Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to improve diversity in public service broadcasting.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    This Government is committed to improving diversity in public service broadcasting. We have continued to push on this agenda and keep the spotlight on all major broadcasters. I am encouraged by the steps they have began to take to improve the levels of diversity in the industry but I continue to press them to do more.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how his Department has applied the family test to its proposals for draft legislation to devolve Sunday trading regulations; and what the outcome of the application of that test was.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government plans to publish the Impact Assessment, including results of the family test, shortly.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the A591 in Cumbria to be fully accessible.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England is leading on the full and permanent reinstatement of the A591 and has committed to have the road fully reopened to the public by the end of May 2016.

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

    Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mancroft on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review their hepatitis C strategy in the light of other European countries’ strategies for tackling hepatitis C.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England has been rapidly working on their plans for access to treatment during 2016/17 following enactment of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence technical appraisal guidance and has committed to produce an operational framework for the treatment of hepatitis C during 2016/17. This will set out NHS England’s commitment to improving outcomes in hepatitis C across England.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many instances of (a) illegal and (b) unregulated fishing have been recorded in Antarctic waters by the UK in each of the last five years.

    James Duddridge

    Over the last five years the UK has not identified any instances of illegal or unregulated fishing within the Convention Area. This is in part due to the reduction in the global illegal, unreported and unregulated fleet and the stringent measures put in place by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (the Commission). Where other States Parties have identified illegal, unreported and unregulated operations, the UK has worked within the Commission to take steps to combat those activities.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what expertise on Russia is required of members of the 77th Brigade; what the operational deployment standards are of that brigade; and how many members of that brigade were recruited from the Reserves.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Russia is just one of a wide range of different nations that elements of 77th Brigade are studying in order to develop a deep understanding of their approach to operations. The focus is on specific aspects of these countries’ operational concepts and doctrine including information warfare and the use of non-military means.

    As is normal for operational deployments overseas, personnel will only deploy once they have met standards laid down for each theatre by the Joint Commander.

    There are currently 141 reserve personnel serving with 77th Brigade.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to implement the actions identified for it in the Government’s Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2016-2020, published in March 2016; and when a member of staff from her Department last attended a Violence against Women and Girls Stakeholder Meeting chaired by the Home Office.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government is committed to delivering the Strategy published in March. The table below shows the progress made in delivering the actions allocated to the Department for Education (DfE) or the Government Equalities Office (GEO).

    REF

    DfE/ GEO

    ACTION

    PROGRESS

    1

    GEO

    Develop new guidance in consultation with teachers for PHSE lessons specifically about gender equality (Apr 2016).

    GEO has been working with the PSHE Association to consult teachers on how best to deliver this commitment.

    2

    GEO

    Fund the Freedom Charity to expand the ‘Train the Trainers’ project…. (Apr 2016).

    GEO funded the Freedom Charity to expand their ‘Train the Trainers’ project to reach a greater number of communities and empower teachers to deal with the topic of forced marriage sensitively and confidently. This funding enabled an additional 3,620 students and 1,230 staff to learn about forced marriage with Freedom.

    3

    DfE

    Publish a consultation report on updated statutory safeguarding guidance for schools, Keeping Children Safe in Education, to come into force in September 2016 (May 2016).

    DfE published the Government response to the consultation in May, and published a draft of the revised guidance for information at that time. The guidance came into force on 5 September 2016.

    5

    HO/ GEO

    Launch the second phase of the national prevention campaign to challenge abuse in teenage relationships and promote understanding of health relationships and consent – including among LGB&T teenagers (Feb 2016).

    GEO, in partnership with the Home Office, launched Disrespect Nobody, the second phase of the national prevention campaign to challenge abuse in teenage relationships. This included a TV advert, along with a dedicated website, blogs and guidance for teachers.

    6

    DfE

    Launch a communications campaign to encourage the public to report all forms of child abuse to help address people’s fear of reporting (Mar – autumn 2016).

    In March 2016 DfE launched the national Together we can tackle child abuse campaign to encourage members of the public to report any concerns they may have about a child, in particular about suspected child abuse and neglect. Over 100 councils have engaged with the campaign so far, and our findings indicate that it is giving people a sense of confidence to report their suspicions. We know it takes time to change opinions and behaviours, which is why we plan to run the campaign again in 2017.

