Tag: The Marquess of Lothian

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 the current state of bilateral relations with Iran a year after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in Vienna on 14 July 2015.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was agreed in July 2015 which, along with the subsequent lifting of international sanctions, represents a new era in Iran’s relationship with the wider world. Since my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) reopened our Embassy in August 2015, significant progress has been made in developing the bilateral relationship between the UK and Iran. We welcomed Foreign Minister Zarif to London on 4 February 2016, in what was the first bilateral visit of an Iranian Foreign Minister since 2003. We hope to be able to upgrade to the level of Ambassadors in the near future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conclusions they have drawn from the recent findings of Antibiotic Research UK about the possibility of a significant surge in winter antibiotic prescriptions; and what assessment they have made of whether government action is required.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The findings of Antibiotic Research UK are consistent with the data included in the most recent report on English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance published on the 16 November 2015. In the winter of 2014 there was a 16.7% increase in antibiotic prescribing in general practice compared to the summer months.

Public Health England is working to implement the UK 5 Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and as part of this work our surveillance teams are monitoring the seasonality of antibiotic prescribing. It is unclear currently, whether the rise of prescribing in winter months is due solely to the increase in infections or whether some prescribing is inappropriate.

In response to increased usage of antibiotics in winter months, public facing campaigns such as Stay Well This Winter, run by NHS England, take place to increase public awareness of inappropriate prescribing amongst other seasonal concerns.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it remains their policy to work towards the global abolition of the death penalty; if so, why they have not renewed their previous Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty (2010–15); and why Saudi Arabia was not included on the list of priority countries in that strategy.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

There has been no change in the British Government’s policy of working towards global abolition of the death penalty.

This Government pursues human rights in their universality – a more ambitious and coherent approach than focusing on a small number of single issues. Our commitment to the Rules Based International Order underpins this work, including through bilateral and multilateral support to global efforts to abolish the death penalty. Because of our wider focus, we do not intend to publish a new strategy specific to the death penalty; but on 18 January we published a strategy for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)’s Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy, which shows how work to abolish the death penalty is important under all three of the strategy’s new themes. The FCO’s death penalty-related work will also be covered in future instalments of the FCO’s Annual Human Rights Report.

With regard to Saudi Arabia, the criteria used in 2010 to draw up the list of priority countries within the “HMG Strategy for the Abolition of the Death Penalty 2010-2015” are set out in that document. A copy of the Strategy is available in the Library of the House. The previous Government decided that available resources should be focused on countries ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue about capital punishment and open to the idea of reform. Many of the countries prioritised in 2010 have implemented reforms in the intervening five years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show a significant rise in the number of dental extractions in children under 10 over the last four years; and what action they are taking to improve dental health in that age group, including access to NHS dental services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The tables below, provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows 1) the number of admissions for children (aged 0-9 years) to hospitals in England for extractions of one or more decayed primary or permanent teeth; and 2) the numbers of courses of treatment in primary care in England that contained an extraction for a child aged 0-17, both for the years 2011/12 – 2014/15.

1)

Age	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
0-4	19,033	9,082	9,585	10,001
5-9	24,524	25,459	26,356	26,956

Notes:

Admissions do not represent the number of children, as a child may have more than one admission within the same period.

2) Age 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 0-17 540,626 533,694 539,908 524,163

Notes:

Figures for primary care are not available broken down for under 10s.

NHS England is working to develop contractual initiatives focussed on improving the oral health of children. This is in addition to the work within the contract reform programme, which is aimed at introducing an National Health Service dental contract with a much clearer focus on preventing future dental disease and increasing access to NHS dentistry.

Public Health England (PHE) has produced a toolkit to support local authorities in their responsibility to improve dental health and reduce inequalities among children and young people in their area. PHE has also developed guidance for dental teams on preventing dental disease in young children. Advice has also recently been published by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.

The Government will be launching the Childhood Obesity Strategy in the summer. It will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese, including sugar which is a cause of tooth decay.

In the Budget statement on 16 March, the Chancellor announced a soft drink industry levy. This is a bold step towards protecting our children’s health.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, on 14 March (HC29894), and in the light of the figures released by the Home Office on the number of non-EU students who had their visas curtailed in the three years to the end of December 2015 as part of their strategy to clamp down on immigration abuse, how many educational institutions were affected, and whether any of those educational institutions remain open to British and EU students.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

It is not possible to run a report linking each curtailment decision to a specific educational institution. To provide the information requested would require a manual check of every curtailment in the cohort referenced which would incur a disproportionate cost.

The Immigration Rules allow for leave of an individual to be curtailed for a variety of reasons, not only as a result of an institution losing its sponsor licence but also, for example, is a student drops out of their course of study and is reported to the Home Office by the sponsor. Sponsors have a number of reporting duties in respect of their students, and these can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sponsor-a-tier-4-student-guidance-for-educators

The Home Office does not close down educational institutions. The revocation of a Tier 4 sponsor licence means that an educational institution can no longer recruit non-EEA students under the Points Based System. The institution may, however, continue to operate and teach UK and EEA students. The Home Office does not routinely monitor educational institutions who do not hold a sponsor licence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, further to the review of clinical trial evidence Comparative efficacy and tolerability of antidepressants for major depressive disorder in children and adolescents: a network meta-analysis published in the Lancet on 8 June, they intend to review clinical guidelines for the prescription of anti-depressant medication for the treatment of major depression in young people.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that it regularly reviews published guidelines as a matter of good practice to check whether an update is warranted.

NICE is tracking a clinical trial that is anticipated may have significant impact on the recommendations in its guideline on depression in children and young people: identification and management (CG28). A copy of this guideline is attached. NICE is co-ordinating the next review of this guideline to coincide with the publication of the outcomes of the trial, which is expected in February 2017. The Lancet paper will be considered as part of that review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-12-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many ground troops they estimate would be required to defeat ISIL, and which countries they expect would provide those forces.

Earl Howe

We have not made such an estimate. We recognise that defeating Daesh will take a combination of military measures and political process. In Iraq we will continue to support government and Kurdish forces already rolling back Daesh. In Syria, this means an end to civil war, allowing all those forces committed to a stable, inclusive and unified Syria – including the army of an internationally-supported Syrian government – to fight Daesh together on the ground.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it remains their policy that the UK does not support the death penalty under any circumstances, and in any country; and if so, what action they have taken to condemn the mass execution of 47 people in Saudi Arabia on 2 January.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government is firmly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country. We have expressed these concerns to the Saudi authorities, most recently on 14 January.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the plans announced by the government of Israel in January to appropriate further tracts of agricultural land in the West Bank for illegal settlement building.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

While we have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), issued a press statement on 22 January to express concern at the Government of Israel’s decision to declare 385 acres of land in the West Bank ‘as state land’.

The UK’s position on settlements is clear. They are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and take us further away from a two-state solution. We will continue to raise our objections to settlements with the Israeli government. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), expressed concern in public comments and in the House of Commons at the Government of Israel’s decision of 6 January to approve the extension of the Gush Etzion settlement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-05-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of figures released by the Citizens’ Advice Bureau indicating that pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace is rising; and what action they plan to take as a result.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with my noble Friend.