Tag: Tom Brake

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts on the introduction of citizenship-for-investment schemes by EU member states.

James Brokenshire

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 22 March to Questions 31324 and 31325 from my Hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) and the answers I gave on 9 March to Question 29833 from the Hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) and to Question 29873 from my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochester and Strood (Kelly Tolhurst).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK officials are based in China; and how many were based in that country in (a) 2010, (b) 2005 and (c) 1997.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) publishes the number of UK FCO officials overseas in its Annual Report. In the financial year 2014/15 there were 114 UK FCO officials based in China and in the financial year 2010/11 there were 113 UK FCO officials based in China. Information prior to 2010 is not held in a way that enables us to accurately report the staffing position overseas.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2016 to Question 35103, what the role is of the Liaison Officers deployed in Saudi coalition headquarters.

Michael Fallon

UK Liaison Officers located in Saudi Headquarters exchange information between the UK and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to give the UK a better degree of insight into Saudi processes.

They remain under UK command and control and are not embedded with the Saudis. They do not provide training or advice on International Humanitarian Law compliance, and have no role in the Saudi targeting chain.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 10 May 2016 to Questions 36574 and 36576, in what way his Department carried out its assessment of the human rights situation in Tibet; and for what reasons the 2015 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy contained no relevant information on that situation.

Alok Sharma

Our assessment of the situation of Tibet is based on range of credible sources and information gathered by diplomats and officials. I draw the Hon. Members attention to the most recent version (updated in July 2016) of the Human Rights and Democracy report where we outline a number of concerns relating to Tibet. We raise these concerns regularly, for example I raised two Tibetan cases involving freedom of expression (Tashi Wangchuk and Druklo (Shokjang)) with the Chinese Ambassador on 1 August.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy of the UN Secretary-General’s statement of 11 July 2016 on events in South Sudan; and whether the Government supports calls for an arms embargo to that country and the strengthening of the UN mission in South Sudan in the light of its response to those events.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We welcomed the statement made by the UN Secretary-General on the situation in South Sudan. Our policy continues to be focussed on helping to protect the people of South Sudan and we are in support of an arms embargo as a means to support this. We lobbied hard to strengthen the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and supported UN Security Council Resolution 2304, adopted on 12 August, which mandated a regional protection force of up to 4000 additional troops to robustly protect civilians and key humanitarian transit routes in Juba. In addition, the Secretary of State for Defence, Rt Hon the member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon) announced on 8 September that the number of UK troops to be deployed within UNMISS will be increased to close to 400 in order to support the mission’s operations.

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 discussions he has had with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions on the demolition of Palestinian homes.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

​We have not had any discussions with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage clinical commissioning groups to abide in full by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on funding in vitro fertilisation.

Nicola Blackwood

Clinical commissioning groups have a legal duty to have regard to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. As such, NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the NICE fertility guidelines.

Representatives from NHS England, the British Fertility Society and Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority are looking at how commissioning of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) services could be improved. Commissioning of IVF will remain a local decision but there may be scope to improve the quality of commissioning through, for example, the development of a benchmark price that the National Health Service pays for infertility treatments and by encouraging the adoption of best practice when making clinical decisions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will undertake research on whether alternative pricing structures of the access charges set by Eurotunnel could incentivise greater passenger and freight traffic between the UK and mainland Europe.

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 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with the London Legacy Development Corporation about EU state aid rules and West Ham United Football Club’s occupancy of the Olympic Stadium.

Tracey Crouch

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has not had any discussions with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) about EU state aid rules and the West Ham United Football Club contract. The contract relating to West Ham United Football Club’s use of the Olympic Stadium is between the West Ham and the LLDC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the next UK-China Human Rights Dialogue is planned.

Mr Hugo Swire

The UK-China Human Rights Dialogue is an annual event which last took place in Beijing in April 2015. We expect to hold the next round in March or April 2016.