Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how much and what proportion of funding announced at the pledging conferences for (a) Sudan and (b) Ethiopia is new; and how will that funding be released.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
On 15 April Lord Benyon attended the Sudan Humanitarian Pledging Conference in Paris where the UK re-affirmed our funding for Sudan this financial year of £89 million. We are still in the process of allocating funding in Sudan for 2024/25, but part of it includes funding to UNICEF which will provide emergency and life-saving food assistance to support people in hard-to reach areas in Sudan, including nutrition, water and hygiene services for 500,000 children under 5. At the high-level pledging conference for Ethiopia which took place in April, I announced £100 million in UK funding. This support had not been previously announced. This included £30 million to treat acute malnutrition for those in greatest need.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Dog Legislation Officers there were on 15 September 2023; how many and what proportion of those Dog Legislation Officers have received training in the identification standard for an XL Bully; and how many new Dog Legislation Officers have been trained since 1 January 2024.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold data on the number of Dog Legislation Officers. This information is held by individual police forces.
We have supported the police to deliver additional training to Dog Legislation Officers to make sure the ban is effectively enforced.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department calculated its estimate of the number of dogs which would be affected by a ban on XL Bully dogs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra calculated its assessment of the number of dogs which would be affected by a ban on XL Bully dogs using evidence and data collated in consultation with key stakeholders.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what extra resource is being provided for police forces to support their increased caseloads in enforcing the ban on XL Bully dogs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office to assess enforcement capability and capacity in relation to the ban on XL Bully type dogs. We have supported the police to deliver additional training to Dog Legislation Officers to make sure the ban is effectively enforced.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects his Department’s Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group to report.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We expect the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to publish its findings soon. These should address all aspects of tackling irresponsible dog ownership effectively, from prevention to robust, consistent enforcement, focussing on owners as well as on their dogs.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the income raised from charges for certificates of exemption to keep an XL Bully dog have been ringfenced to (a) cover the administrative costs of the exemption scheme and (b) support local authorities to enforce the ban.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The application fee paid by XL bully owners on registering an XL Bully covers the administrative costs for the life of the dog, including processing the application and lifetime record management.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help secure the release of Ms Elizabeth Tsurkov who was kidnapped in Iraq in March 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is concerned over the kidnapping of Israeli-Russian dual national Elizabeth Tsurkov. The Government of Iraq opened an investigation into her kidnapping last year and we await the findings. Those suspected of criminal responsibility for her kidnapping should be brought to justice in fair trials. However, as Elizabeth Tsurkov is not a British citizen, we are not in a position to offer direct consular assistance.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mental health trusts are implementing smoking cessation services.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 yearly deaths in the United Kingdom and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. Smoking is closely associated with poor mental health and wellbeing, as people with mental health conditions die 10 to 20 years earlier, with smoking contributing significantly to this. Further information on the wellbeing of smokers aged 18 years old and over, and the relationship between smoking and mental health, is available respectively at the following links:
https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2020/02/26/health-matters-smoking-and-mental-health/
It also costs our country £17 billion a year, £14 billion of which is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year. At the end of quarter three of 2023/24, 37 out of 48 Mental Health services identified as eligible under the NHS Long Term Plan, are reporting that they are delivering tobacco dependence treatment services.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her Department's planned timescale is for the review of banana tariffs.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-Andean Countries Trade Agreement is due to commence in summer 2024. The agreement does not commit the UK to any further liberalisation of the market.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2023 to Question 5408, if he will publish his Department's communications with the Hong Kong authorities on facilitating early drawdown of pension funds.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK firmly opposes the discrimination that British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) status holders are facing in applying for early withdrawal of their pension funds held by the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) in Hong Kong.
All representations to the Hong Kong authorities have been made via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office or the Department for Business and Trade.