Carla Lockhart Portrait

Carla Lockhart

Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann

First elected: 12th December 2019


British Sign Language Bill
9th Feb 2022 - 23rd Feb 2022
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill
5th Jan 2022 - 12th Jan 2022


There are no upcoming events identified
Division Votes
Wednesday 29th November 2023
Strikes: Minimum Service Levels
voted Aye - in line with the party majority
One of 6 Democratic Unionist Party Aye votes vs 0 Democratic Unionist Party No votes
Tally: Ayes - 297 Noes - 166
Speeches
Tuesday 21st November 2023
Veterans Welfare Services
I thank the Minister for his statement and for his ongoing work to support veterans right across the United Kingdom. …
Written Answers
Monday 27th November 2023
British Medical Association: Northern Ireland
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has had recent discussions with the British Medical Association …
Early Day Motions
Wednesday 29th November 2023
Verification of gestational age for at-home abortions
That this House welcomes the introduction of the At Home Early Medical Abortion (Review) Bill [HL] that seeks a review …
Bills
None available
MP Financial Interests
Monday 10th February 2020
6. Land and property portfolio: (i) value over £100,000 and/or (ii) giving rental income of over £10,000 a year
Agricultural land in County Fermanagh, which I own jointly with my husband; (i). (Registered 03 February 2020)
EDM signed
Wednesday 29th November 2023
25th Anniversary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Liver Support Group
That this House celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Liver Support Group in Belfast; notes the work …
Supported Legislation
Tuesday 18th July 2023
High Income Child Benefit Charge (report to Parliament) Bill 2022-23
A Bill to require the Chancellor of the Exchequer to report to Parliament on the likely effects of increasing in …

Division Voting information

During the current Parliamentary Session, Carla Lockhart has voted in 407 divisions, and 1 time against the majority of their Party.

14 Dec 2021 - Public Health - View Vote Context
Carla Lockhart voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 2 Democratic Unionist Party Aye votes vs 3 Democratic Unionist Party No votes
Tally: Ayes - 441 Noes - 41
View All Carla Lockhart Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party)
Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Human Rights)
(24 debate interactions)
Brandon Lewis (Conservative)
(14 debate interactions)
Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party)
Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Communities and Local Government)
(13 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Northern Ireland Office
(71 debate contributions)
HM Treasury
(25 debate contributions)
Department of Health and Social Care
(24 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
View all Carla Lockhart's debates

Upper Bann Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Petitions with highest Upper Bann signature proportion
Petitions with most Upper Bann signatures
Petition Debates Contributed

As Parliament considers the Bill of Rights, the Government must reconsider including abortion rights in this Bill. Rights to abortion must be specifically protected in this legislation, especially as the Government has refused to rule out leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.

We want the Government to commit to not rolling out any e-vaccination status/immunity passport to the British public. Such passports could be used to restrict the rights of people who have refused a Covid-19 vaccine, which would be unacceptable.

12 kids in the UK are diagnosed with cancer daily. 1 in 5 will die within 5 years, often of the deadliest types like DIPG (brainstem cancer) - fatal on diagnosis & other cancers on relapse. Yet there has been little, or no, funding for research into these cancers and little, or no, progress.


Latest EDMs signed by Carla Lockhart

27th November 2023
Carla Lockhart signed this EDM as a sponsor on Wednesday 29th November 2023

25th Anniversary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Liver Support Group

Tabled by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
That this House celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Liver Support Group in Belfast; notes the work they are doing to monitor the position of liver cancer across Northern Ireland and furthermore, across the UK; highlights that unlike screening for breast cancer, there is no standardised, central …
5 signatures
(Most recent: 29 Nov 2023)
Signatures by party:
Democratic Unionist Party: 4
Independent: 1
21st November 2023
Carla Lockhart signed this EDM on Wednesday 29th November 2023

Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

Tabled by: Paulette Hamilton (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
That this House acknowledges that November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month; recognises that survival rates in the UK still lag behind much of the rest of Europe and the World; notes that pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect and that diagnosis takes too long with slow processes and multiple tests …
39 signatures
(Most recent: 29 Nov 2023)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 18
Democratic Unionist Party: 5
Liberal Democrat: 5
Independent: 4
Plaid Cymru: 3
Scottish National Party: 2
Green Party: 1
Conservative: 1
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 1
View All Carla Lockhart's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Carla Lockhart, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


1 Urgent Question tabled by Carla Lockhart

2 Adjournment Debates led by Carla Lockhart

Tuesday 12th September 2023
Thursday 10th December 2020

Carla Lockhart has not introduced any legislation before Parliament


451 Written Questions in the current parliament

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
2 Other Department Questions
17th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department has provided for events held in Northern Ireland, in each of the last three years.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funded the £120 million UK-wide festival, UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK. This comprised 10 major creative projects across the United Kingdom which delivered physical events at 107 locations as well as digital, broadcast and learning activities. Funding was allocated to the devolved administrations, including the Northern Ireland Executive, via the Barnett formula. While this funding was awarded as a block grant via the Barnett formula, the National Audit Office reported that the Northern Ireland Executive allocated £3.5 million to its strategic delivery body, which, in turn, commissioned the project.

One of the 10 UNBOXED projects, ‘Our Place In Space’, was commissioned by Belfast City Council on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive, with stagings in Londonderry and Belfast. In addition to the Barnett allocation, ‘Our Place In Space’ received £120,000 (including VAT) for research and development during the 2020/21 financial year and a further £351,000 for R&D in the 2021/22 financial year. Additional investment by the UNBOXED Company enabled the popular sculpture trail to be mounted in Cambridge and Liverpool: ~£391,000 in the 2021/22 financial year and ~£1.72 million in the 2022/23 financial year.

Four additional UK-wide UNBOXED projects took place in Northern Ireland throughout 2022, although the Department does not hold a breakdown of how much it cost to stage those commissions in each location.

During the 2021/22 financial year, DCMS also provided £40,000 to Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council to support the development of its UK City of Culture 2025 bid, alongside seven other places across the UK longlisted for the competition.

Julia Lopez
Minister on Leave (Minister of State)
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which football clubs have benefited from the Multi-Sports Grassroots Facilities Investment Fund from the Irish Football Association and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), and how much each successful applicant has secured.

In 2021/22, the Irish Football Association invested £700,000 of DCMS funding via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. This went towards 26 projects across Northern Ireland, selected for their ability to drive increased participation, with a particular focus on improved facilities in deprived areas, supporting multi-sport use and facilitating use by currently under-represented groups. These are shown in the following table, as published on gov.uk on 25 March 2022.

Recipient

Local authority

Funding granted

Ballyvea Football Club Ltd

Newry, Mourne and Down

£30,000.00

Dungiven Celtic Youth Football Club

Derry City and Strabane

£28,554.00

Newcastle Football Club

Newry, Mourne and Down

£30,000.00

Greenisland Football Club

Mid and East Antrim

£30,000.00

Abbey Villa Football Club

Ards and North Down

£25,000.00

Comber Rec FC

Ards and North Down

£29,978.00

NFC Kesh

Fermanagh and Omagh

£29,904.00

Belfast Celtic CIC

Belfast City

£25,936.00

Fivemiletown United Football Club

Mid Ulster

£27,950.00

Craigavon City Football Club

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon

£21,840.00

Shorts Football Club

Belfast City

£29,250.00

Enniskillen Rangers Football Club

Fermanagh and Omagh

£20,486.28

Beragh Swifts Community Group

Fermanagh and Omagh

£28,296.00

Crewe United FC

Lisburn and Castlereagh

£30,000.00

Dromore Amateurs Football Club

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon

£30,000.00

Lisburn Rangers Football Club

Lisburn and Castlereagh

£29,375.00

Dromara Village Football Club

Lisburn and Castlereagh

£19,270.00

Rathfriland Football Club

Newry, Mourne and Down

£30,000.00

Caledon Rovers Football Club

Mid Ulster

£17,527.00

Oxford Sunnyside FC

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon

£30,000.00

Mountjoy United Football Club

Fermanagh and Omagh

£25,016.53

Crumlin United Football Club

Antrim and Newtownabbey

£24,150.00

Kilmore Rec. FC

Newry, Mourne and Down

£29,595.00

Saintfield United Football Club

Newry, Mourne and Down

£30,000.00

Orangefield Old Boys Football Club

Belfast City

£29,768.00

Ardstraw Football Club

Derry City and Strabane

£18,100.00

Projects receiving funding in 2022/23 under the programme will be confirmed in due course.

Stuart Andrew
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
24th May 2022
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the total sum accrued by the Exchequer in fuel duty in each of the last 4 years.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the hon. Member’s Parliamentary Question of 24 May is attached.

30th Dec 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what advice the Government has published on non-freight trade travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland after the transition period.

The Government has published a broad range of guidance for businesses moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021. This includes arrangements for non-freight trade. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/trading-and-moving-goods-in-and-out-of-northern-ireland-from-1-january-2021

Penny Mordaunt
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
21st Oct 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure there is a co-ordinated response to the covid-19 outbreak across the UK.

The Government is working closely with the devolved administrations.This includes their recent attendance at COBR to coordinate our response to Covid-19 across the UK.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster holds regular calls with the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales and the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, and ministers from the devolved administrations are invited to attend the Covid-Operations Committee on a weekly basis to consider those issues that require a coordinated response. This supplements wider joint working by ministers and officials. The purpose is to share best practice and data, coordinate action and work together as set out in the Joint Statement of 25 September, to achieve alignment in approach wherever it is appropriate and possible to do so.

Penny Mordaunt
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
9th Mar 2020
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government is making on plans to make voting more accessible for people with sight loss.

It is right that provisions should be in place to ensure accessible, fair and secure elections so everyone who is eligible to vote can do so with confidence.The Government has been working with the Accessibility of Elections Working Group, and the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to identify solutions to improve the accessibility of voting for people with sight loss.

This has included recent testing, in partnership with the RNIB, of potential solutions. Initial testing has been positive and we are looking to carry out further testing in due course.

14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with Royal Mail on the impact on consumers of the rise of the cost of postal services.

The Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s commercial decisions, including the prices of stamps and other services.

In setting its prices, Royal Mail must observe the regulatory framework set by Ofcom which imposes prices controls, ‘safeguard caps’, on certain second-class products to ensure a basic universal service is available to all at affordable prices.

Ofcom will conduct a public consultation in 2023-24 to inform a review of the safeguard caps that should apply from April 2024.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
16th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress her Department has made on the issuing of energy support payments to people in mobile homes.

Mobile homes on permanent sites were eligible to receive support through the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding which closed to new applications on 31 May 2023. After extensive research and stakeholder engagement, the Government have been unable to establish a robust method for mobile homes not on permanent sites to prove that their caravan is their main or sole residence, whilst protecting public funds against fraud.

Amanda Solloway
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much households in Northern Ireland will receive under the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

All households in Northern Ireland are receiving a single, one-off £600 payment to help with their energy bills. Payments started on 16 January and are made up of £400 under the Energy Bills Support Scheme Northern Ireland (EBSS NI), and £200 under the Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) scheme, which goes to all households in Northern Ireland irrespective of how they heat their home. Households without a direct relationship with an electricity supplier will also receive £600. Details will be announced as soon as possible.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
11th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government is planning to provide support to post offices towards the cost of energy bills beyond March 2023.

The Government will introduce the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme from April 2023. All eligible businesses, charities and the public sector will receive a discount on high energy bills until 31 March 2024. The scheme will provide a discount on high energy costs to give businesses certainty while limiting taxpayers’ exposure to volatile energy markets.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
11th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether authorisation was sought from the European Union for the delivery of the Energy Bill Support Scheme in Northern Ireland in the context of Article 10 of the Northern Ireland Protocol and state aid rules.

The Energy Bills Support Scheme and Alternative Fuel Payment does not engage Article 10 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, as the schemes will help households with their energy costs this winter.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether legislation regulates the (a) manufacture, (b) sale and (c) possession of 3D printing technology.

In placing a 3D printer on the market the manufacturer will need to comply with the relevant product safety legislation such as the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 and other relevant regulations that may apply to the 3D printer product. There are currently no additional requirements in product safety legislation specifically concerning the possession of 3D manufacturing technology by consumers.

Nusrat Ghani
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment the Government has made of the impact of market fluctuations in the price of diesel and home heating oil on household budgets; and what steps the Government is taking to help ensure security of supply of those fuels.

The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and fuel prices are an important component of UK households’ expenditure. The Government has set out a £37 billion package of support including the biggest ever cut to fuel duty rates – worth £5 billion. This also includes financial support for heating oil customers in the form of a £200 Alternative Fuel Payment.

In light of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Government has taken steps to end all imports of Russian fossil fuels. The UK has no issues with oil supply and is not dependent on Russian energy imports.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
31st Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he expects households in Northern Ireland to receive Energy Bill Support Scheme payments.

Households in Northern Ireland will receive a £400 discount on their energy bills through the Northern Ireland Energy Bills Support Scheme (NI EBSS) this winter.

This will offer the same level of support as households in Great Britain are receiving under the Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS). The Government is working at pace to deliver a solution which accounts for the Northern Ireland market and to provide the support as soon as possible.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
27th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many licences have been issued by OFGEM in Northern Ireland for hydrogen fuelling stations for transport.

Ofgem is the gas and electricity regulator for Great Britain. It does not have powers to issue licences for hydrogen fuelling stations in Northern Ireland.

Licensing of hydrogen fuel stations could be a matter for the Northern Ireland Utilities Regulatior or the Transport Regulation Unit of the Department for Infrastructure.

Greg Hands
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
15th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies that availed of bounce back loans have (a) filed for bankruptcy and (b) indicated that they will not be in a position to repay their loans.

Data on the number of companies with a Bounce Back Loan that have entered formal insolvency procedures will be collected in due course.

It is too early to provide figures relating to repayments given many businesses have yet to begin repaying their Bounce Back Loan. Further information related to loan repayments for the Government’s Covid-19 loan schemes will feature in the BEIS 2020-21 Annual Report and Accounts, scheduled for publication later this year.

11th Feb 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much has been lent to firms in Northern Ireland under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS); and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the repayment terms of CBILS borrowings.

As of 10th January 2021, businesses in Northern Ireland have been offered 1,501 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) facilities, with a value of £496,806,683.

Lenders are able to extend the repayment period for CBILS facilities beyond 6 years (up to a maximum of 10 years) where this is needed in connection with the provision of forbearance. CBILS term extensions are offered at the discretion of lenders.

11th Feb 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many firms who received a Bounce Back Loan since the introduction of that scheme, have filed for insolvency.

The Department does not currently hold this data. Borrowers under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme are not required to make repayments for the first 12 months of their loan term.

When repayments begin, we will be able to monitor the rates of business failure among borrowers through assessing the number of claims by lenders under the guarantee agreement.

30th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much was lent to borrowers in Northern Ireland under the Bounce Back Loan scheme in 2020.

A breakdown on the number of loans provided through the Bounce Back Loan scheme as of 4 January 2021 is in the table below.

Region

Value of Loans Offered (£)

Number of Loans Offered

Northern Ireland

1,166,015,199

37,947

24th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the devolved regions on reducing levels of (a) carbon dioxide, (b) nitrous oxide and (c) methane in the atmosphere across the UK.

There are regular discussions between the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and counterparts in the Devolved Administrations at official and ministerial level on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and these discussions will continue.

21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a scheme to provide financial support to small independent retailers to increase their online sales platform to help tackle a drop in footfall as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government is committed to supporting the UK’s small independent retailers make better use of technology and trading online, expanding their customer base from the local high street to a national and international marketplace.

Retailers are able to access an unprecedented package of support including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme and Bounce Back Loans Scheme. Additionally, businesses in Northern Ireland can access https://www.enterpriseni.com/ for further support.

The Start Up Loans Company, a subsidiary of the British Business Bank, delivers the Government’s Start Up Loans programme providing finance and support for businesses who struggle to access other forms of finance.

Tech Nation, which receives grant funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, provides a range of resources to support the growth of digital businesses in the UK. This includes a Digital Business Academy that provides free online courses on starting and growing a digital business.

21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that postal services are maintained in rural areas after the covid-19 outbreak.

The Universal Service Obligation is set out in the Postal Services Act 2011 and ensures a six-day a week, one price goes anywhere, service for the delivery and collection of letters (and five days a week for parcels) throughout the United Kingdom. Ofcom, as the UK’s designated independent regulator of postal services, monitors the delivery of the universal postal service standards.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, postal operators have continued to provide a valuable service to this country, including in rural communities.

The Government’s objective in relation to postal services continues to be to secure a sustainable service for users throughout the UK, including those in remote and rural areas.

11th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timescale is for the accreditation of banks in Northern Ireland to enable those banks to provide Bounce Back loans to small businesses during the covid-19 outbreak.

Accrediting new lenders for the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) is a priority for the British Business Bank. The Bank is working at pace to accredit more lenders, including lenders operating in Northern Ireland, to further extend the Scheme’s reach and provide more choice for businesses.

The Bank has put substantial additional resources in place to create a streamlined process within the Bank to help onboard new lenders seeking accreditation as quickly as possible. For example, existing lenders accredited under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) may have an expedited accreditation process for the BBLS.

There are currently 16 accredited lenders for the BBLS, with three operating specifically in Northern Ireland.

29th Apr 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many businesses have (a) applied to and (b) been approved for funding from the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme in Northern Ireland; and what steps he is taking to ensure banks are showing flexibility to applicants in need of support.

As of 6 May, in total over £5.5 billion worth of loans have been issued under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to 33,812 businesses.

Lenders have received 62,674 completed applications.

We are working with the British Business Bank, HM Treasury and the lenders on regular and transparent data publication going forward and to ensure that companies receive the full benefits from the support being provided.

The Business Secretary continues to work with banks and other finance providers to help SMEs access the finance they need and has discussed with these organisations the alternative forms of support for businesses that they are offering. The Government welcomed the statement by UK Finance on behalf of the financial sector which announced that banks, building societies and credit card providers are committed to supporting their business customers in continuing to trade.

The Government has responded to feedback to ensure that companies feel the full benefits of available support through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) by:

  • Extending the scheme so that all viable small businesses affected by Covid-19;
  • Removing previous restrictions on the following groups to enable them to access the CBILS, subject to other eligibility criteria being met: Employer, professional, religious or political membership organisations and trade unions;
  • Removing the ability for lenders to ask for personal guarantees for loans under £250,000, and reducing the personal guarantee for loans over £250,000 to 20% of the outstanding balance after recoveries;
  • Introducing technical changes to ensure that applications will be processed faster;
  • Removing the forward-looking viability test; and
  • Removing the per lender portfolio cap.
20th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding from the Tampon Tax Fund has been allocated to (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last two years.

In 2020/21 and 2021/22, the Tampon Tax Fund was allocated between each administration using the Barnett formula.

2020/21

2021/22

England

£11,995,000 (inc £150k administration costs )

£9,000,000 (inc £150k administration costs )

Wales

£905,000

£675,000

Scotland

£1,570,000

£1,181,250

Northern Ireland

£530,000

£393,750

Total

£15,000,000

£11,250,000

Stuart Andrew
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
20th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many applications from groups and organisations in Northern Ireland for funding from the Tampon Tax Fund have been received in each of the last two years; and how many and what proportion of those applications were successful.

The 2021/22 round of the Tampon Tax Fund (TTF) received six applications from organisations delivering solely in Northern Ireland. Of these, two did not meet eligibility criteria. Of the remaining four, one bid was successful in being awarded funding.

There were no applications to the 2020/21 round of Tampon Tax funding from organisations delivering solely in Northern Ireland.

The minimum application threshold was also reduced for the 2021/22 round of TTF to £350,000 specifically to enable more bids from organisations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Stuart Andrew
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on bringing forward a Media Bill.

The Media Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech in May 2022. The Government will introduce this legislation when Parliamentary time allows.

Julia Lopez
Minister on Leave (Minister of State)
31st Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether instructions on how to take your own life will be considered illegal content that assists suicide in the new online safety regime.

Encouraging or assisting suicide is illegal. Any website publishing illegal suicide content is already breaking the law.

Under the Online Safety Bill, all platforms in scope will need to tackle and remove illegal material online.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
7th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions officials in her Department have had with representatives of social media platforms on tackling the use of anonymous accounts to abuse people.

Officials have regular meetings and discussions with social media platforms on a range of issues, including the use of anonymous accounts.

The Online Safety Bill will require companies in scope to manage the risk of online anonymous abuse. Companies will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content and prevent children from harmful abuse. Major platforms will also need to set out clearly what legal content is acceptable for adult users on their services and enforce their terms and conditions consistently and transparently. This applies whether a user is anonymous or not.

If platforms fail in their duties under the Bill, they will face tough enforcement action including fines of up to 10% of global annual qualifying turnover.

The draft Bill has been subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee which reported its recommendations on 14 December. We are considering the Committee’s report and will introduce the Bill as soon as possible.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
12th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what representations her Department has made to TikTok, the social networking service, in relation to videos posted on that platform that target teachers with abuse; and what steps she plans to take in the Online Safety Bill to help tackle that issue.

Online abuse is unacceptable and the government is liaising with TikTok on how it is protecting its users in this matter.

Under the draft Online Safety Bill, companies in scope will need to minimise and remove illegal content including criminal online abuse targeted at teachers.

Major platforms will also need to address legal but harmful content for adults.These companies will have to set out clearly what legal content is acceptable on their platforms and enforce their terms and conditions consistently and transparently.

If platforms fail in their duties under the Bill, they will face tough enforcement action including fines of up to 10% of global annual qualifying turnover.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
15th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to strengthen child protection measures in the draft Online Safety Bill.

The strongest protections in the draft Online Safety Bill are for children. Services in scope will need to prove children are not accessing their service, or they will need to conduct a child safety risk assessment and provide safety measures for child users. Those safety measures will protect children from inappropriate and harmful content.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with representatives of any of the English football clubs who signed up to the European Super League since the announcement of the formation of that league on 19 April 2021.

Neither DCMS Ministers nor officials have had discussions with representatives of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City or Manchester United football clubs since the European Super League (ESL) announcement.

After the announcement, I spoke briefly with a representative of Tottenham Hotspur and discussed the possibility of a meeting with the 6 clubs to allow them to express their position on the ESL. That meeting did not take place though and I have had no further contact with the clubs on this matter.

The full list of Ministerial meetings can be found on gov.uk.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
22nd Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to introduce user advocacy arrangements to represent children to the regulator to help tackle online harms, funded by an industry levy; and if he will make a statement.

Protecting children is at the heart of our plans to transform the online experience for people in the UK and the strongest protections in the online harms framework will be for children. Under these new laws, Ofcom will have a duty to establish ongoing mechanisms for user advocacy. This is to ensure Ofcom understands the experiences of users, including children, and is able to detect and address issues early on.

The costs incurred by Ofcom in carrying out its functions under the Online Safety Bill, will be met by proportionate fees charged to industry.

The Online Safety Bill, which will give effect to the regulatory framework outlined in the Online Harms White Paper full government response, will be ready this year.

