The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what contingency arrangements the Government Equalities Office has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.
Caroline Dinenage
We refer the Right Hon. MP to the response submitted by the Cabinet Office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many civil partnerships have been (a) conducted, (b) terminated and (c) converted to marriage status since such partnerships were established.
Caroline Dinenage
Based on the latest publicly available data from the Office of National Statistics, since the Civil Partnership Act came into force in December 2005, the total number of civil partnerships formed in England and Wales up to the end of 2014 is 62,621.
From January 2007 to December 2014, there were 4,527 civil partnerships dissolutions in England and Wales.
A total of 7,732 couples chose to convert their existing civil partnership into a marriage in the six months between 10 December 2014 and 30 June 2015 in England and Wales.
This information is available from the Office of National Statistics: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Civil+Partnerships
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to officials in his Department to support the implementation of the Family Test.
Mr Oliver Letwin
Family Test guidance was published online in October 2014, and is available to all officials. The guidance can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what benefits and support services are not available to non-UK nationals leaving care that are available to UK citizens.
Edward Timpson
Care leavers who are not British citizens usually receive the same range of support and services provided under the Children Act 1989 as British citizens. However, if they are aged over 18 and fall into one of the classes of ‘ineligible person’, under Schedule 3 to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, they may only receive some of these. The most common class of care leavers who are ineligible persons are failed asylum seekers who have exhausted all appeals to remain in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which universities have opened a Confucius Institute on campus; and what guidance he has issued to those universities on relations with the Chinese government.
Joseph Johnson
The Government values the productive links our universities have with China, and we welcome the increasing number of UK students and institutions benefitting from such international collaborations.
Higher education institutions are autonomous and, as such, are responsible for developing their own academic and international partnerships, while ensuring that they comply with any relevant statutory duties, including the requirements of the Education Reform Act 1988.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the punctuality record of Govia Thameslink Railway in the last six months.
Claire Perry
The Department regularly assesses each train operator’s performance, and officials have regular meetings with Govia Thameslink Railway’s senior management where operational performance is reviewed, including punctuality as measured through the Public Performance Measure, and we continue to press the franchisee to see what can be done to improve the service offered to their customers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what human rights objectives the Government set for the state visit of President Xi Jinping to the UK in October 2015; and what progress has been made on achieving those objectives.
Mr Hugo Swire
One of our objectives for the State Visit was to ensure that the UK and China could continue detailed expert exchanges on human rights and rule of law. Agreement on this issue was reflected in the leaders’ press conference and joint statement. Our broader objectives on human rights in China are set out in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s annual report on human rights and democracy, most recently published on 21 April. That report notes that in 2015 China continued to face human rights challenges, and that we have raised our concerns both bilaterally and in multilateral fora.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, at what (a) ministerial (b) official level the Government will be represented in the next round of the human rights dialogue with the Chinese authorities.
Alok Sharma
I intend to open the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue later this month. As in previous years, the UK delegation will be led by the Director of Asia Pacific Directorate in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage Saudi Arabia and other parties to the conflict in Yemen to refrain from using explosive weapons with wide-range effects in populated areas in order to avoid high levels of civilian casualties.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen by all sides to the conflict and take these very seriously. This includes alleged airstrikes resulting in civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. We have received repeated assurances from the Saudi Arabian-led coalition that they are complying with International Humanitarian Law, and we continue to engage with them on those assurances. The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and we encourage them to be open and transparent in this. We continue to urge all parties to the conflict to adhere to International Humanitarian Law. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis. We will continue to do this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contingency arrangements her Department has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.
James Brokenshire
The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for our country and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.