Tag: 2016

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the evidence that ISIS have sold Yazidi women to Saudi Arabians, and what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia about recovering them.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We maintain a close dialogue with Saudi Arabia on Counter Terrorism issues. We have seen no evidence of Saudi Foreign Terrorist Fighters trafficking Daesh sex slaves to Saudi Arabia.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the evidence given by the Minister of State for Transport to the EU Internal Market Sub-Committee on 18 April 2016, what the (a) purpose, (b) membership and (c) date of the last meeting of the new forum the Government has established is.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The purpose of the forum is to provide a means to consult, and gather external stakeholder input, in order to inform and influence the development of future unmanned aircraft systems aviation policy, regulation and legislation at a national and international level. The aim is to develop a richer and deeper interaction with external stakeholders which commences early in the regulatory development process.

    The forum met on the 11th May 2016, and was attended by the Civil Aviation Authority, Frazer-Nash Consultancy, the British Model Flying Association, ADS Group, the Military Aviation Authority, the Department for Transport, Sussex Police, the Association of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, the Airport Operators Association, First Person View, the British Airline Pilots Association, BSI Group, with apologies from NATS.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department’s press release of 11 August 2016, entitled Largest ever list of National Minimum Wage offenders published, how much additional money declared by each social care employer which was identified in that press release was owed to its workforce after the use of HM Revenue and Customs’ self-correction process.

    Margot James

    Employers who self-correct arrears owed to workers are not named for any additional arrears identified. Due to the small number of cases involved, publishing aggregate self-correction data could allow individual employers to be identified, and would amount to naming them for a second time.

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Palestinian Authority on tackling incitement to violence.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We regularly urge the Palestinian leadership to do more to condemn violence. Most recently in October 2016, our Deputy Consul General in Jerusalem pressed the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the importance of their swift condemnation of violent attacks. The Consul General in Jerusalem also met with PA Prime Minister Hamdallah in March, and raised our concerns on incitement. We continue to support the reinstatement of the Tripartite Committee on Incitement as the appropriate channel to deal with allegations of incitement from either side.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In the Department for Transport itself, no posts have been based in Stoke-on-Trent since 2010.

    The Department’s Executive Agencies (Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Vehicle Certification Agency and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) have had no posts based in Stoke-on-Trent since 2010, other than the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, who respond as follows:

    As part of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) testing transformation programme, which has the aim of taking testing closer to the customer, DVSA’s Goods Vehicle Testing Station (GVTS) in Stoke-on-Trent was closed in April 2015. Twenty nine roles were based at this testing station. The staff previously based at the station are still working for DVSA in the area; twenty four of these roles are now based at other DVSA sites and the remaining five staff are being redeployed to other roles in DVSA. There are currently no plans to close any further DVSA Good Vehicle Testing Stations (GVTS) or Driving Test Centres (DTC) in the Stoke-on-Trent area between now and 2020.

    We are not aware of any jobs being based in Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 in the wider accountable statutory bodies.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has received that bona fide trophectoderm stem cells have already been successfully derived and propagated from human embryos; whether any such stem cell lines have been deposited in the UK Stem Cell Bank; and if so, when.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that it holds information on the number of stem cell lines derived in each licensed research project and checks for compliance (on inspection) with the requirement for stem cell lines to be deposited in the UK Stem Cell Bank. However, this information does not differentiate between stem cells derived from the inner cell mass and those from trophectoderm.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will promote their Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative at the Commission on the Status of Women meeting in March.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    At the current time, four UK Ministers (from the Department for International Development, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Education) are planning to attend the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and promote UK objectives, including the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI). Tackling violence against women and girls is a key UK objective. We will be actively participating in the Review Theme and a significant number of side events focused on tackling all forms of violence against women and girls including sexual violence. We will use the opportunity of these different discussions to promote PSVI.

  • Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of non-custodial sentences for knife crime offenders on the rate of reoffending.

    Dominic Raab

    We have made no assessment of the effect of non-custodial sentences on the rate of reoffending for those convicted of knife crimes. Sentencing is entirely a matter for our independent judiciary based on all the facts of each case.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 25 April (HL7484), whether they still stand by the commitment, made by the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Defence during the launch of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, to increase the number of ships in the Royal Navy.

    Earl Howe

    The 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review announced our intention to launch a concept study and then design and build a new class of lighter, flexible general purpose frigate so that by the 2030s we can further increase the total numbers of frigates and destroyers. We stand by this commitment and work has begun.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to engage with the European Aviation Safety Authority task force assessing the risk of collision between drones and aircraft.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority have regular interaction with the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) on the development of drone safety regulations. This includes engagement on the EASA task force studying the risk of collision between drones and aircrafts, which we expect will be consulting more formally across Member States this summer.