Naomi Long

Alliance - Former Member for Belfast East

First elected: 6th May 2010

Left House: 30th March 2015 (Defeated)


Naomi Long is not a member of any APPGs
Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
11th Oct 2010 - 30th Mar 2015
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
26th Jul 2010 - 30th Mar 2015


Division Voting information

Naomi Long has voted in 613 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
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All Debates

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Department Debates
Northern Ireland Office
(135 debate contributions)
HM Treasury
(46 debate contributions)
Cabinet Office
(46 debate contributions)
Home Office
(42 debate contributions)
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Legislation Debates
Naomi Long has not made any spoken contributions to legislative debate
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Latest EDMs signed by Naomi Long

17th March 2015
Naomi Long signed this EDM on Tuesday 24th March 2015

INDIA'S DAUGHTER AND ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Tabled by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
That this House notes the very powerful effect of Leslee Udwin's documentary, India's Daughter, inspired by the Indian peoples' response to the gang rape of a 23 year old medical student, Jyoti Singh, as demonstrated by the resulting month-long protests of men and women from all walks of life; further …
60 signatures
(Most recent: 25 Mar 2015)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 17
Independent: 4
Conservative: 3
The Independent Group for Change: 2
Democratic Unionist Party: 2
Plaid Cymru: 1
Green Party: 1
17th March 2015
Naomi Long signed this EDM on Tuesday 24th March 2015

CHURCH BOMBING IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Tabled by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
That this House extends its deepest sympathies to those killed in the recent bombing of two churches in Lahore, Pakistan over the weekend of 14-15 March 2015; condemns the actions of the bombers which killed and injured those who were simply exercising their faith; and asks the Foreign and Commonwealth …
32 signatures
(Most recent: 25 Mar 2015)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 9
Democratic Unionist Party: 3
Conservative: 3
View All Naomi Long's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Naomi Long, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Naomi Long has not been granted any Urgent Questions

4 Adjournment Debates led by Naomi Long

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
Tuesday 11th March 2014
Monday 26th November 2012
Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Naomi Long has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Naomi Long has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
4 Other Department Questions
30th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps Post Office Ltd is taking to encourage banks to expand availability of their services through the Post Office network.

Post Office Limited already provides access to 95% of current accounts across the counter at more than 11,500 Post Offices. This is in addition to the Post Office’s own wide range of personal financial services, which includes three types of current account. It also operates a network 2,500 ATMs which are free to use and part of the LINK network, enabling withdrawals from a full range of current and other accounts; many of these in rural and deprived areas.

Since 2010, Post Office Ltd has reached agreement with RBS (including NatWest) and HSBC to allow customers to access their current accounts at post office branches. Post Office Ltd continue to engage with the one remaining high street bank (Santander) who have yet to offer their customers this service.

The Secretary of State will be writing to the banks to ask them how they plan to ensure that the banking needs of vulnerable consumers are met, particularly in areas facing branch closures. He will also be encouraging them to give priority consideration to creating or building on existing partnership arrangements with Post Office Limited, including considering how to address any additional financial and operational burdens on the Post Office.

30th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, at what locations in the UK Post Office Ltd has installed applicant enrolment identification machines.

The location of Post Office Application Enrolment and Identity machines is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

As such I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

10th Sep 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland about licence conditions on energy companies in Northern Ireland which prevent them offering fixed price deals to customers.

The regulation of gas and electricity supplies in Northern Ireland, including the setting of licence conditions, is a devolved matter and the responsibility of the Utility Regulator in Northern Ireland.

18th Jun 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the proposed beneficial ownership registry identifies the real controlling parties of all companies listed.

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill will make provision for the implementation of a central registry of company beneficial ownership information. The legislation will set out the obligations and sanctions that will apply to companies and others to ensure that the central registry contains information on the ultimate owners and controllers of UK companies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve opportunities for children in primary school to learn computer programming.

As part of the reforms to the national curriculum, the Department for Education is strengthening the teaching of programming in schools by replacing ICT with computing. The new computing programmes of study, which will be taught in maintained schools from September 2014, have a much greater emphasis on computer science and include a significant focus on programming. Primary school pupils at key stage 1 will be taught to understand what algorithms are, create and debug simple programs, and use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs. Building on this, primary school pupils at key stage 2 will be taught to design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; and use logical reasoning to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs.

