Tag: Lord Judd

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-07-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the resources available for the development of UK policies towards the UN, the UN Security Council, UN operational agencies, and international financial institutions.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government regularly reviews resources devoted to supporting policy development on key multilateral institutions, including the UN and international financial institutions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their criteria for identifying countries of concern in the FCO annual report on human rights and democracy.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

In the 2014 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy, we continued to use the criteria published in the 2012 report to determine whether a country should feature as a country of concern:

• the gravity of the human rights situation in the country, including both the severity of particular abuses and the range of human rights affected;

• whether a deterioration or improvement in the human rights situation in the country would have a wider impact in the region;

• whether the human rights situation in the country has an impact on wider UK interests; and

• whether we are able to influence the human rights situation there.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that developmental play services, including Portage, are a statutory service for disabled children under the age of two.

Lord Nash

The Government recognises that play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning and a child’s experiences in their first five years have a major impact on their future life chances. This is covered in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework for children from birth to five years of age.

The commissioning of support services for disabled children, such as Portage, is a decision for local authorities. Each local authority should consider the needs of its population, in collaboration with parent carers and early years providers, to ensure that support services in the area reflect local circumstances and need. The Children and Families Act requires all local authorities to publish a ‘local offer’, setting out in one place information about provision they expect to be available in their area across education, health and social care for children in their area who are disabled or have SEN, including those who do not have EHC plans. This should include details of any Portage services that are available for children aged 0 to 5 years.

The Department recognises the importance of Portage and has provided £150,000 to the National Portage Association through the voluntary and community sector (VCS) grants for 2015-16. The National Portage Association has been using their funding to build on existing grant-funded work to support and develop Portage services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to work together with the French government to ensure that unaccompanied children have access to high quality legal assistance to submit claims for family reunion in the UK, and to fund improved measures for identification of, and support for, unaccompanied minors in Calais and Northern France.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK and France have committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively. To assist the handling of such cases the two governments have established a permanent official contact group, agreed single points of contact within respective Dublin Units and the UK seconded an asylum expert to the French administration to facilitate the improvement of all stages of the process of identifying, protecting and transferring relevant cases to the UK. The Home Office will review the existing arrangements as part of the work to implement the relevant provisions of the Immigration Act 2016.

To assist with the identification of potential victims of trafficking and exploitation (including unaccompanied children) in Calais the UK has funded a project run by a French non-governmental organisation which aims to identify and direct these vulnerable people to the appropriate support services in France.

The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which informs individuals (including unaccompanied children) of their rights to claim asylum in France and gives them information on family reunification. The frequency of these campaigns has been increased in line with the Joint Declaration signed in August 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-07-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policy priority they now intend to accord to the Council of Europe.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK continues to be an active member of the Council of Europe. We value its role in the rules based international system, which helps nations work together to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will designate Egypt as a country of concern in the next FCO annual report on human rights and democracy.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Foreign and Commonwealth reviewed the use of the designation “countries of concern” earlier this year. We now highlight “human rights priority countries” that we wish to work positively with wherever possible to improve their human rights trajectory.

Our criteria in designating a human rights priority country is an evidence-based assessment. We utilise internationally respected indicators and indices, such as the UN Gender Inequality Index and the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, to form our assessments. Once we have the relevant data, we will take informed decisions as to which countries will be human rights priority countries in 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is both their short and long term policy towards support for, and participation in, UN Peace Operations and how much priority they are giving to its implementation.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

As set out in the Strategic Security and Defence Review, the UK attaches great importance to UN Peacekeeping Operations. The Government is committed to working with partners to further strengthen the UN’s capability to support global stability and end conflict. In the Security Council, we champion reforms that increase the efficiency and impact of UN engagement on conflict prevention and mediation, peace building and human rights.

The Government plans to double the number of military personnel that we contribute to UN peacekeeping operations, increase UK law enforcement and civilian experts on UN peacekeeping operations and in UN headquarters, and continue to train international peacekeepers. The UK will be hosting an international conference on UN peacekeeping, which is part of a sustained effort to increase the capabilities available to UN peacekeeping. The Government is also in the process of forming a cross-Whitehall joint UN Peacekeeping Policy Unit to bring further focus to our efforts and coordination on peacekeeping.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that unaccompanied children in Northern France have information about the process for reuniting with their families in the UK under the Dublin III Regulations, that this is presented in a form and language that the children can understand, and that it includes information about the process for asylum transfers, the likely timeframes involved, and the criteria on which decisions are based.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK and France have committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively. To assist the handling of such cases the two governments have established a permanent official contact group, agreed single points of contact within respective Dublin Units and the UK seconded an asylum expert to the French administration to facilitate the improvement of all stages of the process of identifying, protecting and transferring relevant cases to the UK. The Home Office will review the existing arrangements as part of the work to implement the relevant provisions of the Immigration Act 2016.

To assist with the identification of potential victims of trafficking and exploitation (including unaccompanied children) in Calais the UK has funded a project run by a French non-governmental organisation which aims to identify and direct these vulnerable people to the appropriate support services in France.

The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which informs individuals (including unaccompanied children) of their rights to claim asylum in France and gives them information on family reunification. The frequency of these campaigns has been increased in line with the Joint Declaration signed in August 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-07-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to preserve and enhance the international character and international standing of British universities and their research.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government is determined to ensure that the UK continues to play a leading role in European and international research and innovation. It is promoting the international success of UK universities through bilateral engagement with overseas partners, the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign which has education and science pillars, and through the Chevening and Commonwealth scholarship schemes.

For example, in November 2015, the Indian and UK Prime Ministers jointly announced the ‘2016 UK-India Year of Education, Research and Innovation’. This was immediately followed by a major education visit to India, including 28 vice-chancellors to increase higher education partnerships.

Programmes such as the UK China Partners in Education programme and the UK India Education Research Initiative bring long term international collaboration.

Our international research is being enhanced through the Government’s Newton Fund, a £735 million UK investment matched by partner countries, linking our universities with researchers in 16 major emerging economies. Our Global Challenge Research Fund, £1.5 billion and Ross Fund, £1bn., support universities engaging in global challenges including health, agritech and water research.

British universities have a world-class reputation for both education and research. Globally the UK has four universities in the top ten and ten in the top fifty in the QS rankings, a 10% share of the international student recruitment market, and 15.9% per cent of the world’s most highly-cited research articles.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of calls for a UN Commission of Inquiry into alleged human rights abuses by Egyptian security forces including those alleged to have taken place in July and August 2013.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware that calls were made for a UN Commission of Inquiry shortly after the events of July and August 2013, as well as on the recent anniversary of these events. In December 2013, Interim President Adly Mansour established a Fact-Finding Committee into the events that followed the removal of former President Morsi in July 2013. The Egyptian government released an executive summary of the Committee’s findings on 26 November 2014, which included recommendations for the police, educational institutions, the legislature, investigative authorities and the media. Since the publication of the summary of the Fact-Finding Committee’s report, the UK has encouraged the Egyptian government to release the report in full, and has stressed the importance of accountability for the deaths that took place during the clearances.