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Tag: 2016

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what powers his Department has to block access to social media sites for people awaiting sentencing.

    Andrew Selous

    An extensive programme of work is underway to prevent prisoners having access to mobile phones. As the Prime Minister said on 8 February 2016, we are working with the mobile network operators to challenge them to do more, including developing new technological solutions, so we can block mobile phones’ signals in prisons.

    Although there are no rules to prevent prisoners on remand from passing on passwords for social media platforms, prisoners, including those on remand in custody, are not allowed access to social media platforms either directly or via a third party.

    It is a criminal offence for a person to take or transmit any image or sound from within a prison and send it outside the prison and where a link between a prisoner and content posted on social media is identified, the case will be referred to the police. A sentence of up to two years can be given if those charged are found guilty. If the police decide not to pursue a criminal investigation, a prisoner can be punished under the prison disciplinary system, for example, by having privileges removed or additional days added to their time in prison.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences of 9 December 2015, Official Report, column 389-90WH, if NHS England will develop a commissioning policy on the use of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy for adults with uveitis.

    David Mowat

    In November 2015 NHS England undertook to review the current adult policy for uveitis once the study, known as VISUAL II, was fully published in a peer reviewed journal. The results of this study were published in August 2016.

    NHS England will be reviewing the clinical evidence as reported in VISUAL II and make a judgement on whether an interim policy should be published prior to the anticipated National Institute of Health and Care Excellence Guidance on treating uveitis expected in July 2017.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the recent report by Saferworld Matching needs and resources: National Police Reserve and community security in Kenya’s frontiers, and whether they have had discussions with the government of Kenya about contributing to the professionalism and accountability of the National Police Reserve.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Through our High Commission in Nairobi, the British Government has regularly discussed police accountability and professionalism with the Government of Kenya, including the Kenya Police Service. This has included discussions on the role of the Kenya National Police Reserve, though we do not currently work directly with them. The UK is working with the Government of Kenya to strengthen community security in some of Kenya’s most marginalised areas. The Conflict Security and Stability Fund is working to build capacity to ensure security forces in the region are better governed, more accountable and effective and to build community resilience to respond to security challenges through work with civil society. In addition, the Department for International Development launched the £13.7million Improving Community Security programme in 2015. This programme will work with government departments and non-governmental organisations, including Saferworld, to increase the security and safety of men, women and children in Kenya through increasing the capacity of institutions including the police and county government, to prevent and respond to violence.

  • Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which organisations have provided diversity and equality training to judges since 1 January 2012.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Judicial training is a matter for the judiciary and is fulfilled by the Judicial College, which reports to the Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals. Some outside organisations have been invited to provide input, under judicial direction, into judicial training programmes and materials, including on specialist subjects. The Judicial College does not have a consolidated record of which organisations these are.

    Under the Judicial College Strategy, training in social context issues is incorporated into all training programmes and diversity and equal treatment issues are woven into the case studies used in training. The strategy is publicly available https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about-the-judiciary/training-support/judicial-college/judicial-college-strategy-2015-2017/

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  • Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of his Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between his Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

    Mike Penning

    The attached link (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/procurement#our-payment-performance) provides information on the Department’s published data on payment of invoices from 2012-13 to quarter 3 of 2015-16. It is not possible to break the payment data down by category of provider.

    The proportion and value of contracts held by MoJ with SME providers is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482524/Central_Government_Direct_and_Indirect_Spend_with_SMEs.csv/preview

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  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of introducing non-invasive prenatal testing on the prevalence of sex-selective abortions.

    Ben Gummer

    The UK National Screening Committee which advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy has conducted a full review of the published scientific and cost evidence relating to Non-Invasive Pre-Natal Testing (NIPT) as a screening test for Down’s, Edwards’ and Patau’s syndromes. On 15 January 2016, the Committee announced its recommendation that NIPT should be introduced as an additional test into NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme as part of an evaluation. This is because the evidence suggests that NIPT is much more accurate than the current testing used in screening and can substantially reduce the number of pregnant women needing an invasive test, which carries a high risk of miscarriage. Ministers are currently considering this recommendation.

    The possible introduction of NIPT into the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme does not fundamentally alter the choices presented to prospective parents, or the options and choices available when testing identifies a feotus with a syndrome. Therefore, no assessment has been made of the impact of NIPT on the number of abortions.

    NIPT testing as part of the NHS Foetal Anomaly Screening Programme will not be used to determine the sex of the foetus. Abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 3.2 of his Department’s document, Implementing the replacement for the Horserace Betting Levy, published in March 2016, what progress has been made on the independent report on the value of the common interest between betting and racing; and when he expects to publish the findings of that report.

    David Evennett

    The rate payable by gambling operators will be informed by this independent economic analysis of the funding of horseracing and further discussion with the betting and racing industries. We will be consulting on the findings of the report with both industries within the next few weeks and intend to publish the report in due course.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2016 to Question 40384, on Govia Thameslink Railway, whether Ministers requested a copy of the modelling analysis after those discussions; whether minutes were taken of those discussions; what questions Ministers asked during those discussions; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    Following the disruption to rail services at London Bridge early in 2015 I held discussions with Network Rail to understand the root cause and seek reassurance as to how to prevent similar occurrences. My officials subsequently discussed my concerns about the modelling analysis with Network Rail.

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many detainees who have medical evidence that they are vulnerable persons have suffered (a) state and (b) non-state violence.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Information on the reasons for a claim for asylum is not readily accessible from central statistical records and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost through a manual search of individual case files.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rogan on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Democratic Progressive Party’s chairwoman, Tsai Ing-Wen, being elected President of Taiwan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), set out in his Statement of 16 January that the Government congratulates the people of Taiwan on the conduct of their elections, and Dr Tsai Ing-wen and the Democratic Progressive Party for having won their support. Our policy on Taiwan has not changed.