Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his policy is on granting people with arrest warrants issued against them by the International Criminal Court access to UK airspace.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Airspace access is not within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's policy responsibilities. The Civil Aviation Authority is responsible for airspace management and related policies in the UK.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in the occupied territory of Western Sahara.
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 Western Sahara. We consistently support the UN efforts to resolve the situation in Western Sahara, and support language in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions that encourages the parties to continue their efforts to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara, including the freedoms of expression and association. We engage regularly with the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General on Western Sahara.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
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 the Government of Morocco on the expulsion of (a) Dolores Travieso Darias, (b) Flora Moreno Ramos and (c) Silvestre Suarez Fernandez from El Aaiun.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office have had no such discussions regarding these three individuals.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will ask the UN Secretary General to investigate (a) how many allegations of human rights abuses have been made to the Moroccan National Human Rights Council in Western Sahara and (b) whether those allegations have been investigated in each year since 2015.
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 Western Sahara. We consistently support the UN efforts to resolve the situation in Western Sahara, and support language in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions that encourages the parties to continue their efforts to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara, including the freedoms of expression and association. We engage regularly with the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General on Western Sahara.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's official Spring Statement of 26 March 2025, whether the 1.3million homes to be built will be built in the UK or in England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The 1.3 million homes figure referenced represents a forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) based solely on the impact of the changes the government made to the National Planning Policy Framework on 12 December 2024. The OBR does not provide a breakdown between England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The government’s Plan for Change includes an ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will amend the Police pension scheme 1987 to allow surviving (a) partners, (b) widows and (c) widowers to retain their full entitlement upon (i) remarriage and (ii) cohabitation.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 1987 Police Pension Scheme provides a pension for the widow, widower or civil partner of a police officer who dies. In common with most other public service pension schemes of that time, these benefits cease to be payable where the widow, widower or civil partner remarries or cohabits with another partner. With the introduction of the 2006 and 2015 police pension schemes, all eligible police officers were able to join a pension scheme that provides life-long survivor benefits for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, including those who remarry or cohabit after losing a spouse.
From 1 April 2015, the 1987 Police Pension Scheme was amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers who have died as a result of an injury on duty to receive their survivor benefits for life regardless of remarriage, civil partnership or cohabitation.
There are no plans at this time to make any further changes to benefits accrued in the 1987 police scheme. It was not originally costed to provide these extended benefits, and retrospectively changing the scheme would create additional costs for current officers and taxpayers.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential (a) impact and (b) merits of reforming the 1987 Police Pension Scheme rules on police (i) widows, (ii) widowers and (iii) surviving partners in Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 1987 Police Pension Scheme provides a pension for the widow, widower or civil partner of a police officer who dies. In common with most other public service pension schemes of that time, these benefits cease to be payable where the widow, widower or civil partner remarries or cohabits with another partner. With the introduction of the 2006 and 2015 police pension schemes, all eligible police officers were able to join a pension scheme that provides life-long survivor benefits for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, including those who remarry or cohabit after losing a spouse.
From 1 April 2015, the 1987 Police Pension Scheme was amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers who have died as a result of an injury on duty to receive their survivor benefits for life regardless of remarriage, civil partnership or cohabitation.
There are no plans at this time to make any further changes to benefits accrued in the 1987 police scheme. It was not originally costed to provide these extended benefits, and retrospectively changing the scheme would create additional costs for current officers and taxpayers.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of amending the Police pension scheme 1987 to allow surviving (a) partners, (b) widows and (c) widowers to retain their full entitlement upon (i) remarriage and (ii) cohabitation.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 1987 Police Pension Scheme provides a pension for the widow, widower or civil partner of a police officer who dies. In common with most other public service pension schemes of that time, these benefits cease to be payable where the widow, widower or civil partner remarries or cohabits with another partner. With the introduction of the 2006 and 2015 police pension schemes, all eligible police officers were able to join a pension scheme that provides life-long survivor benefits for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, including those who remarry or cohabit after losing a spouse.
From 1 April 2015, the 1987 Police Pension Scheme was amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers who have died as a result of an injury on duty to receive their survivor benefits for life regardless of remarriage, civil partnership or cohabitation.
There are no plans at this time to make any further changes to benefits accrued in the 1987 police scheme. It was not originally costed to provide these extended benefits, and retrospectively changing the scheme would create additional costs for current officers and taxpayers.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether levels of compensation payments reflect the impact that failures in the Horizon system had on the families of affected sub-postmasters.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Many of the impacts experienced by family members of affected postmasters will already be compensated for under the relevant scheme in which postmasters are seeking redress. For example, there will be full compensation paid to the affected postmaster for joint losses such as where a family home has been lost, and this will take account of the financial impacts on family members.
The Government is however considering whether to extend additional redress to members of postmasters’ families who were affected by the scandal and will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had recent discussions with Ofcom on increasing the four-hour minimum time requirement for power backup during power outages in the broadband phone network.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Communication providers have statutory responsibilities to take appropriate and proportionate steps to provide resilient networks and services. Ofcom published guidance in September 2024 on the measures that providers can take to meet those responsibilities, which sets out that power backup of at least four hours is good practice for active fixed access equipment in cabinets at the point of installation.
Ofcom also requires providers to ensure customers making calls over broadband are able to make emergency calls in the event of a power cut at their premises for a minimum of one hour. On 14 March, Vodafone, BT, KCOM and Zen Internet announced that they will introduce a Broadband Battery Backup capable of powering routers for four-to-seven hours. This follows the agreement of the Checklist for Non-Voluntary Migrations agreed by providers in November 2024.
Ofcom are reviewing the power resilience of mobile networks, and on 10 February announced work they may complete to review power outages affect broadband networks in the UK.