Tag: Diana Johnson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, at how many (a) NHS hospitals, (b) NHS agencies and (c) approved private sector places abortions were able to take place in each year since 2009-10.

Nicola Blackwood

Comprehensive and comparable data is not collected centrally on waiting times for abortions performed in both the National Health Service and independent sector. Information on the average time between the two medical practitioners’ signatures is also not collected centrally.

Because of the way information is stored the number of places where abortions took place in England and Wales is only available from 2013 to 2015 and is shown in the table below. All independent sector places perform abortions under contract from the NHS (previously known as NHS agency).

Table: The number of clinics at which abortions took place, by clinic type, England and Wales 2013 to 2015

Year	Total number of clinics	NHS Hospital	Independent Sector		Private Hospital
2013	348	234		97		16
2014	354	223		117		14
2015	385	220		151		14

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to implement the recommendation of the Review of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for victims of human trafficking, published in November 2014, on contacting all relevant people going through the NRM to remind them when their immigration leave expires.

Sarah Newton

We are committed to doing all we can to identify and support UK-based victims of modern slavery. Following the NRM, and in consultation with law enforcement and NGOs, we are piloting ways of improving the efficacy and efficiency of existing arrangements in two regions. The pilot will be evaluated and the findings will inform any reforms that we decide to roll out. Putting the NRM on a statutory footing would require secondary legislation and we will consider whether there is a need do so at the end of the pilot.

However, following the commencement of the Immigration (Variation of Leave) Order 2016, individuals on an Overseas Domestic Workers (ODW) visa only, who are also potential victims of modern slavery, are informed of the date that their visa will expire and whether they can continue to work. They will be updated up until 28 days after a conclusive grounds decision is made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions since the passage of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 have adult victims (a) applied for and (b) been granted the statutory defence for crimes they were compelled to commit while being enslaved or trafficked.

Robert Buckland

CPS do not have a central record of cases where the statutory defence has been applied, as it could arise in any category of offences.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 20 September 2016 to Question 45844, how many of his Department’s officials in Brussels are bound by EU codes of conduct which require them to act only with regard to the European Communities rather than a single member state.

Mr David Jones

​O​fficials ​in my Department are not bound by any EU codes of conduct. This is true of Home Civil Service officials, Diplomatic Service officials, and locally engaged staff.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Great Repeal Bill will incorporate all existing EU (a) regulations, (b) Directives and (c) Decisions into UK law.

Mr David Jones

The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 on the day we leave the EU, ending the authority of EU law and returning power to the UK. The Bill will give consumers, workers and businesses as much certainty as possible by maintaining law wherever practicable and desirable.

The Bill will convert current EU law (including regulations and directives) into domestic law, while allowing for amendments to take account of the future negotiated UK-EU relationship. The Government will then, in slower time, consider the domestic law changes which will be needed to give effect to new policies developed post EU exit.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 37452 to the hon. Member for Bristol West, on museums and galleries, which museums wholly reliant on local authority funding have closed in each year since 2009-10.

Matt Hancock

The Government is committed to ensuring that arts and cultural experiences, including those offered by museums and galleries, are available to everyone and not just the privileged few. Government provides support to local museums through Arts Council England (ACE), including a £10m Resilience Fund supporting museums at risk to explore new funding models and become more sustainable. Earlier this month, ACE ​announced the 2018-2022 investment round of £409m per year, which includes a £37m/year increase to focus on improving the amount spent outside London and on integrating museums into the arts portfolio.

The modern model of museums funding is that there are very few museums entirely reliant on local authority funding. Where museums are run by local authorities, decisions on service provision are for those local authorities to take.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have sought asylum in the UK through the Dublin III regulation.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office received 2122 asylum claims following a request for claimants to be accepted under the Dublin III regulations. This figure is based on the latest available data from January 2014 to June 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps UK embassies are taking to promote religious freedoms.

Mr David Lidington

Through our network of Embassies and High Commissions, the Government regularly urges governments across the world to protect the right of all individuals to practise their religion or belief free from persecution or discrimination.

We promote this freedom bilaterally by raising individual cases with governments and by seeking to influence them to remove discriminatory legislation or practices. We also promote religious freedom in multilateral fora by working together with our international partners

For example, in Burma, we have raised our deep concern at the rise of hate speech and religious intolerance with the Burmese authorities and will continue to do so, both publicly and in private. We have supported a number of projects, including developing relationships between Burmese youth and different religious communities, and arranging exchanges between activists on religious freedom in Burma and Indonesia. In Iraq, we are funding a project to prevent intolerance and violence towards religious communities by strengthening the ability of youth and civil society to advocate the right to freedom of religion or belief.

Promoting freedom of religion or belief is a priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Programme. Since 2011, 35 projects have been funded in 12 countries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much capital funding his Department has allocated to construction of a new concert hall in London led by the Barbican Centre.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not allocated any capital funding for the construction of the new concert hall in London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on (a) travel, (b) first or business class flights for officials, (c) first or business class flights for Ministers, (c) first class train travel for officials and (d) first class train travel for Ministers in 2014-15.

Mr David Lidington

The FCO ensures value for money in all its expenditure to help reduce the overall costs of Government. Staff are expected to find alternatives to overseas travel where possible, including by making use of video conferencing facilities.

Where travel is necessary, FCO policy is that staff should ensure maximum efficiency, remembering that it is public money being spent. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, FCO officials may fly business class only if the flying time is ten hours or longer.

All FCO staff are directed to use standard class for rail travel unless there are exceptional circumstances e.g. illness, disability or where first class facilities are essential for working while travelling. In these exceptional circumstances, prior line management approval must be given.

In 2014-15 the FCO’s spend on air and train travel originating in the UK and booked through the Government’s nominated travel agency in the UK totalled £10,879,831 and £365,145 respectively.

For comparison, in 2009-10 the equivalent figures were £14,503,576 and £328,184 respectively. This represents a 25% reduction in expenditure on air travel and a 11.3% increase on train travel since 2009-10.

In 2014-15 the figures break down to £6,838 on first class flights (exceptions were made to ensure attendance at the funeral for a Head of State and for officials to attend crucial talks on Libya), £4,501,110 on business class flights, £6,371,883 on economy and premium economy flights, £3,057 on first class rail travel and £362,088 on standard rail travel.

For comparison, in 2009-10 the figures break down to £11,852 on first class flights, £11,307,923 on business class flights, £3,183,801 on economy and premium economy flights, £195,447 on first class rail travel and £132,737 on standard rail travel.

It is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of expenditure on either air or rail travel by Ministers and by officials: disaggregating the class of travel from all the individual journeys taken by ministers and officials could only be carried out at disproportionate cost.