Tag: Fiona Bruce

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to protect the welfare of vulnerable older people in developing countries.

Mr Nick Hurd

Age features as part of our efforts to leave no one behind and in country level analyses as a key factor in understanding poverty.

Older people have been specifically included in the Sustainable Development Goals on ending hunger, creating sustainable cities and communities and the means of implementation. As well as this, the requirement to provide disaggregated data to evidence progress against the Sustainable Development Goals will ensure that governments and development agencies can identify those at risk of being left behind and design programmes to lift them out of poverty. The UK was a key player in achieving these goals.

Many DFID programmes reach and include older people, for example on health systems strengthening, eye care, or specific programmes for the poorest including supporting slum dwellers in Tanzania, or supporting widows resulting from the genocide in Rwanda. DFID has also supported Governments to establish social pensions for older people to ensure that they do not live in poverty.

Finally, DFID also continues to fund a number of age-specific development programmes which are delivered by Civil Society Organisations in some of the world’s poorest communities to ensure that older people are not left behind.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has formulated plans to assist a mass humanitarian emergency response if instability were to occur in North Korea.

Mr Hugo Swire

All humanitarian crises are assessed on a case by case basis, along with any potential role for UK intervention.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) business representative bodies, (b) central government bodies, (c) local authorities, (d) trade union or staff associations, (e) charity and social enterprises, (f) large businesses, (g) medium-sized businesses, (h) small businesses, (i) micro businesses, (j) convenience stores, (k) shop workers, (l) legal representatives, (m) religious organisations, (n) individuals and (o) other bodies responded to the consultation on Sunday trading devolution; how many responses of each category (i) supported and (ii) opposed devolution.

Anna Soubry

The Department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by specific question as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on voting in favour of referring as genocide the acts committed by Daesh in Iraq and Syria to the International Criminal Court in the event of another member of the UN Security Council proposing such a referral.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

It is not possible for the UN Security Council to refer Daesh itself to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Any referral would cover all potential crimes within a specified geographic area, rather than by a specified organisation or set of actors.

We would consider carefully any suggestion from another member of the Security Council to refer the situation in Iraq and Syria to the ICC.

However, we judge that a referral to the International Criminal Court by the UN Security Council is not practical at this time.

When efforts were made to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC in 2014, it was vetoed by Russia and China. We expect that any Security Council resolution at this time seeking to refer the situations in Iraq or Syria to the ICC would likewise be blocked.

We continue to discuss with partners on the UN Security Council further ways to ensure that the perpetrators of crimes committed in Syria and Iraq are held to account and face justice.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that staff in his Department receive religious literacy training.

Mr Marcus Jones

Civil Service Learning, the main training portal for civil servants, has a broad range of diversity and inclusion learning, which is available to all civil servants. There is also a two day course covering both Abrahamic and Dharmic religions for officials who need a more in depth understanding to carry out their role.

DCLG officials have had discussions with the Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life (CORAB) about their call for greater religious literacy in every section of society. The Government is aware of the recent evidence sessions on religious literacy held by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education and will carefully consider the findings of the Group’s report when it is published.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the range of international operations being undertaken by the armed forces.

Mike Penning

British Forces are involved in more than 25 operations in over 20 countries. Backed by our rising Defence budget we are investing in the people and capabilities to ensure we continue to play a global role in order to keep our country safe.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to promote alcohol treatment and counselling options that will help to prevent alcohol-related crime.

Jane Ellison

Government is keen to promote recovery from alcohol problems, and this year the Department added a new condition to the ring-fenced public health grant to local authorities, stating that they should have regard to the need to improve the take up of, and outcomes from, their alcohol and drug misuse treatment services.

A key step in preventing alcohol-related crime is the Liaison and Diversion (L&D) programme. This programme is a cross government initiative, led by NHS England and has developed the first national model to identify, assess and refer people into appropriate treatment and support services at their first point of contact with the criminal justice system. Twenty-five trial sites have been commissioned by NHS England.

Another key piece of work is an initiative between Public Health England, NHS England and the National Offender Management Service to give alcohol brief interventions in North West England where prisoners whose offending is linked to alcohol misuse are offered brief interventions pre-release and then by their offender manager after release.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Attorney General, how many alleged human traffickers have been prosecuted by the CPS as a result of calls made to the NSPCC human trafficking and modern slavery helpline between July 2014 and June 2015.

Robert Buckland

In the last financial year the CPS successfully prosecuted 130 human trafficking cases. However, the CPS does not record how an allegation of human trafficking or modern slavery was brought to the attention of the investigative authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will increase funding for human rights projects in North Korea.

Mr Hugo Swire

We currently deliver a range of projects in the DPRK through our bilateral project fund, many of which are intended to deliver improvements in human rights. We will be assessing future projects on human rights for the next year under the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy where we will consider the practicalities and implications of delivering human rights projects in DPRK and how to improve the appalling human rights situation. We will continue to support humanitarian work aimed at alleviating the plight of the most vulnerable in DPRK’s society.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage more young people to go into farming.

George Eustice

The Government is working with the food and farming industries to encourage bright, talented young people into agriculture. We aim to treble the number of food and farming apprenticeships by 2020. Agriculture and related subjects is the fastest-growing subject at university, with a 4.6% increase in student numbers last year. We are also working with industry partners and others to build links between food and farming businesses and schools. The Great British food campaign will help to highlight the breadth of careers the food and farming industries can offer.