Tag: Andy Slaughter

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to protect birds of prey.

Rory Stewart

All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which provides a powerful framework for the conservation of wild birds, their eggs, nests and habitats. The Government is committed to ensuring the protection afforded to wild birds of prey is effectively enforced. There are strong penalties for offenders, including imprisonment.

Raptor persecution is one of six national wildlife crime priorities and is subject to a prevention, intelligence and enforcement plan.

The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which is part funded by Defra, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities affecting birds of prey and provides assistance to police forces when required.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on preventing the execution of UK nationals sentenced to death abroad.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

​The UK Government is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. Whenever there is a case of a British national on death row, provided that individual wants assistance from the UK Government, we make political representations at many levels to the government of the country in question. There is no one-size-fits-all approach; we will tailor our interventions on a case-by-case basis in a way that we judge to be most effective to prevent executions being carried out. Beyond political representations by Her Majesty’s Government, other interventions might include: engaging local and UK-based Non-Governmental Organisations to provide support to British nationals facing the death penalty; liaising closely with the British national’s legal team to ensure any lobbying actions we take complement their ongoing legal activity; and working closely with international partners to encourage wider lobbying.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) the amount of any underspend expected against departmental expenditure limits in the current fiscal year and (b) his Department’s latest forecast of total AME spend for this year are; and what the forecasts were for those two sums at the time of the Summer Budget 2015 and March Budget 2015.

Mike Penning

The Department is not forecasting an underspend against departmental expenditure limits. At the time of the Summer Budget and the March Budget 2015, the Department was also not forecasting an underspend.

Totals for Annually Managed Expenditure are published twice a year at Main and Supplementary Estimates. The latest figures for 2015-16 were published in the Main Estimates, presented to the House of Commons on 2 July 2015. A link is provided below. Updated totals will be published in the Supplementary Estimates later in the financial year.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/main-supply-estimates-2015-to-2016

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 13072, for what reasons the Prime Minister decided to transfer responsibility for the Freedom of Information Act from the Ministry of Justice to the Cabinet Office.

Matthew Hancock

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 17 July [HLWS134].

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which UK embassies have a human rights adviser on their staff.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 2014 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report stated that we have an estimated 240 full-time equivalents who work directly on human rights. That number included two contracted Human Rights Advisers within the Human Rights and Democracy Department in London, and two Human Rights Advisers at the UK Mission in Geneva. However, as the Foreign Secretary explained in his Independent article on 10 December, [http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/promoting-human-rights-is-not-about-who-can-shout-the-loudest-a6767386.html], human rights work is not just the preserve of a few specialised staff but the responsibility of all British diplomats and an important part of the training our staff receive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Government Ministers or officials have visited the Calais refugee camp.

James Brokenshire

I have been to the Calais migrant camp and UK officials regularly visit the Jules Ferry Day Centre.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement by Baroness Anelay of St John’s of 28 October 2014, HCWA 149, what progress has been made arranging a return visit with the delegation who compiled the Children in Military Custody report.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Dates for the follow up visit have yet to be finalised, but it is expected to take place in Spring 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners took their own life in each month of (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) 2015 to date.

Andrew Selous

Statistics for deaths in prison custody are not published monthly as they do not give a clear indication of trends.

Statistics for deaths in prison custody are published quarterly, and the latest information is available in Table 5 of the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/472712/Safety-in-custody-summary-q2-2015.xls

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to its Saudi Arabian counterpart on the case of Ali Al-Nimr, Dawood Al-Marhoon and Abdallah Al-Zaher.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are very concerned about the cases of Ali Al-Nimr, Dawood Al-Marhoon and Abdallah Al-Zaher and we have raised these cases with the Saudi Arabian authorities, on many occasions – most recently on 3 January, at a very senior level. We continue to make representations on these cases and others like it, whenever the opportunity to do so arises.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints have been received from prisoners of pest infestation in prisons in the last 12 months.

Andrew Selous

The information requested is not held centrally.