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Tag: 2015

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-09-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have discussed, or plan to discuss, with the Northern Ireland Parades Commission the case for making public, along with each decision it makes, (1) a full disclosure of evidence received, including from whom it was received, and (2) all other factors involved in the Commission’s determination; and if not, why not.

    Lord Dunlop

    This Government has had no discussions with the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland regarding the disclosure of evidence received, or on any other factors which are into account when making determinations.

    This is an operational matter for the Commission acting independently of Government.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-09-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of Palestinians amongst refugees fleeing Syria.

    Baroness Verma

    The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) estimates that 80,000 Palestinian refugees have left Syria since the onset of the conflict; 44,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria are confirmed in Lebanon and 15,800 are confirmed in Jordan, with the remainder in Egypt (5,000), Turkey and beyond.

  • Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb on 2015-09-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend fully to honour Article 4 of the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World’s Heritage in respect of any future A303 dualling scheme at Stonehenge; and if not, whether they intend to withdraw as a signatory to the World Heritage Convention.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    This Government will continue to honour its obligations under article 4 of the World Heritage Convention regarding the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. We are committed to working with UNESCO and its advisory bodies to ensure that the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage Site is taken into consideration in any forthcoming road scheme. We will be closely monitoring the development of any such scheme as it progresses.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-09-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the potential supplementary income generated from the proposals of a carbon price support exemption scheme in Scotland.

    Damian Hinds

    Environmental protection is a devolved matter, and outstanding land restoration liabilities lie with the relevant local authorities and ultimately with the Scottish Government. The Treasury has fully considered the two proposals put to them for addressing the shortfall of land restoration on abandoned Scottish coal mines: an exemption from the Carbon Price Support (CPS) tax and a direct grant from the Exchequer. Following discussions with Hargreaves, the UK Coal Authority, the Scotland Office, the Scottish Government and DECC, the Treasury has had to decline both proposals after thorough consideration. The reasons for this include: – Addressing the shortfall in land restoration is not the responsibility of the UK Government. Environmental protection is a devolved matter, and outstanding land restoration liabilities lie with the relevant local authorities. – The proposals are unaffordable in the current fiscal climate. They would also set a precedent that would risk discouraging companies and local authorities from making proper financial provision for the cost of site restoration and future environmental liabilities. – A CPS exemption would be an inefficient means of addressing the shortfall of land restoration, as the money would not go directly towards this aim and it would incur significant administration costs. – A CPS exemption would distort the market by making non-exempt coal less competitive, and by discouraging investment in low carbon power generation. I have written to the Scottish Government’s Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism informing him of this decision and I would be happy to consider any other options put forward.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the quality of adult social care provided by local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is committed to improving the quality of adult social care. We have taken a number of recent steps to do so.

    In October 2014, we introduced a tougher inspection system by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Following inspections, the CQC now also awards each care service a single quality rating with providers rated as “Outstanding”, “Good”, “Requires Improvement” or “Inadequate”. Services rated “Inadequate” are being placed into Special Measure which means they could face closure if they fail to improve.

    These new ratings and other information about the type and quality of care at every care home and homecare service in the country are now available on NHS Choices and the MyNHS Transparency website, making it much easier for people to compare the quality of services.

    This year we introduced a Certificate of Fundamental Care, now known as the Care Certificate. This will help ensure that care workers can deliver a consistently high quality standard of care.

    The Department is funding and working with a number of organisations including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Skills for Care, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association on a range of projects to help adult social care organisations and staff improve the quality of care. These resources include new NICE Quality Standards and Guidelines which bring clarity to what excellence looks like in care and Commissioning for Better Outcomes – A Route Map* that sets out a series of commissioning standards that will be used as part of local government sector-led improvement to drive best practices in local authority commissioning under their new duties in the Care Act 2015.

    *Available at:

    http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/5756320/Commissioning+for+Better+Outcomes+A+route+map/8f18c36f-805c-4d5e-b1f5-d3755394cfab

    “

  • Harry Harpham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Harry Harpham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harry Harpham on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2015 to the hon. Member for East Ham to Question 9951, if she will make it her policy to include attainment at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 in the education indicator in her Department’s proposed Life Chances report.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Education is important which is why we are legislating to introduce new life chances measures of worklessness and educational attainment at the end of Key Stage 4, which is the culmination of formal education, for children in England. The department will continue to publish other educational data in relation to attainment at Key Stages 1 and 2.

  • Angela Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the (a) police, (b) Crown Prosecution Service and (c) Law Commission on the draft Hunting Act 2004 (Exempt Hunting) (Amendment) Order 2015.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government has received representations from a wide range of interested parties both for and against any repeal or amendment to the Hunting Act 2004.

    The measures proposed in the draft Hunting Act 2004 (Amendment) Order 2015 would not remove the ban on hunting. Given this we judged that more consultation would not have been likely to add to the information available to us.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from groups representing junior doctors on a new junior doctors’ contract.

    Alistair Burt

    Two letters have been received from the chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA), Dr Mark Porter in response to the Secretary of State’s request for the BMA to re-enter negotiations with NHS Employers for a new junior doctors’ contract. Dr Porter also raised the issue of the junior doctors’ contract in a meeting with the Secretary of State on 10 September. In addition, 12 correspondents have identified themselves as doctors in training and have written directly.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gerald Kaufman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will answer the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton to the Immigration Minister dated 10 August 2015 with regard to Mr Mohammed Ali.

    James Brokenshire

    I apologise for the delay in responding to the letter sent by the Rt Hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton in respect of Mr Mohammed Ali. A response was sent on 21 September 2015 providing a full account of the information requested.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to eradicate violence against women and girls.

    Richard Harrington

    The United Kingdom has some of the strongest protections in the world to safeguard women and girls and the Government is wholly committed to protecting women and girls from violence and supporting victims and survivors. Over the course of the previous Parliament our achievements included:

    • making domestic abuse an offence to capture controlling and coercive behaviour;

    • rolling out Domestic Violence Protection Orders and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme nationally;

    • criminalising forced marriage;

    • introducing new stalking laws;

    • criminalisation of realistic depictions of rape and revenge pornography;

    • strengthening the law on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), including mandatory reporting; and

    • introducing new civil orders to manage sex offenders and FGM protection orders.

    This Government will build on those achievements by doing more to intervene earlier in the abuse cycle including doing more to deter and rehabilitate perpetrators, as well as to continue to improve protection for victims and to bring offenders to justice. We recognise the importance of specialist services and will work with local authorities, the NHS and Police and Crime Commissioners to ensure a secure future for specialist Female Genital Mutilation and forced marriage units, refuges and rape support centres. The work will be set out in a refreshed version of the previous Government’s strategy, A Call to End Violence against Women and Girls, which will be published later this year.

    The previous Government ring-fenced £40 million (£10 million per year) for services and helplines supporting women and girls who have suffered abuse. This Government has committed to continuing that funding to April 2016 and has provided an additional funding for this period: £10 million for refuges, a £3 million fund to boost the provision of domestic violence services including refuges and an uplift of £7 million for victims of sexual violence and child sexual abuse.