Tag: Fiona Bruce

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that vulnerable Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan have access to basic services such as health and education.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK has allocated £304 million in Lebanon and £193 million in Jordan to support Syrian refugees and vulnerable host communities in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region. Whilst addressing the immediate needs of refugees and vulnerable members of host communities, UK aid is also supporting their longer-term resilience and stability through funding to essential basic services. For example, the UK has allocated over £27 million in Lebanon and £21 million in Jordan to support health related activities such as providing over 229,157 medical consultations in Lebanon and 102,205 in Jordan for emergency trauma and primary healthcare cases.

As part of the No Lost Generation Initiative (NLGI) the UK is also working with other donors, UN agencies, NGOs and governments in the region to prevent a whole generation being lost to the Syria conflict through long-term negative impacts on psychological wellbeing and lack of access to quality education. In Lebanon, the UK’s total pledge to support education now stands at £80 million, and in Jordan, the UK is providing £15 million over three years to improve the quality of public school education for both Jordanians and Syrians. In addition to this support to the formal sector in Jordan the UK has also providing £3 million so far to support Jordanians and Syrians in informal education.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the comment made on 22 January 2016 by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Mr Hugo Swire

We work closely with international partners to exert pressure on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) regarding its human rights track record both through multilateral fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council, as well as through our critical engagement with the regime both in Pyongyang and London.

We are aware of the appalling human rights situation in the DPRK as described by the UN Special Rapporteur as well as set out in the UN Commission of Inquiry report. Our policy priorities continue to be the improvement of the human rights situation for the North Korean people and an end to the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on the number of abortions related to disability of the introduction of non-invasive prenatal testing.

Ben Gummer

The UK National Screening Committee which advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy has conducted a full review of the published scientific and cost evidence relating to Non-Invasive Pre-Natal Testing (NIPT) as a screening test for Down’s, Edwards’ and Patau’s syndromes. On 15 January 2016, the Committee announced its recommendation that NIPT should be introduced as an additional test into NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme as part of an evaluation. This is because the evidence suggests that NIPT is much more accurate than the current testing used in screening and can substantially reduce the number of pregnant women needing an invasive test, which carries a high risk of miscarriage. Ministers are currently considering this recommendation.

The possible introduction of NIPT into the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme does not fundamentally alter the choices presented to prospective parents, or the options and choices available when testing identifies a feotus with a syndrome. Therefore, no assessment has been made of the impact of NIPT on the number of abortions.

NIPT testing as part of the NHS Foetal Anomaly Screening Programme will not be used to determine the sex of the foetus. Abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the article by Marta N. Shahbazi et al, entitled Self-organisation of the human embryo in the absence of material tissues, Nature Cell Biology (2016) and by Alessia Deglincerti et al, entitled Self-organisation of the in vitro attached human embryo, Nature 553, 251 to 254, of 12 May 2016, if he will instruct the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to require prolonged culture for up to 13 days or longer of any human embryos generated by (a) pronuclear transfer and (b) spindle-chromosomal complex transfer prior to clinical application of either of these techniques.

Jane Ellison

It will be for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, as the United Kingdom national regulatory body, to determine what evidence must be provided by clinics seeking a licence to provide mitochondrial donation treatment to patients, and any conditions that are to be placed on the licence.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, prohibits the keeping or using of embryos for longer than 14 days or the appearance of the primitive streak, whichever is the earlier.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 1150 of Session 2015-16, Legal protection for unborn children.

Jane Ellison

The Government has no plans to repeal the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929, or sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Indian government on steps to lift the fuel blockade on Nepal and facilitate the release of humanitarian supplies.

Mr Hugo Swire

I refer my honourable friend to the answer I gave on 10 November 2015 to Question 14391, located at: www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/.

In addition to the above answer, our Ambassador to Nepal discussed the blockage at the Nepal-India border in his introductory meeting with the Indian Ambassador to Nepal on 9 November. I also raised the matter with General Vijay Kumar Singh, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, when we spoke in the margins of the Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers Meeting on 5 November 2015 in Luxembourg.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government is doing to encourage Saudi Arabia and other parties to the conflict in Yemen to refrain from using explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

International Humanitarian Law (IHL) provides that no weapon should be used indiscriminately, disproportionately, or to deliberately target civilians and civilian objects. These rules are applicable to situations where explosive weapons are used in populated areas.

We take all reports of alleged violations of IHL in Yemen very seriously. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Arabian-led coalition and received assurances that they are complying with IHL. We continue to engage with them on those assurances and urge all parties to the conflict to act in compliance with IHL.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures the Government has put in place to ensure that the resettlement programme in Lebanon and Jordan is able to identify the most vulnerable people.

James Brokenshire

We work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement according to agreed vulnerability criteria for the Syrian Resettlement Scheme. The scheme was expanded in September 2015 to ensure more of those in the greatest need are resettled in the UK.

We are working with UNHCR to intensify their outreach and identification activities in the region, including in Jordan and the Lebanon; to encourage and invite all unregistered populations to avail themselves of UNHCR’s services either by directly approaching UNHCR to register with them or by referral via a third organisation.

We are also working with confessional groups and Diaspora communities here and in the region to maximise their awareness of UNHCR’s global mandate and scope for resettlement opportunities and/or to refer any unregistered person to UNHCR for registration and potential assessment according to criteria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recommendations of the UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in North Korea, published in February 2014.

Mr Hugo Swire

The UK has strongly supported the work of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and we remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in the DPRK that the report outlined. We have urged DPRK authorities to respond in detail to the contents of the report and to address the human rights violations that it documents. We also maintain pressure on the DPRK on human rights through multilateral fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council, and through our critical engagement with the regime both in Pyongyang and London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the publication of the Home Office Guidance on the use of Human Materials in Animals Advice Note 01/16, what the process will be for receiving comments from the public on applications to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for a licence to carry out research using human admixed embryos before a decision on awarding such licences is made.

Jane Ellison

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the Home Office guidance on the use of Human Materials in Animals was published in January 2016. The guidance provides information on the steps necessary to obtain a research licence from the HFEA. There is no requirement in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, for the HFEA to seek the views of the public when considering applications for a research licence. Currently, the HFEA does not invite comments from the public on applications for a research licence. This will be reviewed in the 2016/17 business year.