The Department is funding several projects to help teachers acquire the necessary subject knowledge and skills to teach the new computing curriculum. We are funding the British Computer Society (BCS) to help primary school teachers improve their subject knowledge through online teach-yourself resources and 800 in-school workshops. We are also funding BCS to build a network of 400 ‘Master Teachers'. A further £500,000 competitive match-funded scheme was announced on 4 February to support excellent computing teaching and lever additional investment and engagement from business.

27th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made in implementing its commitment to ban the use of wild animals in travelling circuses; and if she will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Rt. Hon. Member for Richmond (Yorks), to the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse, during the House of Commons debate on 23 October 2014, Official Report column 1062-1063.

23rd Jun 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's priorities are in the negotiations with China concerning the export of meat products other than pork.

Securing access to Chinese markets for a range of UK products is a key priority in the Government and industry's Export Action Plan. In addition to our interests on pork, we are working closely with industry and the Chinese authorities to advance negotiations on the export conditions for poultry meat. This trade could be worth up to £70 million a year.

Over the longer term, we are working to secure market access for beef and lamb exports to China estimated to be worth up to £120 million a year. We have recently agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese authorities and this formally initiates the detailed technical negotiations. This development has been widely welcomed by industry, and whilst the negotiations are likely to take some time we will seek to conclude them as quickly as we can.

We are also pressing for early agreement on exports of UK poultry meat and have invited the Chinese authorities to conduct an inward inspection visit as soon as possible. I would encourage any plant interested in exporting to China to ensure it complies fully with Chinese requirements before any inspection visit.

The Secretary of State intends to visit China again this year to advance these and other UK market access interests.

23rd Jun 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to address the problem of horse abandonment.

There are many underlying issues which result in horses being abandoned and neglected. In some cases it seems owners are struggling to cope with the costs involved in keeping a horse. In other cases, irresponsible breeders and horse traders are deliberately placing horses on land to secure grazing for their animals at no cost to themselves. In the Government's view the way to address these problems is to tackle the perpetrators directly. Anti-social behaviour orders have been successfully used in Wales and in Bristol to address fly grazing, and there is likely to be an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 where a horse is abandoned. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 brings forward new streamlined measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, of which the practice of fly-grazing of horses is a prime example. Where fly grazing is a particular problem, we encourage the local authorities and police to work together with landowners, farmers and welfare charities to identify the culprits and address their behaviour directly using these powers. In a number of cases and to encourage joined up working, protocols have been drawn up by some local authorities to summarise the action that can be taken under existing legislation. Defra is supplementing that guidance with advice on the new measures in the 2014 Act which come into force later this year.

23rd Jun 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made in its negotiations with China on the export of meat products other than pork.

Securing access to Chinese markets for a range of UK products is a key priority in the Government and industry's Export Action Plan. In addition to our interests on pork, we are working closely with industry and the Chinese authorities to advance negotiations on the export conditions for poultry meat. This trade could be worth up to £70 million a year.

Over the longer term, we are working to secure market access for beef and lamb exports to China estimated to be worth up to £120 million a year. We have recently agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese authorities and this formally initiates the detailed technical negotiations. This development has been widely welcomed by industry, and whilst the negotiations are likely to take some time we will seek to conclude them as quickly as we can.

We are also pressing for early agreement on exports of UK poultry meat and have invited the Chinese authorities to conduct an inward inspection visit as soon as possible. I would encourage any plant interested in exporting to China to ensure it complies fully with Chinese requirements before any inspection visit.

The Secretary of State intends to visit China again this year to advance these and other UK market access interests.

28th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her assessment is of the implications of the current security situation in the Central African Republic for the delivery of humanitarian assistance in that country.

DFID regularly monitors the security and humanitarian situation in CAR. High levels of violence continue across the country, and a million people have been displaced since December 2013. The security situation impacts not only communities but humanitarian workers. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported 142 security incidents directed at humanitarian workers since January 2014 and 18 humanitarian workers killed. In 2014 DFID provided £18 million to the ICRC, UN agencies and international NGOs to support communities who have suffered from the violence in CAR.

28th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Bekou Trust Fund to date; and whether she plans to contribute to it.

