Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to use the UN Security Council Resolutions on Syria to organise air-drops of food by the World Food Program to besieged areas, and to provide air cover for such drops with the US air force.

    Baroness Verma

    At the "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016" Conference on 4 February, more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference will help to create 1.1 million jobs and provide education to an additional 1 million children. The UK remains at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have doubled our commitment and have now pledged a total more than £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.

    The most effective way to get food and other essential aid to people who are starving and in desperate need is for Assad and all parties to the conflict to adhere to international law. Across Syria, Assad and other parties to the conflict are wilfully impeding humanitarian access on a day-by-day basis. It is an outrageous, unacceptable and illegal mechanism to use starvation as a weapon of war. That is why the UK will continue to call on the Assad regime and all parties to the conflict to allow immediate and unfettered access to all areas of Syria.

    Right now, aid delivered by road, by UN agencies and by others who know the situation on the ground and who can ensure it gets to those who need it most is the best way of getting help through. But we always consider the most effective way to get assistance to the people in need, and we do not rule anything out.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the proposed extension of Sunday trading hours on the pay and conditions of retail workers.

    Anna Soubry

    In view of the will of the House, we are no longer proposing to give local authorities the ability to extend the Sunday trading hours of large shops.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department has allocated for projects to prevent flooding in Burnley and Padiham.

    Rory Stewart

    Following the December 2015 flooding, the Environment Agency is developing a revised assessment of flood risk in Padiham, which may identify further measures to reduce flood risk in the area.

    The Environment Agency has also allocated £10,000 to the Burnley Ordinary Watercourse Study in 2018/19. The study aims at better understanding the flood risk from ordinary watercourses and will inform any potential future investment needs.

    The Fulledge Flood Risk Management Scheme was funded through £345,000 Flood Defence Grant in Aid and was completed in March 2013. The scheme reduces the flood risk to 781 properties in Burnley and helped to significantly reduce flooding in Burnley during storm Eva.

  • Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government to whom instances of female genital mutilation should be reported, and whether there is a mechanism for doing so anonymously.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are clear that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. On 1 April we published updated multi-agency statutory guidance on FGM including information to help professionals understand the risk factors that they should be looking out for and what action they should take. In addition, free e-learning is available to all professionals, providing training on how to recognise and respond to FGM. To date the course has been completed by over 30,000 people. In addition, the Department of Health’s £3M FGM Prevention Programme is focused on improving the NHS response and includes free e-learning for healthcare professionals. A new mandatory reporting duty requiring regulated health and social care professionals and teachers to report known cases of FGM in under 18s to the police came into force on 31 October 2015. Professionals encountering instances of FGM in women over 18, or who believe that a girl or woman is at risk, should follow established safeguarding procedures. Anyone who is concerned that a girl or woman has undergone FGM or is at risk can contact the NSPCC FGM helpline. Reports to this helpline can be made anonymously. The Home Office’s Border Force plays a vital role in helping to identify and protect potential victims of FGM travelling to and from the UK. Border Force work with the police in protecting girls and young women at risk of FGM, including carrying out joint operations. FGM Protection Orders (FGMPOs) were fast-tracked for implementation last July and are being used to protect girls at risk of FGM, including those who may be taken abroad. Ministry of Justice data released on 31 March shows 32 FGMPOs were issued between July and December 2015.

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 June (HL351), what consideration they are giving to (1) the issuing of guidance on the establishment of children’s social care trusts so that lessons can be learned from earlier experiences of doing so; and (2) the regulatory implications for such bodies if more local authorities establish them given the regulatory arrangements in place for the outsourcing of adult social care.

    Lord Nash

    The evaluations of Doncaster and Slough Children’s Services Trusts are underway and will provide learning from the experiences of establishing those organisations. There are no new regulatory implications for trusts. Where a trust is created to carry out children’s social care services on behalf of an authority, the statutory responsibility for those services remains with that authority. Ofsted will continue to inspect children’s social care services whether they are delivered by a local authority or by a trust.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to engage in increased consultation with civil society and UK-based and international human rights NGOs around the UK–China Human Rights Dialogue, including increasing transparency and accountability.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Ministers and officials meet civil society representatives on a regular basis to hear their views and benefit from their expertise on the human rights situation in China. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Mr Sharma) met Chinese NGOs during his recent visit to China. He plans to host a round table with UK-based NGOs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the near future.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of trends in the exchange rate on future energy imports; and if he will make a statement.

    Jesse Norman

    Departmental officials advise that exchange rates are one of the factors which influence future energy imports and their cost. For example, the cost of importing gas is also affected by the availability and cost of a range of gas supplies, infrastructure constraints and global and regional demand. The cost of importing electricity to the UK through its interconnectors with other European countries is also influenced by the electricity generation mix in Europe, by gas, coal and carbon prices and by the level of electricity demand in the UK and other European countries.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether (a) officials of his Department, (b) representatives of NHS bodies or (c) researchers funded by his Department will be attending the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in November 2015.

    George Freeman

    No officials from the Department plan to attend San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December 2015. The Department does not hold information centrally on planned attendance at this event by NHS representatives or researchers supported fully or in part by funding from the Department.

  • Baroness Hayman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Hayman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayman on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 26 November (HL3704), whether they have completed their review of the possibility of resuming direct flights to Sierra Leone, and if so, whether they are currently processing any permissions for flights to begin.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government has now lifted the restriction on direct, scheduled, commercial air services between Sierra Leone and the UK. The Department is aware of one company that has applied for, and been issued, a Foreign Aircraft Operating Permit by the Civil Aviation Authority to operate services between Sierra Leone and the UK.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 11881, if he will discuss with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency the reasons for that agency not approving the pilot scheme for bike racks on the front of buses in Bath in 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) rejected the pilot scheme because the design created significant additional hazards from the original bus design. These included both the structure of the bicycle rack when folded and deployed, projections of any bicycle on the rack, and a significant reduction of vision for the driver to the nearside front with a bicycle on the rack. These features were considered to increase significantly the likelihood of accidents and potential severity of pedestrian injury.