Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of spit hoods and the extent of their use by police forces.

    Brandon Lewis

    The use of ‘spit hoods’, as with any other use of restraint or force, is an operational matter for Chief Officers. Accordingly, the Home Office has not conducted any assessments on their use or the extent of use by police forces in England and Wales. However, the Home Office is clear that all uses of force or restraint must be necessary and proportionate.

    In recognition of the importance of ensuring transparency in how police forces use various means of restraint, the former Home Secretary asked Chief Constable David Shaw to review what data should be collected and published. The review recommended that forces record a range of data in all instances when significant force is used, including restraint techniques and the use of spit hoods. The data to be collected includes the age, gender, ethnicity and sex of the subject, the type of force used, reason for the use of force, and the outcome of the incident. The new data collection system is currently being piloted in a number of forces before it is implemented nationwide. We expect all use of force records to be published by forces, and a subset of the data will be part of the mandatory requirement for the 2017/18 Annual Data Requirement (ADR).

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the establishment of an independent, international and impartial body to investigate violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation and alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen. The UK fully and actively supports the UN’s efforts to achieve a political solution to bring an end to the conflict. I discussed the importance of progress with President Hadi of Yemen on 25 November. This will help create the conditions for the legitimate Government to improve its capacity to protect human rights.

    The UK has previously engaged the Yemeni Government – both bilaterally and through the UN Human Rights Council – on a wide range of human rights issues. We continue to raise the importance of compliance with international human rights law by all sides to the conflict. The UK welcomes the September UN Human Rights Council resolution which contains mechanisms for monitoring the human rights situation in Yemen.

    The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been tasked to help Yemen investigate human rights abuses and violations, but it will be up to Yemen to decide on how it sets up its own domestic mechanism. The UK welcomes Yemen’s commitment to cooperate with the UN on the protection of human rights.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 28 October (HL2778), what has been the outcome of the investigation into serious allegations” about the 111 service in the East Midlands.”

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We understand that NHS England has received a detailed and independent report on the whistle-blower’s allegations about the NHS 111 services in Derbyshire which is currently being considered. NHS England will formally respond later this month. We are assured that no immediate risks to patient care have been identified and local commissioners report that service levels are effective and appropriate.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police borough commanders there have been in post in each London borough since 2008.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of police borough commanders in each London Borough, or the length of time that they have been in post. This information is likely to the held by the Metropolitan Police Force.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to improve biosecurity on farms.

    George Eustice

    A joint government and industry bovine TB biosecurity campaign was launched in November 2015 and will run for 12 months. It aims to increase the number of farmers implementing TB biosecurity measures on their farms and whilst trading cattle. The biosecurity campaign already includes a TB Hub bringing together information, advice, guidance and research material on how to prevent TB through biosecurity and risk based trading, an information bTB website allowing farmers to view information on TB breakdowns in their area on an interactive map and a Five Point Plan setting out good practice for TB biosecurity. Several further steps in the biosecurity campaign are being launched throughout 2016.

    More generally, on-farm biosecurity is part of a wider landscape of measures to provide effective protection from animal and plant disease. Defra’s wider activities on biosecurity contribute to improving the resilience of the system as a whole.

    The Rural Development Programme animal health projects have a focus on tackling exemplar diseases in cattle, sheep and pigs sectors through improved farm disease risk management practices. It is intended that this will have a wider benefit in improving farm biosecurity practices.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to reduce the number of dogs used for medical experimentation.

    Karen Bradley

    Our annual statistics show that in 2014 less than 0.1% of animals used in research in Great Britain are dogs. Dogs are primarily used in procedures for regulatory testing. They are also used in other procedures such as nutritional studies and to better understand naturally occurring diseases and to develop treatments for dogs themselves.

    The Home Office is responsible for regulating the use of dogs in research under the Ani-mals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Dogs are a specially protected species under the Act and the Home Office will grant a project licence for a programme of work using dogs only where the purpose of the programme of work specified in the licence can be achieved only by their use; or where it is not practicable to obtain other suitable animals.

    Since 2010 the number of procedures performed on dogs has dropped nearly 30% from 5,782 in 2010 to 4,107 in 2014.

  • Keith Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Simpson on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which of the security service files in the series KV2/1500 held in the National Archives on SS Sturmbannführer Kriminaldirektor Horst Kopkow are closed; and for what reasons such files are closed.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Security Service’s historic files on Horst KOPKOW were made available to the public at The National Archives in March 2004 (reference numbers KV2/1500 and KV2/1501). KOPKOW also appears in a report on a file at The National Archives relating to the Gestapo that was made available in February 2005 (reference number KV3/109). None of the files held in The National Archives on Horst KOPKOW are closed. Any redactions made to these files have been made for reasons of national security. The Government is committed to releasing historical files to the National Archives where it is appropriate to do so.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Materials Processing Institute to the development of a modern British steel industry.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government is exploring all options to support steel and the foundation industries. We are interested to consider how we can develop the best way forward for the UK industry alongside all parties with steel expertise, including the Materials Processing Institute.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to the timetable for work to commence on building the new Type 26 Frigate on the skills base in the affected shipyards.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the oral answer I gave during Defence questions in the House on 27 June 2016 to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier).

    The Government have already invested £1.6 billion in the Type 26 programme. We will only enter into a contract once we are confident of the delivery schedule and the ability of the contractors to meet that schedule on a cost effective basis.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimates his Department has made of potential cost of proposed transitional measures to address the effects on women born in the 1950s following state pension equalisation.

    Caroline Nokes

    Transitional arrangements are already in place. At the time of the Pensions Act 2011 the Government introduced a concession worth £1.1 billion to limit the impact of the rising State Pension age on those most affected. The concession capped the maximum delay that anyone would face in claiming their State Pension to 18 months rather than two years, relative to the previous timetable. The Government has no plans to introduce further transitional arrangements.

    The following link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-foi-releases-for-march-2016 provides:

    • information on the transitional arrangements considered during the passage of the Pensions Act 2011 (see table A); and
    • illustrative costings for hypothetical policies including the three requested by the previous Minister for Pensions (see tables B to D).

    These options are not under policy consideration.

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