We welcome the leadership of the EU on the humanitarian response in CAR and on programmes linking relief, recovery and development. The UK is not a current contributor to the EU Trust Fund in CAR. The UK has committed £33 million in humanitarian funds to CAR and CAR refugees since July 2013, funding a range of NGOs and UN agencies to provide protection, water, health and food security.

14th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to work with partners in the region to ensure that sufficient aid for reconstruction reaches Gaza following the recent conflict.

DFID has already disbursed £5 million of the £20 million early recovery assistance that we pledged at the Gaza Reconstruction Conference. The UK was also the first donor to support the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism which is facilitating the import of construction materials into Gaza, and, in close co-ordination with our EU partners and the Office of the Quartet Representative, we continue to press the Government of Israel to lift restrictions and facilitate the entry of aid into Gaza.

7th Nov 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the strengthening of health systems in West Africa to better cope with epidemics in the future.

The UK is leading the international response to Ebola in Sierra Leone and has committed £230m to help fight the disease. This outbreak of Ebola is unprecedented in scale and highlights the vital importance of strong public healthcare systems. The UK is the biggest bilateral donor to Sierra Leone and commenced a major health systems programme in 2012.

30th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that its programmes in West Africa do not create perverse incentives which prioritise short-term outcomes rather than longer-term strengthening strategies.

DFID always considers the longer term development impact when developing our programmes. Operational Plans, setting out how DFID’s programmes will deliver results and measure progress up to 2015 for our country office programmes in West Africa (Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone), can be found on the website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/operational-plans-2013 .

DFID does carry out humanitarian programmes to address short term needs but we also have longer term development programmes designed to build resilience. Full details of our programmes can be found on Development Tracker.

27th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to encourage long-term measures to bring about systemic changes required to better cope with future Ebola outbreaks.

The UK is leading the international response to Ebola in Sierra Leone. This outbreak of Ebola is unprecedented in scale and highlights the vital importance of strong public healthcare systems. The UK is the biggest bilateral donor to Sierra Leone and commenced a major health systems programme in 2012.

27th Jun 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which community-based women's organisations in Burma receive funding from her Department to assist victims of sexual violence by the Burmese army.

DFID is providing £500,000 through the United Nation's Population Fund (UNFPA) to strengthen the network and capacity of agencies working on gender-based violence in Rakhine and Kachin those areas.

23rd Jun 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, in what ways her Department's work to give people in developing countries better access to financial services takes account of (a) lack of braille facilities, (b) laws and practices discriminating against people with disabilities and (c) other barriers experienced by people with disabilities.

Our financial sector development programmes work to strengthen regulation, build infrastructure and improve financial capability to increase the access of poor people, including disadvantaged groups, to financial services that meet their needs.

23rd Jun 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department's country offices are encouraged to seek the views and input of people with disabilities in the design and delivery of their programmes.

DFID recognises the importance of people with disabilities having influence in the programmes and decisions which affect them. In DFID country offices, stakeholder engagement and participation, including with people with disabilities, is a fundamental part of strategic decision making and programme management.

23rd Jun 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many people with disabilities her Department aims to reach with its development programmes.

DFID does not disaggregate programme data across our portfolio. Our objective is to integrate disability into wider programming and to influence partners to do more, and so the overall results largely depend on the nature of the social and economic reform programmes of partner governments.

16th Jun 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the post-2015 development framework includes a sustainable development goal on water and sanitation that includes universal access to sanitation by 2030.

The UK Government is committed to supporting 60 million people to gain access to sustainable water, sanitation and/or hygiene services in the developing world. We are on track to achieve this target.

The UK supports the inclusion of universal access to sanitation as a target under a water related goal. This language is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.

The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will however be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications of the Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda for the operation of UK aid in (a) the health sector and (b) other sectors in that country.

The UK ended Budget Support to the Ugandan Government following concerns about corruption last year. Our development programme continues to support poverty reduction and growth in Uganda.

DFID is providing £16.3 million over 4 years to support an improved HIV prevention response in Uganda, which will include provision for specifically targeting Most At Risk Populations (MARPS). We also provide support through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. We are working with other donors and the Ministry of Health in Uganda to assess the likely impact of this legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of levels of violence against women in Afghanistan.

