Tag: 2016

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy that the UK should send a new delegation to the European Parliament in June 2019 if Brexit has not been completed, or whether as part of their negotiations they will they seek to extend the term of the present delegation.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Until the UK ceases to be a member of the EU, the Government intends to continue to play its full role, observing the obligations and abiding by the procedures that membership brings.

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many standard visitor visas granted on appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) have been issued by UK Visas and Immigration (a) within one month, (b) between one to three months, (c) between three to six months, (d) between six to 12 months and (e) more than 12 months after that tribunal’s judgement in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    The time taken between receiving a determination from the First Tier Tribunal relating to a standard visitor visa and subsequent issue of visa can be found in the table below:

    Time between notification of allowed appeal and issued decision

    Period

    Under 1 month

    1-3 Months

    3-6 Months

    6-12 Months

    Over 12 Months

    YE Sep-13

    105

    35

    –

    –

    *

    YE Sep-14

    110

    60

    5

    5

    –

    YE Sep-15

    10

    5

    *

    *

    –

    All figures are obtained from local Management Information.

    Figures rounded to the nearest 5.

    ‘-‘ represents 0 cases ‘*’ represents less than 3 cases.

    “

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of freedom of information requirements in Bermuda; and what plans he has to promote transparency in that territory.

    James Duddridge

    Freedom of information policy in Bermuda is the responsibility of the Government of Bermuda. The Public Access to Information Act 2010 (PATI) came fully into operation on 1 April 2014. It is similar in many respects to the UK’s Freedom of Information Act and provides for an Information Commissioner. The Governor believes that it has started well but the first appeals under the Act’s provisions are only now coming before the Commissioner.

    Future developments in this area are a matter for the Government of Bermuda. I understand that legislation on data protection, the Personal Information Protection Act, is currently before the Bermuda House of Assembly, with provisions designed to meet EU data protection requirements and, again, similar to the UK Data Protection Act. The 2012 White Paper states our commitments on working with the governments of the Overseas Territories on improving transparency and accountability. We are supporting these governments in moving towards systems of open government through sharing best practice and capacity building. This is a devolved area of competence and it is for Territory governments to develop a system that meets their particular requirements and circumstances.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the proportion of people in Southampton, Itchen constituency who consume more than the recommended daily alcohol intake.

    Jane Ellison

    The information requested is not held centrally.

    Public Health England, Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE) provides local data alongside national comparisons to support local health improvements. The latest LAPE data can be found at:

    http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profiles

    “

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are considering banning the routine use on farms of antibiotics classified by the World Health Organisation as critically important for treating bacterial infections in people.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The legislation that controls veterinary medicines and medicated feed within the EU is currently under revision. To reflect the rising threat of antibiotic resistance the new proposed frameworks set out additional controls on antibiotics. This includes a ban on the routine preventative use of antibiotics, including those classified as critically important, something the UK supports.

    Negotiations on the frameworks are expected to continue until late 2017. There are no plans to significantly revise or amend the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 until the Commission’s work on the review of legislation has been completed.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to raise awareness of World AIDS Day before 1 December 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    In preparation for World AIDS Day 2016 Public Health England (PHE) will publish the annual HIV in the UK situation report and associated data tables in mid-November 2016. This report will include the latest HIV epidemiology for the United Kingdom, providing national and local systems essential information to inform their World AIDS Day 2016 awareness campaigns. Alongside this HIV Prevention England, co-ordinated by Terrence Higgins Trust and commissioned by PHE will provide a national HIV testing campaign ‘HIV Testing week’. This will commence prior to World AIDS Day and run for one week from the 19 November 2016.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conclusions they have drawn from the reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Bassiouni Commission on the solitary confinement, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in Bahrain; and whether they plan to ask the International Committee of the Red Cross to inspect prison conditions in Jaw Central Prison, Al-Hawd Al-Jaf prison and all other prisons and places of detention, and to make recommendations.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government unreservedly condemns torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and it is a government priority to combat it wherever it occurs. We are aware that there have been allegations in Bahrain, and we raise concerns with the authorities. Our support to Bahrain’s reform programme focuses on strengthening independent oversight bodies such as the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman and the Prisoners and Detainees Rights Commission (PDRC) who provide oversight of police behaviour and detention standards. In May, the PDRC released an independent report which included testimonies of detainees and highlighted a number of key concerns in respect to prison conditions at Jau Prison. We welcome the transparent approach taken by the PDRC, and the Ministry of Interior’s commitment to implement all recommendations made in the report. We continue to call upon the Government of Bahrain to agree a visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Carbon Plan will outline policies that ensure that the UK meets the emissions limit in the fourth carbon budget of a 50 per cent reduction in annual emissions on 1990 levels.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    We are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and other government departments in order to meet the shared challenge of moving to a low carbon economy. The Emissions Reduction Plan will set out how we will meet our carbon budgets through the 2020s (the period covering the fourth and fifth carbon budgets).

  • Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost of enabling works required at receiving courts for them to take on additional work arising from planned court closures under his Department’s proposals on the provision of courts services in England and Wales.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    An assessment of the cost of enabling works is being made and will be included in the impact assessment published with the response to the consultation.

  • 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 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on patient access to medicines of planned reductions to the community pharmacy budget.

    Alistair Burt

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services including public access to medicines. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim.

    We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close or the number of people who may lose their jobs, because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the NHS or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.