Tag: 2016

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of people executed in Iran in the last 12 months.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    As stated in our annual 2015 Human Rights report, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights estimated that between 966 and 1,025 people were executed in Iran in 2015. It is estimated that there have been 309 executions to date in 2016. The British Government continues to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances.

  • Lord Balfe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Balfe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Balfe on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take steps to ensure that the organisation CAGE is prevented from speaking at British universities.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Government introduced a duty on universities in September to ensure that they have due regard to the need to prevent people being drawn into terrorism. The statutory guidance which accompanies the duty makes clear that universities must ensure that they assess the risks associated with organisations and speakers at events on campus, putting mitigations in place where necessary or cancelling events where the risk cannot be mitigated.

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has been appointed as the body to monitor compliance at English universities, including where potential breaches of the duty are reported. Appropriate arrangements will apply in Wales and Scotland.

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of establishment of safe and legal routes for asylum seekers wishing to enter the UK on the frequency of migrant deaths at sea.

    James Brokenshire

    Any migrant death is a tragedy and the international community must act to reduce the likelihood of more migrants losing their lives in this way or falling victim to smuggling and trafficking.

    The Government believes it is better to prioritise interventions upstream in countries of origin and transit in ways that reduce the need of migrants to leave their country of origin or move on from a safe third country. The UK is at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. On 4 February 2016, the Prime Minister announced that the UK will more than double our total pledge to the Syria crisis from £1.12 billion to over £2.3 billion. This is our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.

    Furthermore, more than $11 billion was pledged at the Supporting Syria Conference the UK co-hosted in London on 4th February, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. The international community has pledged nearly $6 billion for 2016; with a further $5 billion for the coming years until 2020.

    However, for those individuals who cannot be supported in the region, the UK operates three resettlement programmes: Gateway, Mandate and the Syrian Resettlement Scheme. These provide a safe and direct route to the UK for the most vulnerable UNHCR recognised refugees.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards have requested that a CPS representative join its board to date; and (a) how many and (b) which of those applications have been accepted.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities are responsible for establishing Local Safeguarding Children Boards in their area, and there are statutory requirements regarding membership.

    Information about the composition of LSCBs is set out in the 2004 Children Act and repeated in Working Together to Safeguarding Children 2015.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many third generation children living in Britain are not British citizens.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, in what ways Government aid to Ethiopia assisted in improving democracy and human rights in that country in 2015-16; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    A stable, secure and prosperous Ethiopia is critical to millions of poor Ethiopians and the UK’s national interest. UK support to Ethiopia, since 2010, has, for example, helped reduce poverty and child mortality by a quarter. Despite Ethiopia’s remarkable progress against the Millennium Development Goals, we have concerns about their progress on civil and political rights. The UK’s aid relationship with any government is based on an assessment of commitment to our partnership principles, including to human rights and international obligations.

    DFID has supported Ethiopian civil society organisations to respond to the development priorities of poor people and to hold Government to account. In 2015-16 we have developed the capacity of institutions central to upholding accountability including; the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority, the Office of the Federal Auditor General and the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the (a) full or (b) part privatisation of NHS Professionals; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    Currently NHS Professionals Ltd works with around a third of National Health Service trusts, saving over £40 million a year by providing bank staff cheaper than agencies. The Department’s sole objective is to expand this good work into more trusts, thus boosting efficiency and improving patient care.

    The Department has been exploring a range of potential options, to help NHS Professionals drive further value for the NHS, and enable NHS Professionals to become more agile and flexible to meet the needs of the NHS. No final decisions have yet been made by Ministers about the future of NHS Professionals.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether the Bahrain Ombudsman’s investigation into the case of Mohammad Ramadan has complied with international minimum standards for torture investigations.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The United Nations Convention Against Torture requires all states to conduct prompt and impartial investigations into allegations of torture within their jurisdiction. We therefore welcome the Ombudsman’s decision to conduct an investigation into the complaints regarding Mohammad Ramadan, and await the outcome of the investigation. Since the announcement of the Ombudsman’s investigation, we have received non-governmental organisation representations regarding these allegations, and are aware of similar representations made to the Ombudsman. We take all such allegations seriously. It is therefore important that investigations into allegations of torture are prompt and impartial, and we are encouraging the Ombudsman to carry out a swift investigation.

    The Bahraini Ombudsman is an independent oversight institution, and we will continue to follow and support its work. I raised the case of Mohammad Ramadan with the Bahraini Ambassador on 8 March, and our Embassy Manama officials have raised the progress of the investigation several times directly with the Ombudsman’s office, the most recent being 4 August.

  • 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 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government plans to launch its planned consultation on increasing the transparency of property ownership by foreign companies.

    Matthew Hancock

    In due course.

  • 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 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the risk posed to children by domestic violence; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    Data showing the total number of women who have suffered domestic abuse in the last five years is set out in the Crime Statistics published on 11 February 2016: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/focus-on-violent-crime-and-sexual-offences–2014-to-2015/index.html.

    Since the 2004/05 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), the number of women aged 16 to 59 experiencing any domestic abuse in the last year has reduced from 1.71 million to 1.35 million (360,000 fewer victims and a fall of 21%) and the estimate of the number of women experiencing any domestic abuse in the last year is the lowest since the survey began.

    Latest data published by the Office for National Statistics from the 2014/15 CSEW additionally show that in 46% of cases of partner abuse, a child was present in the household, of which 20% of children saw or heard the abuse.

    Data on children referred to and assessed by local authority children’s social services in England in 2014/15 show that there were 197,700 assessments where domestic violence was identified as a relevant factor. This data is only available for 2014/15.

    The Government works closely with charities, academics and statutory agencies to assess and address the impact of domestic abuse on children and wholly recognises the life changing impact domestic abuse can have on the lives of children. That is why we have expanded the Troubled Families Programme for a further five years (2015-2020) to work with an additional 400,000 families, including those affected by domestic abuse.

    To further address the impact of domestic abuse on victims and their children, we have introduced a new domestic abuse offence to tackle coercive and controlling behaviour, and in England and Wales we have rolled out Domestic Violence Protection Orders and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. Improvements have been made to the police response to domestic abuse, and we are supporting multi-agency working which takes a whole family approach.

    We will shortly publish a refreshed cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy setting out how we will do more still to support victims and their children. The Government has already announced £40 million of funding for domestic abuse services between 2016 and 2020, as well as a £2 million grant to Women’s Aid and Safelives to support early intervention programmes.