Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Simon Kirby and Baroness Featherstone(9 years, 4 months ago)
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Lynne Featherstone
I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his place. Up to now, cybercrime has been a lesser interest. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that the trend among all people now is to buy online, but I would say that what is illegal offline is also illegal online. Policing cyberspace is just as important as policing the streets, and that is what our police force is doing.
Simon Kirby (Brighton, Kemptown) (Con)
The police in my constituency do an excellent job. Will the Minister join me in congratulating them on reducing crime by 13% and keeping us all safe in the great city of Brighton and Hove?
Lynne Featherstone
I am more than happy to congratulate my hon. Friend’s local police on their efforts to reduce crime and their success in doing so. As I said, I congratulate all police forces across the country who are managing the reductions efficiently and cutting crime.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Simon Kirby and Baroness Featherstone(13 years, 3 months ago)
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Lynne Featherstone
I am not sure that the hon. Lady was listening to my earlier response, in which I said that the Department for Education had already allocated £2.2 billion for 2011-12. There will be almost £2.3 billion in 2012-13. I do not think that that suggests that we do not think this is important.
Simon Kirby (Brighton, Kemptown) (Con)
Does the Minister agree that, in the past, there has been far too much duplication in the public services, and that a more holistic approach would not only benefit families but save money?
Lynne Featherstone
My hon. Friend is entirely right. A great deal of money is spent on chaotic families, who, up to now, have had a series of agencies trying to help them. The move to a single key worker will save an enormous amount. The original estimate was between £250,000 and £300,000, but with a specially allocated key worker and early intervention, the cost could be as low as £14,000.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Simon Kirby and Baroness Featherstone(13 years, 9 months ago)
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Simon Kirby (Brighton, Kemptown) (Con)
7. What recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on international standards for the treatment of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The Minister for Equalities (Lynne Featherstone)
Last month we published “Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality”, which included a commitment to use our international influence to encourage other countries to advance LGBT equality. I am committed to using meetings with international counterparts and any other levers open to us to tear down the barriers that still exist for LGBT people throughout Europe and around the world.
Simon Kirby
Will the Government use their influence to support the UN statement that calls on states to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstance be used for discrimination or criminal proceedings?
Lynne Featherstone
This is such an important area in which we can use our influence and we will encourage more countries to support the UN statement on the decriminalisation of LGBT issues. We will robustly examine the human rights records of other UN member states as well.