memorandum of Understanding in place with AISA and the Helmand Provincial Government in April 2012, focusing solely on the development of the Bost Agri Business Park. AISA was not engaged on the Bost Airfield.