Tag: Stephen Doughty

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 23632, whether UK military personnel providing training and education for military personnel in Saudi Arabia on the subjects of compliance with international humanitarian law and transparency address the use of cluster munitions.

Michael Fallon

We have provided education and training courses to Saudi Arabian military personnel under existing Government-to-Government arrangements. These courses expose Saudi military personnel to UK policy, compliance with International Humanitarian Law and the conventions relating to the Law of Armed Conflict. We take our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions seriously and continue to encourage Saudi Arabia, as a non-party to the Convention, to accede to it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with officials in her Department on the potential effect of the outcome of the EU referendum on recipients of overseas development assistance currently given to (a) the European Development Fund, (b) the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department and (c) the European Investment Bank.

Rory Stewart

DFID will make an assessment of how we will work with the European Union Institutions as part of the exit negotiations and we look forward to working with all of our international partners in future to achieve the best results possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp will have on the stability of Somalia and the East Africa region.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

​The Government recognises the significant burden that the Government of Kenya faces in housing a large number of Somali refugees, and encourages it to maintain its global leadership role in this regard as well as its international obligations. Any returns of refugees from Dadaab to Somalia must be in line with international law – including being safe, dignified and voluntary. This is critical to avoid any destabilising impact on Somalia and the East Africa region. The UK supports the extension of the Tripartite Agreement between UNHCR, Kenya and Somalia as the legal basis regulating the returns process.

The UK is providing an additional £20 million to support accelerated safe voluntary returns of refugees to Somalia from Kenya, by helping to ensure that refugees who want to return home have the support and possibility of livelihoods necessary for their safe, long-term resettlement in Somalia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Indian government on the recent attack on an Indian military facility at Pathawkof.

Mr Hugo Swire

Officials have been in regular contact with their Indian counterparts in London and in Delhi, including the National Security Adviser who spoke to the Indian National Security Adviser on 6th January. We have issued a statement offering condolences to the victims and their families and re-emphasising our commitment to work with India to counter terrorism.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been affected by the under-occupancy penalty in Cardiff South and Penarth constituency in each of the last 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson

Information concerning how many people have been affected by the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy in Cardiff South and Penarth constituency in each of the last 12 months is published and can be found at the link below:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the county of origin of manufacture is of the PCS clothing solution.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold a list of countries used by our prime contractors to manufacture Personal Clothing Solution garments. The MOD is required to comply with all legislation and relevant Government policy, and, subject to these conditions, the MOD does not restrict the geographical location of manufacture.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what additional capacity for extra stations is planned for East Cardiff as a result of the electrification of the Great Western main line.

Claire Perry

There is currently no additional capacity for extra stations planned for East Cardiff within Network Rail’s current capital spending period (2014-2019).

However, I can confirm that the second round for the New Station Fund will begin in Spring 2016. The New Stations Fund is to provide funding for the construction of brand new or reopened stations that are promoted by third parties. £20 million will be available and local authorities who are interested are encouraged to submit bids for the funds.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of violence against women were recorded in (a) Cardiff and (b) Vale of Glamorgan in each of the last 24 months.

Mike Penning

The data requested is not available. The Home Office collects aggregate data against a range of crime types from all police forces but these do not identify the gender of the victim.

We are developing the Home Office Data Hub to gather more detailed crime level data from forces, including the potential to collect the gender of victims and present statistics on it in the future. Forces are gradually migrating to supplying their main crime data to the new system.

The recent Office for National Statistics publication "Focus on Violence and Sexual Offences":

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/compendium/focusonviolentcrimeandsexualoffences/yearendingmarch2015

highlights partial and experimental statistics on proportions of victims by gender based on a subset of forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-04-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many schemes have benefited from the Business Premises Renovation Allowance in each of the last five years; and what the average value of such benefit was.

Mr David Gauke

The table below shows the number of Business Premises Renovation Allowance claims by year and the average cost in tax relief per claim for the last five years for which data is available. Some businesses may have made more than one BPRA claim for a single project and some claims may involve more than one project.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will suspend the sale of arms to countries of the Saudi Arabian-led military coalition following the coalition’s alleged use of cluster munitions in the Yemen conflict.

Anna Soubry

The UK Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously. All export licence applications are carefully assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. A licence will not be issued if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the Criteria.

The suspension of licences will be considered by my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in circumstances where in the light of new evidence and information it would be considered that a proper risk assessment against the Consolidated Criteria would be difficult. At this time he considers that he does have sufficient information from a range of sources for a proper risk assessment to be made against the Criteria.

The UK ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 4 May 2010 and does not licence the export of these weapons.