Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 18 July 2016, HC Deb, Official Report, column 538, whether it is the Government's policy not to impose a devolution deal that includes an elected mayor on any area that does not want an elected mayor.
Answered by Andrew Percy
The Government’s policy is that if an area is to have an elected mayor, it will be because that area, through its democratically elected representatives, has chosen to have one.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to impose an embargo on the sale of arms between the UK and Israel.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. We do not believe that imposing a blanket arms embargo on Israel would promote the urgent progress towards the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which we want to see. We continue to monitor the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and take into account the latest circumstances when assessing licence applications. Israel, like any state, has the right to ensure its own security, as its citizens also have the right to live without fear of attack and we will continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on the number of prison officers who work additional shifts at other prison establishments; and whether line managers at those prison officers' main place of work are aware of additional shifts worked elsewhere.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
There is a requirement that home/parent establishments maintain records of all official duties carried out by members of staff, both those duties within their home/parent establishment and within or for any other establishment.
Establishments are also required to maintain records when members of staff from other establishments carryout duties within or for their establishment.
Individual members of staff have a responsibility to support the above and are required inform their parent establishment of their wish/intention to work additional hours at another establishment, in advance of the hours being worked. In all circumstances records should be maintained.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations she has received on prison officers working additional shifts in other prison establishments than those at which they are based without the knowledge of their line management.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Following an audit of the arrangements under which members of staff undertake additional hours/shifts, new arrangements and requirements were introduced that mandated the need to maintain records of all attendance arrangements, both those within parent establishments and also any additional attendance within other establishments.
The above new arrangements were introduced in 2014 with the publication of Notice to Staff 43/2014.
Concerns have previously been raised relating to staff undertaking additional hours/shifts within establishments other than their home/parent establishment by the Prison Officers Association. It is felt that the introduction of the above address’s this, as the arrangements ensure that information is readily available to managers to enable them to monitor the additional attendance.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, House of Lords, 9 July 2015, Official Report, column 286, what his policy is on part funding of the NHS through insurance and co-payments.
Answered by Philip Dunne
There is no plan to change the way that the National Health Service is funded nor any consideration of changes. The Government remains committed to the principles of the NHS, enshrined in the NHS Constitution, that access to NHS services is based on clinical need, not the ability to pay.
The Government is also committed to working with the NHS in implementing its own plan for the future of the NHS – the Five Year Forward View – backed up by the commitment made in the Spending Review to provide an additional £10 billion in real terms by 2020-21 compared to 2014-15. This fully funds the plan.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications of UK withdrawal from the EU for UK pensions and healthcare provision for UK citizens (a) currently residing in other EU member states and (b) wishing to retire to other EU member states.
Answered by David Lidington
As the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has said, there will be no immediate changes in the circumstances of British citizens living in European countries. It will be for the next Prime Minister to determine, along with their Cabinet, exactly the right approach to take in negotiating these provisions going forward but the Government's guiding principle will be ensuring the best possible outcome for the British people.Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to reply to letters from the GMB trades union National Secretary, Mick Rix, on the outsourcing of jobs at British Airways and use of tier 2 visas; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office has received letters from Mr Rix and intends to respond in due course. It is a decision for businesses whether to outsource certain functions. We have, however, responded to concerns that use of the Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer (ICT)) route may undercut or displace resident workers. On 24 March we announced that we will simplify and streamline the route in line with our international trade commitments to admit senior managers and specialists. From April 2017, all transferees (other than limited numbers of graduate trainees) will be required to qualify under a single visa category with a minimum salary of £41,500.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the pass rates for the year one phonics screening check by the birth month of the pupils.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We will publish phonics results for Year 1 pupils by month of birth at national level for 2016. The data will be published at the end of September in a statistical first release at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-key-stage-1
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Human Rights Watch report on Ethiopia, Such a brutal crackdown, published in June 2016, on alleged human rights violations by government security forces in that country.
Answered by James Duddridge
We are aware of the Human Rights Watch report on Ethiopia and are considering its findings. I met with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 27 January. I raised the UK’s concerns with regards to the human rights situation. We will continue to raise our concerns with the government of Ethiopia both through our bilateral engagement, most notably our ongoing Human Rights Dialogue, as well as jointly with our international partners.
We remain deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia, including the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and about those detained under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. We have repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian Government over the situation in that region.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has been appointed to look into the handling of the protests in Oromia and presented their findings to the Ethiopian parliament on 10 June 2016. We have not seen the report, but are pressing for its publication and will take a view on what further actions, if any, might be appropriate.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the Ethiopian government on the situation in the Oromia region.
Answered by Nick Hurd
I visited Ethiopia on 17th June and met with a number of senior Ethiopian Government officials. Our discussions covered a range of issues, including the situation in the Oromia region. I set out the UK Government’s serious concerns about the response to protests in Oromia.