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100603

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Suicide
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of suicides in HM prisons.
tabling member printed	Lord Clinton-Davis
uin	HL2334
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Every death in custody is a tragedy, and the Government is committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves. These procedures include the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, which is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm. Prisons are also required to ensure that they have procedures in place to learn from deaths in custody to prevent future occurrences.</p><p> </p><p>We are working hard to understand the reasons for the recent rise in the number of self-inflicted deaths, but there is no simple explanation. Additional resources and support are being provided for safer custody work in prisons, and in particular to improve the consistency of the ACCT system. The National Offender Management Service has also put in place additional staff at regional level to support staff in prisons and to share good practice, and created a dedicated learning and knowledge management team at headquarters which is providing further support for safer custody work.</p><p> </p><p>Data on deaths in custody is published quarterly in the Safety in Custody Statistics Bulletin, available at <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody-statistics" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody-statistics</a>.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 06/11/2014 17:46:36 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
tabling member	1116 label Biography information for Lord Clinton-Davis

100607

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	RFA Argus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to expand the instructions given to RFA Argus so as to enable its medical facilities to assist all urgent cases from Sierra Leone or nearby states.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL2338
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/11/2014 answer text <p>RFA ARGUS is deployed to support the Government's efforts in Sierra Leone. Her primary role is to act as a logistics lift capability and aviation platform, with three embarked Merlin helicopters. RFA ARGUS does, however, have a limited medical capability on board to treat disease and non-battle injury. Treatment of those suffering from Ebola is carried out at separate facilities ashore, the first of which opened in Kerry Town on 5 November and will have the capacity to treat 80 local patients. Also at Kerry Town the UK military is currently manning a 12 bed treatment unit for national and international healthcare workers.</p> answering member printed Lord Astor of Hever question first answered 07/11/2014 14:57:55 answering member 3428 label Biography information for Lord Astor of Hever
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

100611

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Civil Servants: Languages
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how civil servants from all departments with the wish or the potential to benefit from a course at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Language School are identified.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL2342
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text Full-time language training is available to all staff on appointment to one of the 674 designated ‘speaker’ roles based across the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)’s network of posts overseas. Appointment is made following an advert, application and selection by interview for a position. All positions (including speaker roles) in the Senior Management Service are also advertised across the Civil Service. A number of positions (including speaker roles) in the delegated grades are also advertised across the Civil Service via ‘Interchange’. All FCO staff (or staff from other governmental departments (OGDs) if on Interchange) and their spouses/partners posted to non-speaker roles in a foreign country also have the option of taking up language training to reach a basic level (Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) – A2 Confidence foreign language proficiency) to help settle into a new posting overseas. FCO staff who wish to develop skills in a foreign language can also attend a rolling programme of part-time lunchtime or evening classes in 12 languages. Where there is space in these classes, OGD staff are offered places based on language learning needs analyses by Departments. Language Services Direct (the company who run the FCO Language Centre) also provide part-time classes to a number of OGDs (the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Cabinet Office, the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the Department for International Development, Members of Parliament, UK Hydrographic Office) on their own premises or at Language Services Direct premises (HM Revenue and Customs). Language Services Direct also run a bespoke training package for staff from both the FCO and across the Civil Service wishing to apply for positions within EU institutions. A number of OGDs also appoint staff, following their own internal appointment processes, to their own ‘speaker’ roles overseas and are able use the Language Centre for training, or receive training at their own premises from Language Services Direct. To-date over 130 OGD staff have been trained either full-time or part-time at the Centre or at their own premises. answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 05/11/2014 15:56:28 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

100618

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Plastics: Seas and Oceans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to deal with plastic waste in the ocean through international co-operation, including programmes such as the United Nations Environmental Programme, the Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission and the International Maritime Organisation.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Chesterton
uin	HL2349
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>The primary focus of the UK’s international cooperation on marine litter is the OSPAR convention for the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. In June 2014, OSPAR contracting parties agreed a regional action plan on marine litter. This plan fulfils requirements of the EU’s marine strategy framework directive for EU Member States to work together to address marine litter, and contributes to United Nations Environment Programme’s global partnership on marine litter. The UK also works within the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which has banned the discharge of plastic from shipping under MARPOL Annex V since 1988, and keeps MARPOL and its other Conventions under review.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley question first answered 06/11/2014 15:11:30 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
tabling member	2543 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Chesterton

