Tag: Tom Brake

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Ethiopian government on the cases of Tibebu Mekuria, Dawit Jemberu and Belete Tilahun.

James Duddridge

We are aware of the ongoing court case of Tibebu Mekuria, Dawit Jemberu and Belete Tilahun, who were convicted of burning down the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Gulema Iyesus in June 2015. As all three are still pursuing their appeal case through the courts in Ethiopia, with their final appeal hearing set for the 29 June, it would be inappropriate to comment on their case at this time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his EU counterparts on the compatibility of recent sentencing decisions by the Israeli judiciary with the human rights standards set in the EU-Israeli Association Agreement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We have no plans to hold such discussions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy that EU citizens who have acquired permanent residence under Free Movement Directive 2004/38 will automatically retain their permanent residence in the UK after the UK has left the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living in the UK, and the only circumstances in which that wouldn’t be possible is if British citizens’ rights in other EU Member States were not protected in return.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that its humanitarian response in Mosul minimises child protection risks.

Rory Stewart

On 21 September, the UK announced an extra £40 million of humanitarian funding to Iraq, taking our total commitment to £169.5 million since June 2014. This new support will be targeted specifically to enable a scale up of humanitarian assistance ahead of Mosul operations. An element of this support will aim to help protect civilians displaced as a result of the operations – including children.

The UK is the largest donor to the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund, which has supported specialist protection and rehabilitation for people escaping from Daesh, including women and children. The UK regularly lobbies the Iraqi authorities to ensure the protection of its people as they flee Mosul and other areas.

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 steps the Government is taking to ensure that the people responsible for the massacre of political prisoners in Iran in 1988 are brought to justice.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The British Government opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and takes any allegations of extrajudicial killings seriously. The Iranian Government has repeatedly denied that a mass execution took place, though we are aware that between July 1988 and January 1989 executions did take place. However, even with the recording and media reporting on the incident, we have no confirmation of the numbers involved. Although we have no plans to pursue this specific matter we will continue to take action with the international community to press for improvements on all human rights issues in Iran, including ending the death penalty.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what obligations the Government places on police and crime commissioners to commission local victims’ services to meet the specific and ongoing needs of British (a) nationals and (b) residents who have been direct victims or witnesses of a terrorist attack in the UK or abroad.

Dr Phillip Lee

This Government is committed to ensuring that victims of terrorism can access effective and timely support to help them cope, and as far as possible, recover from the trauma they have experienced.

This year we have given Police and Crime Commissioners grant funding of nearly £68m to provide emotional and practical support services for all victims of crime, including victims of terrorism, who reside within their area.

Witnesses in the criminal justice system, including witnesses of terrorist attacks, are also entitled to support as set out under the Witness Charter for England and Wales. These entitlements are currently being met through the nationally commissioned court based witness service.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with Eurotunnel on providing incentives through its access charges for increased long distance transportation of passengers and freight by rail.

Paul Maynard

Since the 15th June 2016 responsibility for Economic regulation of the Channel Tunnel rests with the independent regulators, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in the UK and Autorité de regulation des activities ferroviaires et routières (ARAFER) in France.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-10-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the financial effect on the average working household of welfare and tax credit changes proposed since May 2015.

Damian Hinds

This Government is committed to moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society. As the Chancellor made clear on [Monday / 26 October], the Government will set out at Autumn Statement how we plan to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.

The Summer Budget offered a new deal for working people. A new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, will directly benefit 2.7 million low wage workers, and up to 6 million could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The new National Living Wage will boost pay for those currently earning the National Minimum Wage by £4,800 a year by 2020 when the National Living Wage is expected to rise to over £9 per hour.

To help working families keep more of what they earn, the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17 and £11,200 in 2017-18. The government has committed to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 which will mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax cut by £1,205 a year compared to 2010.

The government set out its assessment of the impacts of the Summer Budget policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure there are enough neonatal nurses to enable neonatal units to meet markers of good practice 2.2.5, 2.2.6 and 2.2.7 in the Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services, published by the NHS and his Department in October 2009.

Ben Gummer

A key standard set out within NHS England’s service specification for specialised neonatal critical care is that hospitals trusts who do not meet the staffing levels recommended by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, must be working towards an agreed plan with their respective Regional Specialised Commissioning Teams to meet and maintain the nurse staffing levels in line with the Department’s Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services.

The increasing demand for neonatal care has resulted in additional challenges for some trusts in meeting the recommended nurse to patient ratios. However, 71 (54%) of the 131 neonatal critical care services now meet required staffing ratios and NHS England Regional Specialised Services Commissioning Teams continue to work with their respective hospital trusts to improve this situation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what analysis his Department has commissioned of the potential effect of a British withdrawal from the EU on Anglo-French defence projects.

Mr Julian Brazier

None.