    8

    GEO

    Update Media Smart resources (with the Advertising Association) to help teachers and parents improve primary school children’s understanding of how gender is represented in the media and their resilience to negative content (Sep 2016).

    GEO commissioned the charity Media Smart to develop a new resource to help teachers and parents improve primary school children’s understanding of how gender is represented in the media and their resilience to negative content. The resource was published in August 2016 and will be disseminated to schools this term.

    10

    GEO

    Conduct or commission mapping of the evidence base and initiatives that engage men, boys and bystanders in VAWG prevention to identify how Government can build on these initiatives to further social change (Apr 2017).

    GEO is currently mapping the evidence base and initiatives that engage men, boys and bystanders in VAWG prevention, as well as meeting with stakeholders working in this area.

    18

    DfE

    Raise standards in social work and overhaul social work education and practice to improve the recruitment, retention and development of social workers under-pinned by a new regulator…. (all social workers assessed and accredited by 2020).

    DfE is continuing to develop our plans for the assessment and accreditation of child and family social workers and will consult this autumn. We expect the first social workers will begin assessment in spring 2017. The Children and Social Work Bill includes provision to establish a new regulator for social workers.

    19

    DfE

    Establish a What Works Centre, with up to £20m of funding, which will be an evidence-based resource to support social workers and work alongside the Chief Social Worker (by end 2016).

    It is expected that the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care will be established in 2017 – we are currently considering options for the model and set-up process and carried out early market engagement in June/July 2016 to inform our thinking.

    28

    GEO/ HO

    Establish an official Government working group to map out current issues, prevalence, initiatives and barriers to addressing gendered online abuse to improve understanding and coordinate the response to online manifestations of VAWG (Dec 2016).

    In partnership with the Home Office, GEO has established an official Government working group to do this. This work is ongoing.

    30

    GEO

    Continue to ensure victims of revenge pornography have access to bespoke support and advice about their right to have the images removed from websites (review Apr 2017).

    GEO has funded the Revenge Porn Helpline for a further year to continue its important work supporting victims of revenge porn and working to have such images removed from websites.

    68

    DfE

    Carry out an urgent review of Local Safeguarding Children Boards and take forward plans to centralise serious case reviews so that lessons from serious incidents can be learned more quickly and effectively (review completed by Mar 2016).

    The review was completed in March 2016 and published in May 2016. Provisions to cover the key recommendations on LSCBs and reviews are included in the Children and Social Work Bill.

    Department officials are in regular contact with their Home Office counterparts to discuss relevant policy issues, including those raised by stakeholders. Such discussions run alongside inter-ministerial meetings, the most recent of which I attended in June.

  • James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what meetings he has had with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth in 2016; and if he will publish a summary of the content of such discussions.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Minister for the Commonwealth, The Rt Hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE, met with the Secretary-General in September for discussions on a wide range of Commonwealth-related issues. Topics discussed include the Secretary-General’s policy and operational priorities, and UK plans for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2018. The UK’s Commonwealth Envoy has also met the Secretary-General on a number of occasions.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions a non-statutory public inquiry has been instigated into the death of a single individual under section 17A of the Coroners Act 1988 at a time when that individual had not been the subject of a full coroner’s inquest; who were those individuals; why they were referred for a public inquiry in each case; and on which dates they were referred.

    Lord Faulks

    A coroner’s inquest was not completed into the deaths of the following individuals:

    Victoria Climbié, Robert Hamill, Dr David Kelly, Alexander Litvinenko, Baha Mousa, Zahid Mubarek, Rosemary Nelson and Azelle Rodney.

    The only occasion when an inquest has been adjourned under section 17A of the Coroners Act 1988 because a non-statutory inquiry was to be held was following the death of Dr David Kelly. The Lord Chancellor established an inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death on 18 July 2003, the day that Dr Kelly’s body was found.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish his Department’s evaluation of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 Section 28 pilots; and whether he plans to roll out provision of Section 28.

    Mike Penning

    Pre-trial cross examination under Section 28 of the YJCEA 1999 was piloted in three Crown Court centres. Fieldwork for a process evaluation of the pilot has been completed. A report is being prepared for publication, subject to standard quality assurance checks. The decision on the roll out of Section 28 will be made in due course, following the results of the evaluation.