Tag: Lord Patten

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the relationship between criminal offending and literacy levels.

Lord Bates

There is no single factor which explains crime. As the Home Secretary has said, the evidence suggests that there are six main drivers of crime: alcohol; drugs; the effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System; opportunity; profit; and character. Character, or an individual’s propensity to commit crime, appears to be influenced by a range of social and environmental influences as they grow up. However, the Home Office has made no specific assessment of the relationship between crime and literacy levels.

The most recent crime statistics published by the Office for National Statistics showed that overall crime fell by 8% in the year to June 2015, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Crime has now fallen by more than a quarter since June 2010, with just over 2.9 million fewer crimes a year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 1 February (HL5287), whether they intend to ask the National Infrastructure Commission to undertake work on railway links between London and South West England; and if not, why not.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) currently operates in shadow form, and the Government is consulting on its governance, structure and operation. The NIC has a mandate to examine the country’s most pressing infrastructure challenges across all sectors of economic infrastructure – including energy, transport (roads, rail, ports and airports), water and sewage, waste, flood defences, and digital communications‎. There has not yet been decision on future studies to be undertaken by the NIC.

The Government remains committed to investment in railway links between London and the South West, regardless of whether a study is undertaken by the NIC. This is an unprecedented investment in rail infrastructure in the South West, totalling over £400m. This includes; resignalling the mainline from Totnes to Penzance, developing a strategic freight network, electrifying the Great Western Main Line, refurbishing the Cornwall sleeper, £35m to repair the tracks at Dawlish, a brand new station at Newcourt and another planned at Marsh Barton and 29 new AT300 trains.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of anti-semitism within bodies representing students in English universities.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

The Government is clear that there is absolutely no place in higher education or anywhere else in society for bigotry, hatred or any form of racism such as anti-Semitism.

Recent reports of anti-Semitism are extremely concerning and must be met with a decisive response. We expect all bodies with a role in English higher education to be absolutely clear in their opposition to racism in all its forms, and to have robust policies in place to tackle such hatred and support victims.

At the Government’s request, Universities UK has set up a taskforce to examine what more can be done to tackle harassment and hate crime on campus, including anti-Semitism.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-06-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 6 June (HL320), which elements of Turkish democracy they consider modern”; and whether they consider any aspects not “modern”.”

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Turkey is a democracy with multi-party elections whose government has been democratically elected. Progress has been made on reforms in some areas in recent years, but, as the European Commission has highlighted, there has also been significant backsliding. As a friend and ally we strongly encourage Turkey to continue work towards the full protection of all civil liberties – and will continue to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the importance of landscape quality when new housing is built on greenfield sites.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The Government is very clear that good design is a key aspect of sustainable development, is indivisible from good planning, and should contribute positively to making places better for people. It wants to see new developments that function well and add to the overall quality of the area, that establish a strong sense of place by using streetscapes and buildings to create attractive and comfortable places to live, work and visit.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning policies and decisions should take account of the different roles and character of different areas and recognise the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many manufacturing companies in the UK employing more than 500 people are foreign-owned; and what is their assessment of the implications of such ownership for the development of indigenous management.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Draft Answer

There are 320 manufacturing enterprises in the UK with more than 500 employees that are foreign owned (i.e. have over 50% foreign control). This is 61% of manufacturing companies with over 500 employees. The UK welcomes foreign direct investment and enjoys the benefits of jobs and skills that it brings and UK manufacturing continues to be globally attractive and competitive. However, the Government is not aware of any evidence which indicates that foreign-owned companies treat UK management any differently to British-owned companies.

We are taking a number of steps to increase indigenous management skills and capability. Apprenticeships standards are now available or being developed in senior level and management occupations. These include degree level qualifications and cover such areas as Manufacturing Engineer, Chartered Manager and Project Manager.

The apprenticeships levy will come into effect from April 2017. It will apply to all UK employers with a pay bill in excess of £3 million and incentivise them to train their apprentices in the technical and professional skills their businesses need, including quality management and leadership.

The Government is also supporting work being undertaken by senior industry leaders to examine ways to increase manufacturing productivity in the UK, which is part of the business-led action referenced in the Government’s Productivity Plan published in July 2015. This work will look at how indigenous performance could be improved in areas such as leadership, management and employee engagement, and will also consider what steps could be taken to develop a stronger culture that embraces innovation and new technologies such as digitisation. We will consider the findings when they are produced by industry later in 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 22 January (HL4915), what is the longest period that any individual detainee has been held in an immigration detention centre.

Lord Bates

Information on the length of detention has been published since quarter 1 (January to March) 2010.

The longest time a person has been detained in the immigration estate – a foreign criminal who left detention and was returned to Algeria in Q1 2012 – was 2,319 days. The individual in this case had accumulated 14 convictions from 32 offences committed between 1998 and 2004, including – but not limited to – convictions for firearms/ shotguns/offensive weapons, drug offences, offences relating to police/courts/prisons and theft. He was continuously non-compliant with the Home Office and Algerian authorities, using a false identity and nationality, which frustrated attempts to obtain travel documentation to facilitate his deportation. His continued non-compliance, deception and a history of absconding led to detention being prolonged. This information does not include those held in prisons solely under Immigration Act powers.

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of people detained in the United Kingdom for immigration purposes, within the Immigration Statistics release on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of relations between the UK and Burundi, and of the security situation in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The security situation in Burundi remains fragile with continued abductions, illegal detentions, torture, gang rapes and killings. We are also concerned at the apparent recent increase in the number of targeted assassinations, most recently the assassination of Brigadier General Athanase Kararuza and his wife on 25 April and the attempted assassination of the Minister of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender, Martin Nivyabandi on 24 April. I join UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in condemning these attacks.

We continue to make clear our concerns to the Government of Burundi. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) visited the country in December last year where he urged the Burundian government to engage in meaningful, inclusive dialogue with the opposition without preconditions. In January he met Burundian Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe to reiterate this message. Mr Duddridge writes regularly to Mr Nyamitwe to convey our concerns and to urge his government to take the necessary steps to resolve the current situation. Only a genuine and inclusive dialogue, based on the respect of the Arusha Agreement, will enable Burundian stakeholders to find a consensual solution to the situation facing their country.

Our Ambassador to Burundi in Kigali travels regularly to the country to meet members of the Burundian Government and we will shortly be increasing the British Government’s presence in Bujumbura through the recruitment of a Burundi Coordinator.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-06-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 2 June (HL136), and to the letter from Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon to Lord Patten dated 6 June placed in the Libraries of both Houses, whether they consider the single track railway between Salisbury and Yeovil to be not unmodern”.”

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department for Transport does not use the term “not unmodern” to classify or assess railway routes.

The rail line between Gillingham (Dorset) and Pinhoe was re-signalled in 2012 and Stagecoach South Western Trains introduced additional services to the West of England in December 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had discussions with the Chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission concerning railway links between London and south-west England.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The government has had discussions on a range of topics with the Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission. The commission will examine all forms of economic infrastructure, including rail transport.