The British Government regularly calls for credible elections to take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Minister for Africa, Harriett Baldwin, met with Foreign Minister She Okitundu in September and encouraged the DRC Government to ensure elections go ahead. The Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, also met with Okitundu last month and highlighted the importance of allowing international election observers, in order to build transparency and trust in the electoral process. Since 2015, the UK has spent £6.8 million on increasing accountability and transparency around the elections. We have provided funding for national observation through the Justice and Peace Committee. The UK has funded a Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) report into the Electronic Voting Machines and the WFD provided a list of recommendations to CENI. The British Government will continue to call for independent observation for the December 2018 elections.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4210", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "HL11189"} , {"_value" : "HL11190"} , {"_value" : "HL11191"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-15T12:14:36.957Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Democratic Republic of Congo: Elections"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to (1) protect civil society, (2) uphold freedom of expression, and (3) guarantee security for all candidates and voters in the forthcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/738", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Alton of Liverpool"} ], "uin" : "HL11224"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1002206", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1002206/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government's Grant Standards include a requirement for grant agreements to provide a clear description of how funding should be spent which precludes the use of government funding for paid for lobbying, where lobbying is not a requirement of the grant.<\/p>
<\/p>
Providing feedback to a department on a funded programme, or responding to public consultations, where the topic is relevant to the objectives of the grant scheme, for example, would be permitted, as described in the guidance which supports the Grant Standards.<\/p>
<\/p>
Grant Standards do not restrict how charities spend their non-government funding.<\/p>
<\/p>
This ensures public funds are used as intended and protects charities independence, freedom of speech and their ability to contribute their expertise to policy development.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4247", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Ashton of Hyde"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Ashton of Hyde"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-15T16:18:36.6Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Charities: Lobbying"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government whether public funds are used to support charities which lobby government departments; and if so, to what purpose.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/738", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Alton of Liverpool"} ], "uin" : "HL11227"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1002207", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1002207/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
\u200bAs the Prime Minister has said, Asia Bibi's acquittal is very welcome news to her family and those who have campaigned in Pakistan and around the world for her release.<\/p>
We regularly raise our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) and the protection of minority religious communities, with the Pakistani Government at a senior level. The Minister for Asia and the Pacific raised discrimination against religious minorities with the Ministry of Human Rights during his visit to Pakistan in November 2017. I discussed the treatment of minority religious communities with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Dr Shireen Mazari, in September 2018.<\/p>
We will continue to press the new Government of Pakistan to adhere to its international obligations and uphold the rule of law.<\/p>
Due to the sensitivity of Asia Bibi's situation it would be inappropriate to comment in detail. The long-term safety of Asia Bibi and her family remains utmost in our considerations.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4210", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-16T14:18:00.31Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Asia Bibi"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Pakistan about securing the safety of Asia Bibi, and all those associated with her and her trial, following her acquittal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 31 October.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3474", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Baroness Anelay of St Johns"} ], "uin" : "HL11228"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1002209", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health and Social Care"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1002209/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
We have not provided guidance, instructions or resources to local authorities for Safeguarding Adult Reviews related to the death of homeless people.<\/p>
<\/p>
At present we do not hold data on how many homeless people died in the last year. Our statistics on Adult Safeguarding Reviews does not include information on place of residence, however, the Office for National Statistics is preparing to publish official estimates in December as experimental statistics.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4545", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord O'Shaughnessy"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord O'Shaughnessy"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL11231"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-15T16:21:27.01Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health and Social Care"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Homelessness: Death"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) guidance, (2) instructions, and (3) resources they provide to local authorities for Safeguarding Adult Reviews in relation to the deaths of homeless people; how many homeless people they estimate died in the last year for which figures are available; in how many of those cases Safeguarding Adult Reviews were carried out; and what steps they are taking to ensure that such reviews are carried out more often.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4564", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bird"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Bird"} ], "uin" : "HL11230"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 4, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }