Carla Lockhart

The current regulatory framework is designed to support people to enjoy fireworks whilst lowering the risk of dangers and disruption to people, pets, and property. The Government recently launched an awareness campaign on the Gov.uk website to provide guidance on minimising the impacts of fireworks on people and animals.

To inform any future decisions on the legislative framework, the Government intends to engage with stakeholders to gather evidence on the issues and impacts of fireworks.

The Government is committed to ensuring the security and resilience of the UK's telecommunications infrastructure. The Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 introduced a robust security framework throughout the United Kingdom and requires public telecoms providers to identify, reduce, and prepare for security and resilience risks, including ransomware attacks. Ofcom is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with this framework. The Government keeps its telecoms security and resilience policies under constant review to ensure evolving risks to UK telecommunications networks are effectively mitigated.

The regulation of due impartiality in broadcast news is a matter for the independent regulator Ofcom.

Policy on bovine TB is devolved to governments in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In England, in the last five years, my department has spent approximately £100 million per year on disease control measures tackling bovine TB.

It is not possible to break down the amount spent, by individual TB risk area.

Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, including assistance animals, is an offence under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The maximum sentence for this offence is five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. Those convicted of an offence may also be disqualified from owning or keeping animals.

The 2006 Act is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs which provides owners and keepers with general welfare information including a specific section on how to provide the correct environment for their dog and protect them from pain, suffering, injury and disease: Code of practice for the welfare of dogs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency have stood up their well-established outbreak structures to control and eradicate highly pathogenic avian influenza, restore normal trade, and assist local communities’ recovery as set out in the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain and the Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales.

All registered bird keepers receive regular updates and guidance to help protect their birds from avian influenza. Biosecurity guidance and self-assessment checklists are available on each of the UK administration’s websites to assist bird keepers in maintaining good biosecurity and complying with the requirements of disease control and preventions zones.

The Mitigation Strategy provides guidance to wildlife trusts, conservation charities and other organisations on how to respond to findings of avian influenza in wild birds. It sets out how these groups, together with the government and its delivery partners, can mitigate the impact of avian influenza on wild bird populations whilst protecting public health, the wider environment and the rural economy.

Whilst disease control is a devolved matter, Defra and the Devolved Governments work closely together with the aim of providing, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response to disease threats.

The Government takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals.

We work closely with UK enforcement bodies including the Animal and Plant Health Agency to develop guidance and ensure they have the correct tools and resources to enforce the Pet Travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.

Pensioners with a terminal illness who meet the Winter Fuel Payment eligibility criteria will receive a payment in winter 2024/25. Winter Fuel Payments are payable to pensioner households entitled to Pension Credit, or the other qualifying benefits: Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.

This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low-income pensioners. The Government wants those eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to, including their Winter Fuel Payment.  As part of this, we have started a new drive to increase take-up of Pension Credit. We know there are low-income pensioners who are not claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply.

Pensioners with a long-term or terminal health condition may be eligible for Attendance Allowance. It provides a tax free, non-income-related contribution towards the extra costs a long-term health condition can face. It is paid in addition to any other benefits received.

Attendance Allowance also gives rise to a disability addition in Pension Credit, meaning that disabled pensioners are more likely to be entitled to Pension Credit, and at a higher amount, than those without disabilities.

The information is not available in the requested format for cancer care in England. The Department allocated £14 billion to NHS England from 2022/23 to 2024/25 specifically for the National Health Service in England to recover elective and cancer care. This comprised of £8 billion of resource funding and £5.9 billion of capital funding, as described in the November 2021 Budget and Spending Review. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s next budget, on 30 October 2024, will finalise the funding position in 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Lord Darzi’s report has set out the scale of the challenges we face in fixing the NHS in England, and the need to improve cancer waiting time performance and cancer survival. The report will inform the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS in England, including further detail on how we will improve outcomes for cancer.

The information is not available in the requested format for cancer care in England. The Department allocated £14 billion to NHS England from 2022/23 to 2024/25 specifically for the National Health Service in England to recover elective and cancer care. This comprised of £8 billion of resource funding and £5.9 billion of capital funding, as described in the November 2021 Budget and Spending Review. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s next budget, on 30 October 2024, will finalise the funding position in 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Lord Darzi’s report has set out the scale of the challenges we face in fixing the NHS in England, and the need to improve cancer waiting time performance and cancer survival. The report will inform the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS in England, including further detail on how we will improve outcomes for cancer.

Palliative care services are included on the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) in England must commission. It is difficult to quantify the total provision of, or spend on, palliative and end of life care at either a national or local ICB level because it is delivered every day by a wide range of specialist and generalist health and care workers providing care for a wide range of needs that include, but are not always exclusive to, palliative care.

That care is provided across multiple settings, including in primary care, community care, in hospitals, in hospices, in care homes, and in people’s own homes. Therefore, not all palliative and end of life care will be recorded or coded as such.

This Government stands firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. These concerns were raised directly by the Foreign Secretary on his recent visit to China. We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations, for example, joining a statement led by Australia on China's human rights situation at the UN Third Committee on 22 October.

This Government stands firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. These concerns were raised directly by the Foreign Secretary on his recent visit to China. We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations, for example, joining a statement led by Australia on China's human rights situation at the UN Third Committee on 22 October.

Terrorist groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa have sought to undermine the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) by attacking those who do not subscribe to their extremist views, including both Christians and Muslims. These incidents are distinct from the ongoing intercommunal violence across Nigeria. The root causes of this violence are complex, and whilst religious identity can play a role, so can loss of economic opportunity, competition over land and natural resources, disruption to traditional ways of life created by environmental degradation, and historical grievances. The precise scale of people killed in attacks in Nigeria recently remains uncertain, particularly as not all attacks are reported to local authorities.

