Tag: 2016

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assistance his Department is offering to the non-ISIL Syrian opposition.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK has been a long standing supporter of the moderate opposition in Syria. We provide them with non-lethal equipment and political support. We have delivered over £4 million of life-saving equipment including communications, medical and logistics equipment. We have also provided equipment to protect against chemical weapons attacks – including 5,000 escape hoods, nerve agent pre-treatment tablets and CW detector papers.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of (a) religious and (b) hate crime were reported to the police in London in each of the last five years.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office has collected information from police forces in England and Wales on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police since 2011/12. Data for religious hate crime and total crime measured across the five monitored strands (religion, race, sexual orientation, disability and transgender) are given in the attached table.

    Data for 2015/16 are due to be published in October 2016.

    As stated by the Office for National Statistics, action taken by police forces to improve their compliance with the National Crime Recording Standard has led to improved recording of crime over recent years, especially for violence against the person offences. Together with a greater awareness of hate crime, and improved willingness of victims to come forward, this is likely to be a factor in the increase in hate crimes recorded by the police shown in the table.

    This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

  • Lord Collins of Highbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Collins of Highbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Collins of Highbury on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding has been allocated from the Magna Carta fund for projects related to freedom of religion or belief.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    In 2016/17, the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy is funding seven projects, with a total value of £670,037, that directly relate to strengthening freedom of religion or belief (FORB). This represents an 18% increase in funding from 2015/16, when the fund supported freedom of religion or belief projects worth £550,016. Freedom of religion or belief remains a core strand of the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. Many of the Fund’s other projects also indirectly support the creation of more tolerant societies, through strengthening representation of minority groups, supporting freedom of expression and promoting just and fair rules-based systems of government.

    The seven FORB projects this year promote positive FORB outcomes through different methods and strategies, from attempting to working with NGOs to lobby for the removal of laws which discriminate on religious grounds, to more upstream interventions which seek to change public opinion and promote a culture which is more accepting of religious diversity. A good example of a hybrid of these methods is a project this year working with teachers across the MENA region to develop a school curriculum that supports freedom of religion and belief. This project promotes a more progressive education curriculum, and ensures the next generation of students have a greater awareness of the important right to freedom of religion or belief.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Department for Transport on the closure of the West Coast Main Line between Glasgow and Carlisle.

    David Mundell

    I have remained in close contact with Ministers in both the Department for Transport and the Scottish Government since the closure of the West Coast main line between Glasgow and Carlisle. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, the hon Member for Devizes, visited the repair works at Lamington Viaduct with the Scottish Government Transport Minister on 8 January, and she and her officials continue to be in close contact with the Scottish Government and myself.

  • Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how much revenue would be raised if all air fares for aircraft departing from UK airports were subject to a tax at 20 per cent.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Such a form of taxation would be in breach of the UK’s obligations under its bilateral Air Service Agreements, the 1944 Chicago Convention and EU law. Consequently, no such assessment has been made.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department plans to accept the recommendations of the Commission on Freedom of Information that the Freedom of Information Act should be extended to private companies which hold public contracts.

    Matthew Hancock

    I refer the hon Member to my Written Ministerial Statement of 1 March 2016 [Hansard reference HCWS566]

  • Baroness Greengross – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Greengross – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 21 March (HL7044), why the current section 7a public health functions agreement does not include key deliverables for the provision of pneumococcal vaccination to severely immunocompromised children aged at least five years and adults, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in July 2013.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The 2016-17 Section 7A public health functions agreement specifies key deliverables in relation to new or changed programmes that are being introduced within 2016-17.

    The provision of pneumococcal vaccination to severely immunocompromised children aged at least five years and adults, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in July 2013, is reflected in the relevant service specification for the existing pneumococcal immunisation programme and within the document Immunisation against Infectious Diseases (‘the Green Book’). The Green Book is published on the GOV.UK website in an online only format.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are currently on the HM Passport Office stop file.

    James Brokenshire

    Entries are retained on the Her Majesty’s Passport Office Stop File for reasons of public protection and the prevention of crime.

    Given the nature of the data, it would be inappropriate to disclose the volume of entries.

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will take steps to accelerate the public disclosure of donations to political parties in Northern Ireland; and if she will give reasons for the time taken to date.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Government is committed to ensuring the maximum level of transparency in relation to party funding in Northern Ireland that the security situation allows. The Northern Ireland Office has been working closely with the Electoral Commission to bring forward secondary legislation to provide for greater transparency. This legislation has raised some complex issues and NIO officials will be working closely with the Commission in the weeks ahead to resolve these issues with a view to bringing this legislation before Parliament.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent representations they have made to the government of Uganda about its treatment of Uganda’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are in regular dialogue with the Ugandan Government and Parliament on this issue and will continue to raise our concerns about any legislation which could lead to further persecution and discrimination against LGBT people and which is incompatible with Uganda’s international treaty obligations. After the events of Uganda Pride in August, we raised our concerns with the Ugandan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and worked with leading figures in the local LGBT Community and Ugandan Police Force. We remain committed to working with the government of Uganda and with civil society to promote diversity and tolerance, and to prevent violence and discrimination on any grounds.