UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: Lord Steel of Aikwood

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the elections in Tanzania, particularly with respect to the devolved assembly in Zanzibar, and what representations they have made to the government of Tanzania or the Commonwealth Secretariat regarding the elections.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Despite some problems, the national elections in Tanzania were peaceful and generally well organised. We have extended our congratulations to President Magufuli on his victory. We are however deeply concerned at the decision to nullify the elections for the Zanzibar Presidency and Parliament. We have conveyed our concerns to the Government of Tanzania on a number of occasions including at senior levels, most recently during a meeting last week between the Tanzanian High Commissioner to London and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge).

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the steps taken by the government of Germany in respect of acts committed by their colonial troops against the Herero and Nama people in South-West Africa in 1904–1908; whether they intend to take similar steps; and whether they will support requests for compensation.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government has not made any assessment of the steps taken by the Government of Germany in respect of this matter. The issue of compensation is a bilateral matter between the governments of Germany and Namibia.

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which countries they include in their Global Mine Action Programme, and whether they will consider adding Angola to that list.

    Earl of Courtown

    The Global Mine Action Programme which runs from 2014 to 2017 funds mine action projects in Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Further work in Burma, Somalia, South Sudan and Zimbabwe is currently being procured. The countries were selected following an inclusive consultation which took into account factors such as other donor funding and where the impact would be the greatest. In addition, DFID took the decision to shift the UK’s mine action funding to more fragile and conflict affected countries and where DFID could align mine action work with other DFID country programmes to maximise the impact. All funds have already been allocated under this programme therefore there is no scope for Angola to be included. This year DFID will reconsider the list of countries for future mine action programmes.

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to address the delays in dealing with applications for clearance under section 1044 of the Company Tax Act 2010 by HMRC in Newcastle due to a shortage of resources, in the light of the urgency of some of the outstanding cases.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HMRC must notify its decision on an application under section 1044 Corporation Tax Act 2010 within 30 days of its receipt.

    During the six months from October 2015 to March 2016, HMRC received 1105 clearance applications under section 1044. The average time taken to reply to these applications was 15 days. Decisions on over 95% of the applications were notified within the statutory time limit.

    HMRC monitors the number of clearance applications it receives in this area and the time taken to reply to them to ensure a consistent service.

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Scotland Malawi Partnership’s statement that it has lost confidence in the handling of visa applications for Malawi citizens visiting Scotland; and what steps they plan to take in response.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Home Office has an established dialogue with the Scotland Malawi Partnership, and UK Visas and Immigration have been in direct correspondence with them in relation to the specific issues raised in their recent statement.

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will support the resolution from Mauritius at the forthcoming UN General Assembly calling for the matter of the resettlement of Chagos islanders to be referred to the International Court of Justice.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are not aware of any plans by Mauritius for a resolution at the next UN General Assembly regarding the resettlement of Chagos islanders to be referred to the International Court of Justice (ICC). On 17 May the Prime Minister of Mauritius expressed to the Mauritian Parliament his intention to seek a referral by the UN General Assembly to the ICC this autumn, in order to obtain an advisory opinion in relation to sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). We would not support any such resolution as we are in no doubt about British sovereignty over BIOT.

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in order to welcome tourists to Scotland and the North of England, they plan to instruct the Border Agency to reduce its processing time of vehicles at Newcastle arriving off the ferry from Amsterdam.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Border Force has carried out a significant transformation programme at Port of Tyne to improve border security and customer service. Joint investment with the port operator in new infrastructure has significantly reduced passenger processing times and the port operator has confirmed a noticeable improvement compared to previous years.

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their current travel advice for visits to Kenya.

    Baroness Warsi

    We keep our travel advice under constant review. As of 12 June, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised against all but essential travel to:

    – areas within 60km of the Kenya-Somali border

    – Kiwayu and coastal areas north of Pate Island

    – Garissa District

    – the Eastleigh area of Nairobi

    – low income areas of Nairobi, including all township or slum areas

    – Mombasa island and within 5km of the coast from Mtwapa creek in the north down to and including Tiwi in the south (this area does not include Diani or Moi international airport).

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider investment by the Commonwealth Development Corporation in luxury construction projects is consistent with the Department for International Development’s overall objectives in developing countries.

    Baroness Northover

    In 2013, CDC’s 1,300 investee companies directly employed over a million people, and created more than 68,000 net new jobs.

    Individual investments are fully decided by CDC and the Government has put in place strict rules which require commitments to deliver jobs, economic development and poverty alleviation in developing countries.

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the conduct of the recent census in Burma.

    Baroness Warsi

    The UK (through the Department for International Development) joined an international effort to provide funding to the census in 2014 because it will be a critical step in the country’s development process, underpinning better planning and delivery of vital services and infrastructure, such as schools, roads and hospitals.

    The UK, UN and other international donors argued strongly for the right of all people to be enumerated fairly and to be able, where necessary, to self-identify their ethnicity in the census. In most areas where the census was conducted, self-identification was permitted. We were deeply disappointed that, in the case of the Rohingya, the Burmese government contravened its long-standing assurance that all individuals would have the right to self-identify their ethnic origin. We have been clear that this decision is contrary to international norms and standards on census conduct. The Minister of State, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), summoned the Burmese Ambassador on 7 April to make these concerns clear.

    Reports from independent international observers of the census suggest that, with the exception of Rakhine and parts of Kachin state, the enumeration process appears to have been largely carried out effectively. We continue to closely monitor the process.