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Tag: Fiona O’Donnell

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his priorities are for the UK’s relationship with Sri Lanka.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK will work to reinvigorate its relationship with the people of Sri Lanka and President Sirisena’s government. We already have strong links in trade, education, tourism and between our people. The President’s election is a new opportunity for Sri Lanka to build a stable, prosperous and inclusive future for all Sri Lankans. President Sirisena’s early visit to the UK from 7-11 March clearly expressed a renewed friendship between our two countries. The UK has offered support to the newly elected President and Prime Minister as they seek to implement their ambitious reform programme and take steps to reconcile all Sri Lankan people. However, we have been clear we want to see Sri Lanka deliver on its commitments to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by September.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her objectives are for the summit on violence against women and girls in humanitarian emergencies.

    Justine Greening

    Last November I convened a Call to Action in relation to keeping women and girls safe in humanitarian emergencies. The event brought together both UN agencies and donors, and has already resulted in improved approaches in the Philippines and Syria. I pledged £21.6 million further funding to ensure this work delivered tangible outcomes for women and girls including £4 million to ensure survivors of sexual violence receive comprehensive support services. The US will host a follow-up event in September and this summer the Foreign Secretary will host a summit on his Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, which aims to tackle the culture of impunity for sexual violence committed in conflict.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that all children are protected from sexual violence in conflict zones.

    Justine Greening

    DFID is committed to tackling sexual violence against women and girls, with relevant programming in over 20 countries. For example, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) we have invested £60m to build security forces capable of better protecting women and girls from sexual violence and DFID has provided £21.6 million to protect women and children from sexual violence in humanitarian emergencies in a range of countries.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of statutory maternity and paternity pay to parents of premature and sick babies.

    Jenny Willott

    The UK’s maternity leave provision is one of the most generous in the world; all employed women have a “day one” entitlement to 52 weeks of maternity leave. Mothers with 26 weeks qualifying service and meeting the earnings requirement are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). Those mothers who do not qualify for SMP may be entitled to Maternity Allowance. This means that expectant mothers and mothers can take time off work to prepare for and recover from childbirth and bond with their babies, and to deal with unexpected eventualities including ill health, premature births and any complications associated with sick babies.

    Through the Children and Families Act 2014, the Government is introducing a new system of shared parental leave which will give parents much more flexibility in how to use their leave entitlement. This flexibility will be particularly valuable to parents who have to deal with difficult or unexpected circumstances and it will allow parents, for the first time, to take leave together in a way that suits them. The system will be available for working parents whose baby is due on or after 5 April 2015 (irrespective of when the baby is born), and will be introduced later this year so that it catches babies who are born early.

    The Government has committed to explicitly considering the issues facing families with babies admitted to neonatal care within the context of the review that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has announced it will undertake on the review of changes to employment law enacted by the Children and Families Act after 2018.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what funding for the independent living fund his Department has withdrawn from local authorities in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

    Mike Penning

    Responsibility for supporting former ILF users will transfer to local authorities and the devolved administrations from 1 July 2015.

    In line with the commitment made in last year’s Spending Review, local authorities and devolved administrations will be fully funded to enable them to meet those responsibilities in 2015/16

    Budgets for 2016/17 and later years will be determined in future Spending Reviews.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Israel regarding plans for the creation of a new settlement in the Old City of Hebron.

    Hugh Robertson

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend, the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) issued a statement on 17 April 2014 condemning the Israeli decision to create a new settlement in Hebron.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he will next meet representatives of energy-intensive industries to discuss the EU Commission’s draft Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines.

    Nicky Morgan

    Treasury ministers meet with a range of stakeholders on an ongoing basis, including energy intensive industries. For instance the Chancellor recently visited Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant. The Chancellor has written to representatives of energy-intensive industries about the Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines and instructed officials to meet with them to discuss this issue.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the new Indian government in favour of increased action to tackle caste discrimination, sexual violence and other forms of discrimination and inequality.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We are committed to working with the Government of India and international partners to address the problem of gender-based violence, human trafficking and child exploitation in India. Through the Department for International Development (DFID) programme, the UK supports measures in India’s 120 poorest districts to promote the empowerment and access to benefits and services of excluded groups. DFID India also provides support to national and state governments in India which includes helping girls to complete basic education and further tackling violence against women and girls.

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), invited the Government of India to attend the End Sexual Violence in Conflict Summit and has already discussed the initiative with the new Indian Foreign Minister. The Indian High Commissioner to the UK attended the Summit.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made to the government of Israel on the recent arrest of Mahmoud Zwahre in Al Maasara, Bethlehem.

    Hugh Robertson

    The British Government has not made any representations to the Israeli authorities on this issue.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in East Lothian constituency.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

    The ward results for the East Lothian constituency were as follows:

    Ward

    Green matches

    Amber matches

    Red matches

    Dunbar and East Linton

    78.7%

    5.1%

    16.2%

    Fa’side

    80.9%

    3.0%

    16.0%

    Haddington and Lammermuir

    77.9%

    5.6%

    16.5%

    Musselburgh East and Carberry

    79.5%

    2.6%

    17.9%

    Musselburgh West

    74.5%

    2.5%

    23.0%

    North Berwick Coastal

    78.4%

    5.3%

    16.2%

    Preston/Seton/Gosford

    82.2%

    2.0%

    15.8%

    Results for all wards are available on the Commission’s website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

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