Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 14 December (HL4086), whether their next Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report in April 2016 will contain an assessment of the effectiveness and outputs of project funding on human rights and democracy in their priority countries in the most recent full year; and if so, whether it will be subject to independent audit.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The 2015 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report will include references to project funding on human rights and democracy in priority countries where appropriate. All Foreign and Commonwealth Office funding, including human rights and democracy project funding, is subject to robust monitoring and evaluation, and like all government spending is subject to scrutiny by the National Audit Office.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees how many people are employed by the House of Lords on zero-hours contracts.

    Lord Laming

    The House of Lords does not employ any staff on zero-hours contracts on an exclusive basis. It employs 21 staff on zero-hours contracts in the Catering and Retail Services department, primarily for banqueting events. These are roles where staffing demands vary significantly week to week and are often unpredictable. The House also employs 23 freelance Hansard reporters.

    Zero-hours staff employed by the House of Lords are free to turn down shifts offered by the House. They have equivalent employment rights to full-time staff including pension and holiday pay entitlements, which are better than those of most agency staff. All staff in the House of Lords, including those on these contracts, are paid at least the London Living Wage.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the implications for border security arrangements of recent gangland-related murders in the Irish Republic.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    There are long-established and effective working relationships between the police and intelligence agencies of the UK and Ireland to mitigate threats in both countries. The UK Government takes protecting our border security very seriously and there is a high level of co-operation and on-going work with the Irish Government strengthening the external border of the Common Travel Area.

  • Stephen Metcalfe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Metcalfe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Metcalfe on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Dartford Crossing has closed in the last 12 months; and what the cause of each closure was.

    Andrew Jones

    The Dartford Crossing consists of two bored tunnels and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.

    There has been only one planned closure in the last 12 months where the crossing has been fully closed i.e. both the bridge and the tunnels. This was for overnight works on 15 August 2015 for the removal and installation of new gantries for the Dartcharge project.

    There have also been 81 occasions when either the bridge or one of the tunnel bores have been closed for planned construction or maintenance works. These works were carried out overnight when traffic flows are such that they can be accommodated by the remaining open elements of the crossing. The 81 occasions comprise 4 bridge closures, 42 west bore closures and 35 east bore closures.

    There have been 9 unplanned bridge closures; twice for high wind and 7 for broken down vehicles, collisions and police-led incidents.

    There have been 5 unplanned closures of the west tunnel; 4 traffic incidents and once to repair a road defect.

    There have been 12 unplanned closures of the east tunnel; 10 times for traffic incidents (4 broken down vehicles, 5 collisions and one diesel spill) and twice for road repairs.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to make a final decision on take charge requests under each article of the Dublin regulations for decisions made each month since April 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    Whilst all asylum claims, including those accepted under Dublin III, are registered on the main immigration database the specifics of each case are not currently available in the form requested as the data is not held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to support Newcastle upon Tyne’s Freedom City 2017 festival.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Freedom City 2017 is an important and exciting prospect for Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Arts Council England’s (ACE) North Director in Newcastle sits on the steering group for the festival and, in April 2015, ACE provided a Grants for the arts award of £15,000 to the Northern Roots, a partner in the development of the Freedom City 2017 event. ACE are continuing discussions with the Festival organisers on how they can further support the event.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights in response to his Memorandum on surveillance and oversight mechanisms in the United Kingdom, published in May 2016.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Following his visit to the United Kingdom from 17 – 22 January, Commissioner Muižnieks published his “Memorandum on surveillance and oversight mechanisms in the United Kingdom” on 17 May. The same day Her Majesty’s Government formally responded, detailing the necessity of surveillance powers and the ways in which the Government has bought world-leading oversight and transparency to these powers. The Government’s full response, which runs to 27 pages, can be found on the Commissioner’s website here: http://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/country-report/united-kingdom

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of the contract between Network Rail and Thales has been by heading for the supply of two first deployment traffic management systems for rail operating centres at (a) Cardiff and (b) Romford since the award of that contract.

    Paul Maynard

    The Department for Transport does not hold this level of detail on Network Rail’s costs.

  • Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with the Moroccan ambassador to the UK Morocco’s ban on the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy to the Western Sahara visiting Western Sahara during his visit to that region to facilitate negotiations called for by the UN Security Council.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    With Ambassadors of other members of the Group of Friends of Western Sahara, the British Ambassador to Morocco raised this issue with the Moroccan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs on 13 November. The Group of Friends welcomed the assurances they received that the Secretary-General’s Envoy would not be prevented from visiting Western Sahara.

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

    Lord Rogan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rogan on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 17 December (HL4320), whether the private arrangements” for residents of Northern Ireland to access an abortion in England include a requirement for individuals to pay for such services.”

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Yes, women travelling from Northern Ireland to England for an abortion generally pay for the procedure themselves.