Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 Venezuelan counterpart on the potential impact of not allowing the Opposition candidate to run on the export of its oil to the UK.
Answered by David Rutley
In line with several other countries, the UK continues not to accept the legitimacy of the administration put in place by Nicolás Maduro. The Venezuelan regime's decision to bar opposition leader, María Corina Machado, from holding public office is contrary to democratic principles. We believe it is vital for opposition candidates to be able to stand for election and continue to call for a more open political environment. We have registered our concern regarding the situation of Maria Corina Machado and other opposition candidates who remain barred from public office. We continue to encourage all parties concerned to do everything necessary to restore democracy and hold fair and competitive presidential elections in 2024, in line with the Bridgetown Agreement of October 2023. Venezuela's oil is currently not exported to the UK.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with his Venezuelan counterpart on the potential impact of the Law on Control, Regularization, Operations and Financing of Non-Governmental and Related Organisation on independent NGOs in the country.
Answered by David Rutley
In line with several other countries, the UK continues not to accept the legitimacy of the administration put in place by Nicolás Maduro. The UK firmly supports the right of civil society to operate freely in all countries, including Venezuela. We remain concerned about the worrying deterioration of the human rights situation in Venezuela. The Maduro regime continues to stifle media freedom, carry out arbitrary detentions and harass journalists and human rights defenders. The UK is closely monitoring the proposed law on control, regularization, operations and financing of non-governmental and related organisations, which would limit further the civil and democratic space. We raised our concern about the proposed bill at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2023. We urge the Venezuelan regime to undertake constructive dialogue with civil society to ensure that the proposed law is compatible with freedom of association, freedom of expression and the right to political participation.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support voluntary sector providers of mental health services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Since 2020, the Department provided £10.2 million of additional funding to support mental health charities, including Samaritans and the Campaign Against Living Miserably, and over £34 million to organisations supporting people who experience loneliness. The Department also invested £5.4 million to support suicide prevention through 113 voluntary and community sector organisations, through the Suicide Prevention Grant Fund. This was part of the Government's unprecedented £750 million package of support for the voluntary sector during the pandemic, which benefited over 14,000 charities. In addition, the Suicide Prevention Grant Fund will run from 2023 to March 2025 to support voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to deliver suicide prevention activity.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of limiting vape flavours to tobacco-flavoured devices on levels of smoking; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to implement such a limitation.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Due to nicotine content and the unknown long-term harms, vaping carries risks to health and lifelong addiction for children. The health advice is clear that young people and people who have never smoked should not vape.
This is why the Government consulted on measures to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children. These measures will need to balance having the biggest impact on youth vaping with ensuring vapes continue to support adult smokers to quit.
The consultation response will be published shortly.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the consultation entitled Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, published on 12 October 2023, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of including heated tobacco products within these proposals on levels of smoking cessation.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes approximately one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products.
All tobacco products are harmful. The new legislation proposes to mirror existing age of sale legislation which includes any product containing tobacco, both smoked and smokeless, and intended for oral or nasal use, and cigarette papers. Our consultation to gather views on our proposals and their implementation closed on 6 December 2023.
We will publish our Impact Assessment shortly.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how soon after the closure of her Department's consultation entitled Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping on 6 December 2023 she plans to publish the draft Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.
That is why we will introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this parliamentary session to create the first smokefree generation and enable us to further crack down on youth vaping. The consultation closed on 6 December 2023 and we will respond shortly ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle shortages of Riluzole; and whether she plans to issue guidance to (a) local NHS Trusts and (b) prescribers to help ensure patients are able to access treatment for motor neurone disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are aware that one of the suppliers of riluzole 50 milligram tablets is experiencing a supply issue. However, alternative suppliers have stock available. We are working closely with all the relevant manufacturers to expedite deliveries, where possible, to ensure supplies remain available for patients in the United Kingdom.
We have well-established processes for managing and mitigating medicine supply issues, which involve working with the pharmaceutical industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NHS England, the devolved governments and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients have access to the treatments they need.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his written statement of 24 October 2023 on Building Safety Update, HCWS1090, when he plans to publish guidance on second staircase design; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken to bring forward this guidance on levels of new housing supply.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 909 on 13 November 2023. The Government recognises that further detail is needed on staircase design to allow the construction and property development sector to understand how policy changes might affect project viability, further information will be made available by the end of the year.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department consulted letting agencies on the Renters (Reform) Bill during the development of proposals for that Bill; and whether his Department has received representations from those agencies since the introduction of that Bill.
Answered by Jacob Young
The Government worked with a broad range of stakeholders to develop the measures in the Renters (Reform) Bill and has continued to engage with stakeholders since the Bill was introduced. This includes groups who represent and work with letting agents.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his Venezuelan counterpart on the release of (a) Guillermo Zarraga, (b) Emirlendris Benítez, (c) Gabriel Blanco, (d) Maria Auxiliadora Delgado, (e) Juan Carlos Marufo, (f) Dario Estrada and (g) Robert Franco.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK continues to call for the unconditional release of all those unjustly detained in Venezuela. We regularly raise the human rights situation in Venezuela at the UN Human Rights Council, and our Embassy in Caracas supports local non-governmental organisations working on human rights. We continue to encourage the implementation of the Venezuelan-led political agreement reached on 17 October in Barbados, including the release of political prisoners. The regime's practice of regularly targeting those engaged in human rights work stands in the way of democracy and a resolution to Venezuela's humanitarian crisis. Human rights violations must stop.