Tag: Catherine West

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to taking to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Antarctica.

James Duddridge

The UK is an active member of the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (the Commission) established under the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. The Commission is an integral part of the Antarctic Treaty System. The Commission has established robust monitoring and enforcement both at sea and through port state controls to eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated activities within the Convention Area.

HMS Protector patrols waters within the Convention Area and during 2015 undertook a circumnavigation of Antarctic waters, undertaking the Commission inspections in collaboration with Australian and New Zealand colleagues.

The UK undertook unprecedented action against illegal, unreported and unregulated practises during 2015 by tackling individuals and companies who derive economic benefit from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, going beyond those who are directly engaged in such activities. British insurance companies now undertake checks against regional fisheries bodies’ illegal, unreported and unregulated lists and Interpol databases, before any vessel insurance is agreed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to make public decisions on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis taken at the meeting to consider the commissioning specialised services on 31 May 2016.

Jane Ellison

NHS England’s Specialised Services Commissioning Committee have considered and accepted NHS England’s external legal advice that it does not have the legal power to commission pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). However, work on PrEP is on-going and up to £2 million will be invested in a pilot programme to target those at highest risk over the course of two years.

Public Health England is working to identify the most effective locations for the introduction of this pilot. The Department will be discussing future commissioning with stakeholders.

Our £2.4 million national HIV Prevention and Sexual Health Promotion Programme also gives those at highest risk the best advice to make safer choices about sex.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for a Disclosure and Barring Service local intelligence check to be completed by the Metropolitan Police Service.

Sarah Newton

From June 2015 to May 2016, the average time taken to complete Disclosure checks by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) was 94 days and for the police as a whole, 22 days.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is working closely with the small number of forces, including the MPS, whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The performance of police disclosure units is an operational issue for individual police forces and the MPS has established a Gold Group to oversee the recovery plan which they have in place to reduce the time taken. I have made clear to the MPS that its current delays must be addressed as a matter of priority and I continue to maintain close oversight of the progress being made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many times he has met with Guy Verhofstadt to discuss the UK’s exit from the EU.

Mr David Jones

The Prime Minister has been clear we will not give a running commentary on Brexit negotiations. We will ensure that we engage closely with all relevant interlocutors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to continue to participate in the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions after the UK leaves the UK.

Margot James

The UK has continued to participate in the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) since the EU referendum vote. Future engagement between the UK and Eurofound will be considered as part of the broader EU exit negotiations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with Michel Barnier and on how many occasions about the UK’s exit from the EU.

Mr David Jones

The Prime Minister has been clear we will not give a running commentary on Brexit negotiations. We will ensure that we engage closely with all relevant interlocutors.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of Islamophobic abuse have been recorded in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton

The Home Office does not hold the requested information. The Home Office has published data for 2011/12 to 2014/15 on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales for the five centrally monitored strands (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity) but these data cannot be broken down by religion of the victim. The 2015/16 data will have been published on 13 October 2016.

From April 2016, the Home Office began collecting data from the police on the targeted religion of religious hate crime offences in order to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account. This information will be provided voluntarily in 2016/17, but we intend to make it mandatory from the following year. We will publish the first data from this collection in the 2016/17 Hate Crime statistics publication in 2017.

This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will support the establishment of a UN Inquiry into alleged war crimes committed during the Yemen civil war.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

​We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by actors in the conflict and take these very seriously. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached. The Saudi Arabian Government has their own internal procedures for investigations. At a press conference on 31 January they announced more detail of how they investigate such incidents. The Saudi led Coalition Joint Investigations Assessment Team announced the outcome of 8 investigations on 4 August.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Saudi Arabian counterpart on (a) torture, (b) the death penalty, (c) public executions and (d) the tolerance of free speech in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We do not shy away from raising legitimate human rights concerns. The Foreign Secretary most recently raised human rights with the Saudi Arabian authorities on 7 September. Our Embassy in Riyadh also frequently raise our concerns and will continue to do so.

Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights priority country, because of the use of the death penalty, limited access to justice, women’s issues and restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion or belief. The Saudi Arabian government is well aware of our views.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the UK’s policy is on requiring that Greece obtain debt relief before supporting future IMF lending to that country.

Mr David Gauke

Greece’s euro area support programme is a matter for Greece and the euro area. But it is strongly in our interest to see a stable euro area and a sustainable solution to these issues. For the IMF to grant a new programme to Greece, a proposal must be approved by the IMF Board. For a proposal to be put to the IMF Board, conditions under the Exceptional Access policy must be met. As part of these conditions, debt must be considered sustainable with high probability under the IMF programme.