10th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of different content ratings systems on different streaming platforms which are not aligned with standards for cinema or DVD releases nor based on research into the expectations of UK audiences.

As the designated body for age classification of film content, the government has great trust in the British Board of Film Classification’s best practice age ratings. While adoption of the BBFC’s age ratings by online platforms is currently voluntary, we welcome their usage by Video on Demand platforms.

This includes Netflix who on December 1st announced that they have become the first platform to achieve complete coverage of their content under the BBFC’s ratings.

According to recent BBFC research, nearly nine in ten parents find BBFC age ratings on Netflix useful in helping them to choose content well for their family. To build on this success, we will continue to engage with industry to encourage other platforms to adopt the same ratings, and will keep the evidence for legislation in this area under review.

10th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to use British Board of Film Classification age verification guidance in setting standards to restrict the most harmful content from access by children under legislative proposals on online harms.

It is vital that children are protected from accessing age-inappropriate, harmful content online. The government’s Online Harms legislation will establish in law a new ‘duty of care’ on companies towards their users. The ‘duty of care’ will ensure companies have robust systems and processes in place to keep their users safe and will deliver a higher level of protection for children than for the typical adult user. Details of how the online harms legislation will protect children from harmful content will be published later this year in the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation.

10th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to include in legislative proposals on online harms provisions that (a) protect children from online pornography and (b) apply to all pornographic sites accessible from the UK regardless of where they are based and whether their content is user-generated.

Our Online Harms proposals will deliver a higher level of protection for children than for the typical adult user. We expect companies to use a proportionate range of tools, including age assurance and age verification technologies, to prevent children accessing age-inappropriate content, such as online pornography, and to protect them from other harms. The new regulatory framework will cover social media companies, where many children access pornography, and all sites on which there is user-generated functionality, including pornography sites, regardless of where they are based. Further details of how the online harms legislation will protect children from harmful content, including online pornography, will be published later this year in the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation.

14th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress the Government has made on its plans to review the Gambling Act 2005.

The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure it is fit for the digital age. Further details will be announced in due course.

Operators are required both by law and by the conditions of their licence from the Gambling Commission to prevent underage gambling. In May 2019 the Commission strengthened requirements for age verification so that operators must verify a customer’s age before they are able to deposit money, place a bet, or access free-to-play games. According to the Gambling Commission’s Young People and Gambling Survey 2019, 7% of 11-16 year olds said they had ever gambled online (a category including both National Lottery games and commercial sites), 5% had used a parent’s account with the parent’s permission and 2% had used a parent’s account without permission, showing that parents also have an important role to play in controlling children’s access to gambling. For further detail, the full survey report can be found at: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Young-People-Gambling-Report-2019.pdf

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
14th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has assessed the effectiveness of safeguards in place to prevent underage gambling via smartphone apps.

The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure it is fit for the digital age. Further details will be announced in due course.

Operators are required both by law and by the conditions of their licence from the Gambling Commission to prevent underage gambling. In May 2019 the Commission strengthened requirements for age verification so that operators must verify a customer’s age before they are able to deposit money, place a bet, or access free-to-play games. According to the Gambling Commission’s Young People and Gambling Survey 2019, 7% of 11-16 year olds said they had ever gambled online (a category including both National Lottery games and commercial sites), 5% had used a parent’s account with the parent’s permission and 2% had used a parent’s account without permission, showing that parents also have an important role to play in controlling children’s access to gambling. For further detail, the full survey report can be found at: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Young-People-Gambling-Report-2019.pdf

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
6th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress he has made in discussions with Ofcom on the regulation of online harms.

In February this year, the government announced that it was minded to give Ofcom the role of the online harms regulator. We are committed to working closely with Ofcom as we continue to develop the regulatory framework.

The government will set out the final details of the policy in a full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation.

29th Apr 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of subsidising newspapers to provide online copy to people self-isolating on medical grounds during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government recognises the vital role of newspapers in supporting communities and isolated individuals by ensuring the provision of reliable, high-quality information throughout the current pandemic. Safeguarding the UK’s news media at this time of financial instability is a key priority for Government and we are in constant dialogue with publishers to ensure that our response to the challenges they are facing is as effective as it can be.

With schools closed and the nation confined to their homes during lockdown, millions have been relying on e-publications to help home school their children, keep up to date with the latest news and to pass the time. To support this, the Chancellor has brought forward the zero rating on e-publications. The zero rate of VAT will now apply to all e-publications from the 1st May - seven months ahead of schedule. The Government expects the tax relief to be passed on to consumers in the form of reduced prices for online copies.

The Government will continue to consider all possible options in the interests of promoting and sustaining high-quality news journalism. Never have the activities of journalists been more popular and critical; providing quality news to all, including those self-isolating, and binding communities together, a fundamental function of our modern day democracy.

John Whittingdale
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) primary and (b) post-primary school pupil in England have been expelled in each of the last three years.

The Department publishes figures from the school census on permanent exclusions and suspensions from state-funded schools in England. The latest full academic year figures are for the 2020/21 academic year and are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england/2020-21.

A table from this publication showing rates of permanent exclusions in primary, secondary, and special schools in England in the 2018/19 to 2020/21 academic years is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/5141203d-8691-4288-2cd5-08dafaf734a0.

25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle antisemitism in UK universities.

This report that shows that the National Union of Students (NUS) has, over a number of years, systematically failed to represent the interests of Jewish students, and failed to tackle antisemitic practices within its own organisation. This is not acceptable. The NUS should be an organisation where Jewish students not only feel safe to be themselves, but where their full and equal participation is actively welcomed.

Higher education (HE), more broadly, should do all it can to root out antisemitism. The recent Community Security Trust (CST) report showing a 22% increase in antisemitic incidents on campus over the last two years is deeply concerning.

The department has encouraged HE providers to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, to have absolute clarity of what constitutes antisemitic behaviour. 245 providers in England have adopted the IHRA definition, including the vast majority of universities. We would urge those providers that have not yet adopted to the definition to do so, and for those that have, to ensure that they are fully complying with the definition.

Robert Halfon
Minister of State (Education)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the affordability of childcare for low income families.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only. Devolved administrations have their own specific offers. Information on funding can be found here: https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/applying-funded-pre-school-place-202223.

The department recognises that the cost of childcare is a key concern for parents, which is why the government has made an unprecedented investment in childcare over the past decade, with over £3.5 billion spent in each of the past three years on our early education entitlements.

We have also introduced Tax-Free Childcare, which is available for working parents of children aged 0-11 (or up to 16 if their child is disabled). This scheme can save parents up to £2,000 per year (or up to £4,000 for children with disabilities) from their childcare costs.

Working parents on a low income, including those returning from maternity leave, may also be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs through the childcare element of Universal Credit. This is subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1108 for two or more children aged 0-16.

The government’s range of childcare offers includes 15 hours free early education for all three and four year olds, regardless of parental income or working status. This helps children to develop social skills and prepare them for school, regardless of their background.

Working parents of three and four-year-olds may also be eligible for an additional 15 hours of free childcare, known as 30 hours free childcare. To be eligible for 30 hours free childcare, a lone parent must earn from just over £7,400 a year, and a couple, where both parents are working, from just over £14,800 per year, to access 30 hours.

24th Feb 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many knife possession orders have been issued in relation to (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) higher educational establishments in the last five years.

The Department does not hold data on the number of children found in possession of a knife at school. However, the School Snapshot Survey from winter 2019 showed that 29% of schools were actively dealing with knife crime as a safeguarding issue: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-snapshot-survey-winter-2019. Secondary schools were 4 times more likely to be actively dealing with knife crime than primary schools.

Schools and colleges have a duty and responsibility to protect pupils and staff. We support them with a range of guidance to help them fulfil their responsibilities, including advice on health and safety and school and college security. The school and college security guidance includes a suite of resources to assist schools and colleges with the development of policies and culture to help address a wide range of security related issues.

Relationships, Sex and Health Education is now compulsory, and schools can build on the core content to address local issues such as gang activity and recognising and avoiding exploitative relationships. In serious violence hotspot areas, schools, alternative provision settings and colleges are working with police and health through Violence Reduction Units to run interventions to tackle serious youth violence.

5th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he is having with Education Ministers in each of the devolved Administrations to manage the effects of covid-19 on (a) GCSE and (b) A-Level exams to be sat in 2021.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has met the Education Ministers from all devolved administrations to discuss arrangements for 2021 GCSE, AS and A level examinations. Ministers and departmental officials will continue to engage regularly with their counterparts from the devolved administrations in preparing for next summer’s examination series.

6th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of school closures on the education of children with a statement of special education needs; and what steps his Department plans to take in response to that assessment.

The Department for Education (DfE) is committed to minimising the effects that school closures have on all children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). That is why we have asked educational settings to remain open to a limited number of children and young people, such as those with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, where a risk assessment has determined that their individual needs can be better supported at their school or college than at home.

Where children and young people have stayed at home following a risk assessment, DfE has asked local authorities, schools and colleges and parent/carers to consider whether moving either equipment or services into a child or young person’s home would enable them to be better supported there. For access to the full risk assessment guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-send-risk-assessment-guidance.

DfE is assessing and carrying out research and surveys to help understand the impacts of COVID-19 on children and young people with EHC plans. We will use this information, alongside intelligence from engagement with key stakeholders, to inform the ongoing and future provision of support for children.

Decisions on the return to school of pupils with EHC plans will be informed by existing risk assessments, which should be kept up to date. These risk assessments will also be used to phase any increase in attendance of children and young people with EHC plans while maintaining preventative measures so that they can be safely catered for in their setting.

29th Apr 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with travel insurance companies on the reimbursement of monies paid for school trips that are have been cancelled as a result of covid-19.

The Government is in continual dialogue with the insurance sector regarding their response to the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak. Travel insurance typically applies only for losses that cannot be recovered from elsewhere, that is, after any refunds from tour operators, airlines, travel, or hotels.

Although insurance against travel disruption due to pandemics is typically included in travel insurance policies, schools should first contact travel agents or hotels for reimbursement. If there is still no recoverable cost from these sources, a travel insurance claim may be applicable. Some policies will only cover foreign travel, but more comprehensive policies will also cover UK travel. Travel insurance policies differ, so if in doubt, schools and tour providers should speak to their insurer or check the terms and conditions of their policy.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has produced information on school trip and travel insurance implications following the COVID-19 outbreak. The ABI’s Q&A on the subject is available here:
https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/topics-and-issues/coronavirus-hub/insurance-for-schools/.

Schools that are members of the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) should submit their claims as per the RPA membership pack.

11th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the level of sensory equipment in primary schools.

Every school is required to identify and address the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) of their pupils. Schools also have duties under the Equality Act (2010) towards individual disabled children and young people. They must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services, to ensure that disabled children are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers.

Local authorities are responsible for meeting the additional support costs for pupils with SEND up to the value of £6,000 per pupil by providing schools with sufficient funds to enable them to do so from the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant.

When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEND exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools, comes from the local authority’s high needs budget. The department recently announced £780 million in additional high needs funding for the next financial year, bringing total high needs funding to over £7 billion. Every local authority in England will see an increase in high needs funding of at least 8% per head of population aged 2 to 18.

The department have also allocated £365 million special provision capital funding to local authorities in England from 2018 to 2021, to increase the number of places available locally and enhance facilities for children with the most complex SEND. This could include re-purposing areas so that they meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
11th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of disabled toilets in schools.

All new school buildings must have an accessible toilet as required by building regulations. In addition, the Department’s guidance requires a hygiene (sanitary changing) room for pupils who require extra support.

The Equality Act 2010 also places a duty on all schools to support disabled children and young people. Local authorities must prepare an accessibility strategy for disabled children and schools must prepare and act upon an accessibility plan for their premises. Both strategies and plans must include how buildings will be improved over time to enable disabled pupils to have better access to education. They should be regularly revised if necessary, and the local authority or school must consider the need to allocate adequate resources for their implementation.

Local authorities must ensure there is an appropriate school place for all pupils, including those with SEN and disabilities. The Department is investing a total of £365 million through the Special Provision Capital Fund from 2018-19 to 2020-21. This funding will help local authorities create new places and improve facilities for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. We also recognise the importance of providing a safe and effective environment for pupils. Since 2015, we have provided over £7.4 billion in condition funding to schools and those responsible for maintaining and improving school buildings.

5th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he is making on introducing a GCSE in British Sign Language.

?The Department is currently working with subject experts to develop draft subject content for a potential British Sign Language GCSE. We are working with Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, to ensure that the subject content can be assessed appropriately and will be working with stakeholders to ensure that a wide range of views is reflected. Subject to being able to develop subject content which meets the rigorous requirements which apply to all GCSEs, we are aiming to consult publicly on draft content later this year.

Once final subject content has been published, individual exam boards can develop a specification if they wish. Ofqual would need to accredit any such specification before it could be taught in schools.

14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps (a) the Government and (b) her Department are taking with devolved authorities to develop a sheep scab control programme covering the UK.

The UK Chief Veterinary Officer and Devolved Administrations work collaboratively on all areas of animal disease. However, animal health is a devolved matter. Sheep Scab is addressed in different ways across the devolved nations, for example in Scotland where it is a notifiable disease. It is therefore appropriate that each nation of the United Kingdom treats Sheep Scab in the way that fits best with their priorities.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help supported (a) sustainability and (b) profitability for British egg farmers.

The UK egg industry operates in an open market and the value of egg commodities, including the farm gate egg price, is established by those in the supply chain


We recognise the challenges that the agricultural industry, including the egg sector, is currently facing due to the rise of input costs as a result of the war in Ukraine. The Government has put in place a number of measures to support supply chains. These include cuts to VAT and fuel duty and support through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. Defra has also recently announced improvements to the Avian Influenza compensation scheme and granted a concession to the rules for the labelling of free-range eggs from hens that have been housed longer than the 16-week period for which an automatic derogation applies.


I hosted an egg industry roundtable on 6 December 2022. This involved representatives from across the UK egg supply chain. The roundtable focused on the various challenges that the sector is currently facing, including profitability and sustainability. The meeting was productive with a clear willingness from all parties to address issues affecting the supply chain.


Defra continues to work closely with the egg sector and to monitor the egg market through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG).

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's correspondence to the Permanent Secretary at Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, dated 28 December 2022, what estimate she has made of the projected cost of building proposed sanitary and phytosanitary facilities as outlined in that correspondence.

My Department will prepare a business case for the construction of SPS inspection facilities in Northern Ireland in due course. This will draw on the business case previously prepared by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). When prepared, I will provide an update to the House.

The latest information available to as costs borne by DAERA are set out in my answer to the Rt Hon member for Lagan Valley of 28 November to PQ 92116.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help protect supply chains between Great Britain and Northern Ireland for veterinary medicines.

On 19 December 2022, the European Commission extended the grace period for veterinary medicines for a further three years, until 31 December 2025. This grace period maintains the current status quo regarding the supply chain requirements for moving veterinary medicines into Northern Ireland. The Government continues to work with the European Commission and the UK veterinary medicines industry to find a permanent, durable solution to the issues facing veterinary medicines that are related to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect dogs from unregulated canine fertility clinics.

Those operating canine fertility clinics, and owners using their services, are required under The Animal Welfare Act 2006 to protect the animals involved from harm and to provide for their welfare in line with good practice. A breach of these provisions may lead to imprisonment, a fine, or both.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the transit of seed potatoes from Scotland to Northern Ireland.

Defra continues to view lifting the EU prohibition on GB seed potatoes as a priority, and we continue to raise this issue in our engagements with EU SPS officials. I can confirm that the most recent meeting of the Trade Specialised Committee on SPS Measures was on 19 October and the issue regarding securing equivalence for seed potatoes was raised. HM Government challenged the TCA compliance of the EU’s prohibition and repeated our desire to find a solution to resume trade. Unfortunately, the Commission has yet to respond to a UK request for a risk assessment justifying the EU’s prohibition of GB seed potatoes. When challenged on a timeline for a response during the SC meeting, the Commission indicated that a draft response was under consideration. This will help inform our next steps. On the movement of seed potatoes from Great Britain to Northern Ireland specifically, HM Government has been clear there is no biosecurity justification for them to be prohibited as set out in the UKG Command Paper.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
3rd Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the gas supply for the slaughter of flocks affected by avian flu.

CO2 is used for the humane culling of birds affected by the unprecedented outbreak of avian influenza which is currently affecting the UK. We are not aware of any current shortages in supplies.

The Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) which is responsible for ensuring the culling of birds affected by AI has recently commissioned an increase in their contingency supplies to further enhance their resilience. APHA's contractors have also acted to guarantee weekly quotas of bulk gas to support their operations. Defra and APHA will continue to monitor the availability of CO2.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
3rd Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her counterpart in the Republic of Ireland on controlling the spread of avian flu.

The UK Chief Veterinary Officer has regular discussions with her counterparts in the Republic of Ireland, the EU and globally through the World Organisation for Animal Health.

At the international level, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) virologists and epidemiologists collaborate with colleagues in Europe and around the world to closely analyse viruses involved in both outbreaks in poultry and other captive birds and those found in wild birds, with the aim of trying to understand what makes these viruses different and how they might change in the future. Collaboration is underway to investigate the cases we’re currently reporting. This work is facilitated through the World Animal Health Organisation (WOAH) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) international reference laboratory for Avian Influenza located at APHA Weybridge.

In addition, DAERA in Northern Ireland also have regular discussions with the Republic of Ireland regarding the current outbreak of avian influenza, given they share a land border, and are able to pass information between this forum and the UK forums, including the UK’s National Disease Control Centre (NDCC) meetings, the Animal Disease Policy Group (ADPG) and the different stocktakes where ongoing disease control strategy is reviewed.

We continue to monitor the current situation both in Europe and globally, as well as the effectiveness of any disease control measures taken, including vaccine development.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
3rd Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the compensation offered to farmers affected by avian flu in their flocks is adequate.

Compensation, as set out in the Animal Health Act 1981, is payable for healthy birds only. There is no compensation available for sick birds or birds that have died. Compensation policy for birds culled by HM Government for disease control purposes is designed to promote prompt reporting of suspicion, as swift and humane culling of birds on infected premises coupled with good biosecurity are critical for preventing the amplification of avian influenza and subsequent environmental contamination and to reduce the risk of disease spread from infected premises.

APHA makes its assessment of the disease status of the birds based on clinical inspection and veterinary judgment. Historically this assessment has been based on the actual number of birds culled rather than the number of healthy birds at the point that culling starts. The amount paid therefore depended on the evolution of the disease on site between the initial assessment of the number of healthy birds close to the start of culling less any that die between the start and end of culling.

In response to feedback from industry on the impact the rapid mortality caused by the current H5N1 strain and risk that escalating cases numbers leading to substantial delays to culling can have on the amount of compensation paid, changes to the compensation scheme for avian influenza have been introduced (effective from the 1 October).

Compensation will now be linked to decisions taken at the start of planned culling rather than at the end. This will allow us to give earlier certainty about entitlement to compensation, better reflect the impact of outbreaks on premises and lead to swifter payments to help stem any cash flow pressures.

The amount of compensation is established by APHA using the relevant valuation rate card (or for specialist stock by a specialist valuer).

Biosecurity guidance and a biosecurity self-assessment checklist have been published by HM Government to assist all bird keepers in instigating and maintaining good biosecurity.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
3rd Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has taken recent steps with Cabinet colleagues to help increase awareness of mental health support organisations in the farming community, in the context of increased pressures on poultry farmers following the avian flu outbreak.

The scale of Avian Influenza (AI) outbreaks occurring in the UK and Europe is unprecedented and we recognise that these outbreaks are very distressing for the individual poultry farmers that are affected and the impact this can have on their mental health. On 28 October we announced a new package of measures to support domestic producers with the impacts of AI. This included changes to the compensation scheme allowing compensation to be paid to farmers from the outset of planned culling rather than at the end. In consultation with the Food Standards Agency, an easement to marketing rules is also being introduced in England to give producers certainty over business planning.

Defra has established the Farmer Welfare Forum which brings together England's largest farming welfare organisations, many of which provide mental health support to the agricultural industry. AI and its impact on poultry farmers has been discussed at recent meetings of this forum and we are working together to ensure farmers are aware of what support is available.

Defra continues to monitor the AI situation and to work closely with the poultry sector and farming welfare organisations.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
27th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has taken steps to provide clarification for Northern Ireland based businesses on the impact of the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive, and what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs on this issue.

The Northern Ireland Executive is responsible for providing guidance to industry, as this is a devolved matter. This has been communicated to the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
31st Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the development of zero emission technology for the metals recycling sector.

The Government has allocated £30 million for research funding through UK Research and Innovation for a four-year programme, launched in January 2021, to establish five circular economy research centres and a central hub. One of the five centres, The Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Metal, aims to help the UK become the first country to fully recycle and reuse its metals.

Other Government funding, made available through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, includes:

  • The creation of the £289 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) and the £34 million Scottish IETF to support industrial sites, including metal recycling facilities, to decarbonise and become more energy efficient. We have recently promoted this funding opportunity with the British Metals Recycling Association.
  • Provision of up to £66 million as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, to help key foundation industries, such as steel, develop innovative technology to reduce energy and resource use.
  • Funding of long-term work at the Materials Processing Institute in Teesside to help the UK steel and metals sector improve efficiencies, reduce emissions, and boost competitiveness.
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to enable the Woodland Trust to send trees to Northern Ireland to allow local groups to fully participate in The Queen’s Green Canopy to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 which invites people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”.

The QGC is encouraging schools and communities to get involved in planting Jubilee trees, with free tree packs available in Scotland, Wales and England through the Woodland Trust. In Northern Ireland, free tree packs for schools and communities are available through the Conservation Volunteers.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
9th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of the rise in fertiliser prices on UK farms; and what steps his Department is taking to help support farms in finding options for reducing bought-in fertiliser.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury on 28 October 2021, PQ UIN 62654.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
24th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support research on methods to mitigate or reduce emissions in farming.

While emissions in farming is a broad topic, the question is assumed to concern greenhouse gas emissions only, and I am responding accordingly.

The Prime Minister has been clear that tackling climate change is a priority for this Government. Since 1990 emissions from agriculture have reduced by 13%.

The Government is investing to unlock innovation and translate our world leading research into practical farmer-led solutions that improve the productivity, sustainability and resilience of agriculture. This includes reducing emissions from farming.

Our £90 million investment in the ‘Transforming Food Production’ (TFP) challenge, launched in 2018, is supporting ground breaking research and development so farmers will be able to harness the latest technology to produce high quality food, increase their productivity and move towards net zero emission farming systems by 2040. This will put the UK at the forefront of advanced sustainable agriculture and food production while reducing emissions, pollution, waste and soil erosion.

This initiative is enhanced by a recently launched Defra-funded collaborative agricultural Research and Development competition ‘Farming Innovation Pathways’) with an additional £12 million of funding targeting existing and new farm focused innovation, which will also be delivered through the TFP initiative.

From 2022 a new Research and Development funding programme for England will build on the success of TFP as part of the proposed measures to stimulate innovation and boost productive, sustainable, low emissions agriculture as we move away from the CAP system of farming subsidy payments.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the number of bees and other pollinators in the UK.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided relates to England only.

