Tag: Lord Kennedy of Southwark

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy on the UK withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Faulks

The Government’s position on the European Convention of Human Rights remains clear. We cannot rule out withdrawing forever, but our forthcoming proposals do not include it. We are confident that we can replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights and reform our relationship with the Strasbourg Court.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of ships sailing under flags of convenience, and of the impact of that practice on the British maritime industry.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department for Transport analysis of IHS Global data on ship characteristics as at 31 Dec 2015 shows 19,661 vessels registered on open flag registers.

An analysis of the impact of these registers on the UK maritime industry has not been conducted. However, the Maritime Growth Study (2015) did note that while the volume of tonnage on open registers is significant the amount managed or owned by companies located in these countries is far less substantial.

The UK is a leading global maritime centre. Government is committed to supporting the UK maritime sector and ensuring growth in UK Ship Register through a greater commercial focus while retaining its reputation for quality.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will bring forward draft regulations under the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Officials are continuing their work on implementing the Housing & Planning Act 2016. A number of regulations have been implemented and this process will be on-going throughout 2017.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to promote walking football.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

We are investing in walking football via Sport England as part of the FA’s new National Game Strategy toget more people playing football. Sport England is currently working closely with the FA to understand the growing market for walking football.In partnership with the FA, the Premier League and Football League Community Foundations are also getting people playing walking football.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to replace fire authorities.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government has recently consulted on proposals intended to enable greater emergency services collaboration. This includes proposals to enable Police and Crime Commissioners, where this is local support, to take responsibility for fire and rescue services in their area.

The consultation closed on 23 October and the Government is currently considering the responses received.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proposals they have to strengthen legislation in order to prevent cyber bullying.

Lord Faulks

Legislation that can be used to prosecute cyber-bullying related offences includes the Protection from Harassment Act 1997; the Public Order Act 1986; the Malicious Communications Act 1988; and the Communications Act 2003. The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 made changes to the relevant offences in these last two Acts which will help to ensure that people who commit them are prosecuted and properly punished.

The Government believes that this is sufficient and therefore does not intend to introduced specific additional legislation to address the issue of cyberbullying.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential benefit of agricultural technologies to farmers.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

We considered the evidence on the benefits of agricultural technologies to farmers when we developed our Agri-Tech Strategy in 2013. This included OECD evidence that growth in agricultural productivity depends on three factors: (i) technological change (innovation); (ii) technical efficiency (the ability of farmers to access the best technologies); and (iii) economies of scale.

The Agri-Tech Strategy recognised that we had not been as successful in recent decades as some of our competitors in getting new agricultural technologies from research to the farm. This is why we are investing £160 million through the Strategy to help rebuild the pipeline of innovation.

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

To ask the Chairman of Committees what plans there are for the House of Lords to support Fairtrade Fortnight.

Lord Laming

Catering and Retail Services stock a range of Fairtrade products, including tea, coffee, cake, biscuits and bananas. That Department will be raising awareness of these lines during Fairtrade Fortnight and running related promotions.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the difference between a local authority being able to recover (1) its expenses, and (2) its reasonable costs, in matters relating to its duties around housing legislation.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Local housing authorities incur a range of costs when carrying out their statutory homelessness duties. They have powers to require households to pay reasonable costs towards both the accommodation that it secures for them and property storage costs, however they cannot require households to pay actual costs where these are more than those determined to be reasonable. Authorities determine what constitutes a reasonable cost by taking account of a household’s personal circumstances, its finances and the nature of the accommodation.

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.