Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions a) Ministers and b) officials in her Department have had with the Soft Power Council.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since the Soft Power Council was established in January 2025, it has met four times. Information about the Soft Power Council and its meetings is available on GOV.UK, including meeting dates, terms of reference, and abridged minutes of discussions.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support farmers in Staffordshire with energy costs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government is actively monitoring the developments in the Middle East, including their impact on the supply and price of red diesel.
This Government is taking decisive action to support farmers and fishers by cutting the duty on red diesel to its lowest rate in over 20 years, reducing the rates on red diesel by a third.
Government has acted to prevent unfair practices like price-gouging, help those who rely on heating oil, and ensure businesses get a fair deal on their bills.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Badger vaccination scheme.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Multiple published studies indicate that badger vaccination is safe and can reduce TB infection and transmission in badgers. Vaccination is now being deployed across a number of large areas, including through a newly contracted Badger Vaccination Field Force. This expanded programme will provide further opportunities to assess and add to the body of evidence about the impact of vaccination on reducing TB incidence in cattle, where important evidence gaps remain.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle national security threats from China.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
China poses a range of security threats to the UK. The Government will continue to tackle activity that threatens our national security and infringes on sovereign affairs.
Where there are individuals who pose a threat to our national security, we are committed to using the full range of powers to disrupt them, including the National Security Act 2023.
The Government is undertaking a range of work to further secure the UK from state threats activity. This includes:
We have recently seen the first National Security Act prosecutions in relation to China on May 7. This continues to demonstrate that those who break our laws will face the full force of the law.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions a) Ministers and b) officials in his Department have had with the UK Soft Power Council.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support home schooled children with additional needs.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, the department will introduce mandatory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England and Wales. When implemented, these registers will support local authorities to identify children who are home educated, including those additional needs such as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The Act also introduces, for the first time, a statutory support duty on local authorities to provide advice and information to home educating families on the registers who request support. This will establish a consistent baseline of support across all local authorities in England and Wales, including for families of children with additional needs who choose to access this support.
More widely, the Every Child Achieving and Thriving white paper sets out the government's vision for SEND reform to support every child to achieve and thrive.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate regulation of charities who supply assistance dogs.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Standards for assistance dogs are currently and historically maintained on the basis of a voluntary regulatory framework.
Several UK charities and organisations are accredited to recognised international standards for assistance dogs. Assistance dogs are also provided by other charities and private sector organisations, including owner trainers, which are not accredited by international bodies. Assistance dogs might be regarded as such, if they serve to mitigate disabilities, whether physical, mental or behavioural conditions, and they have sufficient training to warrant public access.
There are well established dog training organisations which have international accreditation and are members of the umbrella coalition Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK). There are also other training organisations and associations of owner trainers that do not have international accreditation.
Following a Government initiative in 2017/18, a new charity was established - the Assistance Dogs Assessment Association (ADAA) - which offers a test and certificate for assistance dogs trained through sources without international accreditation. It is therefore now possible for assistance dogs to be tested and certified as having reached a set standard, even where they are trained by a body without international accreditation.
Assistance dog charities are regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, and must comply with charity law, as well as broader legal requirements relating to animal welfare. The Charity Commission's role as independent registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales is to ensure that charity trustees comply with their duties as set out in charity law. If the trustees are acting within the law, fulfilling their duties and furthering their charitable purpose, the Charity Commission cannot become involved in the internal decision making of a charity.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions a) Ministers and b) officials in her Department have had with the Soft Power Council.
Answered by Rachel Blake - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
No Government Department Ministers beyond FCDO and DCMS have met the Soft Power Council as a group. Further information about the Soft Power Council and its meetings is available on GOV.UK. Beyond this, the information you requested regarding discussions is not held centrally and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions a) Ministers and b) officials in his Department have had with the Soft Power Council.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Since the Soft Power Council was established in January 2025, it has met four times. Information about the Soft Power Council and its meetings is available on GOV.UK, including meeting dates, terms of reference, and abridged minutes of discussions.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on tackling rural crime.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime. That is why the Home Office and Defra collaborated with the National Police Chiefs’ Councils to deliver their renewal of the Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy, which was published in November. The strategy, lasting until 2028, will ensure efforts to reduce crime benefit every community no matter where they live, including rural communities. Defra is in regular discussion with colleagues across government to ensure this is delivered.