Tag: Lord Empey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have supplied any anti-aircraft weapons to rebel forces fighting in Syria.

Earl Howe

The UK participated in the original US-led ‘Train and Equip’ programme for vetted Syrian opposition forces fighting Daesh in 2015. The Ministry of Defence announced on 25 October 2016, that up to 20 UK personnel will be deploying to locations in the region, but outside Syria, to contribute to the refined and restarted programme. Their role will be to train selected members of vetted moderate Syrian opposition groups in the skills they need to continue to take the fight to Daesh. The UK is not participating in the "Equip" element of this programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of aid provided by the UK following the earthquake in Nepal last year.

Baroness Verma

DFID gave £70 million to the Nepal earthquake response to support humanitarian and early recovery efforts, making us one of the major donors. The Department for International Development’s expenditure in Nepal is assessed in a number of different and complementary ways. Across the portfolio, monitoring plans are in place for every programme including our response to the 2015 earthquake. This places emphasis on results delivery, ensuring we are well placed to monitor the effectiveness of our programmes. Our strong focus on evaluation, both globally and in our country programmes, ensures we can evaluate performance and impact across the sectors in which we work.

In addition to regular monitoring and evaluation, since the earthquake DFID Nepal has set up a regional office in Gorkha district to increase oversight of humanitarian and reconstruction programmes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have been (1) charged with, and (2) convicted of, people smuggling offences in the UK in each of the past 10 years.

Lord Bates

Prior to March 2014, this information was not recorded centrally. The number of individuals charged and convicted for people smuggling for 2014/15 and 2016/15 (year to date YTD) is as follows:

2014/15 (Apr to Mar) Charged – 207 Convicted – 111

2015/16 (Apr – YTD) Charged – 210 Convicted – 128

These figures recorded as the following primary offences: Human Smuggling – via Aeroplane, Human Smuggling – via Lorry, Human Smuggling – via Van/Car, Human Smuggling – via Vessel (boat/ferry etc) and Human Smuggling – Other.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-06-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they permit the devolved administrations in the UK to borrow money for resource budget purposes.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Scotland Act 2014 permits the Scottish Government to borrow up to £2.2 billion for capital purposes and £0.5 billion to cover shortfalls in cash receipts. The Scotland Act 2016 provides for these to be revised in due course to £3bn and £1.75bn respectively.

The Welsh Government may borrow up to £500 million to cover shortfalls in the Welsh Consolidated Fund as set out in the Government of Wales Act 2006. The Wales Act 2014 confers aggregate capital borrowing powers of up to £500 million on the Welsh Government. In response to a specific request from the Welsh Government, the Government has also provided early access to these capital borrowing powers in order to support the delivery of the M4 relief road.

The Northern Ireland Executive has a statutory borrowing limit of £3 billion for capital purposes as set out in the Northern Ireland (Loans) Act 1975 as amended by the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006. The Northern Ireland Executive may borrow up to £250 million to cover shortfalls in the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund as set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are providing any military training to rebel forces fighting in Syria.

Earl Howe

The UK participated in the original US-led ‘Train and Equip’ programme for vetted Syrian opposition forces fighting Daesh in 2015. The Ministry of Defence announced on 25 October 2016, that up to 20 UK personnel will be deploying to locations in the region, but outside Syria, to contribute to the refined and restarted programme. Their role will be to train selected members of vetted moderate Syrian opposition groups in the skills they need to continue to take the fight to Daesh. The UK is not participating in the "Equip" element of this programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether UK aid is able to enter Nepal by road without interference or delay.

Baroness Verma

We have been closely monitoring the movement of humanitarian and health goods over the land borders to Nepal. A number of DFID partners providing winter assistance for vulnerable households living over 1,500m affected by the earthquake have trucks that have not been able to move freely across the border. Other DFID humanitarian partners have been procuring goods from Nepal but are struggling with their distribution due to shortages of fuel.

