Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a separate criminal offence of desecration of a corpse.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government understands the concerns of bereaved families who are pressing for a review of the legislative framework around the desecration of corpses. While there is no specific offence of desecrating a corpse in England and Wales, other related offences can apply, such as preventing the lawful burial of a body. When the concealment or desecration of a body is linked to a homicide (to avoid detection, for example), the current sentencing framework treats this as an aggravating factor, ensuring robust sentences. The Government recognises that desecration could include a range of behaviours and is keeping the law under review.
The Government is also taking action to expand the offence of sexual penetration of a corpse under section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The Crime and Policing Bill will replace this offence with a broader offence of sexual activity with a corpse. This will ensure that all intentional sexual touching of a corpse is criminal, not just penetration as is currently the case. Non-penetrative sexual touching will attract a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment. The Bill will increase the maximum penalty for sexual penetration from 2 years’ imprisonment to 7 years.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many meetings has she held with the (a) Farmers Union of Wales (b) National Farmers Union Cymru, (b) Country Land and Business Association Cymru, (c) Tenant Association Farmers Cymru (d) Countryside Alliance Wales and (e) Central Association for Agricultural Valuers since 30 October 2024.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
The farming unions are a key partner for the Wales Office – the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and I are committed to working with them and maintaining an active dialogue. In November 2024, both the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and I met with the Farmers Union of Wales, National Farmers’ Union Cymru, Country Land and Business Association and the Tenant Farmers Association. I separately met with the National Farmers' Union Cymru again later that month.
In January of this year, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State attended the National Farmers Union Cymru Council, and then had a meeting with the National Farmers Union Cymru in March. She will also be meeting with the Farmers Union of Wales at the end of this month.
I want to reiterate that the Government’s commitment to the farming sector is steadfast – that is why we protected the farm budget at its current level, allocating £337 million to the Welsh Government at the Autumn Budget.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many visits has she made to working farms in Wales since the announcement of changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief on 30 October 2024.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
Both the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and I meet regularly with farmers and farming unions to listen to their concerns regarding Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief.
The Government is steadfastly committed to the farming sector – that is why we protected the farm budget at its current level, allocating £337m to the Welsh Government at the Autumn Budget. By negotiating a veterinary agreement with the EU to remove trade barriers and by announcing an extension of the Seasonal Worker visa route for five more years, the Government is supporting farmers to become more profitable.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on promoting the Welsh language in Patagonia.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
I regularly meet with Welsh Government Ministers and the First Minister to discuss a wide range of matters, including the Welsh Language.
Although the Welsh Language is a devolved matter, the UK Government has a role to play in supporting the Welsh Government’s Cymraeg 2050 strategy. This is most notably through ensuring that S4C continues to thrive because of its vital role in ensuring the ongoing promotion and use of the Welsh language.
A good example of collaboration between the UK Government and Welsh Governments on the Welsh Language is the Welsh Language Project (WLP), funded by the Welsh Government and administered by the British Council. This has been promoting and developing the Welsh Language in the Chubut region of Patagonia, Argentina since 1997, where each year two teachers from Wales spend a full academic year from March to December teaching in Patagonia. Teaching time is split between the three Welsh-Spanish bilingual primary schools, Coleg Camwy, a secondary school in Gaiman where Welsh is taught as a second language, and the Welsh for Adults Centres in the region. The project also funds a permanent Welsh Teaching Co-ordinator, based in Patagonia, and supports approximately 20 staff in the schools and adult learning centres to teach Welsh.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing mandatory independent press regulation.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government currently has no plans to establish mandatory press regulation.
This Government is committed to an independent and free media. Having a press that is completely separate from the Government is important to ensure the public have access to accurate and trustworthy information from a range of different sources. An independent self-regulatory regime is important to ensure the press adheres to clear and high standards. We are also clear, however, that with this freedom comes responsibility, and newspapers must operate within the bounds of the law. This includes ensuring access to clear, timely and effective routes to redress.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's joint policy paper entitled Telecare National Action Plan: protecting telecare users through the digital phone switchover, published on 11 February 2025, if he will publish the (a) targets (b) key performance indicators (c) other relevant metrics used for (i) the Plan overall (ii) each headline outcome and (iii) each individual outcome.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are currently in the process of agreeing targets and Key Performance Indicators for each of the actions included in the Telecare National Action Plan, working with action owners and wider stakeholders.
The Telecare National Action Plan commits to providing updates every six months. We will comment on the progress against the actions in these updates. We will include relevant metrics, where the data and evidence are considered sufficiently robust.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to support the effective delivery of the National Telecare Campaign.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are very focused on making sure that the transition - which is industry-led - happens safely and securely. The objective of the National Telecare Campaign is to identify vulnerable customers. The campaign is one method of identifying vulnerable customers, by raising awareness among telecare users and their family and friends. In addition, communication providers are identifying vulnerable people through data sharing agreements with local authorities, including in Ceredigion Preseli, and private telecare providers.
The Government is monitoring the development of the campaign and the number of data sharing agreements made by communication providers to identify vulnerable customers.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of pausing the creation of new Carer’s Allowance overpayment debts until the conclusion of the independent review.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Overpayments have caused significant anxiety for some people. It is important to take the time to review what happened independently, to establish what exactly what went wrong and assess how to put things right. We will await the findings of the independent review being conducted by Liz Sayce. The review is not a substitute for legal proceedings and the existence of the review does not prejudice any business-as-usual activity by DWP.
We carefully balance our duty to the taxpayer to recover overpayments with safeguards in place to manage repayments fairly. Carers have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. Support remains in place with DWP’s Debt Management Service available to speak to anyone who has had an overpayment about the terms of their repayment.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions has she had with the Welsh Government regarding the Spending Review.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State and the wider ministerial team are in regular contact with Welsh Government counterparts and have ongoing, constructive discussions on our respective strategic priorities. There is also regular collaboration at senior official level through a number of fora, notably the Wales Rail Board.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, and report entitled Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts, published on 26 March 2025, when she plans to publish an impact assessment of the effect of welfare reforms in Wales.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the “Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper” will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement.
Future publications will include some information on people in Wales affected. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.