Pollinators are a priority for this government and we are committed, with our many partners, to taking action to conserve bees and other pollinators, as set out in our National Pollinator Strategy. Our actions include: restoring and creating habitat for bees and other wild and managed pollinators to thrive; acting on the pressures that impact on pollinators, including by supporting Integrated Pest Management (IPM); providing advice and raising awareness across society so that they can take action themselves; and supporting new monitoring and research.

We are introducing new schemes that reward farmers and land managers for producing public goods. These will encourage actions that support IPM and conserve and enhance habitats for bees and other pollinators. We have introduced a national pollinator monitoring scheme with trend estimates published annually, and we provide advice and guidance to landowners and the public through our Bees’ Needs campaign.

Through the Healthy Bees Plan 2030, Defra works with beekeeping associations and other stakeholders to maintain a healthy honey bee population. We fund an extensive programme of apiary inspections, as well as education and training for beekeepers to maintain and improve husbandry standards. The number of honey bee colonies recorded on the National Bee Unit’s BeeBase website has increased from around 108,000 in 2009 to 224,000 in 2020. This increase may be due in part to greater numbers of beekeepers choosing to register, rather than representing additional colonies or beekeepers.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
30th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what resources his Department provides to help check and validate the welfare and legitimacy of puppies being transported between Great Britain and the Northern Ireland.

Pet travel is a devolved matter. Pet checking and welfare in transport regulations are undertaken and enforced by the relevant UK administration.

In Great Britain, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the pet travel regulations which apply, disrupt illegal imports and seize non-compliant animals. Any animals found to be non-compliant with the pet travel regulations which apply may be refused entry or detained until compliant.

When animals are transported for a commercial purpose, their transportation must comply fully with legal requirements aimed at protecting their welfare. APHA takes an intelligence-led approach at the GB border towards tackling the illegal trade in dogs. As part of this activity APHA identifies and acts to safeguard the welfare of animals where transport is non-compliant with legal requirements.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
30th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Department is taking with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to tackle the smuggling of puppies between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Defra takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. We will continue to work closely with Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to tackle this abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals and puts the health of pets and people in the UK at risk.

Now that the transition period has ended, we have the opportunity to manage our own rules applying to pet travel movements into Great Britain.

The Government is in the process of refining proposals for our manifesto commitment to tackling puppy smuggling and will be publishing further detail in due course.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
21st Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure domestic food standards are applied imported products.

The UK Government will not compromise on our standards. Our manifesto is clear that in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. We remain firmly committed to upholding our high environmental protection, food safety and animal welfare standards outside the EU. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains our standards on environmental protections, animal welfare, animal and plant health and food safety at the end of the transition period. This includes existing import requirements and provides a firm basis for maintaining the same high level of protection for both domestic and imported products.

These import standards include a ban on using artificial growth hormones in domestic and imported products and set out that no products, other than potable water, are approved to decontaminate poultry carcasses. Any changes to existing food safety legislation would require new legislation to be brought before this Parliament.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
29th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to issue guidance on labelling requirements for products after the transition period ends to agri-food firms in Northern Ireland.

Ministers meet regularly with food manufacturers, and representatives of other parts of the supply chain from across the UK, to discuss preparations for the end of the transition period including for food labelling.

The GOV.UK website provides cross-UK guidance on these matters and is kept under review and updated as appropriate. The EU has set out its position on how food and drink should be labelled where EU rules apply.

We will provide a period of adjustment for labelling changes required at the end of the transition period, wherever this is possible. During this period, the changes that UK businesses need to make when selling between different markets will be minimised. We are working to determine the appropriate time industry needs to make changes and will provide guidance as soon as we can do so, to ensure that businesses have clarity and certainty.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
14th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department has provided to agricultural shows in England in each of the last three years.

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the article published in Science of the Total Environment in June 2020, entitled, London's river of plastic: High levels of microplastics in the Thames water column, by Rowley et al, what steps his Department is taking to tackle pollution in waterways.

Defra is working with the Environment Agency, academics and the UK water industry to understand the scale of the microplastic pollution problem and to establish detection methods. The aim is to identify, characterise and quantify the types of microplastics entering wastewater treatment plants, evaluate the efficiency of treatment processes for the removal of microplastics from domestic wastewaters and assess the fate and biological effects of microplastics in receiving rivers.

Although there has been substantive research reporting the presence and impacts of microplastics in the marine environment, little is known about their sources, release and impact on freshwaters or their ultimate transport to the marine environment. Defra recently commissioned three evidence reviews on analysis, prevalence & impact of microplastics in freshwater and estuarine environments to further understand these issues and will use the outcomes from these and other research to develop policy options to help mitigate the impact of microplastics in the aquatic environment. These evidence reviews can be found at the following link: http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=20192&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=WT15112&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
19th May 2020
Whether he plans to provide support to the devolved Administrations to help local (a) dairy and (b) beef producers that are facing reductions in farmgate prices.

This is a devolved matter and so will be for the Northern Ireland Executive to decide what support they provide to their sectors. I meet with Minister Poots regularly and we are working closely to share information and intentions to help develop coherent approaches, for example, a UK-wide campaign has recently been launched to encourage consumers to increase dairy purchases.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
6th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with supermarkets in the UK to encourage the promotion and sale of meat produced on UK farms.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with supermarkets, retailers and other stakeholders in the food and drink industry covering a wide range of issues.

We are fortunate in the UK that we have the climate, the landscape, and entrepreneurial farmers and food producers that equip us to produce world-class food, and our farmers and growers are doing a fantastic job of feeding the nation during this challenging time.

Half of the food that the UK population consumes is home-grown and is renowned for its quality, and high standards of food safety, traceability, animal welfare and sustainability. We will always champion our farmers and producers; supporting them to grow more of our great British food, and to provide a reliable and sustainable food supply to the British public.

Supermarkets are already taking steps to promote and source British meat products. We are also working closely with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) as they develop consumer-facing marketing campaigns for the meat and dairy sectors. We will continue to engage with and support similar initiatives that highlight the qualities of British meat, dairy, and fruit and vegetable products.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
6th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to address falling beef prices for UK producers; and what steps he is taking to promote UK beef to international markets during the covid-19 outbreak.

Beef producers, as with other sectors, have been directly impacted by the closure of the food service sector as a result of the lockdown measures taken in response to Covid-19. This has led to problems with carcass imbalance.

The Government has well established ways of working with the food and farming industry supply chain to address temporary disruption. Defra and the devolved administrations are sharing the latest stakeholder information and data to ensure we have an evidence base for what is happening in specific markets, or specific geographical regions during the Covid-19 outbreak. The Secretary of State is also having regular meeting with the NFU and representatives of the beef sector.

Covid-19 impacts are also manifesting in the loss of export markets which would normally give value to parts of the carcass for which there is little demand in the UK and the shift away from the hospitality and food service sector to the retail sector.

Prices for prime cattle are showing signs of stabilising as industry has adapted and evolved to the current climate. Prices are up 3%, which is a positive sign of recovery.

Defra maintains a regular watching brief on the beef price and monitors all UK agricultural markets to provide forewarning of any atypical market movements and have continued to do so throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.

To help overcome the current imbalance in retail sales of beef, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Quality Meat Scotland and Meat Promotion Wales are launching a £1.2 million ‘Make It Steak’, promotion campaign. The EU funded Private Storage Aid scheme also opened to the UK beef industry on 7 May.

Defra’s Food is GREAT campaign is raising the international profile and reputation of food and drink from across the UK. It builds global demand, drives awareness and increases positive perceptions of UK food and drink products amongst international trade audiences and consumers. The campaign promotes excellent food and drink products from across the four nations of the UK. For instance, most recently the campaign showcased British beef, Northern Irish gin, Scotch Whisky, Welsh lamb, Scottish Salmon and English Sparkling Wine to Japanese consumers, trade and media in events coinciding with the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019. Defra also continues to work in partnership with industry and other Government departments to open new markets for the meat sector. This has included recently opening beef and lamb markets to Japan and progressing towards opening of the beef market to China for the first time in over 20 years.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
25th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department has allocated to tackle wildlife crime in each of the last three years.

Under our four year funding agreement with the National Wildlife Crime Unit, Defra has contributed £165,000 a year between 2016-2020 to the Unit’s activities. We have committed to maintaining the Defra contribution in 2020/21.

Furthermore, we provide up to £6.3 million per year to support international action to counter poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
24th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers and fishermen suffering from mental health problems.

The mental health of all sections of the population, including farmers and fishermen, is one of this Government’s top priorities. The Government is committed to transforming mental health services and has announced a further expansion in the NHS Long Term Plan funded by an additional £2.3 billion a year in real terms by 2023/24. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are best placed to decide on how our investment in mental health services should be used locally to meet the needs of their populations living in rural and coastal areas. CCGs are responsible for ensuring adequate access to mental health services locally, including early interventions such as mental health first aid. Funding allocations to CCGs, including those covering rural areas, vary to meet the needs of local populations, including mental health need and the needs of remote or sparsely populated areas.

The Government takes the issue of farmers’ wellbeing very seriously and is committed to supporting the wellbeing of farmers, incorporating wellbeing into future agricultural policy. We recognise this is a time of uncertainty and are designing our farming reforms in collaboration with those who work in agriculture wherever we can, considering personal and business resilience issue. We meet regularly with representatives from the main farming and rural charities. We have launched a £1 million grant funding project to provide resilience support to farmers and land managers in England to help them prepare for the Agricultural Transition period that will take place from 2021-2027. A range of providers will work directly with farmers providing business and personal resilience support and we will learn lessons from this project, using the accumulated evidence and on-going feedback from the industry to help us develop any next steps for any future initiatives and support.

On fisheries, Defra is providing support to SeafarersUK in a research project called ‘The financial health and resilience of small-scale fishers, their families and communities’. Defra’s grant will help SeafarersUK to widen the scope of the research on this important topic in order to understand better the type of financial problems fishers experience, their underlying reasons and what could be done to support fishers become more financially/economically resilient. This will include consideration of the high levels of poor mental health among fishing communities.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
22nd May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the Government is providing to people affected by super cyclone Amphan in Bangladesh and India.

The UK has provided £800,000 of rapid release funding to international and local NGOs through the START Fund Bangladesh. This funding will provide water, sanitation and hygiene, healthcare, food, non-food items and shelter for more than 83,300 people for 45-days. The UK is also supporting BRAC Bangladesh, which has provided support to another 6,000 badly affected households, as well as the UN’s humanitarian coordination.

DFID has supported the Government of Bangladesh in disaster preparedness for many years. This has helped the Government to put in place an early warning, evacuation, and response system and build community resilience to repeated shocks.

DFID had previously funded technical assistance to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to help build the first comprehensive city level flood forecasting and early warning system in India. This was launched in 2019 and helped ensure the government and people received timely warnings of Cyclone Amphan. Since 2004, the Indian Government has stated publicly it neither seeks nor accepts official international assistance ?from foreign governments for disaster relief.

17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress the Government has made on the recruitment of Export Champions for Northern Ireland.

The Department for International Trade has recruited six Export Champions for Northern Ireland. Pending final appointment processes, the Export Champions will be announced in due course. Further Export Champions for Northern Ireland may be appointed at a later date.

20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on the UK agri-food industry of a tariff-free free trade deal with Australia.

The UK stands to gain from a trade agreement with Australia. The Government will secure reductions in tariffs on UK exports to Australia, saving UK businesses millions of pounds. For example, elimination of 5% tariffs on whisky could bolster Northern Irish Whiskey exports to Australia.

Any deals the Government signs will include protections for the agricultural sector and will not undercut UK farmers or compromise the UK’s high standards.

The Government carried out preliminary scoping assessments for each FTA negotiation, including Australia, which can be found on the Government’s website. A full impact assessment will be published prior to implementation.

Greg Hands
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
5th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many trade missions are planned by his Department in the next six months; and how businesses are identified for participation in those missions.

The Department for International Trade has 131 Trade Missions currently planned over the next six months. Businesses are identified through Trade Associations and our UK-wide business networks.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many grants have been issued under the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme since its inception in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

As of 1st July 2022, the number of domestic charging devices installed under the Electric Vehicle Homecharge scheme in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland is as follows;

  • England - 282,675;
  • Scotland - 24,705;
  • Wales - 12,253;
  • Northern Ireland - 5,679.
Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of safe parking space for hauliers in the UK.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.

That is why we are investing £52.5 million in roadside facilities in England for HGV drivers on the road. DfT officials are developing detailed proposals for £32.5m funding, including appropriate grant mechanisms and setting well evidenced criteria. More information will be publicly available in due course with an announcement expected in late Autumn. However, roadside service operators are being encouraged to apply for the National Highways £20 million fund immediately.

The funding will go towards supporting operators to make improvements such as improving security, sanitary and eating facilities as well as possibly increasing parking spaces for lorry drivers.

We have commissioned a ‘National Survey of Lorry Parking’, which was published on 29th September 2022 and will be used as our primary evidence base to understand what improvements are most needed and where they are needed. The survey and its output will be used to set criteria for government funding. In addition, the Survey is available to support planning applications for new lorry parking.

An update to the Strategic Road Network Circular 02/2013 went to public consultation in July. The circular sets out planning policy in relation to the strategic road network and roadside facilities.

The Department continues to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of more safe, secure, and high-quality lorry parking to improve driver welfare.

Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) the compensation process for missing airline luggage and (b) airline (i) processes and (ii) timescales for declaring luggage as lost to enable the payment of (A) compensation and (B) travel insurance claims.

The Montreal Convention 1999 is the international convention that establishes airline liability for delay, damage or loss of baggage. In the event of baggage being lost, damaged or delayed, passengers should contact their airline. In the event they cannot reach an appropriate conclusion with the airline, passengers can escalate complaints either through Alternative Dispute Resolution, or through the Civil Aviation Authority Passenger Advice and Complaints Team.

We published the Aviation Passenger Charter in July 2022, which sets out the rights and responsibilities of passengers at each stage of their journey, including what to do if things go wrong, such as lost baggage.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that all those involved in the operation of commercial ferries crossing the Irish Sea have the neccesary qualifications.

Ensuring that seafarers operating all ships have the necessary international recognised qualifications, showing that they are properly trained and have the required level of proficiency for their roles, is the responsibility of the maritime administration of the country that the ship is registered with, the flag State.

In addition, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency will inspect all non-UK registered ferries that operate out of the United Kingdom on an annual basis, as the port State, under the Port State Control inspection regime. In relation to ferries, other EU member states, including Ireland, will also inspect them annually as required by the European Ro-Ro Passenger Ship Directive. These are additional checks that only applies to ferries.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the French Government on the removal of travel restrictions for those wishing to visit France this summer.

The Department for Transport and the British Embassy in Paris have engaged with the French government on border health measures throughout the pandemic and will continue to do so as passenger numbers increase.

The United Kingdom was placed on France’s ‘Green List’ on 31 March, meaning that fully vaccinated travellers who present proof at the border are no longer subject to any testing requirements, and unvaccinated travellers are only required to undertake a pre-departure test or present a certificate of recovery. These rules apply to passengers aged 12 and over.

The UK was one of the first major economies to remove all its remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, from Friday 18 March.

20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cars were seized and destroyed for non-payment of road tax in each of the last three years.

In the last three financial years, 159,192 vehicles have been seized and 42,177 vehicles have been destroyed for non-payment of vehicle excise duty. The table below shows the figures for the last three financial years.

Vehicles seized

Vehicles destroyed

2020/21

24,660

7,109

2019/20

68,991

18,566

2018/19

65,541

16,502

24th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) ferries, (b) airlines and (c) other transport links are (i) available and (ii) affordable for people travelling between Northern Ireland and mainland UK over Christmas 2020.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department has worked to ensure that the lifeline air and sea routes across the Irish Sea remain open. We recognise the critical importance of maintaining this connectivity during the Christmas period and we will continue to work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive, the other Devolved Administrations and operators to keep services running across the extended travel window for journeys to and from Northern Ireland, from 22 to 28 December.

14th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications have been made to the Cycle to Work Scheme in each month of 2020.

The Government does not hold this data. The Cycle to Work Alliance, an industry body which represents four of the leading providers of bicycles and equipment under the cycle to work scheme, has informed the Department that weekly applications to their members increased between the period May-July 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve motorcyclist safety in relation to safety barriers installed on carriageways.

The provision and maintenance of safety barriers on carriageways, for the protection of all road users, is a matter for the relevant Highways Authorities within England and Devolved Administrations.

The Department promotes Motorcycle safety awareness more generally through the THINK! Campaign.

6th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that public transport vehicles are compatible with social distancing measures; and what support his Department will provide for required adaptations to achieve that compatibility.

On the 12 May, the Government published guidance for passengers and transport operators to help them keep themselves and their staff safe, including how social distancing rules should be interpreted to do this. This guidance will be kept up-to-date as restrictions on travel change.

29th Apr 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support he is providing to the logistics industry to help secure ferry places for (a) empty lorries travelling to Great Britain from Northern Ireland and (b) full lorries travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government has made available £330 billion of support through loans and guarantees to support UK businesses. Changes have been made to some of the schemes to ensure that more businesses, particularly those that are SMEs like many road haulage companies, can benefit from them.

The Department is aware of the issues faced by the logistics industry in Northern Ireland. That is why on 24 April we announced a package of funding to support the movement of critical goods on up to 31 RoRo freight routes, including between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Up to £17 million of funding will be available to support up to five routes over the next two months, with the Northern Ireland Executive contributing 40 percent. Officials continue to work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive to gather evidence on the scale of the problem and any further support needed.

29th Apr 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) connectivity between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK and (b) other regional connectivity.

Ministers and officials have been meeting frequently with their counterparts in Northern Ireland and the other Devolved Administrations to discuss matters of mutual concern and to develop plans as appropriate.

In line with guidance issued by government to avoid non-essential travel, domestic public transport networks have amended services to reflect lower demand whilst keeping vital services running for those who are unable to work from home.

24th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the financial rationale is for the cost of MOT testing for class 4 vehicles.

The current MOT fee in Great Britain for class 4 vehicles was set by The Motor Vehicles (Tests) (Amendment) Regulations 2010, and the rationale for the fee level is set out fully in the relevant published impact assessment. The fee has been set to reflect the time taken to carry out an MOT and the costs of a garage in delivering that MOT. MOT garages often charge less than the set fee.

24th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many appeals of an MOT test result the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency received in each of the last three years.

The table below shows the number of appeals in Great Britain of an MOT test result received by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in each of the last three years.

Year

Number of appeals of an MOT test result received

2017

595

2018

605

2019

609

12th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of charging points for electric vehicles in rural areas.

Along with the private sector, the Government will invest £1 billion in charging infrastructure, ensuring that everyone is within 30 miles of a rapid charging station. We are already investing nearly £1.5bn? between April 2015 and March 2021 to support the transition to zero emission motoring and have put in place a range of grant schemes to support the installation of charging infrastructure, available in any urban or rural areas of the UK, including Northern Ireland.

Under the Government’s Go Ultra Low City Scheme, £22.9m has been allocated to support the installation of infrastructure in several UK cities and wider surrounding rural areas. Last year work commenced to determine a vision for a core rapid charger network on England’s strategic road network and we aim to report on this in Spring 2020. Our jointly funded £400 million Chargepoint Infrastructure Investment Fund’s first investment round, worth a total of £70 million, will ensure the delivery of a further 3,000 rapid charging devices by 2024, more than doubling the current number of rapid charging devices.

11th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many flights have declared an emergency in UK air space in each of the last five years.

In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, safety-related events which endanger or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person have to be reported to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The Regulation requires that the reporting, analysis and follow-up to such occurrences remain confidential. However, the Regulation does permit information to be released on request to interested parties that have a genuine safety related need for the information. An application can be made at www.caa.co.uk/srg1605.

Grant Shapps
Secretary of State for Defence
27th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that the needs of men experiencing incontinence are recognised in Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) 1992 Regulations (‘the Workplace Regulations’) and Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) set broad standards for what employers should provide to ensure the workplace is safe, healthy and provides appropriate welfare facilities to meet the needs of each member of the workforce.

Regulation 20 of the Workplace Regulations state that toilets should be kept in a clean and orderly condition. A business should consider the means to ensure they can fulfil this duty for every member of the workforce. The guidance already places a requirement for any worker with a disability to have access to facilities which are adjusted for their use if necessary.

Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that where children or adults are the subject of a Child Maintenance case and registered in full time education, Child Maintenance is only payable if the Child Maintenance Service is satisfied that they are attending and participating in that education.

To qualify for maintenance payments a child must meet the Child Maintenance Service's (CMS) criteria.

A person is considered a child for child maintenance purposes if they are under the age of 16 and habitually resident in the UK or if they are under the age of 20 and are considered a qualifying young person.

A qualifying young person is someone who is aged over 16 but under 20, and in full-time non-advanced education or approved training for at least 12 hours a week or if Child Benefit is payable.

The CMS may amend a calculation if we receive evidence that a child is no longer in full-time non-advanced education or approved training, but we do not measure attendance or participation.

Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
27th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, under what circumstances officials in Child Maintenance Service may refuse to meet, either in person or online, a parent who is seeking to resolve issues in their case.

Customers of the service can contact officials online, by telephone or in writing and in cases where customers have concerns, a complaints process including independent review is available and clearly signposted in written and online communications.

The Child Maintenance service undertakes work face to face meetings only in certain prescribed circumstances where there is a legal requirement to do so for instance certain judicial proceedings and interviews under caution.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
27th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sources of information are available to the Child Maintenance Service to help them ascertain whether a child or adult, who is the subject of a case, and who is registered in full time education is actually attending and participating in the course in a meaningful way.

There is no requirement in law for the Child maintenance Service to gather data on children attending full time education or training.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
30th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many errors have been recorded in the payment of winter fuel payments by reason of (a) incorrect address (b) being paid into incorrect bank account, in each of the last three years.

The Department for Work and Pensions Is not required to retain this information. In the circumstances the information is only possible to obtain at disproportionate cost to the DWP.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
6th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme backdated to 1 March 2020 will trigger universal credit over-payments for additional income for claimants encouraged to claim that benefit until the scheme is available.

Universal Credit takes into account any income received for the relevant assessment period (AP). In terms of the Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), the department has agreed that this will not be applied retrospectively to previous APs.

Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
12th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have died while waiting for their eligibility for personal independence payments to be determined; and what the main disabling condition was of those people.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically. Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and are being cleared in 6 working days on average (as at the end of October 2019, the latest available published data).

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department.

Between the introduction of PIP in April 2013 and 31st October 2019, the latest date for which published data is available, 4,617,990 decisions were made on claims to PIP. Of these, 20,830 (less than 0.5%) claimants died prior to a decision being made on their case.

The Department only records the disabilities of claimants who have reached the assessment stage. Therefore, the disabilities of claimants who passed away prior to the assessment stage appear under “Unknown or missing” in the table below.

Table: Disability of claimants who died prior to a decision being made on their PIP claim (Great Britain only).

