The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, whether his Department will attend the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia Forum 2014 in Valletta.
Sajid Javid
Yes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on the UK’s relationship with Bangladesh of the activities in the UK of Tareque Rahman, Vice Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Hugh Robertson
The UK enjoys a broad and wide ranging relationship with Bangladesh which is built on engagement with the government of Bangladesh and Bangladesh political parties, business and cultural exchanges between our people. We work on a range of bilateral and global issues that include Bangladesh’s recent endorsement of the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. We are not aware of any activities by Mr Rahman that have had an impact on our bilateral relationship.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many new jobs have been created in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013 in (i) Barnsley central constituency, (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iii) England.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) mean and (b) median number is of half-day sittings at magistrates’ courts in the last year.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Department does not keep this information centrally and it could only be collected at a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria are used to decide which public bodies and offices are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Mr Francis Maude
The public appointments that are subject to regulation by the Commissioner for Public Appointments are governed by legislation – the Public Appointments Order in Council 2013. This lists the public bodies that fall within the Commissioner’s remit.
The document is available to view online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-appointments-order-in-council
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House all risk assessments into standardised tobacco packaging undertaken by HM Revenue and Customs.
Earl Howe
The Government continues carefully to consider all issues relevant to the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products.
The Government will be holding a final, short consultation including draft regulations in which Ministers will ask, in particular, for views on anything new since the last full public consultation that is relevant to the development of this policy.
A further, developed consultation stage Impact Assessment (IA) will be published alongside the upcoming public consultation. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has contributed to the revised IA.
The Department of Health will continue to work with other government departments on the development of proposals for standardised packaging of tobacco products.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Organisation for Securityand Co-operation in Europe election observers and military observers are present in Ukraine; and when they expect that the full planned number will be in country.
Baroness Warsi
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) launched an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Ukraine in March. ODIHR’s Needs Assessment Mission judged that the EOM should consist of 1000 observers in total. 100 long term observers have been on the ground since late March; while a further 900 short term observers will arrive in the week before polling day on 25 May. These observers will also be joined by parliamentarians from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe amongst others. The ODIHR Mission will be crucial in providing an impartial view of the conduct of these extremely important elections, and the UK is providing over 100 observers to it.
Since March, 7 inspection teams of varying staff numbers from OSCE states have been deployed to Ukraine under the auspices of the Vienna Document to which all OSCE States subscribed, with the aim of building confidence and increasing transparency. This is in response to a Ukrainian request to carry out military inspections and separate from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, which has a different mandate. A UK-led Vienna Document team is currently in Ukraine and is working closely with national authorities to carry out their mission. The inspection team is made up of UK armed Forces Personnel and international observers. Following the UK-led mission, Vienna Document inspectors from other participating states will commence similar missions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government by which minister the United Kingdom will be represented at the mid-May meeting in Geneva of the High Contracting Parties of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons; and what are their priorities for the outcome of that meeting.
Baroness Warsi
An informal meeting of experts on lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) will take place in Geneva from 13-16 May 2014 under the framework of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. This is an official-level meeting at which ministerial attendance is not expected, and the UK will be represented by officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence. The Government aims to deepen understanding of the technical, legal, ethical and societal factors pertaining to LAWS through an exchange of information and views.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jopling on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 6 May (WA 365), whether they will now answer the question which was put.
Baroness Northover
DFID’s Executive Management Committee review year-to-date and forecast expenditure against budgets each month through a monthly Management Information report.
There is no formal cost overrun percentage threshold that triggers a review of specific budgets. The EMC does however examine potential material overspending each month that represents a significant risk to the DFID’s overall Resource and Capital budgets.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Metcalfe on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what support the Government is giving to business growth opportunities in Basildon and Thurrock.
Greg Clark
Basildon and Thurrock are key economic centres within the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area. The LEP submitted its Strategic Economic Plan and Growth Deal at the end of March which is currently being assessed and negotiated.
The Growth Deal contains proposals for direct business support by extending the Southend Growth Hub announced in its City Deal recently.
Other funding is also being invested through Regional Growth Fund, Growing Places Fund, and through investment in major transport improvements on the M25 and Dartford Crossing to reduce congestion and enhance connectivity to the ports.