UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2014

  • 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 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent in each of the last four years on counsel fees related to inquests into the deaths of those in custody.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is able to identify fees paid to counsel for inquest cases funded under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (“LASPO”) Act 2012 from April 2013 onwards. For the financial year 2013-14, the total value of counsel fees paid relating to inquests into the deaths of those in custody under the LASPO Act totalled £10,574.40.

    This figure represents only those cases under the LASPO Act where payment has been made during 2013-14. Very few inquests that have been funded under the LASPO Act have been billed and paid in that period, as many are ongoing. Cases typically take over a year from approval of funding to payment of the final bill.

    The total figure of £10,574.40 does not include information recorded in the LAA’s new costs management system, upon which a small pilot group of providers are currently processing their claims. The volume of claims being processed through this system represents around 1% of all claims.

    The Legal Aid Agency does not hold the information requested centrally for cases funded under the Access to Justice Act 1999 (i.e. cases originally submitted prior to April 2013). Under the Access to Justice Act, ad hoc payments were made aggregating fees for the instructed solicitors and counsel on the case, and it is not possible to disaggregate the costs without checking each individual file.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about the implementation of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka of 27 March 2014; what technical advice and assistance his Department will provide to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the investigation into alleged war crimes and human rights violations in Sri Lanka; and what representations he has made to the government of Sri Lanka about the UN Human Rights Council resolution.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Our officials in Geneva continue to discuss the March 2014 UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) resolution with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). We will continue to fully support and work with the UN HRC and international partners to ensure proper implementation of this resolution. The OHCHR will lead an independent investigation into alleged violations. We continue to urge the Sri Lankan government to co-operate with the UN resolution.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what cross-departmental government scrutiny will take place of the forthcoming Implementing and Delegated Acts of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

    Jane Ellison

    During the negotiations on the revised Tobacco Products Directive, the Government sought to ensure that any delegation of powers to the European Commission, to propose further rules, was limited, appropriate and well defined. The Government’s proposed negotiating position on any Implementing and Delegated Acts put forward by the Commission will be subject to the normal cross government clearance and scrutiny procedures.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 17 March 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr Asif Rafiq.

    James Brokenshire

    I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 8 May 2014.

  • Dr Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dr Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Matthew Offord on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual cost is of the asylum and immigration hotline open to hon. Members.

    James Brokenshire

    I wrote to the Hon. Member. on 12 May. A copy of the letter was also placed in
    the House Library.

    The MPs’ hotline is a dedicated resource, for Members, based in Croydon and
    answers queries on Members’ constituents’ immigration queries. The staffing
    costs of the MPs’ hotline for 2013 were £180,240.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of her Department to Brighton; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Department has no plans to (a) relocate staff to Brighton and
    (b) relocate offices to Brighton.

  • Nia Griffith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nia Griffith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what safeguards are deployed to prevent a sensor-fused munition operating in automatic mode from confusing a military target with a civilian target.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The targeting process, not the weapon, takes discrimination, proportionality and precautions in attack into account. The decision whether to use lethal force against a legitimate military target is made through a rigorous targeting process, the targeting directive for a specific theatre of operations and rules of engagement which ensure adherence to international humanitarian law.

    Since 1999, when the requirement to do so under the Geneva Conventions Additional Protocol I Article 36 came into effect for the UK, all new weapons, means and methods of warfare entering service have been subjected to a review in order to ensure they are capable of being used lawfully in armed conflict. The UK is committed to upholding the Geneva Conventions and encourages others to do the same.

  • 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 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he takes to monitor whether Work Programme prime providers fulfil their minimum service standards; and if he will make a statement.

    Esther McVey

    The Department has developed a clearly defined compliance monitoring regime which commits to an appropriate level of checking for each of the 40 Work Programme contract package areas.

    The compliance management team work closely with Work Programme performance managers to ensure clear factual information is available for consideration as part of monthly Contract Performance Reviews with providers.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate she has made of the cost of public enquiries relating to Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The costs for public inquires relating to Northern Ireland published by my Department since 1997 are as follows:

    The Bloody Sunday inquiry £191.5 million

    The Rosemary Nelson inquiry £46.5 million

    The Billy Wright inquiry £30.5 million

    In addition, the Robert Hamill Inquiry has been completed but the Report has not been published due to ongoing legal proceedings. The costs as of February 2011 stood at £33 million.

    No public inquiries have been established by the current government. In 2011 we set up a review into the murder of Patrick Finucane, which reported in 2012 at a cost of £1.1 million.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 42W, on in vitro fertilisation, if he will provide specific references to the available evidence that no genomic DNA is found in the mitochondria but only in the cell nucleus; how their consideration that mitochondrial DNA is not part of the genome relates to the presentation of data on the human genome in the ENSEMBL and OMIM databases; what precise genetic modifications are applied to the eggs or embryos that would prevent any nuclear DNA from the egg or embryo donors from being inherited by the resulting child; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    We have been advised by the Wellcome Trust that whole mitochondrial DNA genome sequencing has revealed no evidence of nuclear genomic DNA inside mitochondria and data on the human genome available in the ENSEMBL and OMIM databases confirms that there is no nuclear genomic DNA in the mitochondria.

    Inheritance of nuclear DNA from the donor egg is prevented in the Maternal Spindle Transfer technique through the removal of the spindle from the donor egg. Given that the nuclear DNA in the form of condensed chromosomes is attached to the spindle, nuclear genomic DNA from the donor will be removed and not inherited by the resulting child. Techniques that allow the visualisation of condensed chromosomes in eggs are used to ensure that all the chromosomes are removed.

    For embryos used in the Pronuclear Transfer technique, the nuclear genomic DNA is enclosed within the nuclear membrane of the maternal (egg-derived) and paternal (sperm-derived) pronuclei. The donor nuclear genomic DNA will be removed when the pronuclei are removed.

    There is no universally agreed definition of genetic modification in humans. The Government has adopted a working definition for the purpose of taking forward the draft mitochondrial donation regulations, that genetic modification involves the germ-line modification of nuclear DNA that can be passed on to future generations. Therefore, the Government does not accept that mitochondrial donation amounts to genetic modification.