The UK Government shares the widespread concern about attacks and intimidation faced by Afghan women, including those who work to defend the rights and fundamental freedoms of others.

Eliminating violence against women and girls is a strategic priority for DFID's work in Afghanistan and a range of programmes are being implemented to directly tackle women's violence and support women's empowerment.

30th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the security regime in the Port of Belfast.

Port Facility Security Assessments are conducted for port facilities in the Port of Belfast as required by EC Regulation 2004/65 on enhancing ship and port facility security. A Port Security Assessment for the Port of Belfast has been undertaken, reviewed and approved by the Department for Transport as required by EC Directive 2005/65/EC on enhancing port security.

30th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department expects to announce its decision on the future of the Post Office card account.

Discussions continue between Her Majesty’s Government and Post Office LTD to consider the needs of our customers beyond the term of the current contract and announcements will be made when these discussions reach a conclusion.

30th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the new Minister for Social Development in the Northern Ireland Executive on implementation of welfare reform.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has had one discussion with the new Minister for Social Development on implementation of welfare reform.

29th Aug 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Parkinson's disease (a) have applied for personal independence payments (PIPs), (b) are receiving PIPs and (c) have been refused PIPs.

Available data does not provide the number of people with Parkinson's disease who have (a) applied for Personal Independence Payment (b) are receiving Personal Independence Payment (c) have been refused Personal Independence Payment. However, published statistics show that at February 2014 there were 2,831 people entitled to PIP for Neurological Conditions, which would include those who have Parkinson's disease.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review his decision not to carry out a cumulative impact assessment on the effect of welfare reform on people with disability.

The Government regularly produces analysis of the cumulative impact of all Coalition changes, including welfare, on households across the income distribution. This information is produced by the Treasury and is published alongside every Budget and Autumn Statement, in the interests of transparency. The previous government did not provide this type of analysis. The most recent update was published with the Budget on 19 March 2014, and can be found using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293738/budget_2014_distributional_analysis.pdf

Distributional analysis is provided for the whole population on the basis of household income and household expenditure. However this is not disaggregated to the level of household characteristics such as disability status or lower level geographies. No organisation is able to do this robustly.

This analysis estimates the effect of Coalition measures from all fiscal events from the Budget in June 2010 to the Budget in 2014. It also includes changes that were announced before the Budget in June 2010 that have been implemented by this Government. Current Coalition policies are compared with what might have happened if the previous Government's policies had continued into the future without any further fiscal consolidation.

The Government currently has no plans to undertake a review or change the decision on cumulative impact assesments.

14th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, persuant to the Answer of 5 January 2015 to Question 218547, if he will adapt the Early Access to Medicines Scheme to better accommodate off-patent indications of drugs, by creating incentives for pharmaceutical companies to submit applications to the scheme.

Since the launch of the Early Access to Medicines Scheme in April 2014, three Promising Innovative Medicine (PIM) designations have already been granted. By 9 January 2015 there had been 428 downloads of the PIM designation form and 187 downloads of the scientific opinion form, which indicates the high level of interest in the scheme.

The Early Access to Medicines Scheme already has a number of incentives for pharmaceutical companies. The PIM designation provides an early indication that a product may be a possible candidate for the Early Access to Medicines Scheme and is of particular value to smaller companies because it will act as a signal to potential investors. At the next stage of scientific review, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will consider the evidence and can issue an Early Access to Medicines scientific opinion. This opinion will support the prescriber to make a decision with the patient on using this medicine, when still unlicensed or used off-label. Earlier clinical use of new innovative medicines will also provide valuable real world data to companies for use in subsequent health technology appraisal processes.

We committed to review the Early Access to Medicines Scheme when we launched the scheme in April 2014. Through the Innovative Medicine and Medical Technologies Review we will also be taking forward a major review over the coming months to make recommendations to Government on opportunities to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines, devices and diagnostics.

12th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many breast cancer clinicians he spoke to directly when developing his policy on the Off-patent Drugs Bill.

In developing our response to the Bill, we have taken advice from a number of cancer clinicians including breast cancer specialists and from officials at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and taken account of views expressed by other stakeholder organisations.

12th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which Off-patent drugs will be considered under the Early Access Scheme.

