Tag: Lord Judd

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 2014-06-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that any extension of the mutual defence agreement with the United States is designed to assist the fulfilment of the purposes of the non-proliferation treaty and to fulfil the undertaking in that context given by the existing nuclear powers.

Baroness Warsi

We are committed to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and firmly believe that the best way to achieve this is through gradual disarmament negotiated through a step-by-step approach within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The UK has a strong record on nuclear disarmament and continues to be at the forefront of international efforts to control proliferation, and to make progress towards multilateral nuclear disarmament. The UK-USA Mutual Defence Agreement is, and will continue to be, in full compliance with our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following their policy of prioritising survivors of sexual violence for their Syrian refugee resettlement programme, what similar action they are taking in respect of the situation of Yazidi women and girls.

Lord Bates

The Government is deeply concerned about the crises in Syria and Iraq and the suffering and hardship they are causing for millions of people, particularly those who have endured appalling violence, persecution and abuse. We are committed to helping those in need and have so far provided £39.5 million to help the 2.2 million displaced Iraqis, many of whom were victims of ISIL’s persecution. These funds provide food, shelter, water and medical care to thousands of vulnerable families.

Tackling violence against women and girls is a priority for the Government. The action we are taking includes providing funding to support the UN Population Fund in the coordination and information management of the international response to support victims of sexual and gender based violence. The UK has also specifically committed funding to help establish community outreach teams that are providing psychosocial support and referrals to appropriate services for survivors of sexual and gender based violence.

We will continue to be actively involved in the region and will closely monitor developments but we have no current plans to expand the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme, or implement a similar scheme specifically for Iraq.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 September (HL1861 and HL1991), what further steps remain in the process of taking a decision about extending the boundaries of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks, and what timetable they have set for those further steps to be taken.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Secretary of State is giving careful consideration to the inspector’s report on the inquiry into proposed extensions to the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks and will issue her decisions in due course.