Tag: Lord Judd

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to fulfil their commitment in the 2015 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review to regard UN Peacekeeping as one of its most important roles.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

As set out in the Strategic Security and Defence Review, the UK attaches great importance to UN Peace 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 increases the efficiency and impact of UN engagement on conflict prevention and mediation, peace building and human rights.

We are working with the UN to finalise the new military deployments announced by the Prime Minister in September 2015. The UK will deploy up to 70 personnel to UN peace operations in Somalia, and 250-300 to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. We will continue to identify and offer policing expertise where UK skills match UN missions’ requirements with the objective of steadily increasing the number of officers the UK deploys. We will also continue to support British candidates for senior positions in the UN, and deploy civilian staff with relevant expertise to key roles in UN missions and at UN headquarters.

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 on peacekeeping.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of conditions faced by detainees in Maekalawi prison in Ethiopia.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We do not have access to Maekalawi prison and, therefore, are not in a position to make an assessment of the conditions within the prison. However, we are aware of the allegations contained in the Human Rights Watch 2013 report titled “They Want a Confession” and the subsequent response from the Government of Ethiopia to the report. Through our bilateral relationship with Ethiopia we will continue to lobby the government on the treatment of high-profile political prisoners, some of who are detained at Maekalawi prison.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new developments and initiatives they are currently undertaking as part of their support for British candidates for senior positions in the UN and for the deployment of UK civilian staff with relevant expertise to key roles in the UN, both in its operations and at the UN Headquarters.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

It is in UK interests, and it is a Government priority, to encourage and support British candidates for senior positions in the UN and to promote the deployment of UK civilian staff with relevant expertise to key roles in the UN, both in its operations and at the UN Headquarters.

To this end the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has strengthened and restructured its team of officials working in this area. In collaboration with other government departments it is;

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the importance of play as a key element of policy on parenting and life chances, and what consequential action they are taking.

Lord Nash

The Department for Education recognises that play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning.

Play is integral in the early years and is covered in the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage framework which states: “Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others.”

The Government’s forthcoming Life Chances Strategy will set out a comprehensive plan to fight disadvantage and extend opportunity. Within this, we are considering how we can support early years and parenting to give children the best start in life.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of torture in Ethiopia.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We continue to be concerned about allegations of torture in Ethiopia made by organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in relation to people detained under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. Those include members of the opposition groups, journalists, peaceful protestors, and others seeking to express their rights to freedom of assembly or expression. We continually monitor and assess a range of human rights issues in Ethiopia, including allegations of torture. We continue to make representations to the Government of Ethiopia on individual cases as well as more broadly through our Human Rights Dialogue. We also support the continued human rights discussions between international partners and the Government of Ethiopia.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent survey by the American University of Beirut and UNRWA on the socioeconomic status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon; and what bilateral and multilateral action they are taking to meet the challenges identified by that survey.

Baroness Verma

The UK Government is aware of the survey by the American University of Beirut and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). DFID staff attended the survey’s launch event and have noted its findings.

The UK is a long-term supporter of UNRWA, including in Lebanon, providing over £60 million in 2015/16 and remaining the third largest donor to the UNRWA General Fund. We also provided £12m in total to UNRWA in Lebanon through the 2015 and 2016 Syria Emergency Appeals, and £1.9m this year through the UK Conflict Stability and Security Fund, supporting Palestinian youth with vocational and English skills training and job placement.

DFID has also committed to spending up to £40m a year on education in Lebanon, with a major programming element aimed at providing non-formal education to the most vulnerable children and youth, including Palestinians.

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 ring-fence special education funding within their new national funding formula.

Lord Nash

We are currently consulting on arrangements for new national formulae for schools and high needs funding (funding to provide high cost support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities). Both funding streams, along with early years funding, make up the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is ring-fenced so that local authorities can only spend it on specified elements of education. The DSG will continue to be ring-fenced when the national funding formulae are in place. We have also protected the schools and high needs budgets in this Parliament. This year we are adding £92.5 million to local authorities’ 2016-17 high needs allocations.

At the Budget we also announced that we will provide £500 million over the Spending Review period, on top of per pupil protection, to speed up implementation of the national funding formula for schools and get extra funding quicker to those schools that need it most.

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 move more UK officials to Calais and Northern France to work full-time on identifying, screening and processing potential transfers under the Dublin III regulations, and to make special provision for cases where further evidence of family links is needed.

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 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.