Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence on the strategic role of Gibraltar, in the context of the negotiations with the EU on the Gibraltar-Spain border.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is clear that any agreement will preserve the operational autonomy of the military facilities in Gibraltar. The Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Defence have discussed and are unequivocal on this. Ministry of Defence officials are fully involved in our approach to the negotiations.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what his Department's expected timetable is for concluding negotiations with the EU on Gibraltar.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK-EU negotiations began in October 2021 and there have been 18 formal rounds. The Foreign Secretary, together with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picard, met European Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares in Brussels on Friday 12 April. General political lines were agreed, including on the airport, goods and mobility. Negotiations will continue over the coming weeks to seek to conclude the UK-EU Agreement as soon as possible.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Gibraltarian counterpart on self-determination in Gibraltar, in the context of negotiations with the EU on the Gibraltar-Spain border.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is working side-by-side with the Chief Minister and Government of Gibraltar in our efforts to conclude a UK-EU treaty. The UK Government is clear that the people of Gibraltar enjoy the right of self-determination. The 2006 Gibraltar Constitution - which was endorsed in referendum by the people of Gibraltar - provides for a modern and mature relationship between Gibraltar and the UK. The UK Government will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another State against their freely and democratically expressed wishes.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the use of RAF Gibraltar, in the context of negotiations with the EU on the Gibraltar-Spain border.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Secretary of State for Defence has engaged with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on RAF Gibraltar and the EU Negotiations on several occasions. The Ministry of Defence continues to engage with other Government Departments throughout the negotiation process to ensure that the UK remains able to operate to, through and from Gibraltar without interruption or external interference.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will hold discussions with the Leader of the House on making parliamentary time available for scrutiny of Ofcom’s guidance on age verification and age assurance before publication of a government response.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Parliamentary scheduling is a matter for the Business Managers.
The government is focused on implementing the Online Safety Act as quickly as possible. Ofcom published its consultation on draft guidance about use of age assurance for sites displaying pornographic content on 5 December 2023, and this was open for responses until 5 March 2024. The Act requires that Ofcom consult with the Secretary of State before producing this guidance.
For the broader duties under the Act about protecting children from harmful content, we expect Ofcom to publish its draft codes of practice later in the Spring. The Act requires that codes of practice are laid in both Houses before coming into force.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much Ofcom has spent to implement the Online Safety Act 2023; and how many staff have been (a) hired by and (b) seconded to Ofcom for implementation of that Act.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As published in the NAO’s report on preparedness for online safety, Ofcom spent £2.7m in 2020-21, £14.7m in 2021-22, £38.2m in 2022-23 and their spend in 2023-24 is to be confirmed, noting the Government-set spending cap is £47m. This report can be found here: www.nao.org.uk/reports/preparedness-for-online-safety-regulation/
The Government’s intention is that the regulation of online safety will become cost neutral to the exchequer. The Online Safety Act 2023 allows Ofcom to raise the required income to cover the costs of running the online safety regime, including set up costs, through industry fees.
As of March 2024, there are 202 colleagues in Ofcom’s Online Safety Directorate. Beyond the Online Safety Directorate, there are employees within Ofcom's Legal and Enforcement, Research and Analytics, Strategy and Research, and Corporate groups that also work full time on Ofcom's online safety work.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with (a) relevant stakeholders and (b) his international counterparts on reported terror activity within and near United Nations Works and Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) facilities in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations extremely seriously, including any incidents related to UN installations. The FCDO also monitors this closely through our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified, UNRWA has taken action, including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Palestinian counterpart on the content of Palestinian Authority textbooks.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We regularly discuss issues relating to the curriculum and textbooks with counterparts including in the Palestinian Authority (PA). The UK-supported 2021 review of the Palestinian Authority (PA) curriculum found improvements in content, with previously flagged materials removed. We need to see further curriculum reform from the PA, and we continue to raise this with them regularly.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the recent report from the Israel Defence Force's Colonel Elad Shushan on the presence of weapons at civilian sites.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are aware of reports of Hamas using schools and other infrastructure for their operations. We are strongly condemn Hamas' ongoing use of civilian areas. By embedding themselves in the civilian population and civilian infrastructure, Hamas is putting Palestinian civilians at grave risk. We have been clear that for a lasting peace, removing Hamas' capacity to continue launching attacks against Israel and ensuring Hamas is no longer in charge of Gaza are both vital steps.
However, we also remain deeply concerned about the impact of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operations on the civilian population in Gaza. The Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have underlined the need for Israel to ensure effective deconfliction in Gaza. We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to renegotiate carnet provisions between the UK and EU on the movement of vehicles and parts used in motorsport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is committed to maintaining the option of using ATA Carnets for temporary movements of professional equipment to the EU. Carnets can be a simpler and cheaper way to move goods into and out of a customs territory temporarily, compared to submitting full customs import and export declarations and paying duties.
The EU’s Temporary Admission procedure in combination with the UK’s Returned Goods Relief offers another alternative to move items temporarily into the EU and back to the UK without paying import duties. Improved guidance on the temporary movement of goods from the UK has recently been published: https://www.gov.uk/taking-goods-out-gb-temporarily.
The Government is reviewing how we can improve the UK’s own Temporary Admission procedure and simplify processes for individuals and businesses, and has engaged with the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders which included representatives from Motorsport UK. HMRC and HMT are open to further discussions and any specific concerns the motorsport industry has around the options available for temporarily moving goods.
Work to digitalise ATA Carnets and their processes is currently underway as part of a World customs Organisation (WCO) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) initiative. The Digital Pilot was launched in February 2019, initially involving the UK and five other countries. To date the UK has successfully processed a number of e-Carnets from Heathrow and is looking to collaborate with more ports to make digital Carnets more readily available. More information is available at https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/icc-new-ata-carnet-app-makes-digital-declarations-and-transactions-possible/