Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-04-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date they were informed that NHS England was considering implementing a sugar tax in NHS premises by 2020.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We have a range of conversations about key issues at Ministerial and official level with NHS England. NHS England is independent and the decision on a sugar levy on the National Health Service estate is a matter for them operationally. We are interested to see the results of their consultation on a sugar levy.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    Guto Bebb

    The Wales Office is not an employer in its own right and is subject to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) policies for pay purposes.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Brimstone missiles have been fired by RAF warplanes in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria since the UK joined the coalition fighting against Daesh in those countries.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The following number of Brimstone missiles have been released by RAF aircraft engaged on Operation SHADER up to and including 11 Jul 2016 since the start of operations:

    Munition

    Iraq

    Syria

    Brimstone

    175

    19

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to require EU nationals to gain visas before entering the UK in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The UK continues to be a member of the European Union and therefore EU nationals do not require a visa to come to the UK, nor do British citizens require a visa to visit the rest of the EU.

    The Prime Minister has underlined that it would not be right for the Government to give a running commentary on negotiations. It is about developing our own British model so we will not make decisions until we are ready.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the Human Rights Watch report that some Saudi Arabian air strikes in Yemen violated international humanitarian law.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen by the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition. We take any report of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen by all sides to the conflict very seriously. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Arabian government and have received repeated assurances of International Humanitarian Law compliance. We continue to engage with them on those assurances. The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and we encourage them to be open and transparent in this. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with International Humanitarian Law and international human rights law.

  • Lyn Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lyn Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many National Crime Agency officers have completed the digital awareness e-learning course, The internet and you.

    Mr John Hayes

    As of 16 December 2015, 3921 Officers have completed the eLearning “Internet and You”. The course forms part of a five stage programme for NCA staff who require detailed training in this area.

  • Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the proportion of individuals diagnosed with hepatitis C within prison who will commence treatment (1) within prison, and (2) upon release.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England collect data on the offer, uptake and outcome of testing for hepatitis C for people in prison using a system of metrics co-designed with Public Health England (PHE) called the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs). This dataset includes information on whether those requiring treatment were referred to specialist services but does not record details of the treatment provided.

    PHE has been working with NHS England and Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) and others on a dataset which would allow for more detailed monitoring of treatments but these have not yet been introduced. Therefore, we do not currently have any data on the number of individuals commenced on treatment for hepatitis C within a prison or other prescribed place of detention in the last 12 months. Further, we do not have data on those former prisoners commenced on treatment in the community.

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

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what national resources are available to track and apprehend gangs selling illegally imported puppies to buyers across the UK.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    We are aware that some unscrupulous individuals are illegally importing pet animals with the intention of selling them on arrival in the UK. The Government takes the issue seriously and we are committed to working with relevant agencies and other non-government organisations to tackle this illegal trade. National resources engaged in this work include the transport companies (or their agents) who ensure compliance with the pet travel scheme, staff at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) who monitor and regulate the import of animals, and Local Authorities who enforce legislation where illegally imported pets are discovered. The APHA actively shares intelligence it gathers relating to abuse of the pet travel rules with Local Authorities and other EU Member States. This enables further investigation and follow up action to take place. Defra and the APHA have also provided practical support to multi-agency collaborative enforcement action. For example, in April last year, we assisted with the ageing of young puppies during ‘Operation Bloodhound’, which resulted in several penalty notices and cautions being issued.

    The illegal trade is ultimately driven by demand for cheap, pedigree puppies. The Government has published guidance to outline steps that prospective pet owners should take to avoid buying an illegally imported pet. The Government is currently consulting on a number of proposals to update the laws on the breeding and selling of dogs. The proposals include requiring anyone who breeds more than two litters of puppies a year to be licensed. An exemption from local authority licencing is proposed where a business is regulated by a body accredited by the UK Accreditation Service to certify, at a minimum, the legally-required welfare licence conditions. The consultation ends on 12 March.

    Defra recognises the problems that can arise from the on-line advertising of pets for sale. In recent years, the Department has been working closely with and supporting the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG) – which is a grouping of animal welfare charities, veterinary experts, animal keeping interests and the pet industry. Working with PAAG, we have been able to encourage six of the main on-line pet advertising sites to adopt minimum standards for adverts and to remove those that do not meet the standards. With PAAG’s help and the cooperation of six key on-line sites, over 130,000 inappropriate adverts for animals were removed over a 12-month period in 2014/15. We continue to work with PAAG to encourage more on-line sites to sign up to the minimum standards.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, who has (a) visited and (b) stayed at Chevening House since 7 May 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    This Government regularly publishes information on the use of official residences and ministerial meetings.

    Details are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=foreign-commonwealth-office&publication_type=transparency-data

    “

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which regulations he has asked the EU Commission to (a) amend and (b) repeal on the basis of their effects on businesses in the UK.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government regularly presses the European Commission to amend or repeal EU rules in order to minimise the regulatory burdens imposed on UK business.

    In particular, we do this through the European Commission’s Regulatory Fitness (REFIT) programme – established in 2012 to review the stock of existing EU legislation in order to identify burdens, inconsistencies, gaps or ineffective measures and address them. This has generated progress in areas of significant UK priority, including Occupational Health and Safety and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) – where the Commission’s 2016 Work Programme put forward burden-cutting proposals

    Overall, the Commission’s 2015 and 2016 Work Programmes proposed 100 withdrawals or modifications of pending proposals, and 39 repeals and 56 evaluations of existing EU laws.

    As part of the UK’s settlement with the EU, the European Commission is committed to reviewing the burden of regulation each year and introducing specific targets to reduce costs for businesses in the most burdensome areas.