Tag: Roger Godsiff

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Government has made of whether the TTIP trade deal will make the UK more vulnerable to lawsuits; if the Government will insist that TTIP does not contain provisions which would allow similar lawsuits to be brought in the UK; and if the Government will reconsider its support for TTIP in response to that lawsuit.

Anna Soubry

The Government does not comment on cases in which it has no involvement. Under UK laws a foreign investor can already sue the Government over allegedly unfair or unlawful treatment. UK domestic courts and our legal system will continue to be the main route for resolving the vast majority of disputes between foreign investors and the Government regardless of any investment protection provisions included in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). This is because our domestic courts typically offer a quicker and cheaper method of resolving disputes.

The European Commission has published its proposal for investment protections in TTIP. This includes various possible measures to ensure these provisions are fair and transparent, including prohibiting claims from being pursued simultaneously under investor-state dispute settlement provisions and in domestic courts.

The UK will continue to work with the Commission on the details of these latest proposals. We need investment protections that ensure UK investors are treated fairly overseas by foreign governments. But the UK will make sure that governments can continue to regulate lawfully in the public interest.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the NHS of (a) fixing eye operations contracted out by Musgrove Park Hospital which had a high failure rate and (b) paying compensation for eye injuries sustained as a result of operations outsourced by Musgrove Park Hospital.

Ben Gummer

The Department does not hold the information requested; a response has been supplied by the National Health Service Litigation Authority.

To date 10 claims have been received in relation to this initiative. Two claims have been paid at a total cost of £87,250 inclusive of legal costs. The remaining eight claims are outstanding and it would not be appropriate to reveal financial information at this stage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-05.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Local Government Boundary Commission is under an obligation to ensure that proposals for boundary changes reflect representations it has received from people in the areas affected.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England informs me that the procedure for electoral reviews is set out in the Local Democracy, Economic Democracy and Construction Act 2009. The Act requires the Commission to publish recommendations and consider representations made on them.

In drawing up new ward or electoral division boundaries, Section 58 of the Act requires the Commission to take into consideration any representations made to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England within its consultation periods.

In practice, the Commission always conducts at least two phases of public consultation for every electoral review. First, in advance of drawing up draft recommendations, the Commission will invite local proposals for new ward or electoral division boundaries.

Following the initial consultation, the Commission publishes draft recommendations and consults on them before finalising ward boundaries and the wider electoral arrangements for a local authority.

After each phase of consultation, the Commission will consider all local representations against the statutory criteria which are set out in Schedule 2 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. The criteria oblige the Commission to have regard to delivering electoral equality for voters, to build electoral arrangements that reflect community interests and identities as well as ensuring that wards or divisions promote effective and convenient local government.

The Commission analyses all local representations to assess the extent to which they meet the statutory criteria. If submissions present a fair reflection of the criteria and can be accommodated within an authority-wide scheme, it will usually adopt them. In the event that multiple (but conflicting) submissions meet the statutory criteria, the Commission will choose the option which it believes most strongly reflects them. If no local representations provide a satisfactory reflection of the statutory criteria, the Commission will substitute its judgement and draw up its own pattern of wards or divisions for the area in question.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2016 to Question 26010, when his Department plans to establish the reading room for classified documents relating to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Anna Soubry

The reading room for classified documents relating to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is not yet open. Members of both Houses will be informed of the process and details of how to access the room shortly, once these have been finalised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the parents of children with mental health problems are aware that their child may be eligible to claim disability living allowance.

Justin Tomlinson

The DWP recognises the position of parents who have children with mental health problems and supports them through the award of Disability Living Allowance where the relevant entitlement conditions are met. As a Department we have multiple channels to ensure our customers are provided with the best possible information about their entitlement to benefits. These include:

Public Information

The Department provides information on benefits, including Disability Living Allowance (DLA), in a range of formats on www.gov.uk. This includes information relating to DLA for children and includes links to benefit eligibility calculators that will signpost the user to further information about DLA for children.

Customer Facing Staff

Learning and development for our customer facing/telephony staff raises awareness around the different needs of vulnerable customers. We also have a portal that all staff can access to appropriately signpost support available.

Staff would actively consider this in their dealings with parents of disabled children, offering information on claiming Disability Living Allowance if appropriate.

Partnership Working

The Department also works with a range of organisations that provide information and advice on claiming DLA for children, such as Disability Rights UK, Contact a Family, Young Minds, NetMums and Carers UK. Our policy teams ensure that national partner organisations are kept informed about policy changes.

Visiting

Where a family is identified as needing a visit, our visiting officers typically complete holistic benefit checks which would include DLA considerations for any child.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing requirements on responsible tax behaviour into government procurement policy.

Matthew Hancock

The Government requires good tax compliance behaviour in procurement. Procurement Policy Note 03/14 sets out the scope, background and detailed guidance for the policy of using the procurement process to promote tax compliance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0314-promoting-tax-compliance

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a deposit return scheme for single use drinks containers to reduce litter.

Rory Stewart

Defra analysed the costs and benefits of implementing a deposit return system (DRS) for single use drink containers as part of the 2011 Review of Waste Policy in England, and sought views in the 2012 consultation on higher packaging recycling targets.

This work showed that introducing a DRS may increase recycling and reduce litter but might impose additional costs on businesses, consumers and local authorities (which would lose revenue from recycling). However, we lack evidence to quantify these benefits and costs appropriately. The current approach has driven a significant increase in packaging waste recycling rates, from less than 47% in 2003 to nearly 65% in 2013.

Last year, the Scottish Government published a feasibility study and a call for evidence investigating the implementation of a DRS for single use drink containers in Scotland. This valuable work highlighted significant uncertainties regarding the impacts and benefits that a DRS would have, notably regarding costs, environmental quality and littering, and existing waste collection systems. The Scottish Government is doing further work on the topic and we will review any new evidence arising from this in due course. However, in the meantime, we will continue to focus on improving existing waste collection and recycling systems, and developing a new National Litter Strategy for England to help coordinate and maximise the impact of anti-litter activity by local government, industry and others.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to raise the projected demolition of the villages of Susiya and Um Al Hiran with the government of Israel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Our Embassy in Tel Aviv has raised UK concerns with the Israeli Government on the issue of demolitions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on arms export licences to Saudi Arabia of the recent reports that a BL755 cluster bomb made by UK firm Hunting Engineering Ltd was found to be in use against civilians in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are aware of recent reports that the Coalition may have used cluster munitions in Yemen. We have raised this issue with the Saudi Arabian authorities and, in line with our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, continue to encourage Saudi Arabia, as a non-party to the Convention, to accede to it.

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, including where we assess there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.

The Government is confident in our robust case-by-case assessment and is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria. The conflict in Yemen is being monitored closely, and relevant information gathered from that monitoring is taken into account as part of the careful risk assessment for the licensing of exports to Saudi Arabia.

Minister for Defence Procurement, Philip Dunne, responded to an urgent question on the reports of UK manufactured cluster bombs in Yemen on Tuesday 24 May.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of Syrian children in Lebanon in education.

Rory Stewart

At the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference, the UK committed to double education funding for Lebanon, to up to £40 million per year. This supports the Conference goal of getting all refugee children from Syria and vulnerable children in host communities into quality education by the end of the 2016/17 school year. DFID is aligning its funding behind the Government of Lebanon’s national education plans to expand access to educational opportunity; both through formal education, and through quality and regulated non-formal education for the most vulnerable out of school children.