Tag: David Simpson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the effective implementation of regulations (a) relating to storage of slurry and (b) in general for safety in farm yards.

George Eustice

Implementing safety regulations in farm yards is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE recognises agriculture as a priority industry and has a programme for measurable and sustainable changes to the industry’s health and safety performance.

The regulation of slurry storage is a devolved matter. In England it is controlled by the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) Regulations 2010 (the SSAFO regulations), with the Environment Agency as the main regulator. From this year the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is including slurry storage in its cross compliance inspections. Both the RPA and Environment Agency work closely with the HSE on farm safety.

Slurry storage and management in England has been reviewed recently by a Joint Industry and Government Working Group and this included a review of the SSAFO regulations. The Group’s report was published on 21 November 2013 and is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/slurry-management-and-storage-joint-government-and-industry-report.The report recognised the risks involved in managing slurry and included a recommendation about developing regular assessment of the condition of slurry stores to provide assurance that stores both prevent environmental pollution and meet health and safety requirements.The Government and industry continue to work in partnership to implement the recommendations.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what direct steps the Government has taken to ensure the safety of Christians in countries where they are being persecuted for their faith.

Mr David Lidington

Freedom of religion or belief is a priority for this Government internationally. On 15 November 2014, the Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Warsi gave a speech in Washington stressing the need for an international response to the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. The full text of her speech is available on our website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/an-international-response-to-a-global-crisis. We are concerned about the rising tide of persecution of individuals on the basis of their religion and belief. We regularly raise individual cases and discriminatory legislation with other governments and we support overseas programmes designed to overcome prejudice, discrimination and sectarianism. We also work in multilateral fora to ensure that the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief is afforded the international legal protection that it deserves. Furthermore the Senior Minister of State has convened meetings of international leaders to generate practical steps to promote freedom of religion or belief and to fight religious intolerance within our societies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in China.

Mr Hugo Swire

We do have concerns about restrictions to civil and political freedoms in China, particularly around ethnic minority rights; the death penalty; and freedom of expression, association and assembly.

The climate for human rights defenders and civil society is very difficult, and security in areas with ethnic minorities remains tight.

Ministers regularly raise human rights issues with Chinese counterparts, and we highlight our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that convictions are brought for possession of large quantities of illegal drugs.

Norman Baker

Action to restrict drug supply, including the investigation of drug offences and enabling the prosecution of those responsible, is a priority for law enforcement and other regulatory agencies. It is important that the courts are able to consider all the circumstances of any offence and offender which is why law enforcement agencies work closely with their prosecutors to provide the courts with the best evidence of an offence, presented in the most effective way.

In addition to prosecution, law enforcement agencies and the Criminal Justice System in the UK have at their discretion a number of disposals available to deal with drug-related offenders, including referral for drug treatment. This ensures that a robust and proportionate enforcement approach can be taken, which gives due regard to the public interest.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Syria.

Justine Greening

The humanitarian crisis in Syria has reached catastrophic proportions. The UN estimates that 9.3 million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid within Syria. At least 6.5 million people in Syria have been forced to flee their homes to other areas of the country and there are now over 2.8 million refugees in the region.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many racially aggravated attacks were recorded in the latest period for which figures are available.

Norman Baker

The police provide the Home Office with aggregated figures of the recorded number of racially or religiously aggravated assault with (a) and (b) without injury offences. It is not possible to separately identify the specific aggravating factor.

In the year ending December 2013, the police recorded 2,473 racially or religiously aggravated assault with injury offences and 3,988 racially or religiously aggravated assault without injury offences.