Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in India on the use of pellet ammunition by Indian troops in Kashmir.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
I have discussed the use of pellet guns and alternative methods of crowd control in India administered Kashmir with Indian government representatives. As the Government of India's report into alternative methods of crowd control has not been released publicly, we have not been able to review it or its recommendations.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of 18 October 2016, Official Report, column 653, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in India on the review of the use of pellet guns and the proposed alternative methods of crowd control.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Government of India's report into alternative methods of crowd control has not been released publicly, so we have not been able to review it or its recommendations.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of people (a) killed, (b) blinded and (c) otherwise seriously injured during recent disturbances in Kashmir.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We do not hold any records of the information requested. I am aware of media reports of injuries occurring in Kashmir. As noted in Foreign & Commonwealth Office travel advice, we currently have limited accessibility to the Kashmir Valley. This makes it challenging to obtain accurate information on the situation there.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions she has had on Kashmir with the Prime Minister of India and Indian officials during her recent visit to that country.
Answered by Theresa May
During my visit I discussed a variety of issues with Prime Minister Modi, including Kashmir.
The UK's long-standing position, held by successive Governments, is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government departments allow professional drivers making deliveries to departmental premises to use employee toilet facilities.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
It is for individual departments to determine their own access arrangements. The Cabinet Office's own protective security arrangements apply to staff, contractors and all visitors. It is not the policy of the department to publish what those arrangements are.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which organisations and individuals have been invited to attend the logistics industry round table to discuss driver shortage and future recruitment on 17 November 2016.
Answered by John Hayes
The invitation list for the round table is yet to be finalised. People from a number of organisations have been asked to keep the time on 17th November available. The organisations (other than Government) involved are Abbey Logistics Group, the British International Freight Association, British Ports, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Freight Transport Association, Freightlink Europe, Labyrinth Solutions, the Rail Delivery Group, Rail Freight Group, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, the Road Haulage Association, Unite the Union, the UK Major Ports Group and the UK Warehousing Association.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has not been given access to HM Revenue and Customs' freight transport data system.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs has no record of a request by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Association and would be happy to give such a request full consideration.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what system is available to the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency to ensure compliance with cabotage regulations.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) ensures compliance with the cabotage regulations by carrying out roadside checks, which are conducted by DVSA enforcement examiners.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the proposed salary and permitted allowances are for the chairs of each sustainability and transformation plan body.
Answered by David Mowat
Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) footprints are not statutory bodies, but collective discussion forums which aim to bring together health and care leaders to support the delivery of improved health and care based on the needs of local populations. They do not replace existing local bodies, or change local accountabilities. Each footprint has been asked to determine governance arrangements for agreeing and implementing their STP. Individuals who are leading the development of STPs within each footprint, which include National Health Service provider Chief Executives, clinical commissioning group accountable officers and local authority senior leaders, are responsible for convening and chairing system-wide meetings, facilitating the open and honest conversations that will be necessary to secure sign up to a shared vision and plan. In the overwhelming majority of cases this is a voluntary, non-statutory role and they are not being paid over and above the remuneration they receive for their existing role. Their salary details will be available in the individual annual reports of the organisations by whom they are substantively employed.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms his Department has in place to ensure that areas of deprivation receiving higher levels of health funding per head of population do not subsidise less deprived areas as a result of sustainability and transformation plan footprints covering a wide geographic area.
Answered by David Mowat
Sustainability and Transformation Plans are designed to set out a local roadmap for closing the health, care and quality and financial gaps faced by the National Health Service over the coming years. The health gap includes inequalities in health and healthcare, and we expect plans to set out how these will be addressed by NHS bodies working with local government. In addition, NHS England’s method for allocating funding to clinical commissioning groups corrects for inequalities by allocating greater funding to areas that have historically been underfunded.