Tag: Lord Pendry

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of research that shows that lack of physical activity is negatively affecting more people than obesity, whether they have a strategy on how to support grassroots attempts at getting citizens to take part in more and sustained physical activity.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Government is determined to tackle physical inactivity. Around one in two women and a third of men in England may be damaging their health through a lack of physical activity. Ministers across government continue to work together to identify opportunities to get people active in a range of ways including active travel, health initiatives, planning and sport.

In December 2015 Government published ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation’ – the first comprehensive government strategy for sport for 13 years – it sets out a new vision for a successful and active sporting nation. It has a strong focus on reaching inactive people and helping them to get moving in ways that suit them.

Sport England’s new strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’, published on 19 May, states that tackling inactivity is a major priority for the organisation, it is tripling its current investment to over £250 million over 4 years, making it the largest single national investor in tackling inactivity.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent allegations of match-fixing in top-level tennis, including at Wimbledon.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

These are serious accusations and they need to be looked into quickly.

The Secretary of State has spoken to the tennis authorities and we ar determined to do all we can to support them in ensuring that the game is absolutely clean, and we are assured they are committed to this aim too. We welcome the news that the Association of Tennis Professionals have announced a thorough independent review into the accusations and that they will be implementing its recommendations.

Primary responsibility for monitoring betting markets or sporting events rest with the betting operators and sports governing bodies respectively.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what step they are taking to ensure that British businesses in Colombia do not contribute to human rights abuses there.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Encouraging businesses to respect human rights is a global priority for this Government. We recognise that communities such as indigenous and afro-descendant people and those in isolated rural areas are particularly vulnerable.

The UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights sets out how the Government is implementing the UN Guiding Principles. British firms are expected to uphold these principles in their overseas operations, as well as in the UK. It is for each country to implement a National Action Plan to ensure compliance with the Guiding Principles.

We worked closely with the Colombian authorities to develop their National Action Plan, published in December. All companies operating in Colombia, including British ones, should comply with the requirements and guidelines set out in that National Action Plan.

The Minister for Trade and Investment, my noble Friend, the Lord Price of Sturminster Newton, launched a campaign for British businesses to support peace, primarily through respect for human rights, during his visit to Colombia last month. Twenty of the largest British companies operating in Colombia subsequently agreed to align themselves to the Colombian National Action Plan for business and human rights.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support policing bodies such as the Tennis Integrity Unit to investigate allegations of match-fixing in top-level tennis.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

These are serious accusations and they need to be looked into quickly.

The Secretary of State has spoken to the tennis authorities and we ar determined to do all we can to support them in ensuring that the game is absolutely clean, and we are assured they are committed to this aim too. We welcome the news that the Association of Tennis Professionals have announced a thorough independent review into the accusations and that they will be implementing its recommendations.

Primary responsibility for monitoring betting markets or sporting events rest with the betting operators and sports governing bodies respectively.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are supporting British businesses in Colombia so that they do not contribute to the human rights violations against, in particular, the indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Encouraging businesses to respect human rights is a global priority for this Government. We recognise that communities such as indigenous and afro-descendant people and those in isolated rural areas are particularly vulnerable.

The UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights sets out how the Government is implementing the UN Guiding Principles. British firms are expected to uphold these principles in their overseas operations, as well as in the UK. It is for each country to implement a National Action Plan to ensure compliance with the Guiding Principles.

We worked closely with the Colombian authorities to develop their National Action Plan, published in December. All companies operating in Colombia, including British ones, should comply with the requirements and guidelines set out in that National Action Plan.

The Minister for Trade and Investment, my noble Friend, the Lord Price of Sturminster Newton, launched a campaign for British businesses to support peace, primarily through respect for human rights, during his visit to Colombia last month. Twenty of the largest British companies operating in Colombia subsequently agreed to align themselves to the Colombian National Action Plan for business and human rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-01-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the support from a range of health organisations, including the World Health Organization, they plan to reconsider a sugar tax as a part of the forthcoming childhood obesity strategy.

Lord Prior of Brampton

As part of its review to identify possible actions to reduce sugar intakes and inform the Government’s thinking on sugar, Public Health England considered the current evidence around fiscal measures such as a tax on sugary foods and drinks. We are considering this alongside other evidence as we develop our childhood obesity strategy which will be launched shortly. It will look at everything, including sugar, that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to make representations to the President of Colombia during his state visit to the UK in November, about domestic laws that potentially conflict with international human rights obligations and the rights of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The State Visit presents an opportunity for us to continue our engagement with the Government of Colombia on a wide variety of themes.

We continue to raise the issue of human rights with the Colombian Government at the highest levels. In recent months the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon Friend, the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), and I have all urged President Santos to continue Colombia’s efforts to address human rights concerns.

We support the peace process and hope that achieving a sustainable peace agreement will benefit all Colombian citizens, including indigenous and afro-descendant communities.

I am pleased to note that at the 46th session of the Organisation of American States and General Assembly, the Colombian Government supported the adoption of the instrument for the rights of indigenous peoples of the Americas and renewed its commitment to continue advancing respect for pluralism and ethnic and cultural diversity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-01-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent of evidence and support, nationally and internationally, for a sugar tax as an element of tackling obesity, and why they do not support such a tax.

Lord Prior of Brampton

As part of its review to identify possible actions to reduce sugar intakes and inform the Government’s thinking on sugar, Public Health England considered the current evidence around fiscal measures such as a tax on sugary foods and drinks. We are considering this alongside other evidence as we develop our childhood obesity strategy which will be launched shortly. It will look at everything, including sugar, that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-07-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the allegations of widespread doping by Russian athletes, whether they intend to back calls by the US and Canada anti-doping agencies for all Russian athletes to be banned from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Lord Ashton of Hyde

While this is solely a decision for the International Olympic Committee, the scale of the evidence in the McLaren report arguably pointed to the need for stronger sanctions rather than leaving it to the international federations at this late stage.

There is clearly more work to be done to protect the integrity of sport on a global scale. No stone should be left unturned to ensure that athletes can compete on a level playing field.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address investigations by Which? and 5 Live that found that secondary ticket sites are carrying ticket listings that are in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Trading Standards Services are responsible for enforcing the secondary ticketing provisions of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and other relevant consumer protection legislation. Suspected or actual breaches of such legislation should first be reported via the Citizens Advice consumer helpline, following which Citizens Advice may refer cases to Trading Standards Services for appropriate action.

Since the ticketing provisions contained in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force on 27 May 2015, an independent Review has been established (as required by the Act) to consider consumer protection measures in relation to online ticket re-sales. The Review is looking at the available evidence and will report by 26 May 2016.