Tag: Paul Monaghan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many horses were exported for slaughter in each of the last 10 financial years.

George Eustice

Horses or ponies exported to another EU member state must be accompanied by a health certificate which specifies whether they are intended for breeding and production or slaughter.

Records for exports from Great Britain are only available from 2013. The Animal and Plant Health Agency have no record of any export health certificates where the intended purpose has been declared to be for slaughter.

There is no information available for the intended use of horses exported to countries outside of the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to decriminalise drug use and encourage the implementation and enforcement of anti-discrimination and protective laws, based on human rights standards, to eliminate stigma, discrimination, social exclusion and violence against young people who inject drugs based on actual or presumed behaviours and HIV status.

Karen Bradley

The Government has no intention of decriminalising drugs in the UK. Decriminalisation would not eliminate the crime committed by the illicit trade, nor would it address the harms associated with drug dependence and the misery that this can cause to families and communities.

The Government’s approach to drugs, based on our balanced 2010 Drug Strategy, remains clear. We must prevent drug use in our communities and support people dependent on drugs through treatment and recovery. At the same time, we have to stop the supply of illegal drugs and tackle the organised crime behind the drugs trade.

There are promising signs our approach is working, with a downward trend in drug use over the last decade and more people recovering from dependency now than in 2009/10.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic progress has been made by the international community in delivering peace in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

On 11 February, the Foreign Secretary took part in the latest round of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting in Munich. At that meeting ISSG foreign ministers discussed how to support the political process, including through confidence building measures and steps towards a ceasefire, as called for in UNSCR 2254.

The ISSG agreed the need to implement a cessation of hostilities within a week, to delivering humanitarian assistance to named besieged communities by the weekend of 13-14 February and to facilitate rapid progress in negotiations aimed at political transition. If implemented fully and properly by every ISSG member, this will be an important step towards relieving the killing and suffering in Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to end arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application. A licence will not be issued for any country, including Saudi Arabia, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria.

The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Financial Conduct Authority takes to ensure the chairs and boards of directors of banks adhere to commitments made within their published customer charters.

Harriett Baldwin

This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.

The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the hon Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government is making on educating young children about rural affairs, animal welfare and how to care responsibly for a pet; in what ways the Government monitors that progress; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Millions of schoolchildren across England will have the chance to plant saplings in their communities as part of a Government-backed scheme to give free trees to schools in partnership with the Woodland Trust. This will give children the chance to learn about trees and understand and connect with nature whilst making their school grounds and neighbourhoods cleaner and greener.

The Government has published Codes of Practice on animal welfare and how to care responsibly for a pet, and animal welfare charities produce helpful information on this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data protection measures his Department has in place to ensure the safety of claimant’s personal information from a potential online data breach.

Caroline Nokes

The Department takes the security of personal information very seriously. The Department has a range of capabilities in place to ensure the safety of the data it holds and processes. Disclosing the exact nature of the measures it takes to prevent data breaches would be prejudicial to the Department’s ability to keep that data safe.

The Department works with other agencies, Departments and delivery partners to prevent online data breaches in support of the National Security Strategy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the parliamentary communications of the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross; and whether that hon. Member has been subject to surveillance.

Mr John Hayes

The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.

As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.

The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and electronic surveillance and equipment interference when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.

It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to establish a central database of horse movement as required by the Equine Identification Regulations by 1 July 2016.

George Eustice

Defra is taking a number of steps to simplify and strengthen existing rules for horses. These include implementation of new tighter EU legislation for equine identification, introduction of a new UK equine database recording horse identification information, and continuing to take an intelligence-led and risk based approach to enforcing the regulatory framework which relates to the domestic and international trade in horses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to provide alternatives to criminalization and incarceration of people with drug-use disorders and to encourage alternatives to imprisonment facilitating the eventual rehabilitation, re-skilling and reintegration of drug users.

Andrew Selous

We are currently trialling ‘Liaison and Diversion’ services. These services place health professionals at police stations and courts to assess suspects for a range of health problems, including drug misuse, and make referrals to treatment and support. Information shared with the criminal justice system can be used to inform decisions, supporting diversion into treatment as part of an alternative to charge or to custody where appropriate.

We are also interested in problem-solving courts, such as drug courts, given evidence of success in other jurisdictions. Officials are now working with members of the judiciary to consider how the problem-solving approach might be developed for England and Wales.