Tag: 2015

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 14485, whether he has made an assessment of whether aerial bombing of Hayden Hospital in Yemen could represent a breach in international humanitarian law.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Yemen by the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition – including in relation to an alleged airstrike against a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Sa’ada, which we take very seriously. I regularly review the situation with my own advisers and have discussed it on numerous occasions with my Saudi counterpart. Our judgement is that there is no evidence that IHL has been breached, but we shall continue to review the situation regularly. We have emphasised the importance of full compliance with IHL to the Saudi Government and other members of the military coalition. They have assured us of their commitment to comply with IHL. We continue to engage with them on those assurances and have offered advice and training to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with IHL. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL and international human rights law. We continue to urge all sides to the conflict to comply with IHL and to investigate incidents of alleged violations fully.

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

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people of each gender had single-sided deafness in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    The information requested on the number of people with single-sided deafness is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of patients admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of single-sided deafness in the last five years in England.

    Year

    2010 – 2011

    2011 – 2012

    2012 – 2013

    2013 – 2014

    2014 – 2015

    Male

    277

    286

    295

    336

    301

    Female

    299

    279

    310

    336

    332

    This data may include the same person being admitted to hospital on more than one occasion and the data excludes diagnoses that were made outside of secondary care.

    The Action Plan on Hearing Loss was jointly published in March 2015 by the Department and NHS England. It sets out the case for taking action on the rising prevalence and personal, social and economic costs of uncorrected hearing loss and the variation in access and quality of services experienced by people with hearing loss.

    Transfer devices are available through the NHS. NHS England is developing commissioning guidance on the provision of hearing loss services, as part of its commitments in the Action Plan on Hearing Loss. The guidance will support clinical commissioning groups when making local decisions and help improve equality of access and patient experience.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the resolution of discussions on the sovereignty of oil reserves in the Golan Heights.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Government believes that Israel must continue to fulfil its obligations under the Oslo Accords, including through the exploration of shared natural resources. We continue to follow the situation of the oil exploration licences in the Golan Heights closely. We have been clear that Israel must comply with its obligations under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Charlotte Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether victims of crime are informed (a) when prisoners appeal against their sentences and (b) the progress of such appeals.

    Mike Penning

    Victims of crime are informed of any notice of appeal; the date, time and location of any hearing and the outcome of that appeal, including any changes to the original sentence in accordance with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime.

    Victims are notified of this information on appeals from the magistrates’ courts to the Crown Court within one working day. For appeals from the Crown Court to the Court of Appeal, vulnerable or intimidated victims will receive this information within one working day and for all other victims of crime within five working days.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Public Health England advice entitled Take-home naloxone for opioid overdose in people who use drugs, what steps he is taking to encourage local commissioners to adopt a programme of issuing MHRA-licenced take home Naloxone (a) in general and (b) to opioid-dependent prisoners upon their release; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need and commissioning substance misuse services, using the public health grant, to meet that need. Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities in this work and as part of that function has provided advice on naloxone provision to commissioners for their local joint strategic needs assessments.

    The commissioning of substance misuse treatment for prisoners is the responsibility of health and justice commissioning teams in ten of NHS England’s area teams, supported by a central health and justice team. The Government expects commissioners and providers of substance misuse services in prisons and in the community to work together closely in respect of prisoners being released from custody to ensure seamless transfers of care.

    In addition to the advice disseminated by PHE in “Take-home naloxone for opioid overdose in people who use drugs”, the chair of the working group updating “Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management”, published an open letter in July with advice for commissioners and clinicians on naloxone.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to implement Schedule 23 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013.

    Mr John Hayes

    Schedule 23 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 sets out the process for making an Order under Section 2 of that Act. Section 2 provides that the Secretary of State may make provisions about National Crime Agency Counter-Terrorism functions. There are no immediate plans to use Schedule 23 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013.

    Although counter-terrorism policing already has effective national structures, we will in due course carry out a review to look at how we might enhance our capabilities further.

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

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating endometriosis in the last year.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not collected centrally.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the running costs of the Isle of Wight Island Line were in each category of expenditure in each of the last three years.

    Claire Perry

    We do not have the running costs of the Isle of Wight Island Line in each category of expenditure in each of the last three years. What we do have are the figures for 2014/15 as supplied by SSWT:

    Costs

    £m

    Staff costs

    2.093

    Station Lease costs

    1.298

    Depot Track Renewals, Maintenance, Materials

    0.66

    Track access and Electric Traction

    0.123

    Other

    0.443

    Total Costs

    4.617

    SSWT have informed us that the Island Line generated the following income in each of the last five years:

    2010/11 = £0.9m

    2011/12 = £1.0m

    2012/13 = £1.0m

    2013/14 = £0.9m

    2014/15 = £0.9m

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of child abuse that have been reported to police (a) did and (b) did not lead to a prosecution in the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office collects recorded crime information from the police, but it is not possible to tell the age of victim for all the offences that could constitute child abuse for all police forces. Therefore, the requested data cannot be provided.

    For some offence categories, the offence states the age of the victim or it is clear that the victim is a child (for example, rape of a female child under 16; cruelty to children/young persons). Figures for these offences for the last five year are given in the Table.

    The Home Office does not hold information on prosecutions; these figures are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times Jobcentre Plus staff applied an easement of conditionality under the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Homeless Claimants) Amendment Regulations 2014 to claimants in the most recent month for which figures are available.

    Priti Patel

    This information is not routinely gathered, so the information requested is not available.