Tag: 2016

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise the issue of attacks on and murders of people with albinism with his counterparts in sub-Saharan African countries.

    James Duddridge

    The UK strongly believes that everyone, everywhere, should enjoy the rights and freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are concerned by any reports of violence perpetrated against people with albinism. Our High Commissioner to Malawi raised this issue during his meeting with the Malawian Foreign Minister on 27 April and we will continue to raise concerns about human rights violations and abuses in the region when the opportunities arise.

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the findings of the Westminster Commission on Autism, A Spectrum of Obstacles: an inquiry into access to healthcare for autistic people, published in July 2016, if he will take steps to ensure that autism awareness training is available for health professionals in the manner recommended in that report.

    David Mowat

    NHS England has been working with NHS Digital to develop reporting from the new Mental Health Services Data Set. This mandatory data set includes provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded, and reporting on these data has been prioritised. Experimental data reports on the number of people diagnosed with autism are expected to be published by the end of 2016.

    The National Health Service is taking action to increase the health checks and cancer screening programmes for people with learning disabilities, including those who also have autism. In 2015, NHS England commissioned the world’s first Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme to support local areas to review deaths of people with learning disabilities and to use the information to improve service provision so that physical and mental health problems can be identified and addressed. Information from the programme will help with what more can be done to support regular health monitoring to address the health care needs of people diagnosed with autism.

    In 2015, the Department reviewed and updated the autism statutory guidance for the NHS and local authorities in England. In line with this statutory guidance, local authorities and the NHS should be providing autism awareness training to all frontline staff in contact with adults with autism.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what dates ACAS conciliation talks between his Department and the BMA on the junior doctors’ dispute have taken place; at what time each such meeting started and finished; and for what dates future such meetings are planned.

    Ben Gummer

    The first round of ACAS meetings took place on 26 to 30 November 2015 and resulted in strike action being postponed. Following the ACAS meetings, the Department, NHS Employers and the British Medical Association (BMA) continued to discuss proposed changes to the junior doctor contract.

    Constructive talks ran until 4 January when the BMA announced that, contrary to the understanding of the management side negotiators, they did not feel that enough progress had been made and announced further dates for industrial action in January and February.

    The Department and NHS Employers asked the BMA to agree to ask ACAS to return to the talks. Meetings were held with ACAS on the 8, 14 and 15 of January. Further meetings were scheduled this week.

    We are pleased that on 19 January 2016 the BMA agreed to suspend further action planned for 48 hours from 26 to 28 January, with cover for emergency care. However, they have not agreed to suspend action planned for 10 February when junior doctors will withdraw their labour, including from providing any emergency care.

    The Government and junior doctors want to do the same thing by improving patient care at weekends and we look forward to further constructive discussions.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the legal requirement for drivers in France to carry a breathalyser and its effect on road safety in that country in order to inform his policies.

    Andrew Jones

    We know that the number of people killed in drink drive collisions remains significantly higher in France than in Great Britain despite the introduction of the legal requirement to carry a breathalyser in 2012. In 2014 Trading Standards in Great Britain looked at the self-testing devices available and concluded that the majority of these were unreliable and may give anyone using them a dangerously false sense of security. We therefore have no plans to introduce any such requirement in Great Britain.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what use his Department makes of information it collects in Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Information and analysis pertaining to Lebanon and the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon is used by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to inform policy-making and programme work.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with the government of the United Arab Emirates on the number of political prisoners held in that country; and what representations he has made on behalf of such prisoners.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We regularly discuss human rights with the UAE. If we have concerns regarding arrests, convictions or sentencing we make these clear to Emirati authorities, as part of our broader strategic engagement.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to support research and development to provide continually up-to-date defence against cybercrime.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Home Office continues to work closely with police forces to ensure that we are best placed to tackle the threat posed by cyber crime.

    Through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), we invested over £90 million during the last Parliament to bolster the law enforcement response.

    As the Chancellor announced in November, this Government has committed to spending £1.9 billion on cyber security over the next five years, including for tackling cyber crime.

    The Home Office is also supporting the work led by Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, the National Policing Lead for Digital Investigation and Intelligence (DII), to build capabilities to combat the full range of digital crime types. In addition we are providing funding through the Police Transformation Fund to support police led programmes to provide a step-change in digital capability.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Burmese government relaunches the Prisoner of Conscience Affairs Committee or establishes a new Committee with a mandate to review the cases of people charged or deprived of their liberty for the exercise of their human rights.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The release of some 200 political prisoners during its first few weeks in office is a strong demonstration of the new Burmese Government’s commitment to reforming human rights and the rule of law in Burma. However, we remain concerned that arrests, detentions and sentencing of political activists could continue while the military retains control of the Home Ministry, Police and Courts.

    Tackling the causes of political prisoners will require a thorough but longer-term process of legislative and judicial reform. Having an effective Political Prisoners Committee will be an important element of that process and is something we have consistently called for and will continue to do.

    The Government has long campaigned on the issue of political prisoners in Burma. We have maintained pressure through bilateral and international actions such as the two annual UN resolutions on Burma in which we have played an instrumental part. I raised this issue directly with the then Minister for the Presidency, U Aung Min, during my visit to Burma in July 2015. We will work with the new Government to help it continue to make progress.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will estimate the number of (a) refugees, (b) internally displaced persons and (c) persons of concern resulting from conflict in Yemen.

    Rory Stewart

    Since March 2015, the United Nations (UN) estimates that:

    1. 179,654 people have arrived in Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Oman from Yemen, including Yemeni refugees and asylum-seekers;
    2. 2,205,102 people are internally displaced within Yemen; and
    3. 21.2 million people are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.
  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987 to include a requirement to stipulate the time of death.

    James Brokenshire

    There are no plans at present to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987 to include time of death at death registration.