Normal Rules (at registration)

Special Rules (at registration)

Total

Autoimmune disease

40

#

40

Cardiovascular disease

320

30

350

Diseases of the immune system

#

#

#

Diseases of the liver, gallbladder, biliary tract

320

90

410

Endocrine disease

70

#

70

Gastrointestinal disease

30

10

40

Genitourinary disease

120

30

150

Haematological Disease

10

#

10

Hearing disorders

#

#

#

Infectious disease

20

#

20

Malignant disease

1,740

4,510

6,250

Metabolic disease

10

#

10

Multisystem and extremes of age

#

#

#

Musculoskeletal disease (general)

200

#

210

Musculoskeletal disease (regional)

190

#

190

Neurological disease

450

40

490

Psychiatric disorders

820

10

830

Respiratory disease

500

40

540

Skin disease

30

#

30

Unknown or missing

10,460

700

11,160

Visual disease

30

#

30

Total

15,370

5,470

20,830

Please note that the DWP is only responsible for benefits in Great Britain. Social security benefits, including PIP, are a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. Questions about PIP claimants in Northern Ireland should be directed to the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland.

Notes:

  • These figures include claims made under Normal Rules or Special Rules for Terminal Illness and include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.
  • If a claimant dies before a decision is made on an outstanding claim, the Department establishes whether the claimant’s representative or next of kin wishes to proceed with the claim. If not, the claim is withdrawn.
  • It is possible for claims to transition between Normal and Special Rules during the course of the claimant journey.
  • This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
  • Figures cover claims on which a decision has been made and recorded on the PIP CS on or prior to 31st October 2019. Claims on which a decision has not been entered are excluded.
  • Claimants’ dates of death are as recorded on the system at 6th March 2020 and may be subject to retrospection.
  • Figures are rounded to the nearest 10, ‘#’ indicates a figure under 5 and individual numbers may not sum to the total because of rounding.
  • GB only.
11th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that hidden disabilities receive the same recognition as other disabilities in (a) car parks,(b) public (i) toilets, (ii) buildings and (iii) transport and (c) other public spaces.

The Cabinet Office Disability Unit is currently working with the British Standards Institute to support their development of an Invisible Disability sign, recognising that some disabled people face unfair criticism when trying to access facilities designed for disabled people.

The Government will publish a National Strategy for Disabled People in 2020 focusing on removing barriers to ensure disabled people can lead a life of opportunity and fully participate in British society. The strategy will be developed with disabled people, disability organisations and charities, and will support disabled people in all aspects and phases of their lives, including housing, education, transport and jobs.

9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking with the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland to ensure that no one who takes necessary public health precautions and is unable to attend work as a result of covid-19 will be unpaid.

In the Budget on 11 March, the Chancellor announced new measures to help people who are unable to work as a result of covid-19. The Department is working with colleagues in Northern Ireland to ensure the same arrangements are in place across the UK.

Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times her Department has used its discretionary waiver in respect of universal credit overpayments as a result of Departmental error in each of the last three years.

Waivers can only be granted by the Secretary of State where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial medical and/or financial hardship, and clear evidence of this can be provided. The discretion to waive benefit overpayments can only be exercised in line with Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on ‘Managing Public Money’.

Prior to the start of 2019/20, the reason that the overpayment occurred (fraud, claimant error or Departmental error) was not recorded on waiver requests. Therefore, for the years 2017/18 and 2018/19, I have instead provided the total number of successful waivers. It is important to note that these may not all have been for overpayments arising as a result of Departmental errors.

In 2017/18, there were no waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments. In 2018/19, there were 5 waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments, of these, 4 were granted on medical grounds. In 2019/20 year to date, there were 3 waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments, these were all granted on medical grounds.

*The data in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department.

9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times her Department has used its discretionary waiver on health grounds in relation to universal credit over-payments as a result of Departmental error.

Waivers can only be granted by the Secretary of State where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial medical and/or financial hardship, and clear evidence of this can be provided. The discretion to waive benefit overpayments can only be exercised in line with Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on ‘Managing Public Money’.

Prior to the start of 2019/20, the reason that the overpayment occurred (fraud, claimant error or Departmental error) was not recorded on waiver requests. Therefore, for the years 2017/18 and 2018/19, I have instead provided the total number of successful waivers. It is important to note that these may not all have been for overpayments arising as a result of Departmental errors.

In 2017/18, there were no waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments. In 2018/19, there were 5 waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments, of these, 4 were granted on medical grounds. In 2019/20 year to date, there were 3 waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments, these were all granted on medical grounds.

*The data in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department.

24th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department takes to monitor health and safety compliance by approved MOT centres.

In Great Britain, MOT test centres are predominantly located within motor vehicle repair premises, and regulation of health and safety compliance falls to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Such premises are not a current priority for HSE’s inspection activity and HSE only inspect these businesses where there is evidence that significant risk is not being managed, for example where concerns have been raised or following an incident. HSE promotes health and safety compliance via a number of industry stakeholders and provides specific relevant information to the industry through a range of communications channels. Further information on the sector plan for health and safety in the manufacturing industry can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/strategiesandplans/sector-plans/manufacturing.pdf.

Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
20th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help improve NHS (a) social and (b) emotional care for people living with kidney disease.

In England, care for patients with chronic kidney disease is addressed through the specialised service specifications for renal services. Service specifications define the standards of care expected from organisations providing specialised care and, for renal services, they require patients to have access to psychology services and social work advice as a core component of a multi-disciplinary team.

NHS England, through its Renal Services Transformation Programme (RSTP) and regional renal clinical networks, is progressing a series of programmes to: provide better and more joined-up care across care settings; reduce health inequalities; and focus on prevention and timely intervention, through streamlined patient pathways to address management of deteriorating kidney disease. Psychosocial support within renal services has been identified by the RSTP as a theme for improvement.

Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
8th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 10 recommendations in Kidney Care UK's report entitled Caring for people with kidney disease: Psychosocial health – a manifesto for action, published in June 2022, what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to improve the (i) social and (ii) emotional care provided to people with kidney disease.

In England, care for patients with chronic kidney disease is addressed through the specialised service specifications for renal services. Service specifications define the standards of care expected from organisations providing specialised care and, for renal services, they require patients to have access to psychology services and social work advice as a core component of a multi-disciplinary team.

NHS England, through its Renal Services Transformation Programme and regional renal clinical networks, is progressing a series of programmes to provide better and more joined-up care across care settings, reducing health inequalities, and focussing on prevention and timely intervention through streamlined patient pathways to address management of deteriorating kidney disease. Psychosocial support within renal services has been identified by the Programme as a theme for improvement.

Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to improve processing times for claims for compensation for injuries caused by the Covid vaccine.

While the Government does not provide compensation for COVID-19 vaccines, steps are being taken to continuously improve processing times for claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, working with the NHS Business Services Authority which administers the scheme.

Improvements to date include digitising the application process and increasing the number of administration staff from four to 80, allowing for named case managers who can provide updates on progress to claimants.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the importance of (a) healthy cholesterol levels and (b) regular cholesterol checks.

The Department continues to support the national implementation of the National Health Service Health Check programme. The check involves awareness, assessment and management of the top six risk factors for cardiovascular disease, one of which is cholesterol. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is working with local Government to modernise the NHS Health Check programme and delivering social marketing and behavioural interventions to improve health.

14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on obesity levels amongst people aged 18 and under.

To date, Government has not assessed the impact of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) on obesity levels amongst people aged 18 years old and under.

Rogers et al. (2023) undertook an independent assessment of obesity prevalence in English primary school children and the United Kingdom SDIL. This assessment found that the SDIL was associated with decreased prevalence of obesity in Year Six girls, with the greatest differences in those living in the most deprived areas. They estimated that the reduced sugar-sweetened beverages consumption of drinks covered by SDIL may have prevented around 5,000 cases of obesity in Year Six girls aged 10 to 11 years old, across all socio-economic groups.

14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of patient-supported education as a means of reducing regional variation in care for (a) hereditary angioedema and (b) other rare diseases.

NHS England regularly assesses the geographic spread of patients accessing highly specialised services. If there are any regional variations, NHS England will work with the relevant service to investigate and address these issues. No specific assessment has been made of patient-supported education as a means of reducing regional variation in care for hereditary angioedema or other rare diseases.

No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of the recognition by clinicians in emergency settings of hereditary angioedema and other potentially life-threatening rare diseases. However, the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework aims to improve the awareness of all rare diseases, including hereditary angioedema. England’s second Rare Diseases Action Plan, published in February 2023, reports on progress made to increase knowledge and improve the resources available to healthcare professionals. This includes the development of GeNotes, an educational resource that aims to increase the awareness of genetic and rare diseases amongst healthcare professionals. The Genomics Education Programme actively delivers education and training to the National Health Service workforce to support awareness, knowledge and management of rare disease.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to priority four of the UK Rare Diseases Framework, what steps his Department is taking to reduce regional variations in access to specialist care for patients with (a) hereditary angioedema and (b) other rare diseases.

NHS England regularly assesses the geographic spread of patients accessing highly specialised services. If there are any regional variations, NHS England will work with the relevant service to investigate and address these issues. No specific assessment has been made of patient-supported education as a means of reducing regional variation in care for hereditary angioedema or other rare diseases.

No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of the recognition by clinicians in emergency settings of hereditary angioedema and other potentially life-threatening rare diseases. However, the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework aims to improve the awareness of all rare diseases, including hereditary angioedema. England’s second Rare Diseases Action Plan, published in February 2023, reports on progress made to increase knowledge and improve the resources available to healthcare professionals. This includes the development of GeNotes, an educational resource that aims to increase the awareness of genetic and rare diseases amongst healthcare professionals. The Genomics Education Programme actively delivers education and training to the National Health Service workforce to support awareness, knowledge and management of rare disease.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve the capacity of air ambulance provision in the UK.

The Government has provided significant support to the air ambulance sector. In 2019, the Department of Health and Social Care launched a three-year capital grant programme which allocated £10 million to 9 air ambulance charities across England. A total of £6 million of COVID-19 emergency funding was made available to all 21 air ambulance charities across the UK in 2020, assisting the continuity of air ambulance response during the pandemic. This is alongside direct support from NHS ambulance trusts, who may provide staffing and equipment depending on local arrangements.

Air ambulance services are charitable organisations and not directly funded by the NHS. Air Ambulances UK, the sector’s independent professional body, share our view that this is the most appropriate funding model.

25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people aged under 60 in the UK have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease in each of the last three years broken down by region of the UK.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that all medicines approved for use In Great Britain are also available in Northern Ireland.

Our priority is to safeguard the continued supply of medicines to patients in Northern Ireland and help ensure equity of access for patients across the United Kingdom.

Following negotiations last year, the European Union and UK Government have taken significant practical steps towards resolving outstanding issues with the regulation and supply of medicines under the Northern Ireland Protocol. This includes the introduction of the NI MHRA Authorised Route (NIMAR) to help ensure patients in Northern Ireland can access prescription-only medicines at the same time as patients in Great Britain.

25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 tests his Department has procured in each of the last 12 months.

We do not hold the data in the format requested.

Between April 2020 and March 2022, circa 2.6 billion lateral flow tests were procured by the Department. It is not possible to provide data for after April 2022 at this time as it is not yet validated for release.

PCR test kits are assembled in house.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths per year.

We are providing new funding for local government to improve drug and alcohol misuse treatment and recovery services in England and increasing the availability of inpatient detoxification beds. We are also investing £27 million to establish alcohol care teams in the 25% of hospitals in England with the greatest need.

12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the devolved regions adequate resources to support health services in tackling (a) Strep A and (b) scarlet fever.

As health is a devolved matter, the devolved administrations are responsible for responding appropriately to the needs of the respective populations, including addressing outbreaks of scarlet fever and Group A streptococcus (GAS).

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) collaborates with the devolved administrations and the relevant public health agencies. Representatives from the devolved administrations attend the UKHSA’s incident management team meetings, including for the GAS incident. Information on serious cross‑border threats to health, new and emerging threats, surveillance and response coordination is also shared.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of stroke symptoms in younger people.

The Act FAST campaign aims to raise awareness of stroke symptoms and applies to all age groups. We also work with the Stroke Association and Different Strokes, which works with younger stroke survivors, to share resources for the Act Fast campaign and raise awareness of the early signs of a stroke.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
11th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department have taken steps to commission research on the potential impact of air pollution on developing lungs and brains during pregnancy.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR has over £13 million allocated to active research into air pollution. The NIHR supports a range of research on the effects of air quality on health, including the relationship between exposure to air pollutants and adverse birth outcomes in England, Scotland and Wales. This is primarily undertaken through the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Environmental Exposures and Health at Imperial College London, with the UK Health Security Agency.

11th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many sudden infant deaths occurred in the UK in each of the last three years.

The sudden unexpected death of a baby, when there is no apparent cause of death, is known as sudden unexpected death in infancy. This includes sudden infant death syndrome and fatal sleep accidents.

Statistics on sudden infant deaths for England and Wales are reported by the Office for National Statistics with separate publications by the National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. The following table shows the most recent data available in each year since 2018.

England and Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland

2021

Not yet available

15

Not yet available

2020

78 (provisional)

13

2

2019

103

23

3

2018

114

28

0

Note:

Data for England and Wales in 2020 data is provisional due to registration delays during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finalised data will be published in 2023.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
11th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to (a) improve childhood cancer diagnosis times and (b) raise awareness of child cancer symptoms through dedicated resources for both GPs and parents.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence provides guidance for general practitioners (GPs) on the symptoms of cancer in children. The Royal College of General Practitioners sets the training curriculum for GPs which states that in order to demonstrate the core competences in the care of children and young people, GPs should be aware of the early presenting symptoms of childhood cancers. Children’s cancer services are contained in 14 specialist principal treatment centres. A child with suspected cancer should be referred directly to a centre, which will make the diagnosis and direct the provision of treatment.

There are no specific plans to raise awareness of childhood cancer symptoms through dedicated resources for parents.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
11th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to encourage more cancer patients to donate tissue to assist with research into childhood cancers.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR has launched the online ‘Be Part of Research’ which enables individuals to search research studies currently recruiting participants in the United Kingdom, which is available at the following link:

www.bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk

Users may search based on health conditions, age range and location and access further detail, such as eligibility and participation criteria, which may include tissue donation.

11th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support research to investigate the long-term effects of treatment on childhood cancer survivors so that they can be supported better later in life.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In 2020/21, the NIHR’s expenditure on cancer research was £73.5 million. The NIHR is currently funding 15 research projects into the treatment of childhood cancer survivors, with committed expenditure of approximately £11.7 million since April 2017.

The NIHR is also supporting the delivery of research funded by partners in the charity and public sectors into the treatment of childhood cancers. Since April 2017, the NIHR Clinical Research Network has supported seven related studies. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including childhood cancer. Applications submitted to are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many first-time blood donors gave blood in each of the last three years.

The following table shows the number of new blood donors in England from 1 November to 31 October in each year since 2019.

1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020

100,812

1 November 2020 to 31 October 2021

133,486

1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022

111,004

Source: NHS Blood and Transplant, November 2022.

7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people donated blood in each of the last three years.

The following table shows the number of active blood donors in England from 1 November to 31 October in each year from 2019.

Year

Number of donors

1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020

764,966

1 November 2020 to 31 October 2021

789,943

1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022

797,263

Source: NHS Blood and Transplant, November 2022.

Note:

An active donor is an individual who has donated blood at least once in a 12 month period.

7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to raise young people's awareness of the risks of vaping.

To raise awareness of the risks of vaping to children, we have updated information and advice online at the Better Health and Talk to Frank platforms. The Department of Health and Social Care also works with the Department of Education on communications to schools to prevent children from starting vaping.

19th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the 10-Year Cancer Plan includes specific strategies to improve access to radiotherapy cancer treatments.

Following a call for evidence for a new cancer plan earlier this year, we received 5,000 responses. Further information will be available in due course.

19th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her plans are to reduce waiting times for cancer treatment.

We have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available in 2021/2022 to increase elective activity, including cancer services.

The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will reduce the number of people waiting more than 62 days to start treatment following an urgent referred for suspected cancer to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023. We have established 88 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to support patients to receive an earlier diagnostic test closer to home, including for cancer. We will prioritise the delivery of up to 160 CDCs to provide approximately 17 million tests by March 2025, with capacity for an additional nine million per year once fully operational.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
19th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to help improve access to radiotherapy for patients waiting for cancer treatment.

Since 2016, NHS England has invested over £160 million in radiotherapy equipment which has replaced or upgraded approximately 100 linear accelerators and ensuring local access to advanced radiotherapy techniques and treatments, such as Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to better understand ongoing symptoms following covid-19 infection.

The Government has invested £50 million in a research programme to address the long term physical and mental health effects of COVID-19. These studies will use the available evidence to identify the causes and treatments to help those affected to recover. We are also monitoring research being undertaken internationally.

17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of free lateral flow tests on Covid-19 levels.

As announced in ‘COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19’ in February 2022, we continued free asymptomatic testing in high-risk settings where prevalence was high. In August, prevalence had fallen to a level where there was limited value in most regular testing for people without symptoms, although testing continues for those with symptoms. This avoids the majority of people having to test unnecessarily.

There are many factors which affect the prevalence of COVID-19, therefore it is not possible to isolate the specific impact of the withdrawal of free lateral flow device tests or asymptomatic testing in high-risk settings. However, we continue to review data on the prevalence of COVID-19 and if public health advice suggests the reintroduction of regular asymptomatic testing in high-risk settings, this will be considered.

17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to promote the inclusion of dairy in children's diets.

Dairy is an important source of a range of nutrients, including calcium, in a child’s diet. The Government therefore promotes the consumption of milk and dairy products, or fortified alternatives, as part of a healthy balanced diet.

The Eatwell Guide encourages the population to consume some milk and dairy products, choosing lower fat and lower sugar varieties where available. The Eatwell Guide’s healthy eating principles, including those promoting milk and dairy products, are communicated through channels including GOV.UK, NHS.UK and social marketing campaigns, such as Healthier Families and Better Health.

5th Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve standards at (a) BPAS Merseyside and (b) other abortion clinics rated by the Care Quality Commission as requiring improvement.

Clinics in Basingstoke, Doncaster, Merseyside, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Sandwell, Stratford Upon Avon and Taunton have been rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as ‘Requires Improvement’. The CQC has met with the providers and will continue to monitor these clinics.  Departmental officials also have regular meetings with the CQC to ensure women continue to receive a safe and high quality abortion service.

5th Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding published on 28 July 2022 by the Care Quality Commission that BPAS Merseyside did not have a system for the observation of children under the age of 18 years using the modified early warning score (MEWS) to ensure early recognition and safe timely escalation of deteriorating children, whether he is taking steps to protect the welfare of girls under 18 who have visited BPAS Merseyside.

During the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) most recent inspection of BPAS Merseyside, it found that the service uses one universal tool for all people using the service, rather than a specific paediatric early warning score to assess young people. Following the inspection, BPAS is reviewing the process for the escalation of deterioration in the condition of young people and has issued a statement on a review of tools and current guidance. The CQC does not have evidence that young people under the age of 18 years old have been harmed as a result. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health recently published new safeguarding guidance for all under 18 year olds accessing early medical abortion services.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people under the age of 18 were diagnosed with diabetes in each of the last five years.

The following table shows the number of people in England under the age of 18 years old diagnosed with diabetes by type in each of the five years.

Diagnosis year

Type 1

Type 2 and other

2017

2,975

490

2018

2,975

515

2019

3,145

605

2020

3,620

570

2021

4,095

785

Source: National Diabetes Audit

Note:

Data was collected from primary care with general practitioner practice participation at 95% or over for all the Audit years.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) doctors, (b) nurses, and (c) health visitors have left the NHS since 23 March 2020.

NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in National Health Service hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England, but not staff working in primary care or in general practice surgeries, local authorities or other providers.

As data is only collected for the last day of each month, the following table shows the headcount number of HCHS doctors, nurses and health visitors who have left active service from 31 March 2020 to 31 December 2021.

Staff group

Leavers

HCHS doctors

24,127

Nurses

45,903

Health visitors

1,274

Notes:

  1. This analysis excludes Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as they did not use the Electronic Staff Record prior to March 2021.
  2. The data includes staff leaving to work for other health or social care providers as well as staff leaving active service, for example, to go on maternity leave or a career break.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new GPs have been registered in each of the last 5 years.

The information is not held in the format requested.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children have been diagnosed with Developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD) in each of the last five years; and what steps is the Government taking to invest in research on that condition.

The information requested is not held centrally. The Department invests in research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including developmental co-ordination disorder. While it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions, applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to reduce deaths resulting from antimicrobial resistance.

In January 2019, the Government published its vision for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to be contained and controlled by 2040. We committed to develop a series of five-year national action plans to tackle AMR. The first of these plans was published in 2019 and commits to reducing the need for and unintentional exposure to antimicrobials; optimise the use of antimicrobials; and invest in innovation, supply and access to antimicrobials. We are continuing to implement this plan with the aim of reducing bacterial AMR and the global burden of disease and deaths.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the symptoms of tuberculosis in light of increased cases in the UK.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England and NHS Improvement launched the ‘Tuberculosis (TB): action plan for England’ in July 2021, which aims to improve its prevention, detection and control. The UKHSA and NHS England and NHS Improvement are continuing to work with partners to raise awareness of TB among vulnerable communities and healthcare professionals, to ensure timely diagnoses and access to treatment. This includes professional training resources and webinars and updating the available public information.

On World TB Day on 24 March, we highlighted to the public that a long-lasting cough and a fever may not solely be symptoms of COVID-19. With this national media coverage, resources were shared with partners and stakeholders for use at local and regional level.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions her Department has had with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland on access to endometriosis services.

I wrote to the Minister of Health in Northern Ireland on 2 March 2022, to request a joint meeting with the hon. Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson MP), to discuss endometriosis provision.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making abortion pill reversal treatment widely available through the NHS; and if he will undertake a feasibility study on this treatment.

No assessment has been made. There are currently no treatments licenced in the United Kingdom for the reversal of abortion and there are no plans to undertake such a feasibility study.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doses of the flu vaccine were administered in each of the last five years; and what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of the flu vaccine programme.

The information on the number of doses of the flu vaccine administered is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the extrapolated total number of adults and children aged six months old and over vaccinated with the flu vaccine between September and February in each of the last five years to winter 2020/21. Data for winter 2021/22 is not yet available and will be published on 30 June 2022.

Flu season

Total extrapolated number vaccinated

2020/21

19,629,095

2019/20

14,566,163

2018/19

14,349,190

2017/18*

14,155,694

Source: The UK Health Security Agency

Note:

*Data to end of January

An annual flu vaccination marketing awareness campaign encourages uptake amongst eligible cohorts. In 2021/22 the flu vaccine awareness campaign was combined with the COVID-19 booster vaccination campaign. Planning is underway for this year’s campaign.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of endometriosis cases treated by the NHS in each of the last 5 years.

The information is not held in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number hospital finished admissions episodes with a primary diagnosis of endometriosis in each year from 2016/17 to 2020/21.

