Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the extent of tax evasion and tax avoidance in the global south.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID has not made an estimate of the extent of tax evasion and avoidance in the global south due to a lack of reliable data.

    The UK has been an international leader in efforts to tackle tax evasion and tax avoidance since the UK’s G8 Presidency in 2013. A key part of DFID’s work in this area is to ensure that developing countries can partake in and benefit from international initiatives to challenge tax avoidance and evasion.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that unaccompanied child refugees have access to information in a form and language appropriate to their age and language on their rights to apply for asylum or family reunion which includes information on the criteria used in and estimated timescales for determining applications.

    James Brokenshire

    Unaccompanied asylum seeking children who have arrived in the UK are referred to local authority children’s services as soon as possible.

    As well as social work support, they have access to publicly-funded legal advice in relation to their asylum claim, to advice and guidance on the asylum process from the Refugee Council Children’s Panel, and to an interpreter if English is not their first language.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Education for All Bill will require academies to provide sex and relationships education.

    Edward Timpson

    All schools should offer high quality, age-appropriate sex and relationship education, and build a curriculum that meets the needs of all their students. Sex and relationship education is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools. Academies do not have to teach sex and relationship education but many choose to do so as part of their statutory duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.

    The content of any forthcoming Bill will be announced in due course.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of lion trophies imported into the UK.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    Strict controls on the import of lions and their body parts were introduced in January 2015. These ensure that the exporting country must be satisfied that the animal was hunted sustainably and that the importing country must also carry out this check. We are working with CITES partners to strengthen hunting safeguards and put in place additional trade controls as appropriate.

  • Alan Whitehead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Whitehead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals that hydraulic fracturing cannot be conducted from wells that are drilled at the surface of sensitive areas.

    Andrea Leadsom

    On 4 November 2015, the Government set out proposals to ensure that hydraulic fracturing cannot be conducted from wells drilled at the surface of specified protected areas.1 The proposed restrictions would be delivered through the inclusion of a licence condition in new Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (PEDLs) and the development of a policy statement designed to inform the approval process for programmes submitted for approval under existing PEDLs.

    The proposals are now subject to consultation with key stakeholders, including the industry and non-governmental organisations.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/oil-and-gas-licensing-rounds#surface-development-restrictions

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  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what expenditure has been allocated to the Ministry of Defence Police in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18, (d) 2018-19 and (e) 2019-20.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Budget for the Ministry of Defence Police is as follows:

    Financial Year

    2015-16

    2016-17

    2017-18

    2018-19

    2019-20

    Budget £ millions

    132.536

    138.367

    137.161

    136.960

    138.126

    Notes

    Budget figure for 2015-16 includes In-Year Savings adjustment

    Figures for 2016-17 onwards are provisional control totals until the implications of the Strategic Defence and Security Review have been worked through

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what dates ACAS conciliation talks between his Department and the BMA on the junior doctors’ dispute have taken place; at what time each such meeting started and finished; and for what dates future such meetings are planned.

    Ben Gummer

    The first round of ACAS meetings took place on 26 to 30 November 2015 and resulted in strike action being postponed. Following the ACAS meetings, the Department, NHS Employers and the British Medical Association (BMA) continued to discuss proposed changes to the junior doctor contract.

    Constructive talks ran until 4 January when the BMA announced that, contrary to the understanding of the management side negotiators, they did not feel that enough progress had been made and announced further dates for industrial action in January and February.

    The Department and NHS Employers asked the BMA to agree to ask ACAS to return to the talks. Meetings were held with ACAS on the 8, 14 and 15 of January. Further meetings were scheduled this week.

    We are pleased that on 19 January 2016 the BMA agreed to suspend further action planned for 48 hours from 26 to 28 January, with cover for emergency care. However, they have not agreed to suspend action planned for 10 February when junior doctors will withdraw their labour, including from providing any emergency care.

    The Government and junior doctors want to do the same thing by improving patient care at weekends and we look forward to further constructive discussions.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the legal requirement for drivers in France to carry a breathalyser and its effect on road safety in that country in order to inform his policies.

    Andrew Jones

    We know that the number of people killed in drink drive collisions remains significantly higher in France than in Great Britain despite the introduction of the legal requirement to carry a breathalyser in 2012. In 2014 Trading Standards in Great Britain looked at the self-testing devices available and concluded that the majority of these were unreliable and may give anyone using them a dangerously false sense of security. We therefore have no plans to introduce any such requirement in Great Britain.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what use his Department makes of information it collects in Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Information and analysis pertaining to Lebanon and the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon is used by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to inform policy-making and programme work.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving sentences for (a) murder, (b) attempted murder, (c) rape and (d) attempted rape are currently unlawfully at large having escaped or absconded from prison.

    Andrew Selous

    The number of escapes and absconds are published annually, by financial year, in the Prison Digest:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/494121/prison-performance-digest.xlsx

    Both escapes and absconds from prison have fallen to record lows since 2010. The specific information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

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