HMT ministers engage regularly with the Northern Ireland Finance Minister through the Finance Inter-Ministerial Committee.

While the Apprenticeship Levy is UK wide, apprenticeship policy and spending is devolved. This means that the devolved governments receive funding through the Barnett formula in relation to English apprenticeship spending as part of their block grant. The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023. It is for the devolved governments to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit, including investing in their skills programmes.

The independent Northern Ireland Fiscal Council calculated that the relative need in Northern Ireland is 24% more per head than the rest of the UK for equivalent spending.

As part of the 2024 restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive agreed to add a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett Formula from 2024-25. This is part of a financial package worth over £3.3 billion.

Including this additional funding, the Northern Ireland Executive is being funded above its relative need in 2024-25. The UK Government will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to agree a final Fiscal Framework.

The Home Office has not issued any guidance to police forces on the topic of silent prayer.

The College of Policing have primary responsibility for publishing police guidance and are operationally independent from Government.

The Home Office has not issued any guidance to police forces on the topic of silent prayer.

The College of Policing have primary responsibility for publishing police guidance and are operationally independent from Government.

This Government is committed to ensuring that veterans are able to access the appropriate support they require wherever they live in the UK. In Northern Ireland, the Office for Veterans Affairs, within the Ministry of Defence has established a local presence to support strategic coordination of organisations, programmes and initiatives for veterans wellbeing. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland recently announced the appointment of David Johnstone as the Northern Ireland Veterans’ Commissioner.

Specialist statutory support for veterans resident in Northern Ireland is delivered by the Veterans Welfare Service Northern Ireland (VWS NI) and a £500,000 Defence Medical Welfare Service pilot supports veterans’ health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland by linking veterans with local services to ensure they are receiving the help available.

Veterans resident in Northern Ireland can also access a range of UK-wide support, including the Career Transition Partnership. The Reducing Veterans Homelessness (RVH) Programme includes the referral pathway OP FORTITUDE supporting veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust supports the Thrive Together Programme, which operates across the UK. In Northern Ireland, this is led by the charity Brooke House.

The Government is committed to ensuring that veterans are able to access the appropriate support they require wherever they live in the UK and will be seeking to more effectively coordinate and cohere the support that is available.

Specialist statutory support is delivered by the Veterans Welfare Service Northern Ireland, which has been successfully expanded to all veterans and their families across Northern Ireland. This provides information and practical support to veterans and their families, including physiotherapy and psychological therapies for eligible veterans.

In addition, the £500,000 Defence Medical Welfare Service pilot, which supports veterans’ health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland, is providing valuable insight to improve our understanding of veterans’ health needs.

These initiatives also build on the work of the 11 Veterans’ Champions in Northern Ireland and the recent enhancement of the Office for Veterans Affairs’ presence in Northern Ireland.

Cyber defence and hybrid threats are crucial considerations as part of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which will establish the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century.

The first duty of Government is to defend the UK and its citizens, making the defence of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales a priority for the SDR. The Reviewers have invited the views of the devolved administrations and will ensure that Defence is central both to the security, economic growth and prosperity of the United Kingdom.

Many social landlords set out their pet policies in their tenancy agreements and will allow tenants to keep pets where it is appropriate to do so. Consideration is given to whether the pets can be well looked after and any adverse effects on the lives of neighbours and those living nearby. We encourage all social landlords to adopt similar policies. The circumstances in which pets may be kept is, however, for social landlords to determine locally, taking account of the views of their tenants.

Decisions regarding parades in Northern Ireland are an operational matter for the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland in line with the legislation contained within the Public Processions (NI) Act 1998. Details of any determinations made by the Commission are published on their website as a matter of course. The Parades Commission continues to have the full support of the Government.

Policing and justice are devolved matters. The control of firearms in Northern Ireland is exercised by the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Figures relating to firearm registration are held by the PSNI.

The UK and Irish Governments work together to tackle security challenges and keep people on both sides of the border safe. The UK Government has regular discussions with the Irish Government on a range of issues, including cross-border security.

Non national security criminal justice matters are a matter for the devolved Department of Justice. The Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on Cooperation on Criminal Justice Matters provides a mechanism for the Northern Ireland Justice Minister to meet her counterpart in the Irish Government to discuss matters of shared concern.

The NI Executive leads on tackling paramilitarism in Northern Ireland and the UK Government jointly funds the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (EPPOC). EPPOC aims to create safer communities, resilient to paramilitarism, criminality and coercive control by tackling paramilitary activity in all its forms.

I commend the PSNI and An Garda Síochána for their work in keeping people on both sides of the border safe, including the work of the cross border Joint Agency Task Force (JATF) which was established to tackle organised and cross jurisdictional crime.

Policing and justice are devolved matters. The control of firearms in Northern Ireland is exercised by the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Figures relating to firearm licence revocations are held by the PSNI.

The PSNI and UK security agencies continually assess the threat, risk and harm posed by paramilitary, terrorist and organised crime groups to inform the most appropriate operational response.

Although it is acknowledged that some individuals engaged in serious criminality may also have ties to former paramilitary Republican organisations, such activity does not present a threat to national security.

However, the national security threat in Northern Ireland is wholly driven by violent Dissident Republicans who reject the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), and not by Groups that support the GFA.

Where any criminality exists, I am clear that it should be dealt with fully by the police.

The Windsor Framework has lifted the ban on the movement of seed potatoes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Plant Health Label scheme.

Once planted in Northern Ireland, the new crop of seed potatoes can be sold with no restrictions. This reflects long-standing arrangements for biosecurity, and our commitment to upholding a smooth flow of trade with Northern Ireland.