Off-patent drugs are those whose patent period has expired and consequently manufacturers may make available generic or non-branded versions of the products.

An “off-label” medicine is any medicine prescribed outside the terms of its licence (as set out in the prescribing information in the Summary of product Characteristics). Medicines legislation permits prescribers to prescribe a product outside the terms of its licence where they judge it to be in the best interests of the patient to address a medical need. For example to prescribe for a different use or to different category of patients but in doing so the prescriber takes personal responsibility for the treatment, inform the patient(s) of the licensing status of the product and obtain consent from the patient for its use.

The Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) aims to give patients with life threatening or seriously debilitating conditions access to medicines that do not yet have a marketing authorisation when there is a clear unmet medical need. Under the scheme, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will provide a scientific opinion on the benefit/risk balance of the medicine, based on the data available at the time of the EAMS submission. The scheme is voluntary and as such the MHRA is dependent on companies submitting potential products that may fulfil the EAMS criteria.

In the government response to the public consultation, it was confirmed that off-label supply of existing medicines would be eligible for the scheme, but only if they meet the EAMS criteria. Thus companies can submit an application to the EAMS for a new indication for an already marketed drug (which may be off patent).

12th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence about a technology appraisal for tamoxifen in the chemoprevention indication.

In June 2013 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued an updated clinical guideline on familial breast cancer which includes recommendations on the use of tamoxifen and raloxifene outside their licensed indications for the prevention of cancer in specific groups of women at high and moderate risk of breast cancer.

NICE’s clinical guidelines represent best practice and we expect commissioners to take their recommendations into account when designing services and making commissioning decisions for their healthcare population.

Our assessment is that, as NICE has already provided guidance on the use of tamoxifen and raloxifene, there would be little value in NICE separately appraising these drugs for the prevention of breast cancer and we have had no discussions with NICE on this issue.

27th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has held with disability campaigners on securing compensation from Grünenthal for people affected by thalidomide; and if he will make representations to his German counterpart on that matter.

I met with the Thalidomide Trust on 23 June 2014 and subsequently wrote to Manuela Schwesig, Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, on behalf of all four UK Governments asking if she would meet with the Trust.

10th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to address the low uptake of the pancreatic cancer e-learning module among GPs.

The e-learning module ‘Pancreatic Cancer: early diagnosis in general practice’ was developed and is promoted by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in partnership with the charity Pancreatic Cancer Action.

We understand that the module has had 3,550 users and that compared to other e-learning modules launched in 2012, this module is performing well. Since the launch of the module in October 2012, the RCGP has promoted the e-learning module through its usual communication channels including Chair of RCGP Council’s weekly message; membership and faculty newsletters; promotion on the RCGP website and; promotion via RCGP social media channels.


The module can be accessed from the RCGP website at

www.rcgp.org.uk/courses-and-events/online-learning/ole/pancreatic-cancer-early-diagnosis-in-general-practice.aspx.

Ministers also promote the availability of the module by reference to it in debates and correspondence.

29th Aug 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the new NHS safety action team plans to take to reduce avoidable harm resulting from delays or omissions in medication for hospital patients with Parkinson's disease.

Following publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance that people with Parkinson's disease should have their medication given at appropriate times and should be allowed to self-administer if necessary, the National Patient Safety Agency issued a rapid response report (RRR) on omitted and delayed medicines on 24 February 2010, (NSPA/2010/RRR009) Reducing harm from omitted and delayed medicines in hospital, which applies to the National Health Service in both England and Wales. A copy of this report has already been placed in the Library, and a copy is available at:

www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/resources/patient-safety-topics/medication-safety/?entryid45=66720&p=2

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, all providers of regulated activities, including care homes have to register with the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England, and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality. One of these requirements relates to the management of medicines and requires that a provider protects service users against the risks associated with the unsafe use and management of medicines.

