Tag: Lord Marlesford

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they advised Baroness Cox and Lord Hylton not to accept the invitation of multi-faith Syrian clerics to visit Damascus, Maaloula, Aleppo and Latakia in September this year; and whether they have studied the draft report produced by the pastoral group which made that visit.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We made clear that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all travel to Syria. The situation is extremely volatile and dangerous. We also make clear that we cannot provide any consular services to British nationals in Syria.

In addition, Asad’s regime can use visits by international groups to fuel its obnoxious propaganda. The Asad regime is responsible for atrocities against the Syrian people. More than 400,000 have died in the last five years; 85-90 per cent of civilian deaths are the responsibility of the regime.

We continue to closely monitor the situation in Syria, including the circumstances for minorities. The independent UN Commission of Inquiry and other credible reporting from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have made clear that the Asad regime bears overwhelming responsibility for this crisis. His regime responded with brutal repression to peaceful protests by ordinary Syrians calling for more freedom. The Asad regime and extremist groups, including those allied to the regime, are the main perpetrators of suspected war crimes, and for violations of human rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they recognise President Bashar al-Assad as the de jure President of Syria.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government recognises nation states and not governments. Assad has forfeited his legitimacy and any plausible claim to be part of Syria’s future. A transition away from Assad, to a more inclusive government that represents all Syrians is what the 2012 Geneva communiqué envisages, and this is what we will continue to work towards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making in introducing the requirement for non-UK citizens newly registered with general practitioners under the NHS general practice to inform hospitals to which they may be referred of the need to recover the cost of that treatment.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is not possible to provide data on the amounts collected for treatment of directly chargeable foreign nationals and residents of countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) by the National Health Service prior to financial year 2013-14. Since then the Department has been collecting data from NHS trusts on the amount of cash payments received in-year relating to invoices raised in current and previous years.

Figures for financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15 are shown in the table below.

	Cash payments received in-year (relating to invoices raised in current and previous years) 2013-14	Cash payments received in-year (relating to invoices raised in current and previous years) 2014-15
	£millions	£millions
NHS Trusts	8.5	11.4
NHS Foundation Trusts	11.1	13.7
Total	19.6	25.1

Source:

NHS Trust data – NHS Trust Development Authority
NHS Foundation Trust Data – Monitor

Since 6 April 2015 , temporary , non-EEA migrants coming to the United Kingdom for more than 6 months, or who apply to extend their stay in the UK, are required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) (unless an exemption applies) . In cash terms between 6 April 2015 and 14 March 2016, the Home Office collected IHS income, net of refunds and transferred £117.8 million to the Department for spending on the NHS.

EEA countries and Switzerland reimburse the UK for the cost of the NHS providing treatment to people they are responsible for under EU law, including UK nationals insured in another EEA country or Switzerland. This information is available for the last three financial years in the attached table.

The Department on behalf of the UK Government reimburses other EEA countries and Switzerland for the cost of providing treatment to people we are responsible for under European Union law, irrespective of nationality. This information is available for the last three financial years in the attached table.

General practitioners (GPs) have discretion to register anyone as an NHS patient, including a person not ordinarily resident in the UK, for primary medical care free at the point of delivery. Being registered with a GP does not in itself mean that the person is entitled to free NHS hospital treatment. Practices are strongly encouraged to provide NHS providers with any relevant information when they refer a patient they believe may be chargeable for secondary care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in respect of each police force, they will give details of serving police officers who have been convicted of criminal offences and given custodial sentences during each of the last three years, giving in respect of each officer the name, rank, police force, nature of offence, date of conviction and sentence.

Lord Bates

The Home Office does not currently hold data centrally on police officers who have been convicted of criminal offences. However, as part of the continuing reforms to improve police integrity, the Home Office has introduced a new data collection via the Annual Data Requirement in 2015/16. This requires police forces to provide data to the Home Office on the number of misconduct cases and criminal investigations, as well as the outcomes of these. This data will not contain the names or details of specific officers involved, and will be collected and published at an aggregate level only. The publication date will be announced in advance on the gov.uk statistical release calendar: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements

As I mentioned during the oral question on this topic on 19 November 2015, there is a national “Disapproved Register” of officers struck-off from the police that is managed and maintained by the College of Policing, and available for use by vetting and anti-corruption officers. The College of Policing has begun to publish details of officers who have been added to the struck-off list following a public hearing: http://www.college.police.uk/News/College-news/Pages/Disapproved-Register-.aspx.

In the forthcoming Policing and Criminal Justice Bill, the Government will place this list on a statutory footing and require the College of Policing to maintain a published list of all officers who have been dismissed for Gross Misconduct.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-04-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many publicly owned or charity owned houses have been sold to their tenants in each of the last five years.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Statistics on the number of social dwellings sold by local authorities and private registered providers can be found in Live Table 678, which is too large to be included here but has been attached and can also be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the direct read-only access to the Police National Computer (PNC) available to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) is controlled so as to ensure that an SSPCA employee using the access is not able to read the information on the PNC which that person is not specifically allowed to see.

Lord Bates

Access to Police National Computer data is only provided where there is a lawful and justifiable reason. Permitted reasons include: protecting life and property; preserving order; preventing the commission of offences; bringing offenders to justice; any duty or responsibility arising from common or statute law and counter-terrorism.

Users are only given access to the PNC data they are specifically authorised to see. Access is controlled by software features on the PNC controlling transaction types to which users have authorised access. All PNC transactions are audited, and usage is subject to independent audit by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-04-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many bat bridges over roads (1) have been completed in each of the last five years, (2) are under construction, and (3) are planned; and what is the (a) location, and (b) actual or budgeted cost of each.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

One Highways England scheme has provided bat crossings as part of its construction during the last five years, and that is the A11 Fiveways to Thetford improvement scheme. Six crossings have been completed at a cost of £354,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to limit the access of charities and other non-governmental bodies to the Police National Computer.

Lord Bates

Access to the Police National Computer is strictly controlled, and decisions about who may have access to it are made by Chief Constables, through the Police Information Access Panel (PIAP). There are no plans at present to change these arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-04-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures are used (1) to determine the cost-effectiveness of bat bridges before construction is undertaken, and (2) to determine the value of those constructed.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

All elements of road schemes are subject to appraisal in line with Treasury requirements and guidance. They are also subject to value management requirements throughout the project lifecycle.

This does not include any specific measures on the cost-effectiveness of structures, such as bat bridges, as there is no accepted method for such quantatative evaluation. Instead a review is undertaken of the costs, qualitative benefits and other predicted impacts (including environmental) at key stages to ensure benefits are optimised and costs are challenged.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why and when the Middlesbrough Borough Council was given access to the Police National Computer; whether it still has such access; and whether they will consider giving such access to other local authorities if requested to do so.

Lord Bates

Middlesbrough Borough Council does not have, and never have had, direct access to the Police National Computer. If an application is made by a Local Authority, and ACRO (the NPCC Criminal Records Office) is satisfied that they have a lawful and justifiable reason for needing access to PNC data, ACRO will conduct PNC enquiries on behalf of that authority.