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Tag: 2016

  • Liam Fox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Liam Fox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in which countries British Service personnel are deployed.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Overseas tours for military personnel can be broadly grouped into three categories: operational deployments, exercises and longer-term postings.

    Operational deployment roles are high readiness deployments anywhere in the world where there is an operational requirement and are not family accompanied. UK military personnel are currently performing these roles in parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the South Atlantic Islands.

    The standard tour length for operational deployments can vary greatly depending on the circumstances but is likely to be six months, with some Service personnel serving up to 12 months or longer.

    Large-scale exercises are conducted in Belize, Canada and Kenya to provide training for UK military operations. There are a small number of permanent UK military staff posted in each location, and these roles are family accompanied. UK military personnel sent to these locations on exercise are not accompanied by their families.

    Permanent or longer-term posted roles or assignments can be family accompanied. Permanent overseas postings which can be family accompanied include Bahrain, Qatar, the USA, Gibraltar, the South Atlantic Islands, the Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas and the United Nations Operation TOSCA, Singapore and European countries. Around 4,600 of these posts are family-accompanied.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many UK citizens have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC); and how many such people have used their EHIC to obtain state provided healthcare in other EU countries in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    The United Kingdom European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) means that people living in the UK are able to travel to the European Economic Area (EEA) safe in the knowledge that they will be able to receive free or reduced cost healthcare should they need it.

    There are currently 27,570,911 cards in circulation, as of January 2016. The number of cards granted since 2006, providing such cover is:

    2014/15 – 5,414,977

    2013/14 – 5,571,060

    2012/13 – 5,240,608

    2011/12 – 6,830,734

    2010/11 – 5,703,895

    2009/10 – 4,162,170

    2008/09 – 4,269,023

    2007/08 – 4,160,935

    2006/07 – 5,163,121

    Source: Business Services Authority

    The Department does not hold information about on how many people have used their UK EHIC to obtain state provided healthcare in another EEA country in any 12 month period. This is because data on UK EHIC usage is recorded by individual treatment episode rather than the card holder.

  • Lord Cashman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Cashman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Cashman on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support better co-ordination of financial and political support amongst governments and multilateral organisations in the advancement of the human rights of LGBTI people at the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference that will take place in Uruguay from 13 to 15 July.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As I set out to the House of Lords on the 21 March, the UK will send a delegation to the Global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or Intersex (LGBTI) Human Rights Conference taking place in Montevideo in July. We are committed to working with those countries that will be represented at the conference, and others, to combat discrimination and violence against LGBTI people. This forms an important part of our wider international human rights work.

    We continue to work through our Embassies and High Commissions and through international organisations, including the UN, EU, the Council of Europe and the Commonwealth, to promote general tolerance and non-discrimination toward LGBTI people and to address discriminatory laws, in particular those that criminalise homosexuality. The Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference will provide an opportunity to share information, best practice and lessons learned with partners and to discuss how to better coordinate international efforts and resources to support the promotion and protection of the rights of LGBTI people worldwide.

  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues in other departments on whether breaches of UK laws have occurred as a consequence of secondary ticketing companies offering tickets for sale via their websites to UK-based customers for the European Football Association Championships.

    David Evennett

    It is an offence for an unauthorized person to sell a ticket for a designated football match via the internet under section 166A of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The Government expects companies in the secondary market to comply with the law.

    Professor Michael Waterson is chairing an independent Review of consumer protection measures applying to the re-sale of tickets for music, sporting or cultural events in the UK through secondary ticketing facilities. In supporting Professor Waterson in carrying out his Review, my officials have had discussions with their counterparts in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Home Office about online re-sale of football tickets.

    The Department agrees with the Football Association that fans of the home nations participating in the Euro 2016 Football Championships should purchase tickets through authorised channels. Such channels include UEFA’s Euro 2016 ticket resale platform.

    The safety and security of the Euro 2016 Football Championships is a matter for the French Government and UEFA. The UK Government co-operates closely with France on matters of policing and security.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of telephone design on whether the mobile coverage detailed in Ofcom’s published maps of coverage is attainable.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ofcom had commissioned a study in 2015 into the sensitivity of mobile handsets. The study can be found here: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/technology-research/2015-reports/mobile-handset-testing/

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies on the provision of mental health services for young people in (a) the community and (b) school of the recent 10 per cent increase in instances of depression and anxiety among school-aged girls.

