Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2025 to Question 51141 on Western Sahara: Self-determination of States, if he will support a referendum on self-determination for the people of Western Sahara.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 1 June, the Foreign Secretary endorsed Morocco's autonomy proposal as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution of the Western Sahara conflict. To that end, the UK continues to support the parties and the UN to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution, based on compromise, which conforms with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including the principle of respect for self-determination. The UK will continue to support the efforts of the United Nations and the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, and work with all stakeholders to encourage dialogue and compromise, with the aim of achieving a peaceful and mutually agreed resolution that upholds the dignity and rights of the people of Western Sahara and contributes to long-term regional stability.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether the transfer of Moroccan citizens into occupied Western Sahara is a breach of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide, including in Morocco and Western Sahara, and consistently urges all states to uphold international law and international human rights standards. We regularly make this clear to the parties. On 1 June, the Foreign Secretary endorsed Morocco's autonomy proposal as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution of the Western Sahara conflict. In that context, we continue to support the parties and the UN to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution, based on compromise, which conforms with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including the principle of respect for self-determination.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the merits of a national older offender strategy to address the health needs of the ageing prison population.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Independent Sentencing Review considered issues relating to older cohorts including older prisoners as part of its remit. We have accepted in principle the vast majority of the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendations and we will work with partners and the sector as we develop our approach.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the (a) palliative, (b) end of life care and (c) other medical needs of older prisoners.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As a signatory to the National Partnership Agreement for Health and Social Care for people in contact with the criminal justice system, the Department is committed to working with the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, NHS England, and the UK Health Security Agency to ensure that safe, legal, decent, and effective care that improves health outcomes and reduces health inequalities is provided for all prisoners, including those who are elderly.
NHS England is responsible for providing a full range of healthcare services to meet the needs of the prison population. Every prison will have a health needs assessment undertaken on a regular basis which is then used to locally determine the health needs and requirements of that prison’s population. This includes supporting elderly prisoners in their palliative care, end of life care, and other health needs such as dementia care. Local authorities also have a duty to support elderly prisoners with their social care needs.
The Dying Well in Custody Charter and supporting self-assessment framework describes a set of national standards for local adoption and provides a tool for a local multi-disciplinary approach to providing agreed standards of palliative and end of life care to people in prison. The charter is available at the following link:
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many full-time equivalent (a) civil servants and (b) consultants were working on proposals for the expansion of Heathrow Airport on 20 May 2025; and what the cost to the public purse is for (a) the time spent by civil servants and (b) consultants who have been working on this since 29 January 2025.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Chancellor announced on 29 January that the government supports expansion that is in line with our legal, environmental and climate obligations and has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, to be brought forward by the summer.
As the lead department supporting this key priority, we are working with colleagues across government to ensure appropriate resource to support the successful delivery of this work including, where appropriate, external expertise. Between the months of January and May 2025, the Department has not spent any money on consultants in relation to Heathrow work.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2025 to Question 48089 on Bahrain: Human Rights, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the criticisms from civil society organisations about the institutions mentioned.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We take civil society views into account, alongside a range of other sources of information, when making human rights assessments about a country. The UK continues to support the development of Bahrain's human rights institutions.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Bahrain on Bahrain’s political isolation laws.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary has not discussed this with his Bahraini counterpart.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Bahrain on the (a) independence and (b) effectiveness of (i) Bahrain's human rights oversight mechanisms, (ii) the National Institution for Human Rights and (iii) the Office of the Ombudsman.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary visited Bahrain in October 2024 and met the Foreign Minister. The focus of that visit was de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East, and to meet UK personnel working in the region, underscoring our commitment to regional security and stability.
The UK encourages all countries to uphold international human rights obligations. We recognise a number of positive steps taken by the Government of Bahrain over recent years in a range of human rights and justice areas, some of which the UK has directly supported, including the establishment of some of these independent human rights oversight bodies, such as the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ministry Of Interior Ombudsman, and the Prisoner and Detainee Rights Commission (PDRC), and helped build the capacity of the National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR).
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph 3.54 of the Office for Budget Responsibility's publication entitled Economic and fiscal outlook, published in March 2025, if he will publish the assessments referenced.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging volumes and recycling rates.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value was of (a) exports to and (b) imports from Israeli settlements in 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government’s position is that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law. Goods originating from these settlements are not entitled to tariff and trade preferences under either the existing agreement between the UK and Israel or under our agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
UK trade statistics are based on data supplied in customs declarations, which includes the country code of the trading partner. This enables trade to be listed as Israel (IL) or the Occupied Palestinian Territories (PS).
Where there are doubts about the declared origin of goods, checks will be undertaken to verify the origin of those goods.