Tag: The Earl of Sandwich

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2015-12-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provision they, acting alongside the United Nations, and the governments of Norway and the United States of America, have made for health and education services in South Sudan in the event of the bankruptcy of the relevant government departments in that country; and what discussions they have had with the authorities in South Sudan on the use of oil revenues in this context.

Baroness Verma

The UK is playing a leading role in the humanitarian response to the current instability in South Sudan. Through the Common Humanitarian Fund, the UK is financing emergency health and education provision for internally displaced persons and returning refugees, together with UN, US and Norway. We continue to monitor the situation closely and alongside our humanitarian support, we are playing an active role in the ongoing peace negotiations.

In terms of our non-humanitarian health and education development programmes, these continue to operate in both the stable and conflict affected states of South Sudan. DFID is providing essential drugs, health worker salaries, and support for girls to complete secondary education as well as a range of other development programmes including skills training for out of school youth, and cash for public works and agricultural production.

Regular dialogue and provision of technical assistance by DFID and other partners has resulted in the South Sudan government providing operational transfers to counties and grants to primary schools and healthcare centres in their 2015/16 budget, largely financed through oil revenues. Through an IMF Trust Fund, the UK, EU and Norway are helping the government to strengthen oil sector transparency, while UK supports South Sudan Customs Department to collect non-oil revenues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-02-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the British Medical Association’s report Prescribed drugs associated with dependence and withdrawal: building a consensus for action published in October 2015 on the effects of sudden withdrawal from prescribed drugs that have been over-prescribed; and (2) the need for more training on those effects; and whether they have plans to take any action as a result of that report.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We welcome the British Medical Association’s report and its contribution to addressing this serious issue.

It is the responsibility of local areas to plan, develop and improve health services according to the healthcare needs of the local population, including services for people dependent on prescription or over-the-counter medicines.

The Department, Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England (NHSE) are responsible for helping local areas to understand how they can best support people dependent on prescribed or over-the-counter medicines and have undertaken a number of initiatives. These include:

– supporting a project by St George’s University of London to strengthen the training of medical students in relation to substance misuse;

– supporting the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education, Royal College of General Practitioners and others to develop information and educational materials, and training on addiction to medicines for General Practitioners and other healthcare professionals;

– the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency publishing a learning module on benzodiazepines in April 2013;

– PHE supported an expert group led by the Faculty of Pain Medicine at the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCOA) to develop an online only core resource on opioid pain medicines that can be used as a source of consistent information by any medical body developing its own materials, and are working with RCOA colleagues to support the widespread dissemination and implementation of this online only resource;

– in June 2013, PHE published a commissioning guide for the NHS and local authorities, ‘Commissioning treatment for dependence on prescription and over-the-counter medicines: a guide for NHS and local authority commissioners’, which sets out their expectation that support should be available in every area for people with a dependency on prescription or over-the-counter medicines, based on a full assessment of local need. A copy of this guidance is attached;

– PHE supporting a small number of local areas to pilot improvements in their commissioning of responses to dependence on prescribed or over-the-counter medicines; and

– Commissioning research into prescribing patterns of dependence forming medicines in primary care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the progress of earthquake relief in Nepal in the last 12 months; and how much they have contributed to it.

Baroness Verma

Over the past year work has been done by both the Government of Nepal and the International Community to meet the immediate needs of those most affected by the devastating earthquakes in April and May 2015. The UK particularly welcomed the formation of Government of Nepal’s National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) earlier in January 2016 whose mandate is to ensure a co-ordinated and coherent response to the post disaster rebuilding efforts.

The UK has played a leading role in addressing the humanitarian needs of the Nepali people and supporting the long-term recovery and reconstruction efforts of the country. With a total commitment of £70 million to the earthquake relief effort, over the last year DFID has provided life-saving humanitarian assistance, for hard to reach communities and to the thousands that remain displaced. UK support has already reached over 280,000 people with shelter, 50,000 people with hygiene kits and sanitation support, and 30,000 people with essential household items, including kitchen sets, solar lamps and water purification tablets. DFID support during the bleak winter season meant that over 200,000 people living at high altitudes were reached with vital cold weather support, including clothes, blankets and mattresses, to help remote communities see through the freezing conditions.

