Tag: Tom Brake

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to the Indonesian government on the Gerakan Fajar Nusantara Gafatar religious community in Indonesia.

Mr Hugo Swire

Our Ambassador in Jakarta has raised these issues with the Minister of Religious Affairs, Indonesian civil society, and religious leaders. He urged them to ensure the rights of all individuals to practise their religion or belief freely were fully respected and protected. Our Deputy Head of Mission in Jakarta has also raised the situation of the Gafatar community with the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of UK citizens imprisoned abroad in each country.

James Duddridge

We collect global detainee statistics twice a year. On 30 September 2015 we were aware of 2,003 British nationals detained overseas (either pre- or post- sentencing). The largest numbers are detained in USA (499), Spain (186), Ireland (173), Australia (155) and France (102).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Eritrea.

James Duddridge

Following the publication of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, we remain concerned about human rights issues in the country. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s latest Human Rights Report includes Eritrea in its list of 30 priority countries for the UK government and sets out the changes needed. We continue to press the government of Eritrea, including at ministerial level, to take concrete steps to improve its respect for human rights.

We welcome the recent increased engagement between Eritrea and the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Eritrea’s agreement to work with the United Nations Development Programme to implement the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review on human rights. We urge further such cooperation to help bring about human rights reform in Eritrea.

We will give a full statement when the UN Human Rights Council discusses the COI’s report on 21 June.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the peace process in Ukraine.

Sir Alan Duncan

The Foreign Secretary has discussed the Minsk Peace Process to resolve the on-going conflict in eastern Ukraine with a range of European partners and counterparts, including bilaterally with Foreign Ministers from France and Poland as well as multilaterally at recent EU and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe summits. The Foreign Secretary has also discussed the conflict with President Poroshenko and Foreign Minister Klimkin of Ukraine during a recent visit to Kyiv, and stressed the need for progress on Minsk implementation during a phone call last month with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK plans to provide any assistance or reconnaissance intelligence for airstrikes against Daesh conducted as part of the Syrian Counter Terror agreement made by the US and Russia on 9 September 2016.

Mike Penning

The UK supported US efforts to reach agreement with Russia to reinstate a cessation of hostilities in Syria and will continue to work for the restoration of a credible cessation of Hostilities. The UK was not, however, a party to the US-Russia arrangement which was a purely bilateral one. While the UK would have considered seriously any requests received, we were not asked for either assistance or reconnaissance intelligence for its implementation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Pakistani government on the death penalty imposed on Imdad Ali.

Alok Sharma

I am concerned about Mr Ali’s case and continue to follow developments. The UK remains firmly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. Abolitionist work is high on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) agenda and is part of the day-to-day work of all diplomatic missions to countries that retain the death penalty. The FCO human rights and democracy report 2015 makes clear our views on the death penalty and the resumption of executions in Pakistan.

Whilst we have not raised the specific case of Imdad Ali with the Pakistani government, the former Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Philip Hammond), raised the issue of the death penalty with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2015, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Tobias Ellwood), since wrote to the Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK expressing deep concern about ongoing executions. Together with our EU partners, we continue to raise our concerns about the death penalty with the Government of Pakistan and urge compliance with international obligations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when her Department plans to publish its Multilateral Aid Review.

Rory Stewart

The Government intends to publish the outcomes of the Multilateral Aid Review shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made on small businesses of the potential closure of independent pharmacies; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on that effect.

Margot James

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regularly discusses a range of issues with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health.

Funding for the contractors providing NHS pharmaceutical services is determined by the Department of Health.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much of the welfare budget was spent on employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit and income support claimants or universal credit claims with sickness or disability elements in 2014-15.

Priti Patel

The benefit expenditure for 2014/15 is in the table below:

Severe Disablement Allowance is a non-contributory version of Incapacity Benefit and is included here for completeness. Information on the sickness or disability element of Universal Credit is currently unavailable.

Detailed information on benefit expenditure is available in our Benefit Expenditure tables which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his Written Statement of 16 July 2015, HCWS114, what progress he has made on consulting on the removal of local clinical excellence awards and proposals for a reformed National Clinical Excellence Award Scheme and determining the priority that will be given to recognising service-based consultants within any new scheme and monitoring the recognition that they receive.

Alistair Burt

In September 2015 the British Medical Association (BMA) and NHS Employers agreed to recommence negotiations on reforming the National Health Service consultant contract, using observations from the independent Review Body on Doctors and Dentists Remuneration (DDRB) as a starting point.

The negotiations, which concluded in December, included considering the replacement of Local Clinical Excellence awards with contractual performance payments. We expect an amended contract offer will be put to BMA members in the coming weeks.

We also expect to consult on proposals for a reformed national scheme early this year. This will be informed by developments on consultant contract reform, as well as recommendations previously made by the DDRB in 2012. The consultation will be mindful of the importance of recognising the contributions of all consultants including service based consultants.