2016/17

20,568

2017/18

21,160

2018/19

22,298

2019/20

21,888

2020/21

13,675

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital

Notes:

  1. This information does not show a count of people, as the same person could be admitted to hospital or receive outpatient care on more than one occasion.
  2. Some treatments will often take place outside a hospital environment.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
2nd Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of potential negative effects on women and girls of sex-selection abortion in the UK.

Since reports emerged in 2014 on concerns about sex ratios at birth in the United Kingdom, the Department has published an annual analysis. The latest analysis was published in October 2021 and found no evidence for sex selective abortions occurring in the UK between 2015 and 2019. In this period, there were 105.5 male to 100 female births, which is below the accepted upper limit of 107. Whilst this data shows that sex selection abortions are having no impact on birth ratios, we will continue to work with abortion providers to monitor this issue.

2nd Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of analysis of data conducted by The Independent newspaper in 2014 suggesting that between 1,400 and 4,700 girls are missing from the national census records of England and Wales due to the selective abortion of female foetuses.

Since reports emerged in 2014 on concerns about sex ratios at birth in the United Kingdom, the Department has published an annual analysis. The latest analysis was published in October 2021 and found no evidence for sex selective abortions occurring in the UK between 2015 and 2019. In this period, there were 105.5 male to 100 female births, which is below the accepted upper limit of 107. Whilst this data shows that sex selection abortions are having no impact on birth ratios, we will continue to work with abortion providers to monitor this issue.

2nd Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government’s decision to re-instate the pre-covid-19 outbreak abortion policy, whether Ministers in his Department has had discussions with their Scottish counterparts on the Scottish Government’s progress on ending the temporary emergency at-home abortion policy in Scotland.

Officials have regular meetings with Scottish counterparts to discuss abortion policy.

11th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures are in place to ensure that home abortions taking place after the legal limit of ten weeks are reported to the police; and which health bodies are responsible for ensuring that that reporting is undertaken.

The Department continues to work with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to monitor the temporary approval of home use of both early medical abortion pills up to 10 weeks gestation. This includes sharing information between the CQC and Department where serious incidents related to the temporary approval take place. Concerns relating to a potential breach of abortion legislation should be reported to the police. Decisions to bring a prosecution in relation to the law on abortion are for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

11th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 27 April 2021 to Question 179697, on Abortion, whether his Department has plans to investigate illegal abortions occurring over the ten week limit for medical abortion at home.

The Department continues to work with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to monitor the temporary approval of home use of both early medical abortion pills up to 10 weeks gestation. This includes sharing information between the CQC and Department where serious incidents related to the temporary approval take place. Concerns relating to a potential breach of abortion legislation should be reported to the police. Decisions to bring a prosecution in relation to the law on abortion are for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

11th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Comres polling undertaken in May 2017 which found that 70 per cent of women supported a reduction in the abortion time limit from 24 weeks, and recent advances in perinatal medicine, whether his Department has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reduce the abortion time limit from 24 weeks in line with the findings of that polling.

There are no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reduce the abortion time limit. It would be for Parliament to decide whether to make any changes to the law on abortion. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance and allows hon. Members to vote according to their moral, ethical or religious beliefs.

11th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to data published in November 2021 by the HSE in Ireland that in 2020 1,480 women out of a total of 8,057 opted to continue their pregnancy after an initial abortion consultation, what steps he is taking to ensure that women in the UK who are considering an abortion receive support in the form of a high quality, in-person consultation.

There is no legal requirement for consultations for abortion to take place face to face. Guidance published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists states that a woman must be given enough information and time, including the opportunity to ask any questions, to give informed consent. Safeguarding is an essential part of the assessment for abortion care. Where a more detailed assessment is required, judgement should be used to determine whether remote consultation is suitable for the individual. Where English is not the first language, care should be taken to establish that the woman has understood the process, via telephone interpreter if necessary and has had the opportunity to ask questions.

23rd Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to assess the effectiveness of personal protective equipment used by front line health workers in protecting them from transmission of covid-19.

The infection prevention and control guidance sets out the appropriate personal protective equipment for frontline health workers. An expert group of clinicians regularly review the available evidence to ensure that the guidance and recommendations continue to be effective and reflect current understanding on how to prevent and control COVID-19 infection.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
23rd Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many rapid lateral flow kits have been dispatched to addresses in Northern Ireland since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.

To 26 November 2021, 19,472,441 lateral flow devices have been dispatched to addresses in Northern Ireland.

28th Jun 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the comments made in the Government consultation on a new legal framework for abortion services in Northern Ireland from November 2019 that it could be possible that a fetus having reached a gestation of 22 weeks is viable and thus capable of being born alive depending on the individual circumstances of the woman and the fetus; and what steps his Department takes to ensure that other Government Departments are informed on developments in perinatal medicine.

The Government’s consultation response published in March 2020 ‘A new legal framework for abortion services in Northern Ireland. Implementation of the legal duty under section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019’ set out that the intention that the regulatory framework would allow access to abortion services up to 24 weeks gestation in cases where the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl, greater than the risk of terminating the pregnancy in line with the position in England and Wales. This followed consideration and assessment of all the consultation responses received. Parliament voted to enact this legislation in a free vote in June 2020.

The Department works with the devolved administrations and other Government departments, ensuring that information is shared amongst the relevant bodies as appropriate.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
28th Jun 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to review the accuracy and objectivity of the Abortion and Abortion Care Factsheet produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare in 2019; and what comparative assessment his Department has made of the information in that leaflet that current evidence suggests that the fetus is unable to feel pain under 24 weeks and the Government confirmation in February 2019 that pain relief for unborn babies would be delivered intra-operatively for those undergoing spinal surgery for spina bifida between 20 and 26 weeks of gestation.

The Abortion and Abortion Care Fact Sheet for schools was produced and published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, therefore no assessment has been made.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
28th Jun 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 14 December 2020 to question 128881, Abortion: Drugs, what measures are in place to ensure that abortion pills sent by post are used by no-one other than the intended recipient.

The clinic will supply medicines obtained through the regulated supply chain, appropriately labelled for individual patients to be safely used only by those patients. The pills are only supplied following the patient’s consultation. Abuse of the temporary measures by the passing on or selling of abortion pills remains unlawful and subject to criminal sanctions.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of cancer diagnosis among children and young people.

In 2018, the most recent data available, there were 25,312 children and young people living with a cancer diagnosis in England. This data is available by cancer type, sex and other demographic factors and is available at the following link:

https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/prevalence

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to prevent young people from taking up smoking.

Later this year, we will publish a new tobacco control plan which will outline further plans to protect young people from smoking and to support our ambition to become smoke-free by 2030.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many completed admitted pathways there were in each month during the covid-19 outbreak.

The number of completed admitted pathways since January 2020 is shown in the following table.

Date

Total completed admitted pathways

January 2020

304,888

February 2020

285,918

March 2020

207,754

April 2020

41,121

May 2020

54,550

June 2020

94,354

July 2020

142,818

August 2020

155,789

September 2020

209,562

October 2020

232,487

November 2020

222,810

December 2020

190,604

January 2021

139,378

February 2021

152,642

March 2021

220,349

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to inform people of the dangers of (a) exposure to the sun and (b) the use of sunbeds.

Public Health England (PHE) contributed to the sun safety message published on the National Health Service website which is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/sunscreen-and-sun-safety/

PHE also publishes near real-time solar ultraviolet radiation index values from its measurement sites across the United Kingdom to inform people of the current levels in addition to guidance on when protection is needed. PHE discourages the use of sunbeds and has published guidance on the dangers from the use of sunbeds which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sunbeds-safety-advice/sunbeds-safety-advice

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support the Government is providing to people with fragile X syndrome.

On 9 January 2021, the Government published the United Kingdom Rare Diseases Framework, outlining four key priorities to improve the lives of those living with rare diseases such as fragile X syndrome. These include helping patients get a final diagnosis, increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals, better coordination of care and improving access to specialist care, treatment and drugs. The Framework will be followed by nation-specific action plans, detailing how each nation of the UK will meet the shared priorities of the Framework. In addition, the NHS Long Term Plan sets out commitments for improving the health of people with a learning disability, including people with fragile X syndrome. Genomic testing for fragile X syndrome is included in the National Genomic Test Directory and is available in England via the NHS Genomic Medicine Service.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the prevalence rate of autism amongst the compulsory school age population in England in the latest period for which that data is available.

The Children and Young People Mental Health Survey dataset for 2017 reports an estimated autism prevalence rate of 1.5% amongst children aged five to 10 years old and 1.2% amongst children aged 11 to 16 years old.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
11th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on its proposals to introduce the mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid.

The Department published a UK-wide consultation on the proposed mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid which ran from 13 June to 9 September 2019. A post consultation update was published on GOV.UK. Publication of the consultation response has been delayed due to the pandemic. We will publish the response as soon as possible.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
13th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to research on the causes and treatment of brain tumours.

In May 2018 the Government announced £40 million over five years for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Brain tumours is a difficult research area with a relatively small research community. We are taking actions to grow the field, such as workshops for researchers and research training for clinicians.

The NIHR released a public announcement to the research community in April 2018, making clear our desire to receive brain tumour research funding applications. We are relying on researchers to submit high-quality research proposals. All applications that were fundable in open competition have been funded. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including brain tumours.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
13th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with professional bodies representing General practitioners to encourage the resumption of face to face consultations in General practice as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders on issues related to general practice.

On 25 March 2021, NHS England and NHS Improvement published its 2021/22 priorities and operational planning guidance which sets the priorities for the year ahead. This included, as part of restoring and increasing access to primary care services, that all practices should offer face to face consultations, alongside continuing to increase the use of online consultations as part of embedding total triage.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 118932 on Abortion: Childbirth and the response that information on the number of live births following termination of pregnancy is not collected centrally, how data is recorded on the number of babies born live after abortion; and if his Department will publish the data on that matter that is available.

The information requested is not collected centrally. The Department acknowledges that there are limitations with the data currently collected on serious incidents and complications that occur after an abortion. We are planning to examine, with partner organisations, how well these systems are working in relation to recording incidents and complications arising from abortions and whether improvements can be made.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long a medical practitioner is required to wait before submitting an HSA4 form after dispensing medical abortion pills by post or through a clinic for patients to take at home; how complications as a result of taking those pills can be reported after an HSA4 form has already been submitted; and whether in the event that such complications are later reported there is a process in place to ensure that that HSA4 form is amended to record those complications.

In accordance with the Abortion Act and the Abortion Regulations 1991, all abortions performed in England must be notified to the Chief Medical Officer within 14 days of the procedure. There is no requirement for the practitioner to wait until day 14 to notify the abortion.

Any complication known to the practitioner terminating the pregnancy, at the time the notification is submitted, should be recorded on the Abortion Notification (HSA4) form. All serious incidents should be reported by the provider to their commissioner, the Care Quality Commission and other relevant organisations in line with the serious incident framework published by NHS England and NHS Improvement which is available at the following link:

https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/serious-incident-framework/

We acknowledge that there are limitations with the data provided on HSA4 forms as complications that occur after treatment may not be known to the registered medical practitioner and may not be reported. We are planning to examine, with partner organisations, how well these systems are working in relation to recording complications arising from abortions and whether improvement is required.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether medical practitioners are required to wait until 14 days have elapsed before submitting the HSA4 form following an electronic consultation to dispense home medical abortion pills or whether that form can be submitted at any point within the 14-day period of those pills having been dispensed.

In accordance with the Abortion Act and the Abortion Regulations 1991, all abortions performed in England must be notified to the Chief Medical Officer within 14 days of the procedure. There is no requirement for the practitioner to wait until day 14 to notify the abortion.

Any complication known to the practitioner terminating the pregnancy, at the time the notification is submitted, should be recorded on the Abortion Notification (HSA4) form. All serious incidents should be reported by the provider to their commissioner, the Care Quality Commission and other relevant organisations in line with the serious incident framework published by NHS England and NHS Improvement which is available at the following link:

https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/serious-incident-framework/

We acknowledge that there are limitations with the data provided on HSA4 forms as complications that occur after treatment may not be known to the registered medical practitioner and may not be reported. We are planning to examine, with partner organisations, how well these systems are working in relation to recording complications arising from abortions and whether improvement is required.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the his Department's response of 1 October 2020 to Freedom of Information request FOI-1250644, whether the Government has plans to prosecute abortion providers for enabling women to take abortion pills beyond the 10-week gestation period limit.

The Abortion Act 1967 permits termination of a pregnancy by a registered medical practitioner subject to certain conditions. Decisions to bring a prosecution in relation to the law on abortion are for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, not the Government.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
23rd Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a screening programme for prostate cancer for people over 50.

The United Kingdom National Screening Committee UK NSC) reviewed the evidence during the consultation of prostate cancer screening in men over the age of 50 years old in 2020 and recommended that a population screening programme should not be introduced.

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is not accurate enough to detect the aggressive prostate cancers that need treatment. It can identify men as having prostate cancer when in fact they do not and miss some aggressive cancers. Many men may then undergo unnecessary tests and treatments and risk long term health problems. It is still not clear whether other tests such as a magnetic resonance imaging scan, with or without the PSA, are accurate enough.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
23rd Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Irish Government on the sharing of passenger locator form information for people arriving into the Irish Republic from high risk covid-19 areas.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department uses to determine good faith security research, as outlined in his Department’s Vulnerability Disclosure Policy.

The Department has two Vulnerability Disclosure Policies (VDPs) - the NHS COVID-19 App VDP, specifically for the NHS Test and Trace App and its supporting infrastructure and the NHSX VDP supporting the COVID-19 'Test, Track and Trace' programme of work.

The intention behind the reference to 'in good faith' is to support a mechanism for cooperation with security researchers with the aim to identify and quickly remediate reported vulnerabilities. As such, the research/ vulnerability disclosure must be carried out in an honest and sincere way with the intention of improving security and without affecting the safety, security and continuity of any data or service in accordance with the disclosure policy and consistent with the law.

5th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 118932 on Abortion: Childbirth, whether there is a requirement for babies born in cases of live birth following attempted termination of pregnancy in the UK before 21 weeks and six days of gestation to be provided with (a) life-saving treatment and (b) palliative care; and whether his Department has issued guidance on that matter.

Data on how many infants have been born after a failed abortion is not held centrally.

As set out in the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ guideline on Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality, a fetus born alive after termination for a fetal abnormality is deemed to be a child and must be treated in his or her best interests and managed within published guidance for neonatal practice. A fetus born alive with abnormalities incompatible with long-term survival should be managed to maintain comfort and dignity during terminal care.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
5th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 118932 on Abortion: Childbirth, what procedures medical professionals would follow in cases of live birth following attempted termination after 21 weeks and six days of gestation, in circumstances where the parents did not want the baby's life to be saved.

Data on how many infants have been born after a failed abortion is not held centrally.

As set out in the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ guideline on Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality, a fetus born alive after termination for a fetal abnormality is deemed to be a child and must be treated in his or her best interests and managed within published guidance for neonatal practice. A fetus born alive with abnormalities incompatible with long-term survival should be managed to maintain comfort and dignity during terminal care.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
5th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Queston 118932 on abortion: childbirth, how many infants having been born alive after a failed abortion were (a) provided care and died and (b) provided care and lived in each year since 2006.

Data on how many infants have been born after a failed abortion is not held centrally.

As set out in the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ guideline on Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality, a fetus born alive after termination for a fetal abnormality is deemed to be a child and must be treated in his or her best interests and managed within published guidance for neonatal practice. A fetus born alive with abnormalities incompatible with long-term survival should be managed to maintain comfort and dignity during terminal care.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
6th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support children with autism and food aversions to improve their diet.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines entitled ‘Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: support and management’ describes the support, treatment and help that health and care professional can provide to autistic children and young people. We advise commissioners to follow these guidelines. The guidelines do not currently advise on food aversion although guidelines are updated periodically.

The NHS Long Term Plan aims to tackle the causes of morbidity and preventable deaths in people with a learning disability and for autistic people. As part of this, NHS England will pilot the introduction of a specific health check for autistic people aimed at improving health outcomes.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
6th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to HSA4 Abortion Notification forms received since 1 January 2020, how many women who underwent abortions had previous pregnancies ending in (a) livebirths and stillbirths over 24 weeks, (b) spontaneous miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, and (c) abortion.

The information is not available in the format requested.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
6th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2020 to Question 96229 on Abortion: Disability, what annual assessment his Department makes of the named medical condition for abortions under Ground E of the statutory grounds for abortion provided in his Department's annual statistical release on abortion; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the category of disabilities that may be regarded as constituting a serious handicap for the purposes of Ground E is not unreasonably extended.

There is no official definition of seriously handicapped. In 1990, when the grounds for abortion were amended, Parliament decided that doctors were best placed to make these decisions with the woman and her family. It is for Parliament to decide the circumstances under which abortions should take place. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists issued guidance to doctors ‘Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality in England, Scotland and Wales’ in May 2010. The guidance is intended to assist doctors and other health professionals to support women and their families when a fetal abnormality is diagnosed and to help women to decide, within the constraints of the law, whether or not to have the pregnancy terminated. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/terminationpregnancyreport18may2010.pdf

There is clinical input to the coding of the named medical conditions for abortions under Ground E of the statutory grounds for abortion provided in the annual abortion statistical release.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
6th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve dental health among children.

National Health Service dental practices are continuing to provide face to face care. The Department is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Chief Dental Officer for England to increase levels of service, as fast as is safely possible, taking into account Public Health England’s guidance and continued infection risks. Over 600 urgent dental centres remain open to support the provision of urgent and emergency face to face care.

Public Health England’s Child Oral Health Improvement Programme Board and the Adult Oral Health Oversight Group have continued to meet and provide strategic oversight for oral health improvement during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many positive cases of covid-19 there have been in the UK where the person was not in the UK 72 hours before the test was conducted.

This information is not held in the format requested.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
28th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the definition of seriously handicapped in Ground E of the Statutory Grounds for Abortion.

There is no official definition of seriously handicapped. In 1990, when the grounds for abortion were amended, Parliament agreed that doctors were best placed to make these decisions with the woman and her family. It is for Parliament to decide the circumstances under which abortions should take place.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
15th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies on suicide prevention of the ONS's estimates of suicide among higher education students, published in January 2018; and if he will make a statement.

As laid out in ‘Fourth progress report of the cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives’, the Department asked Public Health England (PHE) to lead a project to analyse and publish data on student suicides in England. PHE worked with the Office for National Statistics to link higher education data to suicide mortality data, for the period 2000/01 to 2016/17. The report ‘Estimating suicide among Higher Education students, England and Wales’ was published in June 2018.

In January 2019, we published the first Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan, setting out an ambitious programme across national and local government and the National Health Service. It includes a commitment to analyse the suicide rates of people at university to explore any lessons to be learned and increase awareness of suicide risk and mental wellbeing in universities.

22nd Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to review the effectiveness of the temporary approval of home use for both stages of early medical abortion.

The Department is carefully monitoring the impact of and compliance with the temporary approval of home administration of both sets of abortion medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials have regular meetings with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Care Quality Commission and abortion service providers.

The Government has committed to undertake a public consultation on making permanent the COVID-19 measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion up to 10 weeks gestation for all eligible women. The current COVID-19 measure will be kept in place until the public consultation concludes and a decision has been made.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of allowing abortion after 24 weeks following the diagnosis of cleft lip, cleft palate, or clubfoot on how people with those conditions are treated in society.

No such assessment has been made by the Department. However, the Government wants all children to lead happy and healthy lives to reach their full potential and is committed to improving everyone’s health. The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the societal contribution of people with cleft lip, cleft palate, or clubfoot are recognised.

No such assessment has been made by the Department. However, the Government wants all children to lead happy and healthy lives to reach their full potential and is committed to improving everyone’s health. The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on tackling obesity; and whether he plans to allocate additional funding to help tackle obesity in the devolved regions.

Officials in the Department have regular discussions with their counterparts in the devolved administrations on improving the health and wellbeing of the nation, including on reducing obesity. Discussions include domestic strategies and the delivery of United Kingdom-wide measures in our obesity strategy, such as front of pack nutrition labelling on food and drink.

There are no plans to change the current funding arrangements.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that covid-19 home antibody tests (a) are safe to use and (b) provide accurate results.

The Government is working to develop solutions for at-home testing (lateral flow tests) as well as lab-based testing (lab-based serology / immunoassay testing) to assess whether a person has had the virus which causes COVID-19. The desired ‘profile’ or characteristics of these tests including their intended use, target populations and safety and performance-related characteristics can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-tests-and-testing-kits-for-coronavirus-covid-19-work/target-product-profile-antibody-tests-to-help-determine-if-people-have-recent-infection-to-sars-cov-2-version-2

Since the end of May, lab-based antibody tests have been available to all National Health Service staff that want one using assays provided by several commercial providers. The results of Public Health England’s assessment of these assays can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-laboratory-evaluations-of-serological-assays

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of lockdown on the wellbeing of people with autism; and what steps the Government plans to take to meet the needs of people with autism over the coming months during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government recognises that social distancing and self-isolation are likely to increase the risk of loneliness and mental health issues for everyone, including for autistic people and their families and carers.

We have provided funding to and are working with a range of charities to boost their online and helpline capacity so that they are able to provide advice, support and signposting to services to a greater number of autistic people and their parents and family carers.

We have commissioned research to improve our understanding of the impacts of COVID-19 on autistic people and their families as a result of the pandemic and we are identifying any new actions that could be included in the refreshed autism strategy in response to the pandemic.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
3rd Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that people born with a cleft lip, cleft palate, or clubfoot are valued equally in society.

The Government wants all children to lead happy and healthy lives to reach their full potential and is committed to improving everyone’s health. The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
11th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a dedicated helpline for the elderly in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

The Secretary of State and the Northern Ireland health minister Robin Swann agreed to replace the Northern Ireland dedicated helpline with the well-known NHS 111 advice line to ensure that people in Northern Ireland have access to the same level of advice as citizens in England.

Our action plan published on 15 April 2020, www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-adult-social-care-action-plan supports care providers, the care workforce, unpaid carers, local authorities and the NHS for their ongoing hard work to maintain services and continue to provide high quality and safe social care to people throughout the pandemic

Where possible, the public (including older people, although we recognise internet usage is lower amongst this age group), are urged to seek guidance and advice on the COVID-19 outbreak via the government website www.gov.uk/coronavirus.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
11th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, what additional mental health and well-being support is being made available for NHS employees.

Employers across the National Health Service are responsible for helping their staff maintain and improve their physical and mental health and wellbeing and the NHS’s ambition is to be a beacon of good practice, leading the way in how this can be achieved. The final NHS People Plan, places strong emphasis on ensuring an improved health and wellbeing offer for all NHS staff. NHS England also has an Employee Assistance Programme provider, offering a confidential health and wellbeing service to staff that offer the following services counselling – immediate access to 24-hour telephone counselling, legal information services, financial information services, medical support team and online health and wellbeing support.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has put in place to (a) mark and (b) support world autism awareness week between 30 March and 5 April 2020.

The Government is committed to supporting autistic people to live healthy, independent lives and to participate in their local communities.