NHS England’s Safer Medication Practice Team in Patient Safety, is finalising an e-learning package to help reduce omission and delay in the administration of medicines, including for Parkinson’s disease. This package will be available for all health professionals who prescribe, dispense and administer medicines in hospitals. It aims to increase awareness of the frequency of incidents and harm that are associated with omitted and delayed medicine doses in hospital and describes safer practice

In addition, in March 2014, a joint NHS England and The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Patient Safety Alert, ‘Improving medication error incident reporting and learning’, was issued. A copy of this has been placed in the Library and is available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/psa-med-error.pdf

This alert directs NHS and independent sector organisations to identify medication safety officers by 19 September 2014. They will be empowered to champion and facilitate local learning from patient safety incidents, including those that arise from omissions and delay of medicines for Parkinson’s disease. A National Medication Safety Network is to be established for discussing potential and recognised safety issues and identifying trends and actions to improve the safe use of medicines. The network will also work with new Patient Safety Improvement Collaborative, that will be set up later this year

NHS England does not hold information on the number of NHS trusts that are involved with the Sign up to Safety campaign or the number of trusts who have a policy of stocking medicines for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease in their emergency medicines cupboards.

The NPSA RRR referred to above, identified medicines used to treat Parkinson’s disease as critical medicines. Although emergency medicine cupboards are not mentioned directly in the RRR, NHS organisations have to review and where necessary make changes to systems for the supply of critical medicines within and outside of hours to minimise risks related to omitted or delayed doses of medicines.

29th Aug 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to improve compliance in (a) hospitals and (b) care homes with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines that people with Parkinson's disease should have their medication given at appropriate times and should be allowed to self-administer if necessary.

Following publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance that people with Parkinson's disease should have their medication given at appropriate times and should be allowed to self-administer if necessary, the National Patient Safety Agency issued a rapid response report (RRR) on omitted and delayed medicines on 24 February 2010, (NSPA/2010/RRR009) Reducing harm from omitted and delayed medicines in hospital, which applies to the National Health Service in both England and Wales. A copy of this report has already been placed in the Library, and a copy is available at:

www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/resources/patient-safety-topics/medication-safety/?entryid45=66720&p=2

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, all providers of regulated activities, including care homes have to register with the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England, and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality. One of these requirements relates to the management of medicines and requires that a provider protects service users against the risks associated with the unsafe use and management of medicines.

NHS England’s Safer Medication Practice Team in Patient Safety, is finalising an e-learning package to help reduce omission and delay in the administration of medicines, including for Parkinson’s disease. This package will be available for all health professionals who prescribe, dispense and administer medicines in hospitals. It aims to increase awareness of the frequency of incidents and harm that are associated with omitted and delayed medicine doses in hospital and describes safer practice

In addition, in March 2014, a joint NHS England and The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Patient Safety Alert, ‘Improving medication error incident reporting and learning’, was issued. A copy of this has been placed in the Library and is available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/psa-med-error.pdf

This alert directs NHS and independent sector organisations to identify medication safety officers by 19 September 2014. They will be empowered to champion and facilitate local learning from patient safety incidents, including those that arise from omissions and delay of medicines for Parkinson’s disease. A National Medication Safety Network is to be established for discussing potential and recognised safety issues and identifying trends and actions to improve the safe use of medicines. The network will also work with new Patient Safety Improvement Collaborative, that will be set up later this year

NHS England does not hold information on the number of NHS trusts that are involved with the Sign up to Safety campaign or the number of trusts who have a policy of stocking medicines for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease in their emergency medicines cupboards.

The NPSA RRR referred to above, identified medicines used to treat Parkinson’s disease as critical medicines. Although emergency medicine cupboards are not mentioned directly in the RRR, NHS organisations have to review and where necessary make changes to systems for the supply of critical medicines within and outside of hours to minimise risks related to omitted or delayed doses of medicines.

29th Aug 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many of the NHS trusts involved in the Sign up to safety campaign have a policy of stocking medicines for the treatment of Parkinson's disease in their emergency medications cupboards.

Following publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance that people with Parkinson's disease should have their medication given at appropriate times and should be allowed to self-administer if necessary, the National Patient Safety Agency issued a rapid response report (RRR) on omitted and delayed medicines on 24 February 2010, (NSPA/2010/RRR009) Reducing harm from omitted and delayed medicines in hospital, which applies to the National Health Service in both England and Wales. A copy of this report has already been placed in the Library, and a copy is available at:

www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/resources/patient-safety-topics/medication-safety/?entryid45=66720&p=2

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, all providers of regulated activities, including care homes have to register with the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England, and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality. One of these requirements relates to the management of medicines and requires that a provider protects service users against the risks associated with the unsafe use and management of medicines.

