Tag: 2016

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales about aligning her powers with those of the Children’s Commissioner for England.

    Alun Cairns

    Wales Office Ministers have not had any recent discussions with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales about aligning her powers with those of the Children’s Commissioner for England.

    The Children’s Commissioner for Wales fulfils an important role in our efforts to protect children and I would of course be happy to meet with her if she feels her role and remit could be strengthened in any way.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking, in Calais and throughout Europe, to enhance the processes for identifying children with rights to family reunion in the UK.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which inform unaccompanied children and others of their right to claim asylum in France and of the family reunion process. The frequency of these campaigns has been increased in line with the Joint Declaration signed in August 2015. Since February 2016 more than 20 children have been transferred to the UK from France and there are many other cases in train.

    75 UK personnel will be deployed to Greece to support implementation of the EU-Turkey Migration Agreement. Supporting the operation of the Greek asylum system is a fundamental part of our approach to identifying individuals in need of protection at the earliest opportunity, including those who may be eli-gible for family reunification under the Dublin Regulation. We are also providing bilateral support to the Dublin Unit in Italy.

  • The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2016-07-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the current level of violence against Hindus in Pakistan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain concerned by ongoing reports of the persecution of the Hindu community in Pakistan. These include incidents of abduction, forced conversion and the forced marriage of Hindu women to Muslim men. We regularly raise our concerns about the treatment of religious minorities, including Hindus, with the Government of Pakistan. The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), pressed Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all its citizens, including minority religious communities, during his visit to Islamabad in March. We continue to urge Pakistan to honour in practice its human rights obligations, including on freedom of religion or belief, and to uphold the rule of law.

  • 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 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many deaths have occurred in the last five years following abortions provided through the NHS and carried out by the private sector.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Data from abortion notification forms (HSA4) indicates that between 2011 and 2015, the most recent five years for which data is available, there was one death relating to a termination funded by the National Health Service and carried out by the independent sector.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision is made for victims of crimes committed by foreign prisoners to access information about the progress of their deportation.

    James Brokenshire

    A victim may contact the Home Office directly or make a request via their Victim Liaison Officer (VLO) for information on the progress of a foreign prisoner’s deportation. The Home Office will inform the victim or their VLO on whether deportation is being pursued or has been enforced.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the sensitivity of the single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin test for Bovine TB; and what steps her Department is taking to improve testing for TB.

    George Eustice

    The single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin (SICCT) commonly known as the ‘skin test’ is the legal standard approved in the EU legislation for the diagnosis of TB in live cattle in the UK. SICCT has a very high specificity giving on average only one false positive result for every 5,000 or 6,000 uninfected cattle tested, although it is only moderately sensitive (with about one in five to one in four infected cattle potentially missed by the test).

    The skin test is a good herd screening test and it is supplemented by post-mortem meat inspection at commercial slaughter of cattle. When one or more infected animals are detected in a cattle herd, we apply a number of strategies to improve the overall sensitivity of TB testing until the infected herd regains officially TB free status. This includes testing the herd every 60 days, lowering the positive cut-off of the skin test (‘severe interpretation’) and supplementing the skin test with the more sensitive interferon-gamma blood test.

    We have also increased the number of interferon-gamma blood tests carried out in conjunction with the SICCT to maximise the detection of infected cattle in TB breakdown herds. This number has more than quadrupled since 2009 to reach just over 74,000 blood tests in 2015. The use of this blood test to help remove infected animals from breakdown herds has been compulsory in the Low Risk Area of England since 2006 and in the whole of the Edge Area since January 2014.

    My department plans to launch a public consultation that will set out proposals for enhancing the sensitivity of TB testing in TB breakdown herds.

  • Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has recently discussed the Istanbul Convention with the (a) Welsh and (b) Scottish Government; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The previous Government signed the Istanbul Convention to show the strong commitment it placed on tackling violence against women and girls and this Government remains committed to ratifying it.

    The devolved administrations are responsible for implementing the obligations of the Convention in their territories and the Government continues to liaise with them about ratification.

    The UK already complies with the vast majority of the Convention’s articles but further amendments to domestic law, to take extra-territorial jurisdiction over a range of offences (as required by Article 44), are necessary before the Convention can be ratified. The Ministry of Justice is currently considering the approach to implementing the extra-territorial jurisdiction requirements in England and Wales and will seek to legislate when the approach is agreed and Parliamentary time allows. Ministry of Justice officials have been in contact with their counterparts in the devolved administrations about the requirements of Article 44.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Department for Work and Pensions on steps to tackle recent reductions in the number of apprenticeship vacancies.

    Nick Boles

    Latest data shows that the number of vacancies posted on the ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ website have increased each year from 71,060 in 2010/11 to 200,460 in 2014/15. The data does not reflect all vacancies as some employers choose alternative methods for advertising their apprenticeship opportunities.

    We are working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that jobseekers are aware of apprenticeship vacancies. Vacancies posted on the ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ website are visible to jobseekers on Universal Jobmatch.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of video evidence of the killing of a wounded Palestinian in Hebron, what discussions they have had with EU partners concerning the accused soldier’s charge being reduced to manslaughter.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have not raised this case with EU partners. We note that the Israeli Defence Forces have investigated and understand that trial proceedings started on Monday 9 May. The UK is deeply concerned by the terrible human cost, to both sides, of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are concerned by the use of force by Israeli security personnel in response to protests and security incidents and we regularly raise these concerns with the Israeli government, stressing the need for proportionality and proper accountability. We make clear that every effort should be made to exclude the use of live fire.

  • Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Manzoor on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people who are classed as having a disability have been (1) deported, and (2) detained for immigration purposes, in each of the last 10 years.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The information requested is not held by the department.