Tag: David Burrowes

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will support the establishment of a full, international, independent investigation by the UN into claims of genocide against the Rohingya in Burma.

Mr Hugo Swire

The UK deplores the treatment of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State, who are subject to persecution and denied the most basic rights. We welcome the work of the highly effective UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, who has shone a spotlight on violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine. She has not characterised the treatment of the Rohingya as genocide, and neither did the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide in his 4 November statement on Burma’s elections. However, any judgement on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for international judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. A UN investigation would require high level international support for which, we assess, there is little prospect of agreement at this stage. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, irrespective of whether or not they fit the definition of specific international crimes. I and other British Government Ministers take every appropriate opportunity, both publicly and in private, to press the Burmese authorities to take urgent steps to address the situation of the Rohingya. I did this with senior Burmese Ministers during my visit to Burma in July, when I travelled to Rakhine State for the second time. Most recently, I raised the issue with the Burmese Foreign Minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, in September in New York. After the 8 November elections, the UK will continue our efforts to address the serious ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine State.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the uptake of the marriage tax allowance is; what steps he is taking to increase uptake of that allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

400,000 couples have successfully claimed Marriage Allowance. HM Revenue and Customers is continuing to extensively market Marriage Allowance, including through print, radio and billboard advertising. Eligible couples who haven’t already claimed for the tax year 2015/16 will not lose out as they have until 5 April 2020 to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the NHS England Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group plans to make an announcement on the recommendations of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group.

George Freeman

The Specialised Services Commissioning Committee is due to meet at the end of June 2016. The recommendations of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group will be announced after that meeting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to lay before Parliament a report on the steps the Government proposes to take in relation to independent child trafficking advocates, pursuant to section 48(7) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Karen Bradley

Section 48(7) of the Modern Slavery Act requires the Government to lay before Parliament a report setting out the steps it proposes to take in relation to independent child trafficking advocates within nine months of Royal Assent of the Modern Slavery Act. The Government will publish this report by 16 December, whilst Parliament is sitting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a Minister of her Department plans to attend the UNHRC high-level meeting on global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees in Geneva on 30 March 2016.

Richard Harrington

I am currently planning to attend the UNHCR high level meeting on global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees in Geneva on 30 March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of people whose asylum application has been transferred for consideration by the Government under the Dublin III Regulation as part of quarterly immigration statistics.

James Brokenshire

The information published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics is kept under review, taking into account the needs of users, burdens on suppliers and producers, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. There are currently no plans to publish data relating to asylum applications transferred under Dublin III Regulation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how aid disbursed by her Department’s Palestinian Programme tackles anti-Israeli incitement.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK deplores incitement on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We monitor any allegations of incitement closely and raise instances with both the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel. Our financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding which reaffirms the PA’s commitment to non-violence and a negotiated solution to the conflict. We accompany our support for UNRWA with stringent attention to their neutrality and values of peace. UNRWA continues to implement a human rights, conflict resolution and tolerance policy, which applies to all its schools in its five fields of operation, supplementing the host country curriculums. We take allegations of incitement very seriously and raise them with UNRWA whenever appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle child trafficking in Nepal; what assessment she has made of (a) the role of Childreach’s Taught Not Trafficked and (b) other preventative education programmes in such work; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne

Our Work in Freedom programme tackles human trafficking and promotes safe migration in Nepal and across the region, providing community training, support to victims in destinations and helping to improve laws and policies. In 2015, the programme reached more than 54,000 people in Nepal, including about 40,000 women and children through door to door visits.

Following the devastating earthquake last year, DFID Nepal supported work with the Nepal Police, Women and Children Service Directorate and Ministry of Women and Social Welfare to create women and children safe spaces, and stop trafficking of women and children. We also support wider work that contributes to helping children avoid the risk of being trafficked, including improving livelihoods, providing skills training and helping families to better withstand natural disasters.

DFID is not currently engaged in work directly with Childreach.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36277, how many requests have been made for asylum applications to be transferred for consideration by the UK from (a) Greece and (b) Italy since UK experts were deployed to support the respective Dublin units.

James Brokenshire

Whilst all asylum claims including those accepted under Dublin III are registered on the Home Office Case Information Database (CID), this data is not currently held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically and is therefore not currently available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the local government finance settlement will be subject to a needs-led review.

Mr Marcus Jones

The consultation on the provisional local government finance settlement for 2016-17 closed on 15 January. We are considering carefully all the responses and other representations made and will present final proposals soon to enable local authorities to set their budgets for 2016-17.

At the outset of the current system of business rates retention in 2013-14, we said there would be periodic reviews to take account of changes to needs and resources. As part of the move towards 100% business rates retention by the end of this Parliament, we will work with local government on the approach to implementing these reforms, including on the treatment of needs and resources, and will consult on proposed changes.