UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made to the government of Qatar about working conditions for those constructing FIFA World Cup 2022 stadiums.

    Hugh Robertson

    I raised concerns about migrant workers’ conditions with the Qatari authorities during my visit to Doha on 8-9 January. Our Ambassador and other officials have raised the issue on previous occasions and will continue to do so.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions the Government has had with representatives of Freeview about improving the number of channels on offer for people in rural areas.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ofcom estimates that 98.5% of UK households have access to 17 channels including those from the public service broadcasters (PSBs) on the digital terrestrial TV (DTT, or Freeview) platform, and that approximately 90% of UK households are also able to receive additional commercial DTT channels. Around 1.5% of UK households cannot easily receive DTT services with less than 0.5% not able to receive DTT services at all. However, DTT, cable and satellite digital television services together cover practically 100% of UK households, so that in all but the most exceptional of cases, everyone should be able to get digital television by one means or another. As well as subscription services, digital satellite TV offers non-subscription reception options for a one-off equipment and installation cost, but with no on-going monthly payments.

    We have had no discussions with Freeview or Digital UK, who manage the DTT platform, about extending services and there are no plans to require broadcasters to improve the DTT coverage levels agreed for digital television switchover in 2006.

    Purely commercial DTT services are not subject to the ‘near-universal’ coverage requirements which apply to PSB DTT services, and while the operators of the commercial DTT services were given the opportunity to extend their networks at the time of digital switchover, the operators determined that it was not commercially viable for them to build-out their services to additional transmitter sites.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent in each of the last four years on counsel fees related to inquests into the deaths of those in custody.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is able to identify fees paid to counsel for inquest cases funded under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (“LASPO”) Act 2012 from April 2013 onwards. For the financial year 2013-14, the total value of counsel fees paid relating to inquests into the deaths of those in custody under the LASPO Act totalled £10,574.40.

    This figure represents only those cases under the LASPO Act where payment has been made during 2013-14. Very few inquests that have been funded under the LASPO Act have been billed and paid in that period, as many are ongoing. Cases typically take over a year from approval of funding to payment of the final bill.

    The total figure of £10,574.40 does not include information recorded in the LAA’s new costs management system, upon which a small pilot group of providers are currently processing their claims. The volume of claims being processed through this system represents around 1% of all claims.

    The Legal Aid Agency does not hold the information requested centrally for cases funded under the Access to Justice Act 1999 (i.e. cases originally submitted prior to April 2013). Under the Access to Justice Act, ad hoc payments were made aggregating fees for the instructed solicitors and counsel on the case, and it is not possible to disaggregate the costs without checking each individual file.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about the implementation of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka of 27 March 2014; what technical advice and assistance his Department will provide to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the investigation into alleged war crimes and human rights violations in Sri Lanka; and what representations he has made to the government of Sri Lanka about the UN Human Rights Council resolution.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Our officials in Geneva continue to discuss the March 2014 UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) resolution with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). We will continue to fully support and work with the UN HRC and international partners to ensure proper implementation of this resolution. The OHCHR will lead an independent investigation into alleged violations. We continue to urge the Sri Lankan government to co-operate with the UN resolution.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what cross-departmental government scrutiny will take place of the forthcoming Implementing and Delegated Acts of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

    Jane Ellison

    During the negotiations on the revised Tobacco Products Directive, the Government sought to ensure that any delegation of powers to the European Commission, to propose further rules, was limited, appropriate and well defined. The Government’s proposed negotiating position on any Implementing and Delegated Acts put forward by the Commission will be subject to the normal cross government clearance and scrutiny procedures.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 17 March 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr Asif Rafiq.

    James Brokenshire

    I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 8 May 2014.

  • Dr Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dr Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Matthew Offord on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual cost is of the asylum and immigration hotline open to hon. Members.

    James Brokenshire

    I wrote to the Hon. Member. on 12 May. A copy of the letter was also placed in
    the House Library.

    The MPs’ hotline is a dedicated resource, for Members, based in Croydon and
    answers queries on Members’ constituents’ immigration queries. The staffing
    costs of the MPs’ hotline for 2013 were £180,240.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of her Department to Brighton; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Department has no plans to (a) relocate staff to Brighton and
    (b) relocate offices to Brighton.

  • Nia Griffith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nia Griffith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what safeguards are deployed to prevent a sensor-fused munition operating in automatic mode from confusing a military target with a civilian target.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The targeting process, not the weapon, takes discrimination, proportionality and precautions in attack into account. The decision whether to use lethal force against a legitimate military target is made through a rigorous targeting process, the targeting directive for a specific theatre of operations and rules of engagement which ensure adherence to international humanitarian law.

    Since 1999, when the requirement to do so under the Geneva Conventions Additional Protocol I Article 36 came into effect for the UK, all new weapons, means and methods of warfare entering service have been subjected to a review in order to ensure they are capable of being used lawfully in armed conflict. The UK is committed to upholding the Geneva Conventions and encourages others to do the same.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he takes to monitor whether Work Programme prime providers fulfil their minimum service standards; and if he will make a statement.

    Esther McVey

    The Department has developed a clearly defined compliance monitoring regime which commits to an appropriate level of checking for each of the 40 Work Programme contract package areas.

    The compliance management team work closely with Work Programme performance managers to ensure clear factual information is available for consideration as part of monthly Contract Performance Reviews with providers.