Tag: Lord Patten

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their strategy for the continued protection of Alawites, Christians and Druze in the areas of Syria now controlled by the government of President Assad.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The current state of the Syrian civil war makes it difficult to offer explicit protection to Syrian minorities. The Assad regime creates the conditions for extremism in Syria by prosecuting a war it cannot win, destroying communities and the social fabric of the country. The only way to secure the position of Syria’s minority communities is to find a political solution to the crisis.

However, the International Syria Support Group has agreed that protecting the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious domination is fundamental. The UK will continue to work with this, as political discussions continue.

The UK also supports non-governmental efforts to promote dialogue between different ethnic and sectarian groups in Syria, as we seek further progress on a political settlement. Minorities including Alawites, Christians, Druze, Kurds and Turkmen have been represented in these projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the ability of Kurds in south-east Turkey to live in secular, democratic and gender-equal communities.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Turkish government recognises promoting gender equality and preventing violence against women amongst the range of human rights issues it is committed to addressing. Prime Minister Davutoğlu spoke publicly on 9 December about the importance his government attaches to these issues. We have welcomed the previous measures taken by the Turkish government, such as the 2013 “democratisation package”, to improve rights for minority groups in Turkey and to resolve the Kurdish issue through the peace process but, as the EU’s Annual Progress Report highlights, there is more progress to be made. We want the peace process to be resumed, building on previous progress.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the trade and other economic links between the UK and Djibouti.

Lord Price

HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics report the value of UK trade in goods with Djibouti. In 2015 the UK exported £11.9 million of goods to Djibouti, in the same year the UK imported £1.4 million of goods from Djibouti.

Data on the value of trade in services and other types of economic transaction between the UK and Djibouti is not available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 4 May (HL8001), whether they have requested that the taskforce set up by Universities UK includes members of those minorities subject to harassment and hate crime, representatives of the relevant law and order agencies, and independent members with no direct university involvement.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

The taskforce, established by Universities UK, is looking at all forms of violence and harassment affecting students. Its task is to bring together students, university experts and external organisations to consider the current evidence and what universities are currently doing to address issues of harassment and hate crime, including anti-Semitism, and what more needs to be done.

The taskforce have had meetings with or received evidence from a wide range of organisations which includes the Union of Jewish Students, Rape Crisis, Tell Mama and Stonewall. In regards to anti-Semitism, the Taskforce has also received evidence from the Jewish Leadership Council, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Community Security Trust. In terms of law and order agencies, evidence has been received from a number of lawyers and from the police via PAHELO (Police Association of Higher Education Liaison Officers).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-09-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the flow of information between the UK and Turkey in the light of the actions taken by the government of Turkey following the attempted coup in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK Government continues to have a regular dialogue with the Turkish Government following the attempted coup on 15 July, at both official and ministerial level. Both the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) and the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) spoke to their Turkish counterparts on the day following the coup attempt. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan) also travelled to Turkey shortly after the attempted coup to demonstrate our support for the democratically elected Turkish government. The Foreign Secretary also met the Turkish Foreign Minister on 7 September in London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the annual amount spent on upgrading the railway tracks and stations between Salisbury and Exeter between 2015 and 2020 will increase or decrease in real terms.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Network Rail currently has no funded strategic plans for significant upgrading on this route. However, it advises that it is working closely with local stakeholders, including Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities, to work up potential schemes that could support growth and meet the needs of passengers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of how many new homes will be built on green belt land in England during 2016.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

We do not collate information centrally on the number of sites that are available for residential development. Local planning authorities are required to identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their housing requirements. Whether those sites are in the Green Belt is again a matter for local planning authorities to consider in line with national planning policy, which makes clear that Green Belt boundaries should be altered only in exceptional circumstances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of progress in implementing the provisions regarding footpaths and bridleways contained in the Deregulation Act 2015.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

We are continuing to work with the Stakeholder Working Group on both the secondary legislation and guidance necessary for implementation of the rights of way provisions in the Deregulation Act 2015. We expect the package of legislation and guidance to be commenced, all on the same date, later in the year. One of the sets of regulations we are introducing is subject to affirmative resolution and therefore first needs to be debated in both Houses. This has added to the timetable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 29 April (HL7749), whether they have identified any prospective disadvantages of the Right to Roam policy; and if so, what those disadvantages are.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government has not identified any prospective disadvantages of the right of access for open-air recreation on foot on open country (mountain, moor, heath and down) and registered common land which is provided for under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The Act was passed by a previous Government after public consultation and an appraisal of a number of options for increasing access to land where access had not been allowed before.

The legislation was therefore framed so that the right of access over such areas was carefully balanced against the needs of land managers, businesses and wildlife. Areas such as houses and their gardens, and buildings or their curtilage, are automatically exempt from the right of access to avoid intrusion on people’s privacy even where they fall within land which appears on a map of open access land.

The open access regime also includes general restrictions at the national level that exclude specific potentially damaging activities from the right of access and controls on people walking with dogs. To supplement these, local temporary restrictions on the right of access may be put in place to limit where people go or what they do, if it is necessary to protect against the harm that any access may cause to sensitive landscape or wildlife habitat, public safety or the ability of landowners to manage their land.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-09-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the opportunities for inward investment to the Ukraine by UK companies.

Lord Price

There are a number of areas of potential interest for UK investors in Ukraine, including Agriculture, Energy and Infrastructure.

Ukraine has recently been moving up the World Bank Doing Business survey (now 83, up 5 places from 2015) but it continues to lag on the Corruption perception index (142 out of 175 countries ranked).

Ukraine’s Government is keen to attract foreign investors and is taking steps towards improving the business climate and the UK Government is providing assistance e.g. with the recent establishment of an Anti-corruption Bureau and Business Ombudsman which has been positively received by business leaders. But more still needs to be done.