We continue to monitor the humanitarian and recovery situation in Nepal, particularly for those who remain highly vulnerable due to loss of homes and livelihoods. For example we have recently approved £4.49 million to support the Gurkha communities living in the remote high hills of Nepal. The support, which will be implemented through the Gorkha Welfare Scheme (GWS), will include building 120 new water supply systems; reaching 3,400 households (22,500 people) with improved water and sanitation facilities; and building latrines for 2,850 households and 35 school, ensuring girls get a separate toilet in schools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any economic benefits arising from the recent constitutional changes and the establishment of a new government in Kathmandu; and how they will support new business initiatives to stimulate the economy.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The amendments to the Constitution are a step towards resolving differences. We see a lasting political settlement as an important basis for future political stability and faster economic growth in Nepal.

Promoting economic development and stimulating economic growth is a pillar of the Department for International Development’s Nepal programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to good governance and effective parliamentary democracy in Nepal, and whether their development projects will encourage fairness and equality under the new constitution.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK is committed to help Nepal build the capacity, responsiveness and accountability of state institutions. Strengthening governance and promoting the inclusion and fair treatment of all ethnic groups are central to our programmes in Nepal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the annual cost to the UK of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative; which ten countries have benefited most financially from the scheme; and which countries have performed best in terms of debt servicing and repayment.

Baroness Verma

To date 36 countries have benefited from the HIPC Initiative. As a result, many developing countries have seen a marked improvement in their debt position and growth over the last 15 years. The recipients that have benefited most by committed volume are: Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Uganda.

Many countries saw substantial reductions in their debt servicing as a result of HIPC debt relief. The largest reductions in terms of the ratio of debt service to exports were Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and, Sierra Leone which all saw a fall of more than 10%.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities have offered places to unaccompanied refugee children from (1) Europe, and (2) Syria, and which councils other than Kent County Council have already filled their quota.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

As the Prime Minister announced on 4 May and as set out in the new Immigration Act 2016, we will work to admit unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK. The very nature of this legislation means we must take the time to consult others before bringing final proposals on how to implement this scheme.

We will consult local authorities to establish how best to implement this commitment and the recently announced Children at Risk resettlement scheme, which is the only other resettlement to include unaccompanied children, as part of our wider discussion with them about the transfer of unaccompanied asylum seeking children who have arrived spontaneously, which is designed to relieve the pressure on authorities such as Kent. We are not proposing to ask local authorities to distinguish between which unaccompanied children they accept.

We are determined to ensure that no local authority is asked to take more than the local structures are able to cope with. That is why we are talking to local authorities and other partners including non-governmental organsations to ensure that capacity can be identified and the impact can be managed in a fair and controlled way.

Work has already begun and we are committed to act as quickly as we can but it is important we take the necessary time to ensure we have the capacity to resettle and support those who are resettled. We must also ensure that we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how, and through what channels, they plan to ensure that asylum seekers from Sudan attend English language classes and counselling sessions, so that they can be fully prepared for their asylum application hearing.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

All asylum seekers have access to publicly-funded legal advice and an interpreter to assist in presenting an accurate account of the reasons for their claim if English is not their first language.

Asylum seekers are provided with information on how to access legal advice and signposts specialist organisations where they can find additional help, support, counselling and language provision.

The Home Office funds Migrant Help to provide confidential and impartial advice and guidance to adult asylum seekers and their dependants in a language they understand. Their services include face-to-face advice for newly arrived asylum seekers in initial accommodation and a helpline and website providing information in 15 languages.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what international safeguards and oversight mechanisms will be in place throughout the implementation of the Khartoum Process to prevent trafficking and bribery, and to ensure that human rights are respected.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Rome Declaration launching the Khartoum Process and the Valletta Summit Political Declaration both make clear that all participants should work to combat people trafficking and smuggling with full respect for human rights. The UK will continue to work closely with partners to ensure that all work supported under the Khartoum Process is fully human rights compliant.

While helping the countries of the Horn of Africa cope with migratory flows and tackling the root causes of migration is firmly in the UK’s interests, we remain mindful of the broader humanitarian and political concerns regarding countries in that region.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of (1) prisoners, and (2) young offenders, suffer from mental health problems; and of those, how many suffer from (a) illegal drug addiction, and (b) prescribed drug dependence.

Lord Prior of Brampton

72% of adult male prisoners and 71% of adult female prisoners may have two or more mental disorders including personality disorder, psychosis, anxiety, depression or substance misuse according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

According to the cross-government report Healthy Children, Safer Communities (2009), more than one third of people held in the children and young people’s secure estate, including those held in young offender institutions, have diagnosed mental health disorders. A copy of this report is attached.

The ONS also reports that about 55% of individuals entering prison have a drug problem. Data on prescribed drug dependence in prisons is not collected centrally.