The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Regulatory Policy Committee has made of the devolution of Sunday trading rules.
Anna Soubry
The Government’s estimates of the economic impact will be independently scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee and their assessment will be published in due course.
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 steps the Government is taking to help create consensus at the UN Security Council for a referral to the International Criminal Court of the acts committed by Daesh in Iraq and Syria as genocide.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
It is not possible to refer Daesh itself to the ICC. Any referral would cover all potential crimes within a specified geographic area, rather than by a specified organisation or set of actors.
We judge that a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) 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.
While we continue to draw the attention of the Security Council to the atrocities being committed in Iraq and Syria – on 4 May the Council held a session on the situation in Aleppo at the UK’s request – 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. Addition as per PQs 36262 and 35349.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-06-06.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been allocated in the current financial year to the married couples tax allowance; and how much he expects the Government to spend on that allowance in this financial year.
Mr David Gauke
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) revised the forecast for Marriage Allowance at Budget 2016. Details were published in the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook in March 2016.
The Government remains committed to recognising marriage through the tax system. Marriage Allowance could benefit eligible couples by up to £432 this year if couples also backdate their claim to 2015-16. HM Revenue and Customs is continuing to look at ways to increase take-up of Marriage Allowance, including through further advertising, to ensure all eligible couples are able to take advantage of the allowance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that staff in her Department receive religious literacy training.
James Brokenshire
Civil Service Learning, the main training provider for the Home Office, has a broad range of diversity and inclusion learning opportunities which are available to all staff.
Horizon (the Home Office intranet) hosts an information portal with resources to develop staff’s religious literacy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will take steps at EU level to encourage better labelling of alcoholic drinks by providing (a) uniform information about strength and calorie content, (b) guidelines on safe drinking levels and (c) health warnings.
Jane Ellison
Current food labelling regulations, including those for alcoholic drinks, are set at a European level.
Alcoholic drinks are currently exempt under European law from needing to provide nutritional information and ingredients lists. However, there is a provision allowing the voluntary labelling of the energy content of alcoholic drinks.
We are not currently planning any national policies on nutrition labelling of alcohol. However, some businesses are choosing to label calories voluntarily on their alcoholic beverages.
Guidelines on safe drinking levels and health warnings are not being taken forward at EU level at this time. However, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is overseeing a UK-wide review of all alcohol guidelines so that people can make informed choices about their drinking at all stages of their lives. Under the previous Government’s Responsibility Deal, independent monitoring has shown nearly 80% of bottles and cans on shelf now carry unit content, the CMO’s lower-risk guidelines and a warning about drinking when pregnant, fulfilling a Responsibility Deal pledge.
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.