The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a standard disclosure clause is included in Government procurement contracts.
Matthew Hancock
A standard disclosure clause is included in Government procurement contracts. This information is publicly available on www.gov.uk.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish from the Minister for Local Growth and the Northern Powerhouse of 18 February 2016, on accountability of combined authorities, whether the scrutiny requirements of the Local Government Act 2000 apply to combined authorities.
James Wharton
The scrutiny requirements for combined authorities are set out in Schedule 5A to the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, as inserted by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, which provide that overview and scrutiny committees of combined authorities have powers to call in decisions and to involve other persons in their work. Schedule 5A also provides for secondary legislation which must ensure that the majority of members of an overview and scrutiny committee will be members of the combined authority’s constituent councils and that at least one member of an audit committee is an independent person. The scrutiny requirements of the Local Government Act 2000 do not apply to combined authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will estimate the proportion of rebel ground forces in Syria which could be considered moderate.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Prime Minister, the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) stated in Parliament in December 2015 that we assessed at that time that there were around 70,000 non-extremist fighters in Syria, standing up to both the tyranny of the Asad regime and the poisonous and murderous ideology of Daesh. Since the time of that assessment, there have been significant shifts on the ground, particularly as a result of Russia’s military escalation, the majority of which has directly targeted the moderate opposition.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-05-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to take action against hospital trusts which continue to breach mixed-sex accommodation guidance.
Lord Prior of Brampton
All patients deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and the Government has made it clear that providers of National Health Service funded care are expected to eliminate mixed-sex accommodation, except where this is in the overall best interest of the patient, or reflects their personal choice.
Since 2010, there has been a fall from almost 12,000 patients in mixed-sex accommodation to 753 reported in March 2016. We will continue to monitor monthly breach data and performance across the NHS in partnership with NHS England. The financial penalty for non-delivery of the operational standard is mandated through the NHS Standard Contract 2016/17, and applies to all providers of acute, cancer and mental health services.
Under the terms of the Contract, where a breach occurs, the commissioner whose patient is affected must levy the financial sanction specified by the Contract. That sanction is £250 for each day that patient is affected by the breach.
Delivering zero breaches for every trust, every month, is unlikely. This is because there will be some occasions where patients are mixed appropriately, even when their clinical care needs do not demand it (for example if a patient is admitted in the middle of the night and the only way to release an appropriate bed is to awaken and move other patients).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-06-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what step they are taking to ensure that British businesses in Colombia do not contribute to human rights abuses there.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Encouraging businesses to respect human rights is a global priority for this Government. We recognise that communities such as indigenous and afro-descendant people and those in isolated rural areas are particularly vulnerable.
The UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights sets out how the Government is implementing the UN Guiding Principles. British firms are expected to uphold these principles in their overseas operations, as well as in the UK. It is for each country to implement a National Action Plan to ensure compliance with the Guiding Principles.
We worked closely with the Colombian authorities to develop their National Action Plan, published in December. All companies operating in Colombia, including British ones, should comply with the requirements and guidelines set out in that National Action Plan.
The Minister for Trade and Investment, my noble Friend, the Lord Price of Sturminster Newton, launched a campaign for British businesses to support peace, primarily through respect for human rights, during his visit to Colombia last month. Twenty of the largest British companies operating in Colombia subsequently agreed to align themselves to the Colombian National Action Plan for business and human rights.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-09-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the current security situation in Afghanistan and the stability of that country.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The security situation in Afghanistan remains challenging. It is the second year of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces’ (ANDSF) independent operations and their capability continues to gradually improve. The work of NATO’s non-combat advisory mission, Resolute Support, remains critical to this effort. In 2016, ANDSF have faced particular pressure from the insurgency in Helmand and Kunduz. Where significant population centres have been threatened, government forces have repelled Taleban assaults.
At the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, NATO agreed to sustain Resolute Support’s “Train, Advise and Assist” mission through 2017. Donors also pledged around $4.5bn in funding to the ANDSF through to 2020 and reaffirmed NATO’s Enduring Partnership with Afghanistan. This clear signal of international resolve demonstrates our collective commitment to safeguarding the gains made in Afghanistan and to supporting the Government of Afghanistan to deliver security for its citizens.
HMG Ministers will be discussing these issues, and related development issues, with partners at the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan on 4-5 October.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-10-19.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual revenue raised from VAT on tourism and related services was; and what proportion of this revenue was generated in Scotland for each of the last five years.
Jane Ellison
The government does not hold data on the annual revenue raised from VAT on tourism and related services in the UK and in Scotland. This is because tourism does not follow the standard classification of sectors. For example, revenue raised from travel and hotel accommodation will be a mixture of tourism and non-tourism activity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the indebtedness of people aged 18 to 25.
Harriett Baldwin
The government is committed to ensuring that young people can access the support they need in order to make informed financial decisions and avoid problem debt.
To ensure that young people leave school with an understanding of personal finance, financial literacy was made part of the secondary school National Curriculum in September 2014; and the mathematics curriculum has also been changed to include topics on financial decisions. This means that for the first time, young people now learn about the importance of budgeting, sound management of money, credit and debt, as well as understanding different financial services and products.
The government set up the Money Advice Service (MAS) in 2010 to enhance consumers’ understanding and knowledge of financial matters. MAS provides a single point of debt advice for consumers, including people aged 18-25, and allows those facing problems with debt to obtain free and impartial money advice. MAS also recently launched their nationwide Financial Capability Strategy, which will specifically consider how the needs of young people should inform provision going forward.
The government is currently consulting on how the provision of public financial guidance could be made more effective for consumers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-12-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the NHS recognises alcoholism as a mental health issue.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Evidence shows that there is a link between alcohol misuse and mental ill health. We know that people who drink excessively are at higher risk of poor mental health and that some people with mental illness may lead riskier lifestyles and may have issues with alcohol and drug misuse.
National Health Service clinicians use the tenth edition of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) for mental and behavioural disorders. The ICD-10 includes ‘Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol.’
Diagnosis of a mental or behavioural disorder would be subject to an individual assessment, by an appropriate clinician.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Caroline principles are applied to any further targeted killing carried out in self-defence of the UK.
Penny Mordaunt
In taking any action in self-defence of the UK, we will take account of well-established principles of self-defence. As the Attorney General pointed out to the Justice Select Committee on 15 September 2015, the Caroline case goes back to the 19th century and was concerned with very different circumstances to those facing us now. However as the Attorney General also made clear, the principles still apply and action in self-defence may be lawful in relation to an attack which has not yet materialised but is imminent. In addition any such action must, like all other action in self-defence, comply with the requirements of necessity and proportionality.