We are actively advocating to all parties for the free movement of humanitarian and health supplies and peaceful resolution of the current disruption. The UN Resident Coordinator and the UK Ambassador met with Nepal’s Prime Minister this week to raise the issue of access to fuel for humanitarian operations. This has resulted in a positive commitment to prioritise a supply of fuel to humanitarian partners. UK ministers and senior civil servants continue to raise concerns over the current crises and need for quick resolution with concerned groups.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of persons involved in each of the following proscribed terrorist organisations: (1) Continuity Army Council; (2) Cumann na mBan; (3) Fianna na hEireann; (4) Irish National Liberation Army; (5) Irish People’s Liberation Organisation; (6) Irish Republican Army; (7) Loyalist Volunteer Force; (8) Orange Volunteers; (9) Red Hand Commando; (10) Red Hand Defenders; (11) Saor Eire; (12) Ulster Defence Association; (13) Ulster Freedom Fighters; and (14) Ulster Volunteer Force.

Lord Dunlop

It is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the number of people involved in these organisations. Involvement and support for illegal proscribed organisations can take many different forms and the true extent of involvement is often hidden.

Statistics on charges brought in relation to support for paramilitary organisations can be found in Northern Ireland Terrorism Legislation: Annual Statistics 2014/15, Table 9 on the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/465088/Terrorism_Bulletin_2014-2015.PDF

The relevant information is also shown below for ease of reference:

Table: Charges brought against persons detained in Northern Ireland under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000

	Number of Charges
Offence	19 Feb 2001-Mar 2013/14	April-Sept 2014/15	Oct-Mar 2014/15	2014-15 Total
Supporting a proscribed Organisation	21	0	0	0
Making contributions to a proscribed organisation	47	0	0	0
Dressing as a member of a proscribed organisation	10	0	0	0

Source: Police Service of Northern Ireland

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the devolved administrations are permitted to re-allocate funds provided by HM Treasury for capital expenditure purposes for resource expenditure purposes.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Devolved administrations may not switch provision from Capital to Resource, except where bespoke arrangements have been agreed with Treasury ministers.

The annual ‘Consolidated Budgeting Guidance’, published by the Treasury, sets out the budgeting framework for expenditure control for devolved administrations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government who they recognise as the legitimate government of Syria.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK Government recognises states and not governments. We take the position that the Asad regime has lost legitimacy through having murdered, tortured, gassed and bombed the Syrian people.

The UK Government supports the Syrian moderate opposition including the National Coalition of Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces and the High Negotiations Committee, the umbrella body representing the opposition in negotiations on Syria’s future, of which the National Coalition is a part. The High Negotiations Committee brings together the broadest based opposition in Syria, striving to represent all Syrians who want to build a democratic and pluralistic future for the country.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland has the power to require district councils in Northern Ireland to conduct election counts for elections to Westminster and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Lord Dunlop

The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is currently considering a range of options for reforming his Office. This includes capitalising on new technology by introducing on-line registration.

The Chief Electoral Officer will have regard to the continued effective delivery of elections in Northern Ireland and ensuring that his Office remains on a sustainable financial footing. The Northern Ireland Office fully supports him in this approach. I understand that work on some options is at an early stage.

The Representation of the People Act 1983 makes provision for the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland to delegate returning officer functions to the clerk of a district council.

Detailed questions on headcount and budget are operational matters for the Chief Electoral Officer who is independent of Government. The Chief Electoral Officer publishes all such information in his annual report which is presented to Parliament and copies are made available in the Library of the House.

The headline budgets allocated to the Chief Electoral Office are:

Financial Year	Operational Funding	Capital Funding
2013/14	£5.452m *	£100k
2014/15	£2.336m	£56.2k
2015/16	£2.296m	£25k

* includes £3m for the 2013 canvass

The Northern Ireland Office has not agreed any budgets with the Chief Electoral Officer for future years pending receipt of the Department’s detailed Spending Review 2015 settlement letter from HM Treasury.