Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of the Philippines following reports that many hundreds of people have been killed by police and vigilantes on suspicion of involvement in drugs; and what assessment they have made of whether the courts and prisons in that country are capable of dealing with the large numbers of newly arrested suspects.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government’s view on the importance of the rule of law is clear, consistent and well known in the Philippines. Our Ambassador has repeatedly raised the Government’s concerns over drug-related killings with the Philippine Administration, including the Foreign Minister, Interior Secretary and Defence Secretary. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Mr Sharma), spoke of the importance of democratic accountability, human rights and the rule of law at a UK-Philippines trade and business event in London on 7 September.

    Members of the Philippine Administration and Supreme Court have highlighted a lack of capacity within the courts and prisons to handle those newly arrested on suspicion of involvement in illegal drugs. We share this concern. The British Government supports the right to a fair trial and the humane treatment of detainees. The Government of the Philippines is taking some steps to increase the functionality of the justice system, including by increasing the number of specialist drug courts. Our Ambassador has conveyed the Government’s willingness to share its own experience of delivering a proportionate criminal justice response to illegal drug use and trafficking.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many referrals for treatment for post traumatic stress disorder from 13 and 39 Squadron service personnel there have been over the last two years.

    Mark Lancaster

    During Financial Years 2013-14 and 2014-15, there were no Regular Royal Air Force personnel from 13 Squadron or 39 Squadron who were seen for an initial assessment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at Ministry of Defence Specialist Mental Health Services.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust services.

    Jane Ellison

    The Chief Inspector of Hospitals Inspection within the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May 2014 rated the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust as “Requires Improvement”. In 2015 the CQC rated the Trust as ‘Inadequate’. The Trust is urgently implementing the action recommended.

    In addition, the Trust is actively engaged with the Emergency Care Improvement Programme to ensure that the Trust can deliver the accident and emergency standard by March 2016.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of rough sleeping in town centres on the use of town centres by the general public.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government remains committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. But one person without a home is one too many, which is why we are maintaining homelessness funding over this Spending Review period, building on our significant investment since 2010. We will increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We have also protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20.

    It is for local authorities to determine what homelessness services are required to best meet the needs of their local area, including provision of suitable accommodation. More rough sleepers are being found and helped quicker thanks to our investment in StreetLink, which gives the public a means to act when they see someone sleeping rough. Since the launch of StreetLink in December 2012, over 16,000 rough sleepers have been found and connected with local services so that they can get the help that they need to get them off the streets. We are committed to do more to improve services for homeless people with complex needs. Building on London’s approach of using social investment to improve outcomes for rough sleepers, we will be setting up a new Social Impact BondFund to help the most complex and entrenched rough sleepers.

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions have been double flagged by the Crown Prosecution Service over the past three years using the flag for monitoring human trafficking, and the flag for monitoring child abuse.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify both human trafficking and child abuse cases by way of a database monitoring flag applied to the electronic case record.

    The number of defendants prosecuted for flagged human trafficking offences where the child abuse flag was also applied are as follows:

    2012-2013

    2013-2014

    2014-2015

    19

    59

    24

    The figures provided represent the number of defendants prosecuted. Cases of trafficking for child exploitation (particularly child sexual exploitation) can involve networks of multi-defendants who have sexually exploited young female victims. Therefore, in the relatively low numbers of cases cross flagged, a small number of additional cases in one year involving upwards of 9 to 12 defendants each will have a significant effect on the annual figures. This, in part, explains the reduction in the number of defendants prosecuted for both human trafficking and child abuse; down from 59 in 2013/14 to 24 in 2014/15.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect of absorbing the EU emissions trading system tax on fossil fuels into the UK’s carbon price support tax for fossil fuels.

    Amber Rudd

    At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

    The UK supports the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) as the best means of achieving the EU’s emissions reduction targets to 2030 and beyond at least cost for business and consumers, through a market-based approach. Emissions trading works better at the European level, creating a larger and more liquid market and a level playing field between Member States. The UK has been a consistent champion of the EU ETS and first piloted a national cap-and-trade scheme in 2002 before its launch. The UK has been at the forefront in securing recent measures to reform and strengthen the EU ETS, including securing EU agreement in September 2014 to a Market Stability Reserve to address the surplus of allowances in the system.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) average and (b) maximum waiting time was for an electric wheelchair through NHS Wheelchair Services after being determined eligible to receive one in 2014-15.

    Alistair Burt

    No data is currently available in relation to waiting times for wheelchairs for 2014-15. A new national data collection has been introduced (from July 2015) to all clinical commissioning groups to allow for transparency and benchmarking their services. Data has so far been published for quarter 2 and quarter 3 2015/16. However, this is a new collection and does not yet provide an opportunity to draw national or regional comparisons.

    The new dataset is part of the work that NHS England is taking forward in partnership with service users, carers and others to lay the foundations for improvement across the country. A tariff for wheelchairs will enable commissioners to move away from simple contracts, and so increase efficiency and better align resources with service users’ needs; support and resources for clinical commissioning groups will help them improve their commissioning of wheelchair services.

  • Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many cases of child abuse and neglect were reported in (a) Merseyside and (b) St Helens in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

    Edward Timpson

    The information requested is not available. We do not collect the reason for referrals so cannot identify how many of these were due to abuse or neglect.

    Data on referrals is available by local authority and region in the annual statistical first release ‘Characteristics of children in need’’[1].

    Once a child has been referred and any relevant assessments have been carried out, we collect information on the primary needs of children in need of children’s social care services. In 2014/15, 66% of children in need in St Helens local authority had a primary need of abuse or neglect.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need

    “

  • Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-06-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to maintain the normalisation of the Irish border in terms of the common travel area, and whether they plan to take steps to ensure that there will be no ethnic profiling of people crossing that border.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Prime Minister has reiterated the importance of continuing to engage with Ireland on how we can maintain the Common Travel Area (CTA). The CTA arrangement pre-dates the EU and we remain committed to it. The Government continues to work closely with Ireland to improve the security of the CTA. UK law enforcement agencies carry out intelligence-led checks on CTA routes to combat abuse – all of which is done within the law.

  • Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire after four years of operation.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government plans to publish a report on the fourth year of licensed badger control operations in parts of Somerset and Gloucestershire as it has done for the first three years. The Animal and Plant Health Agency continues to assess annually the incidence of tuberculosis in cattle in areas where badger control is licensed for the purposes of controlling the disease. The analysis after the first two years in Somerset and Gloucestershire is available on the gov.uk website.