NHS England’s Safer Medication Practice Team in Patient Safety, is finalising an e-learning package to help reduce omission and delay in the administration of medicines, including for Parkinson’s disease. This package will be available for all health professionals who prescribe, dispense and administer medicines in hospitals. It aims to increase awareness of the frequency of incidents and harm that are associated with omitted and delayed medicine doses in hospital and describes safer practice

In addition, in March 2014, a joint NHS England and The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Patient Safety Alert, ‘Improving medication error incident reporting and learning’, was issued. A copy of this has been placed in the Library and is available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/psa-med-error.pdf

This alert directs NHS and independent sector organisations to identify medication safety officers by 19 September 2014. They will be empowered to champion and facilitate local learning from patient safety incidents, including those that arise from omissions and delay of medicines for Parkinson’s disease. A National Medication Safety Network is to be established for discussing potential and recognised safety issues and identifying trends and actions to improve the safe use of medicines. The network will also work with new Patient Safety Improvement Collaborative, that will be set up later this year

NHS England does not hold information on the number of NHS trusts that are involved with the Sign up to Safety campaign or the number of trusts who have a policy of stocking medicines for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease in their emergency medicines cupboards.

The NPSA RRR referred to above, identified medicines used to treat Parkinson’s disease as critical medicines. Although emergency medicine cupboards are not mentioned directly in the RRR, NHS organisations have to review and where necessary make changes to systems for the supply of critical medicines within and outside of hours to minimise risks related to omitted or delayed doses of medicines.

2nd Jul 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures his Department has put in place to ensure that people with ovarian cancer and their families are aware of the right to request BRCA1/2 testing at the point of diagnosis; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage greater uptake of BRCA1/2 gene testing.

Current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines recommend offering genetic testing to people with a 10% likelihood of carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation.

NHS England is seeking the advice of its specialised gynaecology Clinical Reference Group in order to inform its policy on this matter.

22nd Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken in response to the increase in the number of political prisoners in Burma in the last year.

The UK actively pushes for the release of all political prisoners in Burma. The most recent official figures from the government of Burma suggest that 27 political prisoners remain in prison, having dropped from over 2,000 in 2011. However these figures are contested, and a leading local non-government organisation – the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) – suggest that as of January there are 160 political prisoners with another 203 facing trial.

Clearly, the UK is very concerned by the increase in political prisoners witnessed over the last year. Officials from our Embassy in Rangoon meet regularly with members of civil society on this issue, and we continue to raise our concerns with the government of Burma at Ministerial level. I raised our concerns over political prisoners with Deputy Foreign Minister Thant Kyaw in June 2014. Most recently, the Minister of State at the Home Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Ms Featherstone), raised this issue directly with the Minister for the President’s Office, U Soe Thein, during her visit to Burma this month. We continue to lobby on individual cases. We also raise our concerns publicly in our Annual Report on Human Rights and in multilateral fora such as the UN General Assembly, where the UK co-sponsored a Resolution last year that called for the unconditional release of all political prisoners.

26th Nov 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the role played by women in peace-building in (a) Afghanistan and (b) other countries entering a post-conflict period.

Women have largely been under-represented in peace-building efforts with only 2.5% of signatories to peace agreements being women. This is unacceptable and more must be done. With this in mind, the UK has been working in Afghanistan, and other post-conflict countries, to improve women’s political participation and their role in building peace.

20th Nov 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on the case of Ghoncheh Ghavami.

The Government has raised the case of Ghonceh Ghavami with the Iranian authorities on many occasions, including most recently on 23 November. Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have raised this with President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif. We welcome news that Ms Ghavami has been released on bail. I met with the family on 25 November to discuss ways we can work together to ensure the best possible outcome of this case.

30th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Sudanese government about lessons to be learnt from the case of Meriam Ibrahim.

Officials at the British Embassy in Khartoum have discussed the issues highlighted by the Meriam Ibrahim case with both the Sudanese Attorney General and senior members of the ruling National Congress Party. In addition, my Hon Friend, the member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge MP), the Minister for Africa highlighted the need for the lessons of this case to be learned in a recent letter to the Sudanese Minister for Foreign Affairs. The UK also ensured that this case was raised with the delegation from the Government of Sudan at the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which took place between 8-26 September.

