The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-06-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many illegal maritime arrivals have reached the UK in each year since 2010.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Specific details on numbers or locations of suspected illegal maritime arrivals are not disclosed for security reasons.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken, and what action they plan to take, to put pressure on Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to cut off financing for terrorist organisations.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We work with regional and international partners, including all Gulf States, to tackle the threat posed by terrorist organisations, including by working to counter terrorist financing. We urge all international partners to implement UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2161 (on Al Qaida sanctions), UNSCR 2199 (on countering Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) finance) and UNSCR 1373 (on threats to international peace and security), and work to further combat the financing of ISIL through the Counter-ISIL Finance Working Group (Saudi Arabia is the Chair, Kuwait and Qatar are active members).
The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) is the global standard setter for anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing. Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are members of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (the regional grouping of FATF) which conducts mutual evaluations of its members to assess compliance with the international standard. A FATF report on terrorist financing published on 16 November 2015 noted that since 2010, Saudi Arabia had achieved the highest number of terrorist financing convictions out of the 33 jurisdictions who had achieved a conviction.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-01-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates, if any, they have made of the changes to the water table in Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lancashire as a result of rainfall over the last six weeks.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Environment Agency’s water situation report for the north west of England (which is published on the Gov.UK website) reports the situation for observation boreholes in the main bedrock aquifer in Cumbria and Lancashire, the Sherwood Sandstone. The Sherwood Sandstone is moderately unresponsive to rainfall events and this is partly because of the high storage characteristics of the sandstone and also because much of it is covered by low permeability glacial clays.
Hydrographs for Skirwith (Cumbria) and Yew Tree Farm (West Lancashire) are thought to be representative of this aquifer, although this monitoring is undertaken for water resources purposes not groundwater flooding purposes.
The Environment Agency routinely monitors groundwater throughout Yorkshire. Water levels in November 2015 were:
Levels in all the aquifers in Yorkshire have responded to the rainfall in late December 2015 and early January 2016:
The Environment Agency undertakes monitoring and assessment of different aquifers locally, based upon the potential risk of groundwater flooding. A system of groundwater flood alerts and warnings is provided through our incident response procedures for those communities most vulnerable to potential groundwater flooding.
Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs)(Local Councils) have responsibility for local flood risk including groundwater under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. This Act gives LLFAs duties to prepare local flood risk management strategies and to co-operate with other risk management authorities, and powers to carry out local flood risk management.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-02-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish their strategy to tackle obesity in the UK.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Childhood Obesity Strategy will be a key step forward in helping our children live healthier lives. There is still work across Government to be done to get it right, so the strategy will be published in the summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children and teenagers in the UK were referred to NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in each of the last five years; how many children and teenagers in each of those years received treatment; and how many did not.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Health is a devolved service and this answer relates only to England.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) advises that it does not currently hold data to answer the questions asked. However, it has been capturing child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) data since January 2016 within the new Mental Health Services Data Set. On 20 April 2016 it published the first month (January 2016) of data from this new data source on a select number of measures it developed and quality assured to a certain level with the help of stakeholders, although these data remain experimental and could be subject to change.
As at 31 January 2016, there were 104,480 people in contact with CAMHS. HSCIC is currently unable to identify those who are already receiving treatment and those who are awaiting assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-06-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that the Israeli water supplier, Mekorot, reduced water supply to the West Bank during Ramadan.
Baroness Verma
The UK regularly raises the issue of water in the OPTs with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 27 June. We continue to stress the urgent need for Israel to take immediate and practical measures to improve the current situation and ensure fair distribution of water in the West Bank and Gaza. We encourage both parties to find a swift resolution to this issue and to reconvene the Joint Water Committee to facilitate approval of projects that will improve Palestinian access to water. We see continuity of supply to the West Bank as essential for both the basic needs of Palestinians and for stability and security more widely.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to make further changes to the FCO travel advice for France following the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We will continue to keep the travel advice for France under close review given the evolving security situation in France. We encourage anyone planning on travelling to France to subscribe to travel advice e-mail alerts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-01-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contact, if any, they have had with the Assad regime in Syria over the last two months.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
There has been no contact with the Asad regime over the last two months. Since the closure of the Syrian Embassy in London in August 2012, the British Government has had only limited contact with the Asad regime in relation to consular matters. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), wrote to the Syrian Foreign Minister in August 2015 about a consular case.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-02-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference, how much of the $5.8 billion pledged for 2016 has been received, and when they expect all pledges to be received.
Baroness Verma
On 4 February, the Prime Minister co-hosted the “Supporting Syria & the Region London 2016”, which brought together over 60 countries, international organisations, business, civil society, Syrians and people affected by the conflict to agree a comprehensive new approach on how we respond to this protracted crisis. Donors announced over $11 billion in funding for the Syria crisis response, of which almost $5.9 billion is for 2016. A further $5.4 billion has been committed for 2017-2020 to enable partners to plan ahead. Never has the international community raised so much for a single humanitarian crisis in a single day. The United Nations will track pledges made towards the 2016 UN-coordinated inter-agency appeals for Syria and the region, and we will work alongside the UN to ensure these pledges are disbursed quickly and maintain the momentum on fundraising over the longer-term. This information is being updated on UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Financial Tracking System.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to combat Daesh in Libya.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are extremely concerned about the rise of Daesh in Libya. We are engaging with the new Libyan government and working closely with international partners to develop a comprehensive approach to defeat Daesh in Libya. Initial planning has focused on building the capabilities of Libyan security forces.