The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Natura 20000 sites are located within 10 miles of the proposed route of phase two of High Speed 2.
Mr Robert Goodwill
There are 18 Natura 2000 sites within 10 miles of the proposed Phase 2 route. This is the route as proposed in the July 2013 route consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice the Department for Work and Pensions gives to trans individuals about how their confidentiality is maintained by that department on its database.
Lord Freud
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides its staff with information about providing services for transgender customers but does not provide information relating to data confidentiality specifically for transgender customers. DWP has a Personal Information Charter which informs all customers of the standards they can expect when we handle their personal information.
The DWP Special Customer Records (SCR) policy provides additional controls to transgender customers. These additional controls include clerical records being held securely by a senior manager, and access to computer records only being allowed to specific employees for specific business reasons and automatic notification of any unauthorised attempt to access records.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to lay the revised statutory instruments for the Pubs Code etc. Regulations 2016 and Pubs Code (Fees, Costs and Financial Penalties) Regulations 2016 before the House.
Anna Soubry
The Government is working hard to bring the Pubs Code etc Regulations 2016 into force as soon as possible. We have drafted the necessary technical corrections, and will lay a revised draft as soon as possible. The Code will come in to force following Parliamentary scrutiny. The Pubs Code (Fees, Costs and Financial Penalties) Regulations 2016 will be laid at the same time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people in the UK affected by each strand of the hepatitis virus.
Nicola Blackwood
Public Health England receives laboratory reports of confirmed cases of hepatitis A, C and E from England and Wales and from England for hepatitis B.
In 2014, 300 reports were received for hepatitis A, 488 for hepatitis B, 11,997 for hepatitis C and 886 for hepatitis E.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military service complaints on the reversion of rank have been (a) made and (b) upheld in each of the last three years.
Harriett Baldwin
This information is not available in the format requested. The number of individuals who have raised service complaints regarding the reversion of rank is fewer than five in any year, which is deemed low enough to risk identification of the individuals in question.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Eastern Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Lidington
The security situation in eastern Ukraine remains fragile, although a ceasefire agreed in September continues largely to hold following an order issued by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ chief-of-staff on 25 November not to return fire unless in self-defence. Progress on the Minsk peace process was made at a Normandy-format Foreign Ministers’ meeting on 6 November, including agreements on the withdrawal of heavy weapons and de-mining. However these now need to be fully implemented alongside the ceasefire being fully respected.
A report published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 9 December reported that the total death toll since mid-April 2014 is at least 9,098, with another 20,732 injured. The report also reveals that serious human rights abuses against people in the separatist-held areas continue, including killings, torture, ill-treatment, illegal detention and forced labour, lack of freedom of movement, assembly and expression. An estimated 2.9 million people living in the conflict area continue to face difficulties in exercising their economic and social rights, in particular access to quality medical care. The already dire humanitarian situation is exacerbated by the lack of access to these areas by international humanitarian organisations. Sustained and unimpeded access by humanitarian organisations to these areas is vital.
I expressed my concern at the situation in Ukraine in a statement at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel on 3 December, where I called on the Russian Federation to withdraw their weapons and personnel, and use their considerable influence over the separatist leadership in order to bring an end to the crisis. I also raised the Government’s concerns about the situation in Eastern Ukraine with Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Titov in Moscow on 22 December.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23263, if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of his Department’s meetings with the National Audit Office on the issue of value for money from the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.
Anna Soubry
The Government has held a number of discussions with the National Audit Office at a working level about the future sale of the Green Investment Bank. The Government does not intend to place any minutes of those discussions in the Library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department issues to credit reference firms on handling data on people who are on the closed electoral register.
John Penrose
The Information Commissioner’s Office provides guidance to both private and public sector organisations to help them understand their obligations under the Data Protection Act. Organisations wishing to process personal data in the UK, including credit reference agencies, must register with the ICO and comply with the DPA’s eight data protection principles. Among other things, these principles require personal data to be processed fairly and lawfully; to be accurate and up-to-date; not to be kept for longer than is necessary; and to be processed in accordance with the rights of the data subjects under the DPA.
The ICO’s website provides public information on credit reference agencies’ use of the electoral register at (https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/credit/).
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that rules relating to under-occupancy do not affect households in which couples have to sleep in separate rooms due to medical appliances.
Justin Tomlinson
The High Court and Court of Appeal have accepted that disability, including situations where medical equipment is being used, does not necessarily prevent couples from being able to share a bedroom. Because of this administering a blanket exemption would be extremely difficult.
In addition, an enhanced package of Discretionary Housing Payment funding (£870 million over 5 years) will enable Local Authorities to provide support to the most vulnerable claimants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions have taken place with the government of Bangladesh about toxic, insanitary and unsafe working conditions in Hazaribagh, Dhaka.
Baroness Verma
The UK Government’s work around conditions in the leather industry in Bangladesh focuses on the issue of child labour. We support efforts in this particular area through the Manusher Johnno Foundation (MJF). MJF have campaigned successfully to include “Leather Works” on the Government of Bangladesh’s list of hazardous works for children. As a consequence, employers in the leather industry are now bound by a Code of Conduct which is aligned with the domestic Labour Law and National Child Labour Elimination Policy.