    Edward Timpson

    Children and young people’s mental health is a priority for this Government, supported by an additional £1.4 billion over the lifetime of this Parliament. Each clinical commissioning group has worked with partners, including schools and colleges, to develop a Local Transformation Plan setting out how they will provide support for the full spectrum of mental health conditions, including early intervention measures.

    Schools and colleges have an important role to play in supporting the mental health of children and young people, and we will continue to invest in this. We have provided them with a range of information, support, advice and guidance to help them develop ‘whole-school’ approaches to best suit the needs of their pupils. This includes guidance on: teaching about such issues as depression and anxiety within their personal, social, health and economic education curriculum, and providing effective school-based counselling. Teachers can also access free online support for pupils with a range of mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, through the MindEd website.

    We want to support schools and colleges further, and to help us to know where to best direct this support we are currently conducting a large-scale survey asking them what approaches they use, as well as what they find to be the most effective. The results should be available next spring.

    The Department of Health has also commissioned a new prevalence survey that should provide updated information on a range of specific mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. This is due to report in 2018.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has held with his counterparts in Qatar on the human rights situation and working conditions for foreign workers building stadia for the 2022 World Cup.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We continue to support Qatar’s efforts in preparing for the FIFA World Cup in 2022, including ensuring UK businesses involved adhere to international and Qatari labour laws, and we support the steps that the Qatari government has taken to respond to concerns about the treatment of migrant workers. We continue to discuss implementation with the Qatari government and we welcome the Government of Qatar’s commitment to the ongoing, systematic reform of Qatar’s labour laws.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase diversity in police forces, in particular to close the gap between the percentage of applicants and percentage of appointments from black and minority ethnic groups.

    Lord Bates

    It is vital that the police reflect the communities they serve and I am determined to improve BME representation in all 43 forces in England and Wales.

    Decisions on when and how to recruit individuals are for the chief officer of a police force. It is important that they use equalities legislation, including positive action provisions, to make better progress in terms of recruitment of under-represented groups.

    The Government’s reforms have already made improvements, for example we set up the College of Policing which has embarked on a major programme of work, BME Progression 2018, looking at recruitment, retention and progression of black and minority ethnic officers, including the development of an evidence base of successful approaches used by forces.

    As part of this programme the College recently published Positive Action Practical Advice, which advises forces on the use of lawful positive action to support the recruitment, retention and progression of officers from under-represented groups, and it has published case studies from forces showing what can be done.

    The College of Policing is currently undertaking a review of initial police recruitment, including the SEARCH assessment centre for police recruits, to better understand disproportionality that can occur between white candidates and those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. The review is due to report by the 31 March 2016.

    Under this Government, innovative schemes such as Direct Entry and Police Now are increasing the number of BME recruits to the police, showing that you can achieve better representation while attracting the best and the brightest into policing.

    Of the nine direct entry superintendents who began their superintendent training on November 2014 four (44%) are women and two (22%) are from an ethnic minority background. This is significantly more representative than the current make up of the superintendent rank which comprises 17% women and 4% ethnic minority.

    Police Now, introduced in the Metropolitan Police, has appointed 69 people to start their training, up from an anticipated 50 owing to the high calibre of applicants. Of these, 43% are women and 9% are from a BME background, compared to the national BME proportion of 5.5%.

    With the joint leadership of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Commissioner, the Metropolitan Police also introduced its London residency criteria for recruits in August 2014. Recent Metropolitan police figures show that in the three months from June to August 2015, 26% of new Metropolitan police recruits came from a black or minority background, more than double the 12% recruited in the same quarter of 2014, and the 12% of Metropolitan police officers currently from a black and minority ethnic background.

  • Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects the decommissioning of Sparrowdale School to be completed.

    Edward Timpson

    School playing fields are protected by Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Schools and local authorities must obtain the Secretary of State’s approval before they can dispose of their land. Applications to dispose of school playing fields are considered by the independent school playing fields advisory panel, and are approved only when it is demonstrated that the application meets published criteria.

    The Department is aware of an application by Warwickshire County Council to seek approval to dispose of the former Sparrowdale Special School. The application is currently being processed by officials at the Education Funding Agency; a final decision should be expected in the summer. The application will only be considered when sufficient information is available to consider how the sale proceeds will be invested to benefit other local schools. The Secretary of State will consider the recommendation of the panel before making her final decision.

    The Department has published a list of decisions since May 2010 on applications for consent to dispose of school playing field land: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-land-decisions-about-disposals

    “

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to decide on whether to support prosecutions for people suspected of committing electoral or financial fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets; and when he plans to announce that decision.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Decisions on whether to charge or to prosecute individuals suspected of electoral and financial fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are matters for the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.