We are currently considering our plans to mark and support World Autism Awareness Week 2020.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on the development of a vaccine for covid-19.

The Government continues to work with The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, who provide expert medical scientific advice, as well as other medical professionals to actively review the situation as there is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice has been issued to health visitors and community nurses visiting (a) elderly patients and (b) people with underlying health conditions on reducing the risk of covid-19 transmission.

People returning from some areas of the world are being told to self-isolate depending on the location they have visited and their symptoms. People who have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 are also being advised by their local Health Protection Team to self-isolate. People who are self-isolating and have no symptoms do not pose a risk to others. They are self-isolating to allow closer monitoring in order to identify early symptoms, and to enable prompt medical action if required.

Social, community and residential care staff should ascertain if a person is in self-isolation and if they are asymptomatic or symptomatic prior to their visit. If they are self -isolating and a visit is deemed necessary, then a full risk assessment should be undertaken with managers and infection control specialist to decide the best course of action.

If during a telephone consultation with a patient or their representative to assess their suitability for a domiciliary visit, it is thought that COVID-19 is possible (based on the Public Health England criteria for a possible case), then a face-to-face assessment must be avoided. Instead, call NHS 111 and arrange for a clinical assessment to be made before proceeding.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, for what reason flights are being allowed to continue between airports in northern Italy and the UK.

Flights are currently allowed to continue between the United Kingdom and Italy as there are many UK citizens in that area who may want to come home. Also, crucially, the evidence shows that banning flights from affected areas does very little to protect us.

Currently British Airways and Ryanair have made the decision to cancel all flights to and from Italy; these decisions were made by the companies themselves. The UK Government has not currently taken steps to restrict flights between the UK and Italy, but this remains under constant review.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all but essential travel to Italy, due to the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 and in line with various controls and restrictions imposed by the Italian authorities on 9 March. The Foreign Office advice is available at the following link:

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
25th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle antibiotic resistance.

In recognition of the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the United Kingdom Government published its vision to contain and control AMR by 2040 in January 2019. The vision was supported by a five-year national action plan.

The national action plan takes a fully integrated and comprehensive One-Health approach to tackling AMR, with challenging five-year commitments across the spectrum of human and animal health, agriculture, the environment and food, both in the UK and internationally. It includes ambitions to reduce infections and our use of antimicrobials and to support further research to better help target interventions.

A UK cross-Government delivery board drives and oversees implementation of the national action plan. The NHS Long Term Plan includes the commitment to implement the human health aspects of the AMR national action plan.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
25th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will develop a national strategy for reducing health inequalities.

The Government is committed to levelling up the whole country. Every single person deserves to lead a long and healthy life, no matter who they are, where they live or their social circumstances.

The Prevention Green Paper reflected the need to reduce inequalities and to level up and we are considering how best this can be delivered.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
24th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses have left the NHS in each of the last five years.

The information is not held in the format requested.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
24th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the health risks posed by 5G roll out.

Public Health England (PHE) advises it is possible that there may be a small increase in overall exposure to radio waves when 5G is added to an existing network or in a new area. However, the overall exposure is expected to remain low relative to international exposure guidelines and, as such, there should be no consequences for public health.

Information about these guidelines and the evidence reviews supporting PHE’s position are provided at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/5g-technologies-radio-waves-and-health/5g-technologies-radio-waves-and-health

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mobile-phone-base-stations-radio-waves-and-health/mobile-phone-base-stations-radio-waves-and-health

PHE is committed to monitoring the evidence applicable to 5G and other radio technologies, and to revising its advice, should that be necessary.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
24th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on coordinations of additional measures to respond to a potential covid-19 outbreak.

The Department has worked closely at Ministerial and official level with our partners in the devolved administrations since the beginning of the outbreak to formulate an effective response. Alongside this, Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, is working with his counterparts in the devolved administrations to ensure the response is effective across the whole United Kingdom.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
11th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits on introducing routine prostate cancer screening.

The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has commenced work to review the evidence to offer population screening for prostate cancer as per its three-yearly cycle. A three-month public consultation will take place in summer 2020 where a recommendation will be made.

Further information and how to participate in the consultation will be available at the following link:

https://legacyscreening.phe.org.uk/screening-recommendations.php

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
10th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with the devolved Administrations on the mandatory fortification of flour.

Departmental officials have been in regular discussions with their counterparts in each of the devolved administrations regarding the proposal to fortify flour with folic acid to help prevent neural tube defects in foetuses. The public consultation was a joint one with the devolved administrations who were equally involved in the formation of it. During the pre-election period in Westminster, preparation of the Government response was put on hold, but discussions are now continuing with the devolved administrations and further information will be announced in due course.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
6th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2020 to Question 6150 on autism: diagnosis, how his Department monitors the autism diagnosis process in the absence of data relating to waiting times for diagnosis.

The Department recognises the importance of timely and effective diagnosis processes and that is why we have introduced the first ever collection and reporting of autism waiting times data.

On 14 November 2019, NHS Digital published statistics that present the number of new referrals to mental health services for which the referral reason was suspected autism, as well as their waiting times to first appointment. These are experimental statistics and have been published by NHS Digital to involve users and stakeholders in the future development of the data, including work to improve the quality of the data. The data is intended to give average time to diagnosis, but it will take some time before that information is ready for publication. The data is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/autism-statistics/autism-statistics

In addition, the NHS Long Term Plan has set out that over the next three years, autism diagnosis will be included alongside work with children and young people’s mental health services to test and implement the most effective ways to reduce waiting times for specialist services.

5th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to amend regulations on the packaging of tobacco products.

The Government has a statutory obligation to conduct Post Implementation Reviews to assess the impact of tobacco regulations on both the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 by May 2021. The Department will also review the United Kingdom tobacco and e-cigarette regulatory framework so it continues to protect the nation’s health and support the prevention Green Paper ambition to make England smoke-free by 2030.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of women undertake a strep B test during pregnancy; and what plans his Department has to make that test compulsory for all pregnant women.

The test that is used currently to detect strep B during pregnancy is the Asymptomatic Bacteriuria test, which is generally used to detect more common bacterial infections such as E. Coli and Klebsiella. The data on the number of women who undertake an Asymptomatic Bacteriuria test to identify strep B specifically is not collected.

The UK National Screening Committees last reviewed the evidence to introduce screening for Group B Strep (GBS) at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy in 2017 and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits of screening would outweigh the harms.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has commissioned a clinical trial to compare universal screening for GBS against usual risk-based care. This £2.8 million trial (GBS3 trial) was launched in April 2019 and is due to report after four years. The UK NSC will review its recommendation in light of the evidence from the trial, after it reports in 2023.

21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for an autism diagnosis.

We do not currently hold average waiting times for an autism diagnosis.

7th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Indian counterpart on the use of anti-conversion laws in that country.

The British High Commission in New Delhi consistently monitors human rights including the use of anti-conversion laws across India. The UK Government has a broad and deep partnership with the Government of India and we discuss all elements of our relationship, including human rights and Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), and raise issues where we have them. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, raised human rights and Freedom of Religion or Belief with the Indian Government during his visit to India in May. He also met representatives of diverse faith groups.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
28th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in China on (a) the persecution of Christians and (b) other religious persecution.

The environment for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) across China is restrictive, including the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners.

We work within international organisations and networks to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief for all where it is threatened, including the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance. For example, in October 2022 we raised China's severe restrictions on religious practice in a joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council (HCR) alongside 49 other countries. At last month's UN HRC we made a statement urging China to reverse its ongoing, serious, and systematic human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet.

More generally, we regularly raise the human rights situation in China directly with the Chinese authorities at the highest levels. The Foreign Secretary did so in a meeting with the Chinese Vice President in May 2023.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
24th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of sanctions imposed in response to the situation in Myanmar.

The UK has led international efforts to put pressure on the military regime and reduce its access to revenue, arms and equipment through targeted sanctions, without harming the wider population. We continue to work closely with our partners in the US, Canada and the EU to ensure a strong, coordinated and targeted response to the military regime's actions. On 27 March the UK announced its fifteenth round of sanctions, designating those who profit from the supply of aviation fuel and restricted goods and technology to the Myanmar Armed Forces.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
24th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to provide ongoing support to Turkey and Syria in response to the earthquake in February 2023.

The UK is a committed humanitarian donor globally and responded swiftly to the devastating earthquakes to provide life-saving assistance to the people of Turkey and Syria. Now that we are out of the emergency response phase, the UK will continue to stand in solidarity with Turkey and to look at what more we can do to support the longer term recovery effort. For the people of Syria, we continue to focus on providing life-saving and life-sustaining assistance, as well as early recovery activities. This is alongside our existing support to the Syria Crisis, which has totalled over £3.8 billion since 2012.

Andrew Mitchell
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) support persecuted Christians in Iran, and (b) combat gender specific persecution of women in that country.

The UK supports the fundamental rights of women, and religious minority groups, including Christians, in Iran by ensuring the Iranian regime is held to account. We do this in part through our sanctions designations: HMG has announced seven rounds of Iran human rights sanctions since October 2022. We also work with our international partners in multilateral fora, for example by removing Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. We also raise human rights directly with the Iranian authorities at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran, to ensure the regime is in no doubt about the political price it is paying for its actions.

David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many meetings (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with officials of EU Commission officials on implementation of the Windsor Framework since it was announced.

Following the announcement of the Windsor Framework in February, the Foreign Secretary and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič convened a formal meeting of the UK-EU Joint Committee on 24 March to formally adopt the new arrangements set out in the Framework. Officials remain in ongoing contact with the Commission to discuss the implementation of the Framework, and will continue to make use of the formal meeting structures under the Framework (including the Specialised Committee and the Joint Consultative Working Group) to advance this work.

Leo Docherty
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the budget is for the visit of the US President to Northern Ireland.

We do not yet have the costs borne by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for the 2023 Guest of Government Visit by the President of the United States to Northern Ireland. These will be published on the gov.uk website once available.

Leo Docherty
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
14th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help tackle persecution of Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The UK is committed to supporting Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), tackling persecution and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Promoting human rights in the DRC is a priority for the UK. We demonstrated the depth of our commitment to promote FoRB globally by hosting an 'International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief' in July 2022. We continue to work through the UN General Assembly Third Committee, UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council to promote and protect these rights in the DRC.

Andrew Mitchell
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
17th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of to Question 141646, how many visits to the UK have been recorded by a (a) Head of State (b) Head of Government and (c) Foreign Minister of the Irish Republic in each of the last three years.

We do not keep a record of all visits to the UK by representatives of other Governments. However, the FCDO maintains records of State and Guest of Government visits by a Head of State, Head of Government or Foreign Minister travelling to the UK at our invitation. Details of these visits, up to and including October 2022, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/costs-relating-to-state-and-guest-of-government-visits.

Leo Docherty
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Ministers of foreign governments notify the Government of their intention to visit the UK, and whether records are kept of such visits.

The FCDO maintains records of State and Guest of Government visits by a Head of State, Head of Government or Foreign Minister travelling to the UK at our invitation.

The FCDO is also notified of official, working and on occasion private visits of Ministers of foreign governments although this is not a requirement. We engage with Missions on these visits to offer guidance and to gather information for immigration purposes for UK Border Force.

David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
25th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Government of India on (a) attacks against Christians in Chhattisgarh and (b) promoting freedom of religious belief in that country.

The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all, and to the promotion of respect and tolerance between communities. We condemn any instances of discrimination, regardless of the country or faith involved. We continue to monitor reports of violence against religious minorities in India, including Christians in Chattisgarh, raising concerns directly with the Government of India when we have them. Our High Commissioner regularly meets religious representatives, including Christian communities. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for South Asia, regularly speaks to the High Commissioner of India and freedom of religion or belief forms part of that dialogue.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
11th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to the Government in India on (a) promotion freedom of religious belief and (b) anti-conversion laws.

The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all and promoting respect and tolerance between communities. We condemn any instances of discrimination because of religion or belief, regardless of the country or faith involved. Reports of violence against religious minorities are a matter for the Indian police and legal system. The British High Commission in New Delhi and our Deputy High Commissions across India regularly meet with religious representatives and official figures. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for South Asia, also regularly speaks with the High Commissioner of India, and freedom of religion or belief forms part of that dialogue.

Andrew Mitchell
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to help protect and promote freedom of religion in Vietnam.

Promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. On 22 August the UK joined six other diplomatic missions in Vietnam in a statement marking the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. The UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership Agreement commits to cooperation on human rights, and at the annual Ministerial Strategic Dialogue we discuss concerns related to FoRB. We look forward to working together with Vietnam to promote human rights around the world as they join the Human Rights Council in 2023.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his counterpart in the United States on the duration of their travel restrictions based on vaccine status.

I have not raised the issue of travel restrictions based on vaccine status with my counterpart, the US Secretary of State. On 10 June 2021, in the UK - US joint statement signed by the then Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Boris Johnson MP and President Biden, the UK and US announced the creation of an Experts Working Group on Travel. This group shared expertise and provided recommendations to leaders on the return of safe international travel. This group has discussed travel restrictions based on vaccine status.
David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the potential merits of further sanctions against the Myanmar military.

Since the military coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, the UK Government have imposed 12 tranches of sanctions targeting the military's leadership, businesses and associates. On 21 June 2021, we jointly announced sanctions with the EU on Myanmar Pearl Enterprise and Myanmar Timber Enterprise. The UK government is in regular contact with our counterparts in the EU to coordinate on possible future sanctions targets. This includes sharing information and discussing potential targets. We continue to explore further measures to undermine the Myanmar military regime's credibility and target their access to finance and arms.

27th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, in the context of the killing of church worshippers in the town of Owo, Ondo State on 5 June, what discussions she has had with the Nigerian authorities on steps they are taking to prevent further similar incidents in (a) the Christian-majority south and (b) other areas of Nigeria.

Increasing insecurity across Nigeria is having a devastating impact on affected communities. I [the Minister for Africa] publicly condemned the attack on a church in Owo, Ondo State, stressing the importance of those responsible being brought to justice. All religious communities should be able to practise their faith without fear. It is clear that religious identity can be a factor in incidents of violence in Nigeria. Both Christian and Muslim communities have been victims of violence. The root causes of violence are complex, and in the case of intercommunal violence, frequently relate to competition over resources, historical grievances and criminality.

I [the Minister for Africa] regularly discuss insecurity in Nigeria with the Nigerian authorities, and we are committed to working with Nigeria to help them respond. At the first dialogue of our Security and Defence partnership in February, we agreed to work together to respond to security challenges across the country, including serious and organised crime, kidnaps and terrorism. The UK Government will continue to encourage the Nigerian Government to take urgent action to implement long-term solutions that address the root causes of violence, whilst also ensuring Freedom of Religion or Belief for all.

27th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Nicaraguan Government in relation to freedom of religious expression and human rights.

We have raised our concerns on the deteriorating human rights situation with Nicaraguan Government representatives in London, in Managua, at multilateral fora and publicly through a series of statements, including expressing concern about the harassment of the Church and its representatives. On 16 June the UK's Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French, delivered a statement on behalf of the UK during the Interactive Dialogue on the High Commissioner's report on Nicaragua. The UK will continue to work closely with partners to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Nicaragua.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made representations to the Chinese Government on the impact of its Measures for the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services legislation on Christians in that country seeking to access material on the internet.

We remain deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of religion or belief in China, including the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief.

We regularly raise our concerns about human rights violations and freedom of religion or belief directly with the Chinese authorities and in multilateral fora. Most recently, we raised our concerns in a statement at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 21 March. The Foreign Secretary also underlined our concerns in a personal address to the UN Human Rights Council on 1 March.

Amanda Milling
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will take steps to tackle religious persecution in Cuba.

The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. We actively promote the right to FoRB through our diplomatic activity both directly with countries, and through multilateral fora including the UN where we call out countries that violate this human right.

The reports of the continued maltreatment of those religious leaders arrested by the Government of Cuba are concerning. We have raised the ongoing detentions of protestors directly with the Cuban Government, both in London and Havana. We are clear that human rights must be respected in Cuba: all Cubans should have the right to protest peacefully and detention must not be used as a tool to restrict freedom of expression, assembly, or religion or belief.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Nigerian Government on the violations and abuses of human rights committed by Boko Haram; and what assessment has she made of the effectiveness of the Nigerian government at bringing the perpetrators of these abuses and violations to justice.

Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa have caused immense suffering to local communities in the Lake Chad Basin region. We condemn all incidents of violence against civilians in Nigeria. During my visit to Nigeria in February, I raised rising insecurity and its impact on the Nigerian people with the Vice-President and Foreign Minister. I also discussed insecurity with Nigeria's National Security Advisor during the first dialogue of our Security and Defence Partnership in February. During the dialogue, the UK and Nigerian Governments discussed and reaffirmed our commitment to work together to respond to the shared threat of terrorism, and agreed on the importance of an efficient, fair and effective justice system for victims of conflict. The Nigerian Government committed to take steps to progress cases promptly, including trials of those accused of terrorism offences, to provide justice for victims, and the UK Government offered to share technical advice and experience, in support.

We will continue to urge and support the Nigerian Government to take action to implement long-term solutions that address the root causes of violence. We will also continue to make clear to the Nigerian authorities at the highest levels the importance of protecting civilians and will continue to encourage the Nigerian Government to take action to bring perpetrators to justice.

7th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of reports of the killing of at least 35 people by Myanmar’s military regime on Christmas Eve; and what steps she is taking with international partners in response to those reports.

The UK is deeply concerned by the increasing levels of violence across Myanmar. We are appalled by reports that the military killed at least 35 people, including four children and two staff of Save the Children, in Kayah State on 24 December. In response, the UK and international partners secured a United Nations Security Council press statement on 29 December condemning the killings and stressing the need to ensure accountability for this act, and calling for an immediate cessation of all violence and the protection of civilians. We continue to support the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar which investigates, collects, and preserves evidence of serious human rights violations for future prosecution.

The UK also remains committed to helping those most in need. Since the coup we have provided £18 million in humanitarian assistance in Myanmar. We will continue to provide humanitarian support to the most vulnerable and conflict-affected populations.

Amanda Milling
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
9th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to protect Sudanese Christians from persecution and harm since the military coup on 25 October 2021 in that country.

We strongly condemn the actions of the Sudanese military on 25 October, including the continued detention of Prime Minister Hamdok and members of the civilian government and the unilateral appointment of a new Sovereign Council on 11 November. Over the past two years, the UK has taken a leading role to support Sudan on their delicate path from oppressive autocratic rule to freedom and democracy. We welcome the progress made by the civilian-led government on the freedom of religion or belief since 2019, which included decriminalising apostasy declaring Christmas a national holiday and lifting public order laws that disproportionately affected Christian women. The acts of the military puts this progress at risk.

I condemned the military's actions in the strongest terms in the House of Commons on 25 October and called for Sudanese people of all faiths to be able to meet to protest and to pray without fear of violence. The Foreign Secretary then made a statement on 5 November with a clear call for the release of all those unlawfully detained and the restoration of the civilian-led transitional government. We also secured unanimous support for a resolution on the situation in Sudan at a Special Session at the UN Human Rights Council on 5 November, which made clear that Sudan's civilian-led government must be restored, detainees freed, and human rights respected. We continue to maintain public international pressure on the military to return to the democratic transition in order to deliver the freedom, peace and justice called for by the Sudanese people and ensure that the gains of the last two years are not lost.

9th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussion she has had with her Chinese counterpart on promoting freedom of religious expression and belief in China in response to the removal of a Bible and Quran from the Apple App Store in China.

We are aware of reports concerning the removal of Bible and Quran apps from the Apple App Store in China. We remain deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of religion or belief in China, including the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief. The freedom to practise, change or share ones faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. The Foreign Secretary personally raised our concerns about the human rights situation in China with her Chinese counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on 22 October.

Amanda Milling
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
9th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what engagement he has had with his counterpart in the Government of Nigeria on tackling the (a) activity of Fulani militants and (b) attacks by those militants on non-Muslims in that country.

The UK Government condemns all incidents of intercommunal violence in Nigeria. The underlying drivers of intercommunal violence are complex, the perpetrators do not come from any one ethnic group, and the devastating effects are felt by communities of different faiths and ethnicities. It is inaccurate to attribute sole responsibility to one ethnic group, the Fulani, and terms like militia risk fuelling tensions between communities. We continue to encourage the Nigerian Government to take urgent action to protect all those at risk of violence, bring perpetrators to justice and address the root causes of the violence.

During my visit to Nigeria in April, I [Minister Duddridge] discussed insecurity with the Foreign Minister and the President's Chief of Staff, and raised the importance of protecting all communities. I [Minister Duddridge] met the Foreign Minister again in July, along with Nigeria's Minister of State Education, where we discussed the impact of insecurity on education. In addition, our High Commissioner and her team regularly visit states affected by violence to engage with state governments, civil society, faith and community leaders and affected communities.

9th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure freedom of religious expression in China in response to reports of the sentencing in January 2021 of four Christians for selling audio bibles in that country.

We are aware of reports of the sentencing of four Christians in China for selling audio bibles. We remain deeply concerned about the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief in China. The freedom to practise, change or share ones faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. The former Foreign Secretary personally raised our serious concerns about the human rights situation in China with his Chinese counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on a number of occasions, most recently on 27 May.

Amanda Milling
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of sanctions imposed as part of the Government response to the ongoing political and humanitarian situation in Myanmar.

The UK is a longstanding supporter of sanctions on the Myanmar military. Since the start of the coup, under the UK autonomous Myanmar and Global Human Rights regimes we have sanctioned nine individuals and three entities relating to the military. Additionally the Myanmar regulations prohibit the provision of military related services, including the provision of technical assistance, to or for the benefit of the Tatmadaw. We work closely with partners to pressure those who have not implemented such systems. Our approach to sanctions is to pursue targeted sanctions, this ensures that we are designating high impact targets whilst remaining committed to the principle of 'do no harm' with sanctions, to ensure that any measures balance the risk of disproportionately affecting innocent people. By working with partners such as the EU, US and Canada to sanction military officers and military owned conglomerates we have been able to put pressure on economic interests and also send a signal to the international community that we oppose the actions of the military. We are exploring all options to put further pressure on their economic interests.

20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to engage with the Indonesian Government in response to the reported killing of four Christian men in the village of Kalimago in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, who were beheaded by Islamic extremists on the morning of 11 May 2021.

The UK admires Indonesia's multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy and supports the government's efforts to combat violent extremism, including the terrorist group that carried out these attacks in central Sulawesi. My thoughts are with the families of the victims. The Foreign Secretary signed a Memorandum of Understanding during his visit to Jakarta on 7 April to further strengthen our cooperation in countering regional and international terrorist threats.

Promoting Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) is a core aspect of the British Embassy Jakarta's work. In February our Ambassador met the Minister of Religious Affairs to discuss our collaboration in support of Indonesia's strong tradition of religious diversity and tolerance.

30th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support the Government is providing to the Nigerian Government to protect children attending school from abduction after the abduction of pupils from a secondary school in Katsina state in December 2020.

