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Tag: 2016

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29390, what definition of principle of military necessity his Department uses to assess whether an incident counts as violation of international humanitarian law.

    Penny Mordaunt

    International Humanitarian Law is founded in customary international law but now extensively codified in international agreements, most notably the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols. The UK’s interpretation of the principles of proportionality, military necessity, humanity and distinction is set out in the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Service Publication (JSP) 383, the Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, which is available online (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jsp-383).

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria will be used to decide which 70 regions will be reached by the cultural citizens programme; and by what criteria the success of that programme will be judged.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Cultural Citizens Programme will be piloted from September 2016. As outlined in the Culture White Paper Annex 1 (measuring the impact), we will commission a bespoke evaluation of this pilot and the findings from this will determine how the programme will develop in subsequent years. The programme will operate in up to 70 areas across the country by the end of the third year, and will be focused in areas where cultural participation is lowest and where young people’s opportunities are likely to be more limited. We want everyone regardless of background to have the opportunity to experience culture.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Managing migratory flows in Calais: joint ministerial declaration on UK/French co-operation, published on 20 August 2015, what progress has been made on implementing the measures in that declaration to reinforce border security in northern France where the UK operates a juxtaposed border control.

    James Brokenshire

    The UK Government has invested tens of millions of pounds to reinforce border security through infrastructure improvements at the Juxtaposed ports, and continues to work closely with the French authorities at both political and operational levels. The vast majority of the security work identified in the Joint Declaration has been completed including the installation of 52 miles worth of critical security fencing, advanced anti-intrusion measures such as infra-red cameras, thermal detection cameras and floodlighting in key areas.

    In addition to this the UK has funded security guards and since June 2015 doubled Border Force contractor freight searching and dog detection capability at the juxtaposed controls. To help coordinate the law enforcement response from the UK and France a joint command and control centre has been established. The investment in security by the UK, the closer coordination of our law enforcement response and the significant investment in police resources by the French Government, has significantly improved the security situation in Northern France.

    The UK and France regularly review security at the ports to ensure the new measures are maintained and remain effective. Furthermore, at the UK-France summit in Amiens on 3 March, the Home Secretary announced that the UK will contribute £17 million over the next financial year to joint work with France to ease migrant pressures in the Calais region and further strengthen the UK border.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2016 to Question 40562, if his Department will publish details of which stakeholders it plans to engage with before publishing its response to the consultation on healthcare student funding.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The healthcare education funding reforms is a transformative policy with cross-cutting implications for both health and education sectors. Through agreed governance arrangements, the Department of Health, the Department for Education and HM Treasury have worked with health and education partners ahead of publishing the Government response.

    A list of respondents to the public consultation is included in the Government response published on 21 July 2016.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the effects of food shortages in Malawi.

    James Wharton

    The humanitarian situation in Malawi is concerning. Some 6.5 million people are currently assessed to be in need of food security assistance. The UK has acted quickly, responding with a commitment of £35 million, a significant proportion of which is aimed at the food and nutrition response. This includes logistics support through the World Food Programme to enable the delivery of food to 4.75 million people, and cash transfers through an International Non-Governmental Organisations consortium to enable over 250,000 of the most vulnerable to purchase food. The UK has provided emergency nutrition support, including screening for over 1 million children, and treatment of 100,000 emergency cases. As well as this immediate support the UK is working closely with other key actors to identify and progress ways to break the cycle of food insecurity in Malawi.


  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people within each of the four Universal Credit North West Pathfinder jobcentres who meet the eligibility criteria for claiming universal credit under the Pathfinder programme have started a claim for jobseeker’s allowance since the launch of universal credit in each of those jobcentres.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Chinese government on the sale of wildlife from Zimbabwe.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK is working in close cooperation with China on the illegal wildlife trade. In the UK-China Joint Statement on Building a Global Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century, issued on 22nd October on the occasion of the State Visit of President Xi Jinping, the UK and China recognised the importance and urgency of combating the illegal wildlife trade, and committed to take active measures to tackle this global challenge. We warmly welcome the recent announcement by China that it intends, in due course, to close its legal domestic market for ivory, and will continue to work with China to encourage this to happen as soon as feasible.

    Through our Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, we are also supporting projects which address the rising demand for illegal wildlife trade products in China.

    Defra has had no discussions with China over the sale of wildlife from Zimbabwe.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many lorries were (a) routinely searched and (b) searched for illegal immigrants at English ports in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    This information is not held centrally.

    Border Force operates a multi-layered search regime using a range of interventions to screen all freight vehicles entering the UK through the juxtaposed ports.

    This includes the use of specialist technologies such as Passive Millimetre Wave Imaging devices, heartbeat monitors and carbon dioxide detectors as well as physical searches by sniffer dogs, Border Force staff and specialist search contractors.

  • Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hannah Bardell on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reason is for the time taken to publish the final version of the report on pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination and disadvantage.

    Nick Boles

    The final reports on pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination in the workplace were published on 22 March 2016, together with the Government response to recommendations made by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We had intended to publish the final reports in December 2015, but this did not prove possible as the research reports were extensive and took longer than expected to finalise.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times he has attended public meetings of the Defence Committee since his appointment.

    Michael Fallon

    I have attended each of the three public oral evidence sessions to which I have been invited since my appointment. I have agreed to appear before the Committee on 24 May on Russia and 8 June on Syria and Iraq.