Tag: Lord Lester of Herne Hill

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-11-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 2 November (HL2703), what duty they have, if any, to enable First Tier Tribunals to deal with asylum and immigration cases fairly and within a reasonable time.

Lord Faulks

The Lord Chancellor has responsibility for ensuring an effective and efficient system of tribunal administration. This duty encompasses the First-tier Tribunal. The Lord Chancellor must also uphold the continued independence of the judiciary and in doing so have regard to their need to have the support necessary to enable them to exercise their functions.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service has allocated additional court time in place between December 2015 and June 2016 to ensure current waiting times do not increase for the tribunal user.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will introduce a new independent system for investigating the deaths of persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, as requested by the Care Quality Commission.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Every unexpected death of a patient in a mental health hospital is a matter of concern. In March 2015 NHS England issued their Serious Incident Framework. This gives guidance on good practice in responding to patient deaths, including those of people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. This includes guidance on the circumstances in which National Health Service organisations should set up an independent investigation, in addition to the Coroner’s inquest. A copy of the Framework is attached.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 13 January (HL4703 and HL4074), by what means they give public access to the grounds for retention linked to retention instruments in order to explain which official records are being withheld from transfer to the National Archives and why.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

I refer the noble Lord to the responses to HL4703 and HL4704. The attached Access to Public Records Manual is published by The National Archives and sets out the grounds for retention.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor on the proposal for the Supreme Court to function as a constitutional court and in particular that it would require significant constitutional change” and would pose “practical problems” for Scotland’s separate legal system.”

Lord Faulks

The Prime Minister indicated last year that he wanted to examine the way that Germany and other EU nations uphold their constitution and sovereignty. We have considered the Committee’s report with interest and will consult fully on our proposals for a Bill of Rights in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 12 October (HL Deb, col 1996), whether they will clarify when the noble Lords can expect to receive written responses to the points they raised during the debate.

Lord Ashton of Hyde

A letter was sent to the Noble Lord and deposited in the House of Lords Library on Thursday 21st October.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-11-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the research on maternity discrimination, Pregnancy and Maternity – Related Discrimination and Disadvantage: First Findings, estimating that up to 54,000 mothers leave their jobs each year because of maternity discrimination, what plans they have to exempt maternity discrimination cases from employment tribunal fees.

Lord Faulks

For those who bring discrimination cases, we have made sure fee waivers are available for those who cannot afford to pay. The Government is currently carrying out a post-implementation review of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals. The review will report in due course and we will consult on any proposals for change in the usual way.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether opposition to the death penalty remains a key human rights priority for them, in the light of the UK’s candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Our UN pledges renew our enduring commitment to promoting universal human rights. This includes work to abolish the death penalty. As I have said repeatedly in this House, this Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and we continue to call on all states to abolish it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 25 January (HL5200), whether they have had regard to the preaching and teaching of Wahhabism in mosques and Muslim education bodies in Britain as part of their work on their Counter-Extremism Strategy.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

We published our Counter Extremism Strategy in October 2015 which sets out a range of measures to deal with the broad challenge of extremism. We have placed a duty on specified authorities to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being radicalised.

We consider vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values as extremist, whatever guise these are expressed under. This includes when religions are hijacked by those wishing to promote extremism. As my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister said in July last year “extremist ideology is not true Islam”.

HM Government’s Counter Extremism Strategy and counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, set out our approach to tackling the full range of factors that allow extremist and terrorist groups to grow and flourish. These include directly challenging ideologies, including those which have a theological basis.

The Prime Minister recently commissioned a review into the funding of extremism in the UK. This will include an assessment funding that comes from overseas. The review is due to report in spring 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor in respect of the relevance of the specific position of Scotland in the devolution settlement and the role of the Sewel Convention.

Lord Faulks

This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. We will consider the devolution implications of our reforms and will continue to engage fully with stakeholders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and with the devolved administrations, as we develop our proposals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-11-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the research on maternity discrimination, Pregnancy and Maternity – Related Discrimination and Disadvantage: First Findings, whether they will consider extending the time limit for bringing maternity discrimination claims before an employment tribunal from three to six months.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The government will await the final report on pregnancy and maternity discrimination and carefully consider any recommendations from the Equality and Human Rights Commission before deciding on next steps.