The UK Government was deeply concerned about the abduction of Nigerian schoolboys from their school in Kankara, Katsina State on 11 December. Abductions of Nigerian schoolchildren are abhorrent and must stop. We welcome the news that they were released on 17 December. Following the attack, I publicly stressed that schoolchildren need to be protected and that all children should be able to access education without fear.

The UK provides a comprehensive package of stabilisation, development and humanitarian assistance to support communities in Northern Nigeria. Through the Education in Emergencies programme, we help fund the education of children affected by conflict. This includes supporting schools and communities to create conflict risk reduction plans to help protect children in schools. Since 2018, we have supported over 200,000 children in the North East to receive an education. We continue to advocate for the protection of children and schools across Nigeria. For example, we encourage the Nigerian Government to follow the Safe Schools Declaration, which sets out international guidelines to protect students, teachers and their schools during armed conflict.

30th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what additional steps his Department is taking to protect freedom of religious belief in North Korea.

The UK continues to have strong concerns about the lack of freedom of religion or belief in North Korea. We continue to urge North Korea to uphold its human rights obligations and engage substantively with the international community on this issue. We regularly raise our concerns directly with the North Korean authorities and at the UN, including through the Human Rights Council and, most recently, in the Security Council in December 2020.

Defending the right to freedom of religion or belief for all is a priority for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. For example, the UK Government remains committed to implementing the recommendations from the Bishop of Truro's independent Review on persecuted Christians in full. One of those recommendations related to the establishment of the UK's Global Human Rights sanctions regime. This regime came into effect on 6 July 2020 and allows us to designate those who commit serious human rights abuses or violations, including those who target individuals on the grounds of their religion or belief. We take decisions about whether particular individuals or entities could be subject to measures under the regime on a case-by-case basis. We have already designated two entities involved in administering the North Korean penal system.

30th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance legislation in India on freedom of religious belief and religious conversion in that country.

The British High Commission in New Delhi maintain a continuous assessment of the human rights situation in India, and are monitoring developments regarding new inter-faith marriage laws in some Indian states, including the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance legislation in Uttar Pradesh. India has a proud history of religious tolerance and we trust the Government of India to address the concerns of any people that may be affected by this legislation. Where we have concerns, we will continue to raise them directly with the Government of India.

6th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to reports that an online Christian bookseller in China has been fined and given a seven-year prison sentence, what representations he is making to the Chinese Government on ensuring that (a) Christian books are available in China and (b) sellers of those books are not prosecuted.

We are aware of reports that a Christian bookseller has been arrested. The UK is deeply concerned about the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and other religious groups on the grounds of their religion or belief in China. The freedom to practise, change or share one's faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. We regularly raise our concerns about freedom of religion or belief in China, including at the most recent session of the UN Human Rights Council on 25 September.

6th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has has with his Turkish counterpart on freedom of religion among (a) Christian and (b) other minorities in that country..

The Turkish constitution provides for freedom of conscience and religion, regardless of an individual's citizenship. We regularly discuss these issues and will continue to engage the Turkish Government at all levels to urge respect for Freedom of Religion or Belief, which are essential to the long-term health of Turkish democracy. Defending persecuted Christians, and persecuted individuals of all faiths or beliefs, remains a long-standing priority for the British Government. We will continue to monitor this important issue.

30th Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to reports that the Marie Stopes International franchise in Nairobi has been forced to close after police found that illegal abortions were being performed by staff who were not registered medical professionals, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the UK does not fund illegal and dangerous abortions in developing countries.

FCDO has robust monitoring and evaluation procedures to ensure UK taxpayers' money is achieving the results we expect, and that funds are spent in compliance with FCDO guidance and local law. FCDO funds cannot be used to fund any illegal activities and we treat allegations of any improper use of funds extremely seriously.

All of our reviews demonstrate confidence in the quality of MSI's services in developing countries. We have no plans to reduce approved funding to MSI.

The majority of our investment in reproductive health is in programmes that aim to increase access to quality voluntary family planning information, services and supplies, so women and girls can avoid unwanted pregnancy in the first place. Only in countries where abortion is permitted, do we support programmes that make safe abortion more accessible. FCDO programmes in Kenya have not been supporting the provision of safe abortion service delivery.

The UK is dedicated to supporting women to fully exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights in order to lead healthy, fulfilling and prosperous lives.

30th Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to reports that Marie Stopes International franchise in Nairobi has been forced to close after police found that illegal abortions were being performed by staff who were not registered medical professionals, if his Department will reduce the funding allocated to Marie Stopes International UK.

FCDO has robust monitoring and evaluation procedures to ensure UK taxpayers' money is achieving the results we expect, and that funds are spent in compliance with FCDO guidance and local law. FCDO funds cannot be used to fund any illegal activities and we treat allegations of any improper use of funds extremely seriously.

All of our reviews demonstrate confidence in the quality of MSI's services in developing countries. We have no plans to reduce approved funding to MSI.

The majority of our investment in reproductive health is in programmes that aim to increase access to quality voluntary family planning information, services and supplies, so women and girls can avoid unwanted pregnancy in the first place. Only in countries where abortion is permitted, do we support programmes that make safe abortion more accessible. FCDO programmes in Kenya have not been supporting the provision of safe abortion service delivery.

The UK is dedicated to supporting women to fully exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights in order to lead healthy, fulfilling and prosperous lives.

28th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the practice of sex-selective abortion internationally.

The UK strongly opposes sex-selective abortion, a practice resulting from deep-rooted discrimination against women and girls. The UK supports partner governments' efforts to prevent this discrimination through our programmes and international leadership on gender equality. This includes, for example, ensuring clear policies and effective training are in place.

Ending sex-selective abortion also requires promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Through our Strategic Vision for Gender Equality, we are working to ensure every girl has access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, is protected from violence, receives 12 years of quality education and is supported to be economically and politically empowered.

14th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to his Answer of 28 January 2020 to Question 6147 on Kenya: al Shabaab, what progress is being made on the development of a counter-IED capability with a regional Centre of Excellence based in Nairobi.

As stated in PQ 6147 of 28 January, the UK and Kenya are close partners in the fight against global terrorism, and strengthening our counterterrorism cooperation is a priority under the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership. To tackle the threat posed by Al Shabaab, the UK Government provides the Kenyan authorities with a range of support to develop their counter terrorism capabilities. This includes partnering in the development of counter-IED capability with a regional Centre of Excellence based in Nairobi that benefits the whole region. The Centre's main objective is to strengthen the counter-IED capability of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Since 2016, and with £13 million of Conflict Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) funding to date, the UK and Kenya have together delivered training at the Centre to more than 1,700 military and police personnel from 22 Troop Contributing Countries. The programme in Kenya transitioned to 100% African-led instruction this year, and achieved a major milestone in January with the IED Search course led by Kenya Defence Force instructors for the first time. Counter-IED training was paused from March to July due to COVID-19, but has since resumed.

14th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Pakistan on its blasphemy laws as a result of recent death sentences being passed against Christians in that country.

We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns regarding blasphemy laws with the authorities in Pakistan. We remain deeply concerned about reports of discrimination against the Christian community and other religious minorities in Pakistan. Our position on the death penalty is well known - we are firmly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances.

We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens, in accordance with international standards. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon last raised our human rights concerns, including Freedom of Religion or Belief and the protection of minority religious communities, with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 27 August. Lord Ahmad also discussed our concerns about the use of the death penalty with Dr Mazari on 15 July. The British High Commissioner to Pakistan raised our concerns about the use of the death penalty with the Ministry of Interior on 29 July.

14th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help bring about a cessation of violence in southern Kaduna, Nigeria.

The Government condemns all incidents of intercommunal violence in Nigeria, including recently reported attacks in Kaduna State. Intercommunal violence continues to have a devastating effect on local communities. The causes of intercommunal violence are complex, and include disputes over natural resources, competition over land, and population growth.

We are working with Nigeria to respond to the drivers of conflict. We have provided technical support to the Nigerian Government for the development of the National Livestock Transformation Plan. The plan aims to promote cattle-rearing in one place, rather than the traditional nomadic practice, to limit competition over land and resources leading to violence. The plan is currently being implemented in eight Middle Belt states in Nigeria, including Kaduna. We are also funding Christian Aid and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development to support communities who have recently been displaced due to the violence in Kaduna State. "We are also developing a new conflict, security and justice programme, which aims to reduce levels of inter-communal violence through the development of more effective conflict-management systems."

The British High Commissioner and her team are increasing their engagement with state governments in areas affected by the violence, including through visits to Kaduna, Plateau and Benue states. The High Commission team have met with Governors; Christian and Muslim faith leaders; Fulani communities; NGOs active in reconciliation, and affected communities including displaced persons. I [the Minister for Africa] also discussed intercommunal violence with President Buhari's Chief of Staff in June. We will continue to encourage the Government of Nigeria to take urgent action to protect those at risk of intercommunal violence, to bring perpetrators to justice and to implement long-term solutions that address the root causes of violence and meet the needs of all communities.

21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps the Government is taking to help protect Christians in Nigeria following the death of nine Christians in an attack by Fulani Militants in March 2020.

The UK Government condemns all incidents of intercommunal violence in Nigeria; these incidents have had devastating effects on communities of all faiths, including Christians. We have made clear to the Nigerian authorities at the highest levels the importance of protecting civilians, including ethnic and religious minorities, and human rights for all.

In February, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Wilton Park co-hosted a conference on 'Fostering Social Cohesion in Nigeria', exploring the complex causes of conflict and possible solutions to help ease tensions and reduce violence. A report has issued with recommendations, link here: https://tinyurl.com/y38l9xrc.

In June, I discussed intercommunal violence in Nigeria with President Buhari's Chief of Staff. The British High Commissioner and her team are increasing their diplomatic engagement with states affected by intercommunal violence and met with NGOs working on reconciliation to discuss the situation and the efforts they are taking to address it.

The UK Government will continue to work with Nigeria to address the drivers of intercommunal violence in many states and find solutions that meet the needs of all communities.

21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help protect Hong Kong's Christian community from the effects of the new National Security Law.

We will continue to work with our international partners to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, whatever their religion or belief, to call out the violation of their rights and freedoms, and to hold China to their international obligations freely assumed under international law.

21st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Indian counterpart on anti-conversion laws in India in relation to converting people from Hindu to Christianity.

We engage India on the full range of human rights matters. We work with Union and State Governments, as well as NGOs, to build capacity and share expertise to promote human rights for all. Where we have concerns we raise them directly with the Government of India. Most recently, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon discussed the situation for India's minorities with the Acting Indian High Commissioner on 22 May, and has previously raised our concerns about the impact of recent legislative and judicial measures on minorities with Indian Government Ministers.

9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to enable NGOs to improve the (a) identification, (b) recording and (c) monitoring of hidden incidents of persecution against women from minority religious communities.

We remain deeply concerned at the scale of Freedom of Religion of Belief (FoRB) violations in many parts of the world. We recognise that people's religion and gender can increase their vulnerabilities, particularly those from minority groups.

The Department for International Development's programme on FoRB is supporting NGOs to work with minority religious communities. The programme will build the capacity of international development actors to mainstream FoRB into their programmes and develop ways to give voice to religiously marginalised groups. In addition to this, the programme will investigate existing evidence gathering tools on FoRB. The lessons will be openly shared through both reports and guidance.

9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support overseas security forces in improving their protection of women from religious minority communities in societies where the persecution of those women is prevalent.

We remain deeply concerned at the severity and scale of violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in many parts of the world. We recognise that people's religion and gender can increase their vulnerabilities, particularly those from minority groups.

The government is committed to improving the protection of women in volatile situations. In the context of UN Peacekeeping, the UK provides British Peace Support Team training (for Troop Contributing Counties), which includes training on prevention of sexual and gender based violence. The training also includes gender awareness and training.

9th Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to (a) strengthen existing and (b) develop new training programmes to help women from religious minority communities understand their rights in countries that do not recognise and uphold those rights.

We remain deeply concerned at the scale of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) violations in many parts of the world. We recognise that people's religion and gender can increase their vulnerabilities, particularly those from minority groups.

The Department for International Development's programme on FoRB is supporting NGOs to work with minority religious communities. The programme will build the capacity of international development actors to mainstream FoRB into their programmes and develop ways to give voice to religiously marginalised groups. In addition to this, the programme will investigate existing evidence gathering tools on FoRB. The lessons will be openly shared through both reports and guidance.

24th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the security situation in that country after the rocket attacks on southern Israel from Gaza on 23 February 2020.

I discussed the recent escalation in Gaza with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 26 February. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians are unacceptable and unjustifiable. The perpetual cycle of violence does not serve anyone's interests, and must end. The UK fully supports Israel's right to self-defence and to defend its citizens from such acts of terror. In doing so, it is vital that all actions are proportionate, in line with International Humanitarian Law, and are calibrated to avoid civilian casualties. We call upon Hamas and other terrorist groups to permanently end their incitement and rocket fire against Israel and urge all parties to adhere to the ceasefire arrangement.

James Cleverly
Home Secretary
21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle rising levels of al-Shabaab violence in North East Kenya.

​The UK and Kenya are close partners in the fight against global terrorism. To tackle the threat posed by Al Shabaab, the British Government provides the Kenyan authorities with a range of support. The British military is working with the Kenyan security forces to develop their counter terrorism capabilities. This includes partnering in the development of a counter-IED capability with a regional Centre of Excellence based in Nairobi. The UK is also engaging with regional partners to address the threat posed by Al Shabaab beyond North-East Kenya, including by providing pre-deployment training to troops deploying to the African Union Mission in Somalia. These efforts are complemented by UK-funded programmes addressing the root causes of radicalisation and violent extremism along Kenya's coast and the counties bordering Somalia.

We recognise Kenya's sacrifices leading the fight against Al Shabaab. Further strengthening our counterterrorism cooperation is a priority under the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership agreed on by the Prime Minister and President Kenyatta in their meeting on 21 January.

Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequential arising from the pay settlement for NHS workers in England is.

The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.

Discussions between HMT and DHSC on the funding implications, should a pay deal be agreed, are ongoing.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
7th Mar 2023
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Energy and Trade Intensive Industry scheme to include primary agricultural production.

As part of the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS), we have taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) component of the scheme. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes. We have also published further information on the methodology which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-discount-scheme-factsheet/energy-bills-discount-scheme-energy-and-trade-intense-industries-assessment-methodology

All other eligible businesses, except for those experiencing low energy costs, will automatically receive a unit discount on their bills of up to £19.61/MW for electricity, and £6.97/MW for gas.

We remain committed to supporting our farmers to produce high quality food and to increase the productivity, resilience, and sustainability of their businesses. That is why we have maintained farm budgets across this Parliament as promised, each year providing an average of £2.4 billion in England, £621m in Scotland, £340m in Wales, and £330m in Northern Ireland.

James Murray
Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue has accrued to the Treasury from fuel duty in each of the last three years.

The Office for Budget Responsibility holds Government receipts from all taxes and duties for each year. Revenue accrued from fuel duty receipts in each of the last three years can be viewed online in their Public Finances Databank:

Data - Office for Budget Responsibility (obr.uk)

James Cartlidge
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made in the wider pilot of the No Interest Loan Scheme.

Progress on the pilot of the No-Interest Loan Scheme is good and over 60 no-interest loans have now been issued at the proof-of-concept site in South Manchester, providing real world impact for recipients.

Fair4All Finance (who are delivering the scheme) are now finalising contracts with the lenders chosen to take part in the wider pilot and the government expect three pilot locations to have started lending by the end of November and a further pilot location to start lending in January, so that full-scale rollout will have commenced by early 2023. Fair4All Finance expects to deliver tens of thousands of no-interest loans over the course of the pilot.

Andrew Griffith
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to help ensure companies do not charge consumers excessive fees for withdrawing cash at ATMs.

Arrangements for cash machines are commercial decisions for the operators of ATMs and ATM networks.

LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK has committed to protect free-to-use ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, and free access to cash on high streets (where there is a cluster of five or more retailers) that do not have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre.

In recognition that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK the Government has introduced legislation to protect access to cash as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill. The legislation will establish the Financial Conduct Authority as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to ensure that people can continue to access cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. These powers will allow the FCA to take account of factors it considers appropriate for seeking to ensure there is reasonable provision of cash access services, this could include factors such as cost for end users.

Andrew Griffith
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support vulnerable people when using banking services and (b) tackle fraud and scams perpetrated against those people.

The Government is strongly committed to ensuring those with a characteristic of vulnerability have access to appropriate, useful and affordable financial products and services. The Government also works with industry to combat fraud and ensure members of the public have the information they need to spot a scam and stand up to fraudsters. The Government works closely together with regulators and stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors, to ensure that all consumers of financial services are appropriately protected.

UK banks’ and building societies’ treatment of their customers is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its Principles for Businesses. This includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all of their customers.

The FCA’s Guidance for firms on the Fair Treatment of Vulnerable Customers requires that firms should understand what harms their customers are likely to be vulnerable to and ensure that customers in vulnerable circumstances receive the same fair treatment and outcomes as other customers.

If a firm has doubts about a consumer’s ability to understand a product or service, suspects they do not have capacity to make decisions or that they are acting as a result of fraud or coercion, the firm should assess whether it should allow the consumer to proceed. It may be appropriate for firms to contact, or act on the instructions of, a family member, friend or other third party.

The Government also recognises the actions of the financial services industry to help tackle fraud, including through investment in anti-fraud capabilities, the creation of a voluntary reimbursement Code, and the implementation of initiatives such as Confirmation of Payee. While we welcome these initiatives, it is clear that more needs to be done both to prevent these scams, and to ensure that victims are not left paying for fraud through no fault of their own.

The Government therefore welcomed the Payment Systems Regulator’s recent consultation on Authorised Push Payment scams, which set out potential measures that could improve scam prevention and outcomes, including proposals to introduce mandatory requirements to reimburse victims. The Government has confirmed it intends to legislate to address any barriers regarding regulatory action regarding mandatory reimbursement when parliamentary time allows.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have been registered for the tax-free childcare scheme in each of the last three years.

Statistics relating to Tax-Free Childcare account usage are published quarterly in “Tax-Free Childcare Statistics” on the gov.uk website. The latest publication, containing information up to December 2021 is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-free-childcare-quarterly-statistics

Table 7 of the publication shows the number of families, by Government Office Region, that have a Tax-Free Childcare account. The table below shows the number of accounts that are open, regardless of whether or not they have been used.

Families with Open Tax-Free Childcare accounts:

Region

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

United Kingdom

449,355

614,730

697,145

England

426,130

570,020

643,085

North East

18,200

24,100

27,340

North West

59,495

79,940

91,265

Yorkshire and The Humber

40,750

54,815

62,420

East Midlands

38,215

51,335

58,095

West Midlands

43,220

57,910

65,300

East of England

50,140

67,130

75,605

London

54,550

73,230

79,730

South East

74,660

99,850

113,600

South West

46,900

61,705

69,735

Wales

6,745

13,705

15,945

Scotland

9,700

19,355

24,435

Northern Ireland

3,240

6,645

8,805

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the rising cost of childcare and cost of living pressures facing working families, whether he has plans to increase the level of support available through the tax-free childcare scheme.

Tax Free Childcare is a generous scheme which provides financial support for working parents with their childcare costs. For every £8 parents pay into their childcare account, the government adds £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 in top up per year for each child aged up to 11, and up to £4,000 per disabled child until they’re 17.

In addition, all three- and four-year-olds can access 15 hours of free childcare per week, regardless of circumstance. Eligible working parents of three- and four-year-olds can also access an additional 15 hours of free childcare per week, also known as 30 hours free childcare. Moreover, Universal Credit (UC) claimants are able to claim up to 85% of their childcare costs.

The Government has no plans to change the amount of top-up provided through Tax-Free Childcare (TFC).

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on the hospitality industry of ending the reduced rate of 12.5% VAT for the sector; and what steps he is taking to mitigate against any negative impact of his decision to remove this rate.

The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July 2020 to support the cash flow and viability of around 150,000 businesses and protect over 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors. As announced at Spring Budget 2021, the Government extended the 5 per cent temporary reduced rate of VAT for the tourism and hospitality sectors until the end of September 2021. On 1 October 2021, a new reduced rate of 12.5 per cent was introduced for these goods and services to help ease affected businesses back to the standard rate. This relief ended on the 31 March 2022.

The Government has been clear that the reduced rate of VAT for hospitality and tourism was a temporary measure designed to support the sectors that have been severely affected by COVID-19. It is appropriate that as restrictions are lifted and demand for goods and services in these sectors increases, the temporary tax reliefs are first reduced, and then removed, in order to rebuild and strengthen the public finances.

Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
31st Mar 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help ensure that small metals recycling businesses are protected from negative impacts following that industry's loss of the use of red diesel from 1 April 2022.

The Chancellor confirmed at Spring Budget 2021 that the Government would remove the entitlement to use red diesel for most uses from April 2022. This more fairly reflects the negative environmental impact of the emissions produced and helps to ensure that the tax system incentivises the development and adoption of greener alternative technologies.

To support the development of alternatives that affected businesses can switch to, the Government is at least doubling the funding provided for energy innovation through the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. From that portfolio, the Government announced the £40 million Red Diesel Replacement Competition, which will provide grant funding for projects that develop and demonstrate lower carbon, lower cost alternatives to red diesel for the construction, and mining and quarrying sectors. The technologies developed from this programme will also be applicable to other sectors to support decarbonisation, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is planning a series of dissemination events in the future with industry and other affected sectors to spread awareness about the successes achieved and lessons learned through this programme.

As announced at Spring Budget 2021, from 1 April 2021 until 31 March 2023, companies can also claim 130% first-year capital allowances on qualifying plant and machinery investments.

Furthermore, in recognition of the unique circumstances that are currently pushing up fuel prices to unprecedented levels, the Government announced at the Spring Statement that it is cutting fuel duty on petrol and diesel by 5 pence per litre for a period of 12 months. This is a significant tax cut that will deliver considerable savings to businesses over the next year, including those that use diesel, and is the first time in over a decade that the main rates of petrol and diesel have been cut.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
7th Jan 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total cost has been of the Trader Support Service to date.

The total spend on the Trader Support Service since its commencement to December 2021 is £213 million.

Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
5th Jan 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cyber attacks against Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have been recorded in each of the last three years.

The Government can neither confirm nor deny whether HMRC has been the target of any cyber-attacks.

HMRC is responsible for the collection of around £700 billion in tax annually and undertakes a range of actions to monitor and maintain the security of their systems and services from cyber-attacks. To disclose the number is likely to attract additional questions which may include specific threats or incidents identified and dealt with, aiding criminals to determine weaknesses in HMRC’s defences or the methods used to identify and respond to such threats.

To provide the information requested would reveal the extent to which HMRC had been subject to such attacks, revealing where cyber intrusion had been successful.

The National Cyber Security Centre advice continues to be that Government departments should withhold detailed and specific information which may provide insight into the likelihood of success of specific techniques. In some cases, the successful application of such insight may still pose a security risk with the potential to prejudice the prevention of crime and/or national security. A successful attack could lead to the loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of Government information.