30th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Burmese counterparts on ratification of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights.

We have had a number of discussions with the Burmese government on the importance of Burma ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). I personally raised the importance of adhering to international human rights standards and encouraged the ratification of key human rights treaties with Burma’s Deputy Foreign Minister when we met in June. At the request of the Burmese government the British Embassy in Rangoon recently funded an experts’ visit to Burma to identify steps that would need to be taken and issues that would need to be considered to ratify the ICCPR.

29th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure MONUSCO peace-keepers are implementing their mandate.

United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has a clear mandate and we are working through the UN Security Council and with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, MONUSCO, the government of DRC and governments of the region to ensure it is fully implemented.

In August, the UK used its Presidency of the UN Security Council to draw attention to the importance of MONUSCO implementing its mandate, with the then Minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds MP, chairing a discussion in the UN Security Council which also involved senior Ministers from the region. In September my Hon Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge MP), the Minister for Africa, discussed implementation of MONUSCO’s mandate with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of MONUSCO, Martin Kobler (SRSG). Senior officials in Kinshasa and New York regularly discuss progress and raise issues of concern, including when we believe peacekeepers have fallen short in implementing MONUSCO’s mandate to protect civilians. This has included accompanying the SRSG on visits to peacekeepers on the ground to emphasise what more they need to do to implement the mandate. We have raised the importance of political support for implementing the mandate with governments in the region, including countries which contribute troops to the Force Intervention Brigade. We are also contributing to an ongoing strategic review of MONUSCO which will focus on ways to further deliver the robust and mobile force needed to fully implement the mandate.

29th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to address the situation of religious minorities in India following the recent elections.

Our High Commissioner to New Delhi, Sir James Bevan, met the new Indian Minister for Minorities, Mrs Najma Heptulla, on 16 June and discussed issues facing minority communities in India. Our High Commission in New Delhi also maintains a regular dialogue with officials in India’s national human rights institutions, including the Minorities Commission, and with the relevant State level authorities. We will continue to maintain a dialogue with the new Indian government about minority rights issues.

We also support religious and other minorities in India through the Department for International Development’s programme in India which helps to promote equal treatment and access to services for the most disadvantaged communities.

29th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking in collaboration with Deputy Special Representative of MINUSCA, Diane Corner, to ensure that a comprehensive and inclusive disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process is planned and prioritised in the Central African Republic.

MINUSCA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic) assumed responsibility from the AU Mission, MISCA (African-led support mission to the Central African Republic) on 15 September. The mission’s mandate includes a call for “support for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former armed elements, with specific attention to children, and the repatriation of foreign elements, as well as community violence-reduction programmes”. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials are monitoring MINUSCA’s progress on all areas of the mandate as the mission works to build up to full capacity; and are in close contact with Diane Corner (Deputy SRSG)on this. We have encouraged the UN to prioritise their efforts given the Mission is in early stages, and the operational challenges due to the surge in violence in CAR in recent weeks. Ensuring security is an essential first step in bringing peace and stability to CAR. MINUSCA has a phased mandate, with its priority task being the protection of civilians; HMG supports this approach.
10th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Nigerian government on the use of torture by the Nigerian police and military.

The Government has made clear to the Nigerian authorities at all levels, that we do not condone human rights abuses. During my visit to Abuja on 3 September, my Hon Friend, the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge MP), the Minister for Africa, raised human rights with the Nigerian Foreign Minister, and underlined the importance of respect for human rights and the safeguarding of the civilian population during the Nigerian governments fight against terrorism.

We encourage the Nigerian Government to respond constructively to credible reports of human rights abuses by the Nigerian Security Forces, and to investigate fully. Any member of the Nigerian security forces found to have been involved in human rights abuses should be brought to justice.

29th Aug 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress his Department has made on exploring potential funding options for the Causeway British-Irish Exchange Programme.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office and other government departments continue to explore whether ongoing or transitional financial support is available to the Causeway Youth Exchange Programme following the British Council decision to withdraw financial support. We will look at all potential options and endeavour to keep the programme stakeholders updated on progress.