Tag: 2016

  • Baroness Nye – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Nye – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Nye on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the new government in Burma about the opening of a UNHCR office in that country.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees already maintain an office in Rangoon, Burma, we have long called for the Burmese government to work with the UN over the opening of a full country office for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. This was a prominent recommendation of the Burma Resolution at the UN’s March Human Rights Council, which we co-sponsored. We will continue to encourage the new administration in Burma to follow through on that recommendation.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to increase the amount of funding they give to develop hospital infrastructure in South Sudan.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK is the lead for a multi-donor Health Pooled Fund in South Sudan which has provided over £18 million between 2013 and 2016 to support hospital infrastructure in eight county level hospitals, four state level hospitals and seven faith-based hospitals. A further £6million has been allocated for 2016 to 2018.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to enable communities with neighbourhood plans that are (a) complete and (b) being developed to appeal against planning decisions that conflict with that plan.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Neighbourhood Planning Bill will strengthen neighbourhood planning, by requiring local planning authorities and others who decide planning applications to have regard to neighbourhood plans that have been independently examined, once the decision has been taken to put the plan to a referendum.The Bill would also ensure plans have full legal weight at an earlier stage of the process, as soon as the outcome of the referendum is announced, and make it easier to ensure plans can be kept up to date.

    These measures are in addition to existing safeguards that ensure neighbourhood plans are given proper consideration, including existing powers for communities to request that the Secretary of State ‘calls-in’ planning applications for his own determination, and new requirements introduced in the Housing and Planning Act, that will require any conflict with a made neighbourhood plan to be set out in the committee report that will inform a planning committee decision.

    Furthermore, national planning policy is clear that where a planning application conflicts with a neighbourhood plan that has been brought into force, planning permission should not normally be granted, and that decision-makers may give weight to policies in emerging neighbourhood plans according to the stage of preparation of the plan, the extent of unresolved objections, and the degree of consistency with the National Planning Policy Framework.

    In the light of these safeguards, the government does not support a right of appeal for those opposed to a decision to grant planning permission, which would delay the building of the new homes we need.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of (a) the scale of the recent changes on the cost of care homes for self-funding elderly people and (b) the effect of those changes on the number of care home closures in the UK.

    David Mowat

    The Department continues to monitor the market of care providers.

    There has been no significant change in capacity in care homes in the last three years. The total number of beds for older people and those with dementia in England has remained stable at around 410,000.

    Figures from Christie & Co show a differential between fee rises for self-funders & those paid by local authorities, but we are not aware of this driving changes in provision.

    The Department continues to monitor the whole of the market of care providers and engage with the sector to better understand the challenges they face and support local authorities who purchase services.

    The Department recognises that social care has a key role to play in reducing delayed transfers of care from hospital.

    The National Health Service takes Delayed Transfer of Care seriously. As well as funding the NHS’ own plan for the future with £10 billion, we are giving local authorities access to up to £3.5 billion extra a year for adult social care.

    The Department works closely with the NHS, local government and the independent care sector to help improve transfers out of hospital, share good practice and minimise delays.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent progress her Department has made on cross-border policing arrangements.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    Following the Fresh Start Agreement I attended a tri-lateral cross-border Ministerial meeting along with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government on 21 December. At the meeting, and in accordance with the Fresh Start Agreement, we agreed new measures to enhance law enforcement co-operation aimed at tackling organised crime and criminality, including that linked to paramilitarism. In a concerted effort to tackle cross-jurisdictional organised crime, a Joint Agency Task Force has been announced by the United Kingdom Government, the Irish Government and the NI Executive.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that the NICE guidelines on prescribing anti-depressants for children will be reviewed following the findings of the recent Nordic Cochrane Centre study, published in the British Medical Journal in January 2016, that use of these medications doubled the risk of suicide in people under the age of 18.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has processes in place to consider whether to update its guidance in light of significant new evidence.

    NICE has advised that it is immediately reviewing the relevance of the Nordic Cochrane Centre study to its guideline on ‘depression in children and young people: identification and management’

    www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg28

    and will update the guidance if required.

    “

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to increase school capacity and alleviate pressure on secondary schools for additional places.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities are responsible for ensuring sufficient school places in their area, and supporting them to do this is one of the Government’s top priorities. That’s why we have committed to investing £23 billion in school buildings up to 2021, to create 600,000 new school places, open 500 free schools and address essential maintenance needs.

  • Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 27454, on banks, what the (a) date of, (b) details of who attended and (c) organisations represented were at each meeting.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

  • – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the calls by Amnesty International on 15 April that the South Sudanese government must end arbitrary detentions by the intelligence agency”

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK consistently raises concerns about arbitrary detentions by the Government of Sudan’s security services, most recently as part of a joint démarche with the EU. The UK also took a lead role in helping to secure a new Commission on Human Rights at the UN Human Rights Council in March that will monitor and report on the human rights situation across South Sudan.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-06-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the rainbow flag will be flown over the British Embassy in Turkey over the weekend commencing 24 June.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have not discussed these specific cases with the Government of Turkey. We regularly underline the importance of all fundamental freedoms as part of our broader dialogue with the Turkish government, including the freedom of assembly and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or intersex persons. We did not fly the rainbow flag over our Embassy in Ankara over the weekend commencing 24 June. British Missions overseas fly the Diplomatic, Union or Consular flag throughout the year, the flags of the constituent countries of the UK on their respective national days and in certain countries the European flag. Missions do not fly any other flags.