Tag: 2016

Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will be part of the UK-China economic and financial dialogue meeting in November 2016; and whether the illegal dumping of steel by China will form part of the discussions at that meeting.

Greg Hands

My Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, alongside other Government Ministers, is attending the UK-China economic and financial dialogue meeting in November 2016, at which a range of issues will be discussed.

01/01/2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to encourage an increase in migration to the UK from Australia to the levels of such migration prior to 2008.

James Brokenshire

We value our close links with Australia and are committed to further strengthening our ties. Across all visa categories, total visas issued to Australian nationals grew by 10% in the year ending September 2015.

However, the Government is committed to reducing net migration to sustainable levels. We have capped the level of skilled economic migration from outside the EU, and have asked the Migration Advisory Committee to advise on restricting Tier 2 of the Points Based System for immigration to genuine skills shortages and highly specialist experts to ensure that we only grant visas to those who have the skills we really need in our economy. We have no plans to introduce specific targets for Australian migration to the UK.

01/01/2023
Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what occasions the government of the Republic of Ireland reported on its implementation of the Belfast Agreement 1998 in the areas of human rights, equality and parity of esteem in the Republic; what were the dates of those occasions; where any such meetings took place; who attended those meetings; and what conclusions were reached.

Lord Dunlop

The UK and Irish Governments meet regularly at ministerial and official level to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. These include matters relating to the implementation of the Agreements which underpin the political settlement in Northern Ireland.

01/01/2023

Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2016 to Question 27903, which countries were visited in each of the overseas visits referred to in the Answer; and which trade envoy undertook each such visit.

Anna Soubry

The table below outlines which countries were visited, and by which Trade Envoy.

YEAR	TRADE ENVOY	COUNTRY
2012	Baroness Morris	Jordan
2013	Baroness Morris	Palestine, Kuwait
2013	Lord Risby	Algeria
2013	Baroness Scotland	South Africa
2013	Lord Putnam	Vietnam, Laos
2013	Baroness Bonham-Carter	Mexico x2
2013	Richard Graham	Indonesia
2014	Baroness Bonham-Carter	Mexico x2
2014	Richard Graham	Indonesia x2
2014	Mark Prisk	Iceland, Finland, Sweden
2014	Lord Risby	Algeria x3, Tunisia
2014	David Heath	Nigeria x2, Angola x2
2014	Lord Sharman	Morocco x2
2014	Baroness Scotland	South Africa x2
2014	Lord Hollick	Kenya, Tanzania,
2014	Lord Janvrin	Turkey x2
2014	Charles Hendry	Kazakhstan x2
2014	Baroness Morris	Palestine x2, Jordan
2014	Lord King	Saudi Arabia
2014	Charles Hendry	Azerbaijan x2
2015	Charles Hendry	Kazakhstan x2, Azerbaijan
2015	Baroness Morris	Kuwait x3, Palestine
2015	Lord Janvrin	Turkey x2
2015	Lord King	Saudi Arabia x3
2015	Baroness Nicholson	Iraq
2015	Baroness Bonham-Carter	Mexico x2
2015	Lord Putnam	Vietnam x2, Cambodia x2, Laos
2015	Lord Hollick	Tanzania, Kenya
2015	Lord Risby	Algeria
2015	David Heath	Angola, Nigeria
2015	Baroness Scotland	South Africa x2
2015	Richard Graham	Indonesia x3, Singapore, Malaysia
2015	Mark Prisk	Norway, Sweden
2016	Lord Risby	Algeria
2016	Lord Hollick	Tanzania, Kenya
2016	Baroness Northover	Angola
2016	Baroness Scotland	South Africa
2016	Jeffrey Donaldson MP	Egypt
2016	Baroness Morris	Kuwait
2016	Lord Putnam	Vietnam, Cambodia x2, Laos
2016	Richard Graham	Indonesia, Singapore

01/01/2023

Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held discussions with academics and charities in receipt of grants from his Department on the potential effect of the anti-lobbying clause on their work.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department is currently rolling out the new anti-lobbying clause in its grant agreements and will monitor any feedback on the effect it may have on recipients.