100624

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Tribunals
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much it cost to prepare the Senior President of the Tribunals’ annual report on the performance of decision-making in the Ministry of Justice, in each of the last ten years.
tabling member printed	Lord Sharkey
uin	HL2355
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Section 15A of the Social Security Act 1998 requires the Senior President of Tribunals, annually, to make a written report on the standards achieved by the Secretary of State for Work &amp; Pensions in the making of decisions against which an appeal is made to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber – Social Security and Child Support). That report must be published by the Lord Chancellor.</p><p> </p><p>The duty to report was discharged by the President of the Appeals Tribunal prior to the implementation of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. The Senior President of Tribunals has delegated this responsibility to the President of the Social Entitlement Chamber since the implementation of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.</p><p> </p><p>Preparation of the report costs approximately £20,000 in judicial time each year; however, this is within their salaried hours, so there is no additional cost beyond their salary. There are some associated printing costs but records of these are not held centrally.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 06/11/2014 17:49:39 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
tabling member	4196 label Biography information for Lord Sharkey

100625

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	North Korea
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why North Korea is not one of the countries that the Department for International Development has prioritised for the funding of journalistic training for escapees; whether, in considering the allocation of resources, it considered that country’s media environment; and whether the Department for International Development is considering extending its funding to groups run by North Korean refugees that broadcast information into that country.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL2356
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>DFID does not have a bilateral programme with North Korea. In the Financial Year 2014/15 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Human Rights and Democracy Programme is funding a project delivered by the Thomson Foundation titled ‘Inside Out: Working in North Korea to connect its journalists to the Internet world’, which aims to give North Korean journalists a greater understanding of freedom of expression and using the internet to express it.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Northover question first answered 06/11/2014 17:01:02 answering member 2539 label Biography information for Baroness Northover
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

100634

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Saudi Arabia
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of freedom of religion or belief in Saudi Arabia and the extent to which discrimination against and restrictions experienced by Shiite Muslims contribute to sectarian unrest and dissent in that country.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Coventry
uin	HL2365
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>The British Government strongly supports the right to freedom of religion or belief, which is severely restricted in Saudi Arabia. We make our views well known through the UN Universal Periodic Review Process, in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report, and to the Saudi Arabian authorities. We have made clear the importance of religious tolerance, including for different branches of Islam. There are some long-standing tensions between some Shia communities in the Eastern Province and the Saudi authorities. We continue to monitor developments. We welcome all efforts to increase religious tolerance in Saudi Arabia, including the recent calls by King Abdullah and Saudi religious leaders for greater religious tolerance in the Kingdom.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 06/11/2014 14:25:56 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	4266 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Coventry

100635

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Saudi Arabia
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court; and whether they consider that the proceedings of that Court are compatible with international human rights standards.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Coventry
uin	HL2366
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>The Specialised Criminal Court came into operation in Saudi Arabia in 2008 to try cases related to security and terrorism. We support Saudi Arabia’s judicial reform programme, particularly greater judicial training. However our concerns about the Saudi justice system remain and we continue to raise the importance of adhering to international human rights law with the Saudi authorities.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 06/11/2014 14:25:12 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	4266 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Coventry

100636

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Saudi Arabia
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia regarding the decision taken on 15 October by the Specialized Criminal Court to sentence to death Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Coventry
uin	HL2367
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>We understand that Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr has been sentenced to death. It is still possible for him to appeal the decision.</p><p>The death penalty undermines human dignity and its abolition is a human rights priority for the UK. Government Ministers, our Ambassador in Riyadh and officials from our Embassy raise the issue of the death penalty with the Saudi authorities, both bilaterally and through the EU. We recognise that total abolition of the death penalty is unlikely in Saudi Arabia in the near future. Our focus is therefore on the introduction of EU minimum standards for the death penalty as a first step, and on supporting access to justice and rule of law.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 06/11/2014 14:26:42 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	4266 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Coventry

100640

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Kashmir
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received reports about exchanges of fire on the Line of Control in Kashmir and on the working border between India and Pakistan; and whether they have provided any advice to India and Pakistan in order to resolve outstanding matters, including the right of self-determination for the Kashmiri people.
tabling member printed	Lord Ahmed
uin	HL2371
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>We are concerned about the incidents which took place in recent weeks on both sides of the Line of Control and the International Border in Kashmir. We hope that both sides can take steps to reduce tensions. The longstanding position of the UK is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation in Kashmir, one which takes into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to mediate in finding one.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 05/11/2014 15:58:33 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	3470 label Biography information for Lord Ahmed