The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times (a) knife, (b) shiv, (c) shank, (d) chib and (e) another slang word for a blade were recorded on the Incident Report System in HM Prison Parc in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Andrew Selous
The information requested, in respect of each of these four questions, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case of Asia Bibi, currently sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office remains concerned about the case of Ms Bibi and continues to follow her appeal process closely. The Supreme Court suspended the death sentence to allow for appeal in July 2015, but she does not yet have a hearing date.
The Government regularly makes known to the Pakistani government at a senior level our concerns about the misuse of blasphemy laws against both Muslims and religious minorities in Pakistan. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), personally raised the abuse of these laws with the Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK in October 2015. Both the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), have made clear to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif our concerns about the blasphemy laws.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Chairman of Committees why the refurbishment of the toilets outside the Cholmondeley Room has not yet been completed; and when it is expected to be completed.
Lord Laming
The works are due to be completed before June 2016. Alternative facilities are available down the corridor, which are signposted. The refurbishment of these toilets includes replacement of worn and damaged fixtures, and addressing a number of issues including drainage and ventilation. The Administration and Works Committee is received regular updates on progress.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish all of her Department’s statistics on the incidents of (a) domestic violence and (b) dowry related abuse in the UK.
Karen Bradley
Statistics on domestic violence are published combining domestic violence and abuse through the Office for National Statistics who are responsible for the publication of crime statistics, including those of domestic violence and abuse. Detailed information on domestic violence and abuse from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is published annually in their Focus on: Violence and Sexual Offences series. The most recent publication, for the year ending March 2015, is available here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/compendium/focusonviolentcrimeandsexualoffences/yearendingmarch2015
Additionally, since April 2015 the police have notified the Home Office where recorded offences are domestic abuse related. Figures from the police for April to September 2015 were also published in the statistical bulletin linked above (see Table 6.01). The publication also includes information on the number of domestic abuse incidents the police deal with, in Appendix Table 4.08. Some incidents are not subsequently recorded as crimes as no crime as defined in law has taken place, so numbers will be higher than the number of domestic abuse crimes.
The increases seen in domestic abuse incidents recorded by the police over this time period is thought to reflect improvements in the identification and recording of these incidents by the police alongside increased willingness of victims to report such incidents to the police. The CSEW has not shown an increase in domestic abuse over this period.
The Home Office has not received specific information on dowry related abuse.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was generated from vehicle excise duty receipts in Greater Manchester in the last year for which information is available.
Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not hold information on the amount of vehicle excise duty revenue collected by geographical region. The total vehicle excise duty revenue collected in financial year 2014-15 was around £6 billion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many meetings his Department has had with representatives of each sector of the economy on exiting the EU since he took office.
Mr Robin Walker
DExEU officials, supported by officials across Government, are engaging with business to identify the key factors that will affect our negotiations with the EU. We have a formal strategy and are engaging with companies big and small in every sector of the economy and are drawing on local and regional networks and key organisations in the voluntary sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2016-01-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when her Department will implement a programme of enhanced preliminary accreditation for large scale renewable heat projects to provide bankable investor certainty.
Andrea Leadsom
We intend to reform the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to improve value for money and reduce costs; improve cost control and budget management; and explore the best way to support ‘less able to pay’ households and owners of large plants. We plan to consult on the changes shortly. Ofgem will continue to run the RHI under the current rules, while we consider the reform of the scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to ensure that West Cumbria Magistrates’ Court is not closed.
Mr Shailesh Vara
On 11 February 2016 I announced the outcome of the consultation on the provision of court and tribunal estate in England and Wales. West Cumbria Magistrates’ Court and County Court has been retained.
The consultation response is available online at www.gov.uk/moj.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 10 February (HL5715), whether they now intend to legislate to allow heterosexuals to form civil partnerships, and if not, why not.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Noble Lord wrote to me on this topic previously (HL5715). As I previously said:
In 2014, after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was passed, the government carried out a review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, including a thorough public consultation on potential changes to civil partnership. Views were invited on three options: Abolishing, or phasing out civil partnerships; or extending them to opposite sex couples.
The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. A majority of respondents to the consultation were against extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples and several important organisations thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnerships until the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples is known. Given the lack of any consensus the Government has no current plans to make changes to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
On 29 January 2016 the High Court dismissed a legal challenge to the lack of availability of civil partnerships to opposite sex couples. The Court ruled unequivocally that the current regime of marriage and civil partnership does not disadvantage anyone nor does it infringe anyone’s right to family or private life. We also welcome the Court’s view that it is entirely reasonable for the Government to wait to see the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples before deciding on the way forward.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-04-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to increasing access to long-acting reversible contraception post-pregnancy as recommended in the 2014 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer, The Health of the 51%: Women, and in NICE guidelines on postnatal care.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England sets out the need to increase access to all methods of contraception including long acting (LARC) methods and that better support is needed to access contraception after childbirth. Local authorities are mandated to provide access to the full range of contraception services and should work with clinical commissioning groups to ensure that contraception is discussed and all methods of contraception, including LARC, are accessible as part of the post-natal maternity pathway. Further guidance will be available in Public Health England’s Missed Opportunities in Pregnancy report. This addresses the missed opportunities for the provision of contraception along the maternity, abortion and early pregnancy loss pathways, and is now in the final stage of revisions and is expected to be published later in 2016.