Tag: Dawn Butler

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will work with insurers to ensure an accurate risk assessment is carried out on the threat to public health posed by toxins in flood water.

Rory Stewart

The ABI were closely involved in developing a code of practice for flood damaged buildings. This covers the repair of flood damaged buildings and sets standards for ensuring this kind of work is carried out safely and effectively including avoiding any increased risk to public health.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Equality (Language Analysis – Palestinian, Syrian and Kuwaiti Testing) Authorisation (No. 2) 2013, whether the Government plans to revise the existing three exceptions.

James Brokenshire

The Government has no current plans to revise the existing Equality Act exemptions relating to language analysis testing.

No further nationalities have been added to the Equality Act exemption authorisation since it was introduced in 2013.

A review on language analysis use was undertaken in 2011 and published in 2012.

(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/257177/language-analysis.pdf).

No further such review is presently planned. However, we do monitor the use of language analysis regularly to ensure it is used as effectively as possible and to identify new trends in nationality swapping.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department monitors implementation of price caps for agency staff.

Ben Gummer

Hourly price caps are one part of a series of tough financial controls we introduced last year to help the National Health Service tackle overspending on agency staff. NHS Improvement consulted on the price caps before they were introduced and, with NHS England and the Care Quality Commission, has been monitoring their implementation on a weekly basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make it illegal to disable a diesel particulate filter.

Mr John Hayes

It is an offence under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations (Regulation 61a(3)) to use on a road a vehicle which has been modified in such a way that it no longer complies with the air pollutant emissions standards it was designed to meet. Removal of a diesel particulate filter (DPF), from a vehicle used on the road, will invariably result in a contravention of the Regulations (making the vehicle unlawful to use on the road). The potential penalties are £1,000 for a car and £2,500 for a van, lorry or bus.

Under section 75 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is an offence to alter a vehicle in such a way that the use of the vehicle on a road would be unlawful. Thus both the vehicle user and the person disabling the DPF (if they knew or believed that the vehicle would be used on the road) could be found guilty of an offence under the Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish as soon as possible a full analysis of responses to his Department’s recent consultation on the deregulation of Sunday trading.

Brandon Lewis

The Government published its response to the consultation on 9 February.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Equality (Language Analysis – Palestinian, Syrian and Kuwaiti Testing) Authorisation (No. 2) 2013, whether any further nationalities have been added to the list of exceptions.

James Brokenshire

The Government has no current plans to revise the existing Equality Act exemptions relating to language analysis testing.

No further nationalities have been added to the Equality Act exemption authorisation since it was introduced in 2013.

A review on language analysis use was undertaken in 2011 and published in 2012.

(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/257177/language-analysis.pdf).

No further such review is presently planned. However, we do monitor the use of language analysis regularly to ensure it is used as effectively as possible and to identify new trends in nationality swapping.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will initiate a resolution of the UN Security Council related to whether genocide is being committed against religious minorities in Syria and Iraq.

James Duddridge

As the Prime Minister, the Member for Witney (David Cameron) has said, there is a very strong case for saying that the atrocities committed by Daesh amount to genocide, but recognition of genocide should be a matter for international courts, not political bodies.

When an attempt was made in 2014 to have the UN Security Council refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, it was vetoed by Russia and China. We have no reason to believe another referral would deliver a different outcome.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend or repeal the Hunting Act 2004 during this Parliament.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Government stands by its manifesto commitment to give Parliament the opportunity to repeal the Hunting Act on a free vote, with a Government Bill in Government time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2015 to Question 14463, what the timetable for the equality impact assessment referred to will be.

Ben Gummer

The Government and NHS Employers have made clear that an Equality Impact Assessment will be published alongside the new national contract, 90% of which was agreed with the British Medical Association in talks up to 10 February 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March to Question 31122, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the (a) decrease in the number of women and (b) increase in the number of men bringing equal pay tribunal cases against their employers.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The apparent increase in the number of complaints to the Employment Tribunals of equal pay made by men in 2015 was principally due to two large multiple claims issued during the year, involving mainly male claimants. Multiple claims are inherently more variable than single claims and comparisons which include multiple claims can be misleading about the trends in Tribunal caseloads.

We are undertaking a review of the impact of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals. This will include an assessment of the impact of fees on the volumes of Employment Tribunal claims including in relation to gender and other protected characteristics.