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Tag: 2016

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the security situation in Juba, South Sudan.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have been kept regularly updated on the security situation in Juba. Senior officials and the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), have been in touch with leaders in the region and joined the United Nations and the African Union in calling on President Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar to immediately end all violence and protect all South Sudanese civilians. The ceasefire announced on 11 July is currently holding.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, approximately how many (a) British and (b) non-British nationals are employed cleaning the Westminster estate of his Department.

    Alok Sharma

    As cleaning services in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s buildings are provided by an external contractor, we do not hold information in the form requested.

    This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.75 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, whether he has established the new team in his Department to act as the single sponsor for all aspects of the nuclear enterprise including procurement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Options for the new team continue to be developed and assessed. We expect to announce further details later this year once decisions have been made.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral evidence by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the Scottish Affairs Committee on 3 February 2016, Question 173, what steps he is taking to ensure that proposals for the revised fiscal framework with Scotland will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

    Greg Hands

    I welcome the scrutiny which the Fiscal Framework has received so far. While the exact nature of further framework scrutiny will depend on its final content and format, it is my current intention to deposit the final document detailing the agreement in the House libraries as soon as possible once an agreement is reached, make a statement to the House as soon as possible after an agreement is reached, and to set out what it means for the UK and for Scotland and to make annual reports to Parliament on the operation of the Framework.

    Elements of the Fiscal Framework may require legislative change. Where this is the case the appropriate legislative procedure will be followed and the Government hopes these changes will receive thorough scrutiny in Parliament.

    Once the Fiscal Framework is agreed, the Government would welcome further scrutiny from Parliamentary Committees in both Houses.

  • Lord Pendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Pendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the announcement that Maria Sharapova has failed a drug test for a substance introduced to the banned substance list this year, whether they will take steps to ensure that the World Anti-Doping Agency guarantees that all of its athletes, including those representing the UK, are fully aware of the drugs that are added to that list each year.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) take the matter of athlete communication and education very seriously. However, it is ultimately the responsibility of athletes and their support personnel to be aware of the annual changes to WADA’s Prohibited List.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what she is doing to help safeguard the welfare of (a) unaccompanied minors who have gone missing and (b) other unaccompanied minors in the refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk.

    James Brokenshire

    Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK has committed to support a range of work to address the migrant situation in northern France. The two governments have established a permanent official contact group focused on ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively, including the provisions on family unity. A Home Office official was seconded to the Interior Ministry’s Dublin Unit in Paris to assist with the identification of potential requests for the UK to take charge of an asylum seeking child in France and to bring them into the Dublin Regulation procedure without delay.

    The UK has provided funding to a project run by a French non-governmental organisation to identify potential victims of trafficking and exploitation (including unaccompanied children) in Calais and to direct them to appropriate support services in France.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the recent British Medical Association report In Good Hands: Tackling labour rights concerns in the manufacture of medical gloves.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department has worked with its national contracting and logistics partner, NHS Supply Chain to develop a range of ethical procurement interventions that increase the scrutiny applied to suppliers, based on the risks presented.

    All suppliers contracted by NHS Supply Chain are required to adhere to the NHS Supply Chain – Supplier Code of Conduct. A copy of the Code of Conduct is attached.

    This code of conduct includes requirements for suppliers to work in line with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and makes specific reference to forced and compulsory labour. The Supplier Code of Conduct has been a contractual requirement of all Framework Agreements since 2009.

    For categories of products where the risk of labour standards abuses has been assessed as high, by the nature of the manufacturing processes, employment practices or location, NHS Supply Chain require all suppliers to implement a Labour Standards Assurance System to specified standards.

    NHS Supply Chain continually review the wider contract portfolio, and where appropriate, the Labour Standards Assurance System requirements will be applied to new contract areas.

    Contract terms will require suppliers to implement and improve their Labour Standards Assurance System, in line with stipulated milestones, during the life of the framework agreement.

    Suppliers are contractually required to evidence compliance by providing details of independent third party audits conducted on their Assurance System.

    Where suppliers do not meet the specified standard within the stipulated timescales, their contract will be suspended in the first instance, and then terminated if remediation actions are not undertaken in a suitably timely manner.

    NHS Supply Chain provides support for suppliers required to implement a labour standards assurance system with webinars that provide access to expert support and capability building material.

    In relation to the British Medical Association (BMA) report In Good Hands, all suppliers awarded on the current Framework Agreement for Examination and Sterile Surgical Gloves are subject to the NHS Supply Chain Code of Conduct and contractual requirements to operate a Labour Standards Assurance System.

    Since the framework agreement launched in December 2015, a webinar workshop has been held with all suppliers to explain the Labour Standards Assurance System and implications of the Modern Slavery Act.

    Of the manufacturers named in the BMA report, two are currently awarded under the NHS Supply Chain national framework agreement for medical gloves.

    In both cases the Department in conjunction with NHS Supply Chain has investigated the allegations thoroughly by working with specialist independent third party audit bodies, who have undertaken assessments at the identified facilities.

    Audit findings have not identified any specific cases of slavery or human trafficking, or any serious systemic abuses of worker or human rights, however, improvements in management procedures, communications and training were recommended to reduce the potential for abuses to arise.

    Both suppliers have acknowledged these findings and have agreed actions, as part of contractual remediation plans, to address these.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received from music and sport event organisers on security at large events; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Home Office regularly receives correspondence from organisations about major events taking place in the UK including music festivals, sports and other events. The policing of major music festivals, sports events and other large temporary events are dealt with through operational policing efforts. Advice on security, including counter-terrorism, is undertaken by specially trained police Security Coordinators (SecCos), who provide protective security advice and plans to police command teams prior to an event.

    Where appropriate SecCOs draw on the advice of police specialist Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSAs), who assess sites and provide recommendations on appropriate and proportionate mitigating security measures to address the terrorism threat.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of (a) pancreatic cancer and (b) other cancers for which symptoms can be non-specific and have similarities to other benign conditions.

    David Mowat

    Public Health England’s (PHE) Be Clear on Cancer campaigns are designed to raise the public’s awareness of specific cancer symptoms, encourage people with those symptoms to go to the doctor and diagnose cancer at an earlier stage. An early visit to a general practice can make a cancer more treatable, and thereby improve cancer survival rates. These campaigns are delivered by PHE in partnership with the Department and NHS England. There are a number of cancers, including those where symptoms can be non-specific, which are not covered by ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ explicitly.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school-aged children in each London borough attended a maintained school outside their borough of residency on 1 January of each year from 2010 to 2016.

    Nick Gibb

    The number of pupils in each London borough attending a school outside their borough of residency can be found in the cross border movement tables which can be found as part of the ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics’ statistics[1]. Data for 2016 has not been collected yet but is expected to be available in June 2016.

    [1] 2015 data can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015 – click on ‘Cross-border movement Local Authority Tables’

    2014 data can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2014 – click on ‘Cross-border movement Local Authority Tables’

    2013 data can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2013 – click on ‘Cross-border movement Local Authority Tables’

    2012 data can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2012 – click on ‘Additional Tables 1’

    2011 data can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2011 – click on ‘Additional Tables 1’

    2010 data can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2010 – click on ‘Additional Tables 3’

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