The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel following the large-scale home demolitions in the Bedouin refugee community of Um al Khayr in the South Hebron Hills on 6 April.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
While we have not raised this specific issue, we remain deeply concerned by Israel’s approach to demolitions and regularly raise the matter with the Israeli authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the demolition of Bedouin homes at Jabal Al-Baba in East Jerusalem.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We condemn the demolition of Bedouin homes at Jabal Al-Baba, which is a particularly vulnerable community in East Jerusalem. We are extremely concerned at the large increase in demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the start of 2016, compared to the monthly average in 2015. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has not specifically discussed this issue with his counterpart. However, our Embassy in Tel Aviv continues to raise our concern about demolitions regularly with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 15 May. We call on Israel to provide a legal route for Palestinians to obtain building permits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-07-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the appropriateness of the application of the CITES Annex 1 listing to elephants; and what assessment she has made of the potential effect of that listing on the domestic trade in ivory.
Rory Stewart
All proposals for the 17th Conference of Parties (CoP17) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) are currently being assessed against the established scientific criteria for listings set out in the Convention. Where justified by the scientific evidence, the UK will advocate further protection to support the survival of endangered species. This includes in negotiations with the Member States of the EU to ensure that our positions on proposals are taken into account before the final negotiating position for the EU and its Member States is agreed.
If the elephant uplisting proposal is successful at CoP17, it will prohibit international, commercial trade in ivory apart from in exceptional circumstances. The commercial use of ivory would generally be prohibited domestically, subject to certain exemptions, such as for worked, older pre-Convention items.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the criticisms in the report published on 8 July by the Independent Evaluation Office of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The IMF and the Crises in Greece, Ireland, and Portugal, what value they now place on the IMF’s forecasts and policy statements.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The government continues to value the IMF’s forecasts and other analytical outputs, which are supported by high quality technical analysis and data-gathering. This is used alongside the government’s own analysis, and the work of other institutions. We do not believe that the International Evaluation Office’s (IEO) report entitled The IMF and the Crises in Greece, Ireland and Portugal provides compelling evidence to alter this practice.
The government values the work of the IEO, which is important in improving transparency, oversight and enhancing the learning culture at the Fund.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what total amount of funding has been allocated to the Superconnected Cities project.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Super Connected Cities Programme had an allocation of up to £150m, to support broadband and digital projects across 22 citiesup to March 2015. The Chancellor extended the connection voucher scheme to 50 cities from April 2015 on a first come first serve basis, with up to £40m of that funding available for this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether UK universities are required to admit support dogs for adults with autism.
Joseph Johnson
Higher Education Institutionsare autonomous and independent bodies, and have clear legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support their students, including those with autism.
Under the Equality Act 2010 institutions have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people to ensure students are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-01-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of trends in the rate of race-related crimes in England and Wales over the last five years.
Karen Bradley
The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that there were 106,000 incidents of race hate crime a year, based on the combined data from the 2012/13 to 2014/15 surveys (the most recently available figures). There has been a clear downward trend in the number of hate crime incidents between the 2007/08 to 2008/09 and 2012/13 to 2014/15 crimes surveys, which have fallen by 28% for all hate crimes over this period. The Home Office also collects information from the police on hate crimes. This shows that were 42,930 race hate crimes recorded by the police in 2014/15, a 15% increase on the previous year. This increase is largely thought to be due to improvements in recording practices by the police over the last year rather than a real increase in race hate crime. However, it is possible in some police forces areas that recording may not be the only reason and there could be an element of real increases in certain areas.
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of hate crime, including that perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person. That is why we announced in October last year the intention to bring forward a new cross Government hate crime action plan. This is being developed with the communities most affected by hate crime and will be published later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of recent changes to funding of bus services on the provision of those services.
Andrew Jones
Decisions about the provision of bus services requiring subsidy remain a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.
The majority of public funding for local bus services is from the block grant that local authorities in England receive from the Department for Communities and Local Government. However, my Department also provides around £40m of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) funding directly to English local authorities to help deliver bus services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applications for National Insurance numbers were outstanding on 31 December in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Lord Freud
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that everyone at the end of life has a personalised care plan, with their choices recorded on an Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination System or equivalent system.
Lord Prior of Brampton
We are committed to ensuring that everyone at, or nearing, the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care, tailored to their individual needs and preferences.
The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care, which will be published shortly, will set out our vision for high quality, personalised care and the steps we will take to achieve this. The response will also address each of the Review recommendations, including on care coordination; improving the quality, availability and responsiveness of care; improving the quality and use of data; care planning and the use of digital care records; and the involvement of family members and carers in discussions about care.