Tag: The Lord Bishop of St Albans

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-12-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the detention and trial of human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang in China.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are seriously concerned by Pu Zhiqiang’s conviction despite the suspension of his sentence. This case has again raised issues about due process and transparency of justice in China. It has also highlighted the situation faced by human rights lawyers in the country. We urge China to make sure freedom of expression and other civil and political rights are protected, in line with their constitution and international human rights commitments. We have also raised specific concerns over the physical mistreatment of British and other journalists and diplomats attempting to attend Pu’s trial on 14 December. The Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my Right Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) did so in his meeting with Vice Minister Chen Fengxiang on 16 December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the average annual cost or saving to the public purse when a British citizen chooses to retire abroad rather than remain in the UK, assuming a continuing increase in the state pension.

Lord Freud

The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so – for example in countries where a reciprocal agreement is in place that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this or to assess the impact of British citizens’ choosing to retire abroad.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to collect data on the number of underage girls who marry overseas and subsequently return to the UK.

Lord Bates

The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced marriage, with our Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad.

In 2014, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,267 cases. Of those cases, 11% involved victims below 16 years (where the age was known), and 77% involved an overseas element (meaning the victim was at risk of, or had been taken, overseas). To provide a further breakdown of this information would incur a disproportionate cost.

FMU data is published on an annual basis, and figures for 2015 are due for publication shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Pakistan about the imminent appeal hearing for Asia Bibi at the Pakistani Supreme Court on the charge of blasphemy.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

On 13 October the Supreme Court in Pakistan postponed Ms Asia Bibi’s appeal hearing indefinitely. I remain concerned about Ms Bibi and continue to follow developments in her case closely. We raise regularly our concerns about misuse of the blasphemy laws with the Pakistani Government, and continue to urge Pakistan to adhere to its international obligations and uphold the rule of law. During his visit to Pakistan in March, the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), made clear our concerns about minority communities and misuse of the blasphemy laws.

The UK supported the EU statement of October 2014 following the decision of the Lahore High Court to uphold the conviction of Ms Bibi. We will continue to work with our EU and other international partners to ensure our views are made clear to the Pakistani authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many cases the Forced Marriage Unit provided advice or support in (1) 2014, and (2) 2015.

Lord Bates

The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced marriage, with our Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad.

In 2014, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,267 cases. Of those cases, 11% involved victims below 16 years (where the age was known), and 77% involved an overseas element (meaning the victim was at risk of, or had been taken, overseas). To provide a further breakdown of this information would incur a disproportionate cost.

FMU data is published on an annual basis, and figures for 2015 are due for publication shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many families with three or more children born before 6 April 2017 they estimated would be affected by the proposed two-child limit for new claimants for Universal Credit in the calculations of the Budget policy costings for (1) 2017–18, (2) 2018–19, and (3) 2019–20.

Lord Freud

The information requested is not available for publication.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia concerning the cases of Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of and seriously concerned by the cases of Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher. We have raised these cases at a senior level in the Government of Saudi Arabia, most recently on 11 October. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, especially in cases which do not meet the minimum standards defined by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This includes the execution of a minor and the use of the death penalty for a crime which isn’t deemed “the most serious”.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to have fulfilled the agri-environment scheme payments to farmers, and how they will ensure that delays in making such payments do not happen next year.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

We recognise the importance of early payments to the rural community. As at 22 October, Environmental Stewardship advance payments had been made to 25,200 agreement holders with a total value of £62.5 million. Natural England and the Rural Payments Agency continue to work to get payments out as soon as possible with the aim of making the remaining advance payments in November and December.

This year, 2015, has been a transitional year as new Common Agricultural Policy rules have taken effect. Whilst we would expect these payments to start earlier next year, from 2018 new EU rules will prevent any payments being made before 16 October.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-01-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 17 December 2014 (HL3283), whether they will now state what consideration they have given to introducing or amending legislation to criminalise the purchase of sex in order to protect vulnerable women.

Lord Bates

With regard to prostitution, the Government focus is on harm minimisation and I refer to my answer of 17 December 2014 to question HL3283 on this matter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 17 December 2014 (HL3284), whether the collection of consistent and comparable data on domestic abuse is now under way, and when they plan to publish the results.

Lord Bates

All forces through the Annual Data Return must record and provide data on domestic abuse related crimes and incidents. The requirement is part of the Home Secretary’s commitment to take forward recommendations made by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in its report on the police response to domestic abuse published in March 2014. It came into force in April 2015 and the first findings from this collection will be published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in October as part of the quarterly Crime in England and Wales statistics publication. The Home Office is working with the ONS on the publication of more detailed data in future crime publications.