Tag: Roger Godsiff

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK will support an independent, international investigation into alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen at the Human Rights Council.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are pleased that we could reach a strong consensus Yemen resolution at the Human Rights Council. It is vital that the international community continues to be active in supporting efforts to improve the human rights situation in Yemen.

The Government is not opposing calls for an international independent investigation, but, first and foremost, we want to see the Saudis investigate allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) which are attributed to them; and for their investigations to be thorough and conclusive. Saudi Arabia has publicly stated that it is investigating reports of alleged violations of IHL, and that any lessons learned will be acted upon.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of removing the 50 per cent cap on religious selection in free schools on religious tolerance and integration.

Caroline Dinenage

All schools must promote religious tolerance and integration whatever their character and ethos. The Department is currently consulting on proposals to replace the 50% cap on faith admissions in faith free schools with new measures to better promote inclusivity and community cohesion. The proposed measures, alongside existing requirements to promote fundamental British values, will apply to all new faith free schools with 100% faith admissions and help ensure that pupils are prepared for life in modern Britain. The consultation document is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/schools-that-work-for-everyone

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a mechanism to ring-fence mental health funding.

Nicola Blackwood

Funding decisions legitimately rest with clinical commissioning groups as the appropriate accountable organisations to their local populations.

Nevertheless, 2016-17 NHS England planning guidance states that funding allocations may be retracted, if there is evidence that additional mental health allocations are not being used for the purpose for which they were intended.

The Mandate to NHS England in 2016-17 sets a clear objective that, in order “to close the health gap for people of all ages, we want to see a system-wide transformation in children and young people’s mental health”.

Clinical commissioning groups are required to increase their spending on mental health each year at least in line with the growth in their overall funding allocations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take in response to Bermuda’s decision to (a) reject the Prime Minister’s request to introduce a public register of beneficial ownership and (b) reject the Prime Minister’s request to hold a consultation on adopting such a register.

James Duddridge

We have asked the Bermudian authorities to meet the following criteria: a) UK law enforcement and tax authorities must be able to access company beneficial ownership information without restriction, subject to relevant safeguards; b) These competent authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular beneficial owner has a stake in without needing to submit multiple and repeated requests; and c) Companies or their beneficial owners must not be alerted to the fact that an investigation is underway. We are continuing our dialogue with the Bermudan authorities on this and have offered any technical support that might be required as they develop their proposals My Rt Hon Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond MP), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, met with Premier Dunkley on 26 August in London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures her Department has established to safeguard 16 and 17 year olds who are victims of sexual exploitation.

Karen Bradley

Tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. Significant progress has been made since the launch of the “Tackling CSE” report in March 2015. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice. All forces are training all police staff to respond to child sexual abuse, including call handlers, PCSOs, police officers, detectives and specialist investigators. And in January we will be launching a new national whistleblowing helpline for any employee – regardless of sector -to report bad practice in relation to child abuse. We have delivered the vast majority of a £7 million funding programme to support non-statutory organisations that have experienced a surge in demand on their services. This funding is to support the victims and survivors of sexual abuse, including children of all ages.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when his Department plans to publish the results of its consultation on UK Export Finance’s anti-bribery and corruption policy.

Anna Soubry

The Government’s Response to the consultation relating to UK Export Finance’s anti-bribery and corruption policy is expected to be published early in the New Year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Written Answer of 7 January 2016 to Question 20867, what the response was of the government of Saudi Arabia to concerns raised by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and the UK Ambassador on the recent mass executions.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Saudi Arabian Government is well aware of the UK’s opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances and in any country.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether there is any requirement for NHS bodies which outsource health services to ensure that companies with which they contract are fully insured.

George Freeman

Clinical commissioning groups and NHS England, when commissioning foundation trusts, NHS trusts and others to deliver non-primary care clinical services, must do so using the NHS Standard Contract published each year by NHS England.

The NHS Standard Contract requires the provider of clinical services to “put in place and maintain appropriate indemnity arrangements in respect of:

– employers’ liability;

– clinical negligence;

– public liability; and

– professional negligence.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding she plans to allocate to Birmingham City Council for implementation of a Clean Air Zone in Birmingham; and how much funding she plans to allocate to that Council under the air quality grant programme.

Rory Stewart

The air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide we published on 17 December last year confirms that we will be providing funding to help five Local Authorities in England outside London to implement clean air zones and to support the implementation of additional measures where necessary. We will be discussing the details of this with the Local Authorities concerned, including Birmingham City Council.

Birmingham City Council has not received any funding for 2015-16 under our air quality grant programme. No decisions have been made about air quality grant awards for 2016-17 and beyond.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to implement the recommendations of the Mental Health Taskforce’s report, The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, published in February 2016.

Alistair Burt

The Government welcomes and accepts the recommendations from the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. The Taskforce estimates that the priority recommendations for the National Health Service set out in their report will cost an additional £1 billion annually by the year 2020/21: by the end of this Parliament we will make the Taskforce’s recommendations a reality.

Investment in mental health rose to its highest ever level, an estimated £11.7 billion, in 2014/15. The £1 billion of additional investment announced by the Prime Minister last month will be in place by 2020/21 and builds on the £280 million per year of new funding for children and young people’s mental health announced last year. This funding will make an important contribution to plugging the gap and fulfilling the Taskforce’s recommendations, helping one million additional children, young people and adults to access high quality care by 2020/21.

How new investment for NHS priority recommendations is identified and implemented will be for NHS England to determine as part of the planning and allocations process. We anticipate that the majority of commitments outlined in this report will be delivered through clinical commissioning groups.

Further guidance will be issued shortly as part of the new Sustainability and Transformation Planning process: this will set expectations for how funding will be invested to deliver on the Taskforce recommendations for the NHS and how areas will be supported to deliver them over the following four years.