Tag: Lord Kennedy of Southwark

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-04-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in the Ivory Coast.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government welcomes the progress made by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire on the issue of human rights, most notably on combating sexual violence against women and providing compensation for victims of past conflicts. We are encouraged that the Ivorian authorities have prioritised improving the poor condition of their prisons. The UK also welcomes progress made by the judiciary in combating impunity. We have urged the Government of Côte d’Ivoire to ensure that all those responsible for crimes against humanity are held accountable for their actions, regardless of political, regional, religious or tribal affiliations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to improve east-west transport connectivity in the North of England.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government is committed to improving transport connectivity across the North of England, including east-west routes. Current work includes upgrades to the road network as set out in Road Investment Strategy: for the 2015/16 – 2019/20 Road Period (March 2015).

Work has already started to deliver improved rail journeys between Liverpool and Manchester. The Ordsall chord will enable direct links from the Northeast to Manchester Airport. Sir Peter Hendy’s rail upgrade re-plan (Hendy review – Replanning Network Rail’s investment programme: a report from Sir Peter Hendy to the Transport Secretary (Nov 2015)) includes significant benefits for the North of England, such as the Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme, which is aligned to Rail North’s Long Term Rail Strategy (September 2015). Current proposals are to deliver faster journeys and more capacity on the existing railway line between Leeds and Manchester. This work is expected to provide up to six fast trains per hour, with a target journey time of 62 minutes between Manchester and York and 40 minutes between Leeds and Manchester.

Additionally, the new TransPennine Express (TPE) and Northern franchises, which came into effect on 1 April, will deliver a range of significant benefits to their passengers, including increases to services between Manchester and Newcastle, more daily services to Hull from Manchester and Leeds, and 44 new 125 mph TPE trains fitted with free Wi-Fi and real-time passenger information screens.

The Government is also working with Transport for the North on future transport plans in the North of England. As set out in the Northern Transport Strategy: Spring 2016 Report (March 2016), these plans include east-west connectivity improvements through HS3/Northern Powerhouse Rail and the strategic studies investigating the cases for a trans-Pennine road tunnel and upgrading the A66 and A69.

All four documents referred to in this reply have been placed in the libraries of both Houses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 21 January (HL5353), whether they will provide an update on the timeline and consultation planned for (1) the proposed defence policy on the use of remotely piloted air systems, (2) the revised Joint Doctrine Note 2/11, The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft of Systems, and (3) the Future Air and Space Operating Concept.

Earl Howe

The Defence policy review has broadened to cover both remotely piloted air and wider highly automated systems. Officials are currently consulting stakeholders; we expect the review to conclude early in 2017.

Regarding Joint Doctrine Note 2/11, I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 2 February 2016 to Question number HL5353. I reported the intention for the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) to review and update Joint Doctrine Note 2/11 "The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems". Following this review, it was decided to upgrade the note to a full publication (Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30.2), which is currently being drafted in consultation with stakeholders, in parallel with the policy review.

A review of the future joint and environmental operating concepts concluded that an integrated concept for defence is preferred; consequently the Future Air and Space Operating Concept will be incorporated into an unified Future Operating Concept, which is expected to be published in Spring 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussion they have had with local authorities and the emergency services to ensure that roads in England and Wales are kept open in the event of poor winter weather in 2016–17.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department for Transport works closely with the transport sector, including local highway authorities, to prepare for the winter season 2016/17.

All key transport operators, including local authorities, train operating companies, Highways England, Network Rail and airports, have contingency plans in place to deal with winter weather that may be encountered.

The Department for Transport continues to liaise with salt producers and regularly updates the salt stock holdings being held across the country. The Government has retained an emergency salt stockpile of around 383,000 tonnes for this winter season. In addition both Highways England and local highways authorities have winter service vehicles for use on the road network, including 500 vehicles for dealing with incidents that may occur on the strategic road network.

The Department for Transport will shortly be writing to local highway authorities in England to remind them of their duties and to advise that they clean their drains and gullies in order to minimise the risk of surface water flooding on the highways for which they are responsible.

It must, however, be recognised that severe winter weather may cause some disruption to the transport network. If travel is disrupted then we expect operators and highway authorities to do everything they can to keep passengers and road users informed whilst ensuring that the networks resume services as quickly as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date they first discovered that the funding formula for police forces in England and Wales was based on incorrect data.

Lord Bates

The Minister of State for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Victims made a statement to the House on Monday 9 November on this issue. Ministers were informed of this issue on Friday 6 November.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 24 November (HL3768), how local support for Police and Crime Commissioners to take responsibility for fire and rescue services in their areas will be assessed.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The recent consultation on enabling closer working between the emergency services detailed the proposed process for assessing local support where a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is seeking to take responsibility for fire and rescue services. This includes a requirement for the PCC to consult locally and, where the PCC and relevant local authorities are not in agreement, Ministers may seek an independent assessment on the merits of transferring fire and rescue to the PCC before making a decision.

The Government is still considering the responses to the consultation before the proposals can be finalised. The Government’s response to the consultation will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the activities of ticket resale websites.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

An independent Review has been established to consider consumer protection measures in relation to online ticket resales and will report by 26 May 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what testing for bovine tuberculosis has been conducted on badgers that were killed as part of the cull to eradicate bovine tuberculosis.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Badgers culled under licence in Somerset and Gloucestershire in 2013 – 2015 and Dorset this year were not routinely tested for tuberculosis (TB), since this research had already been carried out under the Randomised Badger Cull Trial (RBCT).

However, testing of badgers between 1998 and 2005 via the RBCT and Road Traffic Accident surveys provided evidence of the typical prevalence of TB in badgers in areas of high incidence of TB in cattle. TB was found in around one third of all badgers in these areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support Fairtrade Fortnight.

Baroness Verma

Fairtrade is trusted by consumers throughout the UK to enable the world’s poorest people to get a fair price for what they produce. Its leading role in the marketplace also makes it perfectly positioned to convene discussions of trade and development issues.

Over the last six years, the Department for International Development has invested £18 million into Fairtrade and it will be continuing this support by engaging enthusiastically with Fairtrade fortnight.

The Department is currently finalising a programme of events for this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight that will include DFID Ministers and expects to focus on raising awareness and discussions around food security for farmers in the developing world.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of approved planning applications for housing that have yet to be built.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

As at 1 March 2016, data provided to the department by Glenigan indicate that there were full planning permissions for 658,000 homes in England on sites on which work had either not yet started or completed. Of these around 55,000 (8 per cent) were on unstarted sites granted permission more than three years ago. Typically permissions for these homes will have expired.