UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2014

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to draw attention to the persecution of Christians in Vietnam; and what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Vietnam on that matter.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We highlight Vietnam as a country of concern in the annual Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights report published on 10 April.

    Our assessment is the Vietnamese government is allowing more space for religious expression and has increased the number of churches and places of worship approved for use in 2013. In general the Vietnamese are able to practise the religion of their choosing and a number of prominent Ministers, including the Prime Minister, are openly Buddhist.

    The authorities take a harder line when religious groups are involved in political movements, with persecution taking place in this context.

    Our Embassy continues to promote freedom of religion and belief in this atmosphere and meets with leaders of all faiths. In January they accepted a petition by families of Catholic activists on trial and supported an EU statement calling for the Vietnamese to uphold freedom of expression in these cases. Staff also attended meetings, alongside other EU Member States, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling for greater transparency over allegations that authorities had intimidated Catholics in Nghe An province.

    We also make sure to raise our concerns at a Ministerial level at every opportunity – be it through the annual UK-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue in October 2013 or the Foreign Secretary’s meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh earlier this month. The UK also runs projects deisgned to allow greater scope for civil society to develop and receive basic protections when raising their concerns and pursuing their beliefs.

  • what steps they will take to ensure that the current proposals (1) to introduce auctioning of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) for only one particular group of technologies in October 2014 – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    what steps they will take to ensure that the current proposals (1) to introduce auctioning of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) for only one particular group of technologies in October 2014 – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by what steps they will take to ensure that the current proposals (1) to introduce auctioning of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) for only one particular group of technologies in October 2014 on Energy and Climate Change.

    2

    Baroness Verma

    The EU ‘Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020′, which were adopted in principle on 9 April 2014, set out a requirement to introduce technology neutral competition for renewable technologies, including a transitional phase, with a number of derogations. In May 2014 the Government confirmed proposals to move straight to competition for more established technologies. For less established technologies, if there is insufficient budget in a CfD allocation round to satisfy all bids, a competitive auction will apply. We believe our proposals are consistent with the guidelines.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department plans to support the Tanzanian Government to ensure the effective implementation of the Literacy and Numeracy for All Children, pre and primary education age, in and out of school programme.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID is the largest financier of the Global Partnership for Education and in Tanzania has supported the award of a £57m grant to implement the “Literacy and Numeracy Education Support (LANES)” programme. LANES targets the acquisition of reading, writing and numeracy skills among children in and out of school, targeting especially the marginalised.

    DFID’s programme in Tanzania provides major support to basic education. In 2013/14 £24m of education sector budget support was provided directly to the Tanzanian government. In addition a £49m programme of support commenced, to improve the overall quality of primary education in seven disadvantaged regions.

  • Biography information for Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Biography information for Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Paul Flynn on Defence.

    1

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The UK has made it clear that the circumstances in which any employment of nuclear weapons might be contemplated are very remote. We would employ nuclear weapons only in extreme circumstances of self defence and in accordance with our obligations under international law. The UK uses nuclear weapons as a deterrent every single day as demonstrated by the Continuous At Sea Deterrence. The most recent major Government reports that explore these issues are the 2006 White Paper “The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent”; the 2010 SDSR and the 2013 Trident Alternatives Review, all of which are in the public domain.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many items were borrowed from prison libraries in each year from 2010 to 2013.

    Jeremy Wright

    The requested information is not held centrally and would need to be collated through enquiries at each prison in England and Wales. This would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Biography information for Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Biography information for Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Virendra Sharma on Health.

    1

    Jane Ellison

    Officials from the Department, Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England are currently discussing how hepatitis C services might be strengthened, including how local Health and Wellbeing Boards can be encouraged to include hepatitis C in their Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, where appropriate. The findings of the HCV Action report will help to inform those discussions.

    PHE is developing local profiles that include indicators of performance for hepatitis C which are aimed at local authorities and Health and Wellbeing Boards. These profiles include a summary of the issues around hepatitis C including those most at risk, as well as questions for Health and Wellbeing Boards to ask about local provision of hepatitis C services. PHE has produced a fact sheet for the Local Government Association on hepatitis B and C to support their scrutiny and oversight role.

  • Brian H. Donohoe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Brian H. Donohoe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brian H. Donohoe on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to meet the costs of the National Air Traffic Service’s employee share scheme if the Civil Aviation Authority decides that these costs will no longer be allowed for in the next regulatory settlement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The regulatory settlement is a matter for the Civil Aviation Authority. We would expect the NATS Board, in the first instance, to continue to consider the benefits of the employee share scheme and the terms on which it operates.

  • 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 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has made to the current review of European strategy on health and safety at work; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The UK Government responded to the public consultation on a new policy framework for health and safety at work in the EU conducted by the European Commission in 2013. We emphasised the need for any new policy framework to be rooted in the principles of better regulation. The Commission has said that it expects to publish a communication on the outcome of that consultation this year and I look forward to seeing it in due course.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has issued to personal independence payment providers on calling in clients for personal independence payment assessments who are terminally ill.

    Mike Penning

    The ‘PIP Assessment Guide’, the Department’s guidance for Personal Independence Payment assessment providers, states that face-to-face consultations are not required where a claim has been referred under the ‘Special Rules for Terminal Illness’ provisions.

    More information can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210722/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

    “

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the early operational performance of each private sector company providing personal independence payments assessments.

    Mike Penning

    Personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit and processes are currently bedding in. The Department’s contracts with Capita and Atos Healthcare for the delivery of assessments for personal independence payment include a full set of service level agreements setting out the Department’s expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department.

    Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. We are closely monitoring their progress against the Department’s expectations for service delivery and are taking action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards. In particular, for both providers, the end-to-end process for many claimants is taking significantly longer than originally anticipated. We are working with the providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. Special rules claims for terminally ill claimants are dealt with urgently by our assessment providers. The latest published statistics show that over 99% of people with terminal illnessess who have applied have been awarded the benefit, which means over 9,500 terminally ill claimants are now receiving personal independence payment.

    Although limited data has started to feed through, we need to wait until the Department has quality assured, meaningful figures for publication. We intend to publish official statistics on PIP from spring 2014 in line with our publication strategy. An ad-hoc release of PIP information was published on 11 February 2014.