01/01/2023
Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 1.330 of Budget 2016, how much of the £14.5 million in grants for extending the coverage of ultrafast broadband in the South West will be spent on tackling broadband blackspots in Cheltenham.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Gloucestershire and Herefordshire County Councils (Fastershire broadband partnership) has been allocated £2 million from the South West ultrafast broadband fund. Fastershire are responsible for setting local coverage priorities and spending funds in line with procurement rules, and are undertaking new procurements with uncommitted funding from the Phase 2 Superfast Broadband Programme to address as many as the remaining non-served areas within the two counties as possible.

01/01/2023
Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what account he took of the pattern of complaints relating to terms and conditions made through the service complaints procedures in reforming the pay structure for the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster

The new Pay 16 structure was specifically established in response to Service personnel criticisms of the old pay model. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has developed the new pay model as a simpler, more transparent system which provides Service personnel with greater pay predictability. It addresses some of the concerns about the previous pay model reported by personnel through both the Service Complaints system and the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS) and in feedback from the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB). I fully expect these changes to be positive for morale overall.

Many personnel will experience an increase in pay as a result of the new pay model, and no one will take a cut in core pay on implementation. We have taken steps to ensure that personnel are aware of the range and nature of the pay reforms that began on 1 April 2016 and comprehensive internal communications activity has been undertaken to explain the changes. This included Departmental guidance to help personnel understand their new pay statement and any changes. Personnel, including those under pay protection, continue to remain eligible for any Government-approved pay award. Pay protection has been put in place to ensure that no one will take a pay cut on implementation of Pay 16 and this arrangement will exist for at least the first three years to ensure that no one is disadvantaged.

The new pay model is not designed as a cost saving exercise, but is a rebalancing of pay to make more efficient and effective use of the Armed Forces pay bill; the AFPRB will continue to recommend pay rates for all personnel. As we go forward the Service Complaints Process and AFCAS will be primary sources which inform our assessment of the benefits realised through the pay reforms.

01/01/2023
Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent from the public purse on printing and postage of employees’ payslips in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will take steps to ensure that NHS employees receive their payslips electronically.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Department contracts for the NHS Electronic Staff Record system. This contract includes printing and despatch of employee payslips to a single distribution point at each National Health Service organisation in England at a total price of £1.9 million (data relates to the period September 2015 – August 2016). This price reduces by around 20% each year within the contract.

The Electronic Staff Record solution already provides electronic payslip access via a facility called Employee Self Service.

01/01/2023
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 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the indictment of Omar al Bashir for genocide and human rights abuses in Sudan, what is the current level of engagement with the Sudanese regime and whether that level of engagement has increased, or is planned to increase.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

In order to maximise our ability to persuade all parties to the conflicts in Sudan to end the fighting and allow the Sudanese people the security and development they deserve, we need to have a greater level of direct engagement with the government of Sudan. For that reason, we have started a Strategic Dialogue with the government of Sudan, which provides a necessary platform for us to raise issues of concern, including human rights, and at the same time explore possibilities for cooperation on a wide range of UK interests. The Strategic Dialogue process does not change our position of maintaining only‘essential contact’ with President Bashir, given his outstanding arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The UK remains a firm supporter of the ICC and encourages all States to act on its indictment.

01/01/2023
Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to Israel of the implications of its obligations under the Geneva Convention for the practice of forcible transportation of child prisoners from Palestine to Israeli jails.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

As I made clear on 6 January during a Westminster Hall debate, the UK remains concerned about the detention of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons.

On 23 November 2015, officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised our concerns about the treatment of Palestinian minors in Israeli military detention with the Israeli Chief Military Prosecutor. We welcome recent improvements made by the Israeli authorities, including increasing the age of majority from 16 to 18 years old. However, we remain concerned at the number of Palestinian minors held in Israeli detention. We will also fund another visit of the delegation who authored the independent report on Children in Military Custody in February to report on further progress.

We continue to push for further measures to ensure that international standards are upheld in regards to the treatment of Palestinian children detained.

01/01/2023