Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the status of unrecognised villages in the (a) Naqab and (b) Negev region of southern Israel.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We continue to monitor the issue of unresolved Bedouin land claims, and unrecognised Bedouin villages, in the Negev/Naqab region, and lack of basic services. We continue to encourage the Israeli authorities and Bedouin communities to engage in dialogue to agree a satisfactory solution to the issue, respecting the rights of the people affected.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the alleged use of artificial intelligence software in the conflict in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Ministers and senior officials regularly raise with their Israeli counterparts a range of issues related to the conflict.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any UK-based artificial intelligence companies have export licenses to Israel.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We continue to monitor the situation in Israel and Gaza closely. The UK has not granted any export licences to UK-based AI companies to export to Israel.
All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The UK operates one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether export control licensing requirements for AI weapons systems include checks on the (a) accuracy and (b) reliability of those systems.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. This is an important lever for promoting both UK prosperity and national and global security.
We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (the SELC).
The SELC provide a thorough risk assessment framework for export licence applications and require us to think hard about the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. We will not license the export of equipment where to do so would be inconsistent with the SELC. These are not decisions we take lightly.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of patients who (a) have had polio and (b) have post-polio syndrome in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department does not hold data on the number of patients who have had polio or post-polio syndrome. However, the Department does hold data on the number of admissions to hospital, where polio or post-polio syndrome was recorded as a diagnosis, from 2018 to 2023:
- in 2018/19, there were 176 admissions to National Health Service hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 797 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis;
- in 2019/20, there were 187 admissions to NHS hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 813 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis;
- in 2020/21, there were 107 admissions to NHS hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 522 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis;
- in 2021/22, there were 115 admissions to NHS hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 630 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis; and
- in 2022/23, there were 104 admissions to NHS hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 632 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis.
It is important to note that the number of admissions does not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. It is estimated that there are approximately 120,000 people living in the United Kingdom who survived polio when they were younger. Some of these have, or will develop, post-polio syndrome.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the statement by Amnesty International UK and other NGOs entitled UK Groups say Government’s Public Position on Weapons Licences to Israel is at odds with what the Government has Admitted in Litigation, and Calls for an Explanation, as Rafah Braces for Further Atrocities, published on 28 February 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government operates a robust and thorough assessment of licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, and we will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with those Criteria. We regularly publish data on export licensing decisions on the dedicated gov.uk site: [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data].
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what local authorities in Scotland (a) have and (b) have not been allocated funding via the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Jacob Young
A full list of successful applicants, as well as geographic and thematic analysis can be found on Gov.UK.
Successful Round 1 bidders
Successful Round 2 bidders
Round’s 1 and 2 geographic and thematic analysis
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what constituencies in Scotland (a) have and (b) have not been allocated funding via the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Jacob Young
A full list of successful applicants, as well as geographic and thematic analysis can be found on Gov.UK.
Successful Round 1 bidders
Successful Round 2 bidders
Round’s 1 and 2 geographic and thematic analysis
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the scale of damage to UK-funded projects in Gaza since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Given the ongoing conflict, we are not able to provide this assessment at this time. There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza.
We have trebled our aid commitment for this financial year and are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to increase access. We are pushing to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes. We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to be respected and civilians to be protected.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many meetings he has had with the Israeli Ambassador since 13 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We continue to engage closely and regularly with a range of senior Israeli officials. Since the outbreak of the conflict on 7 October, the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely has had two meetings with Foreign Office Ministers. The Ambassador spoke with Lord Ahmad, Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, on 10 October. She also attended a meeting on 24 October between former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and the families of those taken hostage by Hamas.