Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which projects in Israel and the Palestinian territories were supported from the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund in 2016-17; and what the level of funding and support was for each such project.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The following projects are funded from the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) during the current financial year (2016/17). These are projected spend figures and so are subject to change.

    – Small training team as part of the United States Security Coordinator to provide institutional development and professionalisation of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces. £2.23m.

    – Technical assistance to the Palestinian Ministry of Interior (MOI) to improve its capability to provide oversight and management of the security services. £1.8m.

    – Support to EU Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support. £0.067m.

    – Empowerment of young Israeli leaders to strengthen support for peace in their communities. £0.3m.

    – UK-Israel Informal Security Dialogue. £0.025m.

    – Legal Aid and Settlement Monitoring in the West Bank. £1.5m.

  • Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 2 November (HL2849) on the review of retention of custody images by police forces, whether they have carried out legal and risk assessments; if so, whether they will publish those assessments; and if not, why not.

    Lord Bates

    The review is ongoing, and is anticipated to report before the Christmas recess. Specific stakeholders consulted as part of the review include the Biometrics Commissioner, the Information Commissioner, the Surveillance Camera Commissioner, the National DNA Database Ethics Group, the National Police Chiefs Council , the College of Policing and local police forces. The report can be expected to address the operational and legal issues and risks, and set out plans for implementation.

  • Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government is taking steps to promote satellite broadband access in areas where fixed line broadband is limited or available at slower speeds than average.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government’s Universal Service Commitment will allow universal access to speeds of at least 2 Megabits per secondto any household in the UK,through the option of satellite broadband connections by the end of 2015.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the feasibility of dropping food by air to civilian communities now under siege in Syria and cut off from all external supplies.

    Earl of Courtown

    The UK has pledged over £1.1 billion in response to the crisis in Syria and the region, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the US. We have provided support to the UN and international NGOs (INGOs) since the start of the conflict to deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria. By the end of June 2015, UK support inside Syria and in the surrounding region had, for example, delivered almost 20 million food rations that feed one person for a month; over 2.5 million medical consultations; and relief items for 4.6 million people.

    The UK will consider any option compliant with international law that might save lives in Syria. We rule nothing out. However, the use of air drops is high risk and should only be considered as a last resort when all other means have failed.

    Attempting air drops without the consent of the parties to the conflict may risk undermining negotiations on humanitarian access to the 4.5 million people in hard to reach areas across Syria. Even in uncontested space air drops poise significant challenges. There is a requirement to identify clear drop zones, ensure safe access for the intended recipients and to co-ordinate with authorities on the ground. Instead, the UN, the Red Cross Movement and NGO partners are best placed to deliver aid to vulnerable people in besieged and hard to reach areas.

    The desperate situation in besieged and hard to reach areas shows why we need the international community to come together at the London Conference for Syria and the Region on 4 February to support immediate needs and identify longer-term solutions to address the needs of those affected by the crisis.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the correlation between the reduction in the rate of unemployment in the West Midlands between 2010 and 2016 and any trend in the number of people employed on zero-hour contracts in that region.

    Priti Patel

    Figures published by ONS show that rising employment in the West Midlands since 2010 – reflected in falling unemployment – has been dominated by more people in full-time and permanent jobs.

    Information on trends in zero-hours contracts over this period is not available on a consistent basis. This reflects the view of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that responses to questions about zero-hours contracts in the Labour Force Survey are likely to have been affected by greater awareness of the term itself.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will investigate whether the reported comments of 22 February 2016 by Peter Wilkinson, director of Rail Passenger Services at the Department for Transport, are in breach of the Civil Service code.

    Matthew Hancock

    This has been dealt with by the Department for Transport who have issued a statement in respect of this matter.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress made at the recent UN peace talks in Geneva on Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The latest phase of UN-facilitated peace talks on Syria came to a pause in Geneva on 24 March. UN Special Envoy, Staffan de Mistura intends to reconvene the parties after the Easter break. This latest phase continued in the “proximity talks” format rather than direct talks between the parties. During their discussions with the UN Special Envoy, the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian Opposition presented their plans for political transition. Conversely, we understand that the Syrian regime did not engage on issues of substance during their discussions with the UN Special Envoy. At the conclusion of this round of talks, the UN produced a paper outlining its assessment of the “points of convergence” between the opposition and regime and has invited both sides to consider it before talks resume on or around 10 April.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have spent on infraction proceedings in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Matthew Hancock) today to UIN 36288.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what decisions have been made on the distribution of funding announced in the General Practice Forward View to reduce the immediate pressures in general practice.

    Alistair Burt

    The General Practice Forward View, published by NHS England on 21 April 2016, sets out that an extra £2.4 billion a year will be invested in general practice services by 2020/21, representing a 14% increase in real terms. This means that investment will rise from £9.6 billion a year in 2015/16 to over £12 billion a year by 2020/21.

    There will be a national £508 million five year Sustainability and Transformation package for general practice to help support struggling practices, develop the workforce, stimulate care redesign and tackle workload. This package will include:

    – £56 million, to include a new practice resilience programme starting in 2016/17, and the offer of specialist services to general practitioners suffering from burn out and stress;

    – £206 million for workforce measures to grow the medical and non-medical workforce;

    – £246 million to support practices in redesigning services, including a requirement on clinical commissioning groups to provide around £171 million of practice transformational support and a new national £30 million development programme for general practice.

  • Richard Benyon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Benyon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Benyon on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the availability of legal representation for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a dual UK-Iranian national. Iran does not recognise dual nationality for Iranian nationals and therefore does not permit our consular staff to visit British-Iranian dual nationals detained there. Nonetheless we continue to push for consular access to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and for more information about the charges against her – along with assurances that she has access to a lawyer.