HMRC publish details about security breaches reported to the Information Commissioner in their annual reports: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts

Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
15th Sep 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether financial assistance will be provided to marinas in Northern Ireland to adapt their fuel sale facilities, in the context of HMRC imposing a ban on red diesel for propulsion of leisure craft from 1 October 2021 as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Budget 2021 announced that private pleasure craft users in Northern Ireland will no longer be allowed to use red diesel to propel their craft and that the Government will introduce a new relief scheme on non-propulsion fuel in Northern Ireland. These changes will take effect from 1 October 2021. The average private pleasure craft user in Northern Ireland will pay the same rate of duty on their diesel use as they do now.

More information on these changes, including on the expected impacts, is set out in the tax information and impact note published on 1 July 2021, which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fuel-duty-changes-for-diesel-used-in-private-pleasure-craft/fuel-duty-changes-for-diesel-used-in-private-pleasure-craft.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
15th Sep 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment he has undertaken on changes to pleasure craft fuel rules banning red diesel use in Northern Ireland, as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Budget 2021 announced that private pleasure craft users in Northern Ireland will no longer be allowed to use red diesel to propel their craft and that the Government will introduce a new relief scheme on non-propulsion fuel in Northern Ireland. These changes will take effect from 1 October 2021. The average private pleasure craft user in Northern Ireland will pay the same rate of duty on their diesel use as they do now.

More information on these changes, including on the expected impacts, is set out in the tax information and impact note published on 1 July 2021, which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fuel-duty-changes-for-diesel-used-in-private-pleasure-craft/fuel-duty-changes-for-diesel-used-in-private-pleasure-craft.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Sep 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 May 2021 to Question 1224 on No-interest Loans Scheme, what recent progress he has made towards the pilot of a no-interest loan scheme.

On 6 September, Fair4All Finance announced they had been appointed to deliver the pilot and further details of their plans. This included that the pilot will run in up to six locations one of which is expected to be in Northern Ireland. Further information on the pilot can be found at: https://fair4allfinance.org.uk/news/plans-announced-for-new-uk-wide-no-interest-loan-scheme-pilot/.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
9th Sep 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, (a) how many businesses have signed up to the Trader Support Service and (b) and what the cost to the public purse has been of operating that service since that service was launched.

The Trader Support Service (TSS) currently has 41,446 Traders registered to use the service. The total spend on the Trader Support Service, since the service was launched to August 2021, is £164 million (including VAT).

6th Sep 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue was raised as a result of VAT on school uniforms in each of the last five years.

HMRC do not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level on their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.
6th Sep 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of the removal of VAT on school uniforms to assist disadvantaged families.

Under the current VAT rules, all children’s clothing and footwear designed for young people less than 14 years of age, including school uniforms, attract a zero-rate of VAT, meaning that no VAT is charged on the sale of these items.

Extending these reliefs would impose additional pressure on the public finances, to which VAT makes a significant contribution. VAT raised around £130 billion in 2019/20, and helps to fund key spending priorities. Any reduction in tax paid is a reduction in the money available to support important public services, including the NHS and policing.

There are no current plans to change the VAT treatment of children’s clothing and school uniforms. However, the Government keeps all taxes under review.

6th Sep 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on employment levels in the travel and aviation sectors.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was designed as a temporary, economy-wide measure to support businesses while widespread restrictions were in place. Closing the scheme at the end of September is designed to strike  the right balance between supporting the economy as it opens up, continuing to provide support and protect incomes, and ensuring that incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns.  This approach has worked; the OBR have estimated that without the short-term fiscal easing announced in the Budget, and in particular the CJRS extension, unemployment would have been about 300,000 higher in the fourth quarter of this year than the 2.2 million in the central forecast.

The Government recognises the particular challenges that the travel industry has faced as a result of COVID-19. In England travel agents have recently benefited from Restart Grants worth up to £6,000, and can continue to benefit from the £2 billion of discretionary grant funding that has been made available to local authorities in England through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). Furthermore, the aviation and aerospace sectors are being supported with over £12 billion that has been made available through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) and grants for research and development. In addition, airports continue to benefit from the renewed Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme announced at Budget.

The Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) report sets out a clear framework for the Government’s objective of establishing a safe and sustainable return to international travel, which is key to enabling the sector’s recovery. It has been created following extensive engagement with the international travel and tourism industries, and changes following the recent checkpoint review of the GTT are a vital step in enabling the recovery of travel operators and those whose jobs rely on the travel industry.

The Government has shown throughout the pandemic that it is prepared to adapt support if the path of the virus changes. It continues to engage closely with sectors across the economy, including the travel industry, in order to understand their recovery horizons as the vaccine is rolled out and restrictions ease.

6th Sep 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the travel and aviation industry to explore the potential merits of extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for those sectors.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was designed as a temporary, economy-wide measure to support businesses while widespread restrictions were in place. Closing the scheme at the end of September is designed to strike  the right balance between supporting the economy as it opens up, continuing to provide support and protect incomes, and ensuring that incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns.  This approach has worked; the OBR have estimated that without the short-term fiscal easing announced in the Budget, and in particular the CJRS extension, unemployment would have been about 300,000 higher in the fourth quarter of this year than the 2.2 million in the central forecast.

The Government recognises the particular challenges that the travel industry has faced as a result of COVID-19. In England travel agents have recently benefited from Restart Grants worth up to £6,000, and can continue to benefit from the £2 billion of discretionary grant funding that has been made available to local authorities in England through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). Furthermore, the aviation and aerospace sectors are being supported with over £12 billion that has been made available through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) and grants for research and development. In addition, airports continue to benefit from the renewed Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme announced at Budget.

The Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) report sets out a clear framework for the Government’s objective of establishing a safe and sustainable return to international travel, which is key to enabling the sector’s recovery. It has been created following extensive engagement with the international travel and tourism industries, and changes following the recent checkpoint review of the GTT are a vital step in enabling the recovery of travel operators and those whose jobs rely on the travel industry.

The Government has shown throughout the pandemic that it is prepared to adapt support if the path of the virus changes. It continues to engage closely with sectors across the economy, including the travel industry, in order to understand their recovery horizons as the vaccine is rolled out and restrictions ease.

13th May 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress has been made on the pilot no-interest loan scheme; and whether that scheme will operate in Northern Ireland.

At Budget 2021, the Government announced up to £3.8 million of funding to support a pilot No-Interest Loans Scheme. The Government has been working closely with stakeholders, including with Devolved Administrations, to facilitate the pilot. An independent organisation will deliver the pilot. Further details, including the territorial extent of the pilot, will be announced in due course.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
13th May 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies have signed up to the Trader Support Service in each of the last twelve months.

The Trader Support Service has been open to registrations since November 2020. Since then over 38,400 businesses have registered in total.

The registrations by month are as follows:

November 2020 – 16,809

December 2020 – 8,180

January 2021 – 7,011

February 2021 – 2,789

March 2021 – 2,094

April 2021 – 1,063

May 2021 – 503 (to date)

13th Apr 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will consider introducing a personal loan scheme similar to the Bounce Back Scheme to provide people in debt with a low interest route to financial wellbeing in the context of increasing household debt levels as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

While the total amount of outstanding lending to individuals has increased by 0.9% since February 2020. The growth rate was below pre-pandemic levels and has mostly been driven by an increase in lending for house purchases. Since February 2020, the amount of outstanding consumer credit has fallen by 13.2%.

To support households that have been affected by Covid-19, we have put in place unprecedented support – including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, and a package of welfare measures on which we spent an additional £7.4 billion in the 2020-21 financial year.

We have also taken specific action to support those in debt or in need of affordable credit as a result of Covid-19. For those facing temporary payment difficulties as a result of the pandemic, we worked with the FCA to introduce mortgage and consumer credit payment holidays. The Government has also agreed to maintain record levels of debt advice funding for the Money and Pension Service in 2021-22. To support access to affordable credit, since 2019, the Government has allocated £96 million of dormant assets funding to Fair4All Finance. Fair4All Finance was founded to improve the financial wellbeing of those who are financially vulnerable through fair and affordable financial products and services.

With respect to setting up a loan scheme, at Budget, HM Treasury announced it would provide up to £3.8 million of funding to deliver a pilot No-Interest Loans Scheme. The scheme will support vulnerable consumers who would benefit from affordable rather than high-cost credit to meet unexpected costs.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
23rd Mar 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what date the fourth self-employed income support grant is planned to open for applications.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given on 23 March 2021 to UIN 171650.

11th Feb 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many requests his Department has received from the Finance Minister in Northern Ireland to meet to discuss the funding of a pension for victims of the troubles in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

I am responding to this PQ as the Minister responsible for leading the Treasury’s interests in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

I regularly engage with my counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive on a wide range of issues as part of the ongoing collaboration between our Governments.

I am aware of the issues surrounding the Victims Payment Scheme. It is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive to provide funding for victims of the Troubles and they are funded to do so. The UK Government will continue to engage with the Executive on its delivery of schemes designed to support victims of the Troubles.

Steve Barclay
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
30th Dec 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made on the implementation of the Levelling Up Fund; and whether that fund will be administered by the (a) Northern Ireland Executive, (b) UK Government or (c) local authorities in Northern Ireland.

As set out at the Spending Review, the new Levelling Up Fund will be worth £4 billion for England, and will attract up to £0.8 billion for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the usual way. It will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities and will support economic recovery. More broadly, the Government is committed to levelling up all parts of the UK, with the Spending Review setting out both new UK-wide interventions and an additional £900 million Barnett funding for the Northern Ireland Executive.

Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
30th Dec 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in Northern Ireland accessed support through the Self Employment Income Support Scheme in 2020; and what the total amount of that support was.

By 31 July 2020, 78,000 individuals from Northern Ireland had claimed the first SEISS grant and the total claim amount was £223,000,000.

By 31 October 2020, 70,000 individuals from Northern Ireland had claimed the second SEISS grant and the total claim amount was £175,000,000.

By 31 October 2020, 81,000 individuals from Northern Ireland had claimed either the first or second SEISS grant or both and the total claim amount was £398,000,000.

These figures were taken from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme statistics published on 21 August and 25 November respectively.

10th Dec 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of funds paid through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme have been voluntarily paid back to his Department by companies that were entitled to the payment; how many companies in Northern Ireland have made such payments; and what the amount was of each such payment.

As of 3 November 2020, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) grants to the value of £382 million have been recorded as returned. This figure consists of £198 million in payments being repaid and £184 million in adjustments to existing claims.

HMRC do not hold information by the geographic breakdown requested.

1st Dec 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in VAT for the hospitality industry to 5 per cent on the viability of that sector.

The temporary reduced rate of VAT (five per cent) was introduced in order to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors. This relief comes at an estimated cost of £2.54 billion and is therefore expected to have benefited the sector by reducing its VAT liabilities by this amount.

6th Nov 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the stamp duty holiday on the housing market in Northern Ireland, and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending that stamp duty holiday beyond March 2021.

SDLT transactions in Northern Ireland have reached similar levels to this time last year and, in August, average house prices had risen over the year by 3%.

The temporary increase in the Stamp Duty Land Tax nil rate band was designed to create immediate momentum within the property market, where property transactions fell by as much as 50 per cent during the first COVID-19 lockdown. The downturn in the market meant that the future was uncertain for many people whose jobs relied on custom from the property industry. There are already early signs that demand and transactions have increased, and are continuing to rise, since the increase to the SDLT nil rate band was announced in July.

As the relief was designed to provide an immediate stimulus to the property market, the Government does not plan to extend this relief and will continue to monitor the property market.

5th Nov 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions the Government has had with credit rating agencies on the effect on people's credit ratings of mortgage holidays or missed payments as a result of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on household incomes.

On 20 March, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published guidance on what it expects mortgage lenders to do for consumers facing financial difficulties as a result of COVID-19.

As part of this guidance, the FCA set out that the consumer’s credit score should remain unaffected by taking out a payment holiday. This has been achieved through the masking of the arrears status on the borrower’s credit file.

Where a borrower who has not taken a payment holiday misses a payment, this will be recorded on their credit file in the usual manner. Information held by credit reference agencies (CRAs) is purely factual, and it is for individual lenders to decide how they use that data as part of their lending decisions.

It is important to note that the scores that individual CRAs provide are proprietary and may have a limited bearing on how lenders assess the data on a customer’s overall credit file. Whilst some lenders use a CRA score, others will use the entirety of information contained on a credit file and compare this with their own individual lending criteria. Lenders may also use information beyond the borrower’s credit file when deciding whether to accept a credit application. This could include asking the borrower questions directly about their finances, as well as assessing income, expenditure and future ability to make repayments, any of which may have been affected by COVID-19.

HM Treasury and the FCA have been working closely with lenders and the CRAs on this matter throughout the crisis and will continue to do so to ensure the best outcome for consumers.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
5th Nov 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential loss of revenue to the Exchequer from income tax as a result of job losses in the 2020-21 financial year.

An estimation of income tax receipts in 2020-21 would be a forecast as the financial year has not yet concluded. The Treasury does not publish forecasts for the economy or the public finances. Forecasts of future receipts, including income tax receipts, are produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on a regular basis as part of their Economic and fiscal outlook series (EFO). The Chancellor will deliver an updated OBR forecast on 25 November alongside the 2020 Spending Review.

In March, the Government announced the unprecedented Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), designed to help firms to keep millions of people in employment. The CJRS has helped 1.2 million employers across the UK to furlough 9.6 million jobs (as at midnight 18 October 2020), protecting people's livelihoods. The Chancellor has recently extended the CJRS until the end of March 2021, beyond the national lockdown restrictions.

30th Oct 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the March 2020 Budget, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to protect access to cash.

The Government recognises that cash remains important to millions of people across the UK, which is why it has committed to legislate to protect access to cash and to ensure that the UK’s cash infrastructure is sustainable in the long term. The Government is working at pace, engaging with industry and the regulators – the Financial Conduct Authority, Payment Systems Regulator, and Bank of England – whilst designing legislation.

To inform the development of this legislation, the Government published a Call for Evidence on 15 October seeking views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
21st Sep 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure the (a) viability and (b) accessibility of cash ATMs in rural areas following the reduction in their usage as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government continues to engage closely with the financial services regulators to monitor developments relating to COVID-19, including through the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group, which is chaired by the Treasury and aims to ensure comprehensive oversight of the overall cash infrastructure across the UK.

LINK, the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network, has existing arrangements in place to protect free-to-use ATMs that do not have another free-to-use ATM or Post Office within 1 kilometre. LINK’s members have also made £5 million available to fund ATMs at the request of communities with poor access to cash.

Furthermore, banks, building societies, credit unions and Post Offices are working with the Treasury and the financial regulators to maintain access to their services, including access to cash, while balancing the needs of their customers with the safety and welfare of staff. The vast majority of branches are open, though many are open for reduced hours. The Financial Conduct Authority has issued guidance to regulated firms, including on a provision to allow a trusted third party to make payments on behalf of vulnerable customers who may be self-isolating.

The Government recognises that widespread access to cash remains extremely important to millions of people across the UK. That is why, at the March 2020 Budget, the Chancellor announced that the Government will bring forward legislation to protect access to cash. This will ensure continued access to cash for those who rely on it and that the UK’s cash infrastructure is sustainable in the longer term.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
4th Sep 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many reports have been made of fraudulent abuse of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme through HMRC’s online reporting form.

To date, HMRC have received about 8,000 reports via their online and telephone fraud reporting services.

4th Sep 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies have been investigated for (a) employees continuing to work while placed on furlough and (b) other instances of misuse of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

HMRC were not legally allowed to carry out investigations into suspected CJRS fraud until the Finance Bill was granted Royal Assent. Before then, HMRC carried out more than 5,000 targeted calls to high-risk cases, in order to reduce the chance of further error and make clear that HMRC would be investigating excessive claims.

The Finance Act was granted Royal Assent on 22 July. The Finance Act gives employers a 90-day window to correct claims. HMRC are writing to every employer where HMRC have clear evidence that they may have overclaimed from the data HMRC hold. By the end of November, HMRC will have written to about 27,000 people prompting them to use the opportunity to self-correct. Starting this month, HMRC will also conduct up to 10,000 one-to-one interventions. This will include cases where HMRC have received information through their fraud hotlines. HMRC’s priorities are to support those correcting a genuine error, while taking action against those who have deliberately sought to abuse the scheme

22nd Jul 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much additional funding has been allocated to Northern Ireland through Barnett consequentials as a result of the Government response to the covid-19 outbreak.

On 24 July we made an unprecedented upfront guarantee to the devolved administrations. We guaranteed that they will receive at least £12.7bn in additional funding for this year, £2.2bn of which is for the Northern Ireland Executive.

Steve Barclay
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
21st Jul 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional steps he is taking to reduce the tax gap in the next three years.

The Government is clear that everyone must pay their fair share of tax. Since 2010, the Government has introduced over 100 new measures to tackle tax avoidance, evasion and other forms of non-compliance, and has secured and protected over £220 billion in tax revenues that would have otherwise gone unpaid.?These efforts have helped to reduce the tax gap to a record low of 4.7% for the year 2018-19.

At Spring Budget 2020, the Government announced a further 24 measures to tackle tax non-compliance, forecast to raise £4.7 billion over the next five years. The Government remains committed to reducing the tax gap and will bring forward further measures in the autumn.

15th May 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many bounce back loans have been approved by (a) Ulster Bank, (b) Danske Bank, (c) Bank of Ireland and (d) AIB since the start of the Bounce Bank Loan Scheme.

The Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS), launched on 4 May, helps the smallest businesses access loans of up to £50,000 within days.

HM Treasury carefully monitors the progress of the scheme, including by collecting data on applications and loans directly from accredited lenders. However, this data is commercially sensitive and provided in confidence by each lender, so cannot be disclosed publicly.

Since its launch, the scheme has seen over 464,000 loans worth a total value of over £14bn approved. HM Treasury is now regularly publishing the total number and value of loans approved under the scheme.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
4th May 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making substitute teachers eligible to benefit from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Employees on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible and zero-hour contracts are eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme providing they were employed on 19 March 2020 and were on their employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020. Fixed term employees can also be claimed for, and if their contract has not already expired it can be extended or renewed.

The scheme is designed to protect jobs and support as many people as possible quickly while mitigating the risk of fraud.

The Government is supporting people on low incomes who may need to rely on the welfare system through a significant package of temporary measures. This includes a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1bn increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants. These changes will benefit all new and existing claimants.

29th Apr 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to permit 80 per cent support to people who are not on any payroll at the dates of eligibility due to a change of employment.

Furloughed employees must have been on their employer’s PAYE payroll and HMRC must have received an RTI (Real Time Information) submission notifying payment in respect of that employee on or before 19 March 2020. The use of RTI allows HMRC to verify claims in the most efficient and timely way, ensuring payments can be made quickly while reducing the risk of fraud. Without the use of RTI returns it would be difficult to verify claims without significant additional checks, which would delay payment for genuine claims. It is possible for individuals who were on their employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 28 February 2020, but not 19 March 2020, to be rehired and furloughed. Further guidance on this can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.

The Government is also supporting people on low incomes who need to rely on the welfare system, through a significant package of temporary measures. This includes a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1bn increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants. These changes will benefit all new and existing claimants. Anyone can check their eligibility and apply for Universal Credit by visiting https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit.

29th Apr 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Minister of Finance in Northern Ireland on the length of business rates relief offered in Northern Ireland.

Business rates policy is devolved and the Northern Ireland Executive is receiving Barnett consequentials on business rate reliefs provided in England as part of the response to COVID-19.

HM Treasury ministers and officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in the devolved administrations as part of the response to COVID-19, including most recently a meeting between the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Finance Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on 30 April.

29th Apr 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with credit card providers on waiving penalties for late payment for people self-isolating on medical grounds.

Regulatory responsibility for the consumer credit market, including credit cards, was transferred to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014.

On 14 April, the FCA published guidance that sets out its expectation that firms provide, for a temporary period, exceptional and immediate support to customers facing payment difficulties due to circumstances arising from COVID-19. This includes granting the customer a payment deferral for 3 months.

Where a customer was in pre-existing financial difficulty, the FCA’s guidance makes clear that its existing forbearance rules would continue to apply. These would include, for example, the firm considering suspending, reducing, waiving, or cancelling any further interest or charges, deferring payment of arrears, or accepting token payments for a reasonable period of time.

The Government is committed to doing whatever it takes to get our nation through the impacts of COVID-19 and will continue to work closely with the FCA and industry on these matters.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
18th Mar 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with credit rating agencies on the potential effect mortgage holidays on credit scores.

With regards to personal credit ratings, payment holidays can be a feature of lending products or can be offered by lenders in exceptional circumstances outside of the customer’s control. This covers a multitude of potential scenarios, illness being one of them. Where payment holidays as a result of COVID-19 are agreed with a lender, we would expect lenders to ensure that taking a payment holiday should not impact credit scores. Ministers and officials are working closely with industry to protect consumers from harm during these unprecedented times.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
11th Mar 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the mortgage lending sector on tackling the situation affecting mortgage prisoners in Northern Ireland.

Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with many organisations in the public and private sectors on a variety of issues, including mortgage prisoners.

A mortgage prisoner is defined by the FCA as an existing customer that may be experiencing harm because they are unable to switch to a better deal. The Government is aware that these borrowers have been in a difficult and stressful situation. That is why we have worked closely with the FCA to implement their rule change to remove the regulatory barrier that has prevented some customers from switching.

Lenders are currently making the necessary adjustments and system changes to enable them to use the modified affordability assessment for borrowers looking to re-mortgage. We expect lenders to start offering these borrowers products using the new rules in Q2 2020.

I have written to Stephen Jones, Chief Executive Officer of UK Finance to outline my expectation that as many of its members as possible should move quickly to offer new deals to borrowers that are eligible to switch under the new FCA rules.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
24th Feb 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the loss in revenue as a result of fuel laundering activities in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimate the difference between expected revenues and the tax that is actually paid in the annual publication, Measuring Tax Gaps: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps. These estimates cannot be disaggregated by type of fraud, for example laundering.

HMRC have estimated the oils (fuel duty) tax gap (including VAT) in Northern Ireland as follows:

  • £40 million in 2017-18
  • £40 million in 2016-17
  • £50 million in 2015-16
  • £50 million in 2014-15
  • £50 million in 2013-14

The estimates for 2015-16 and earlier years were calculated using a different methodology and therefore cannot be compared to the estimates for subsequent years.

5th Feb 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Air Passenger Duty on route development at airports in Northern Ireland.

The government established a technical working group to explore the operational and legal challenges to changing APD in Northern Ireland.

Members include representatives from industry, experts, and civil servants from both the UK government and Northern Ireland.

Additionally, HM Treasury is currently reviewing Air Passenger Duty to ensure regional connectivity is strengthened while meeting the UK’s commitment to meet net zero emissions by 2050.

5th Feb 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the Government has allocated under the tax-free childcare scheme in Northern Ireland since its creation.

Tax-Free Childcare is accessible UK-wide. It provides the same level of support to parents - 20% of childcare costs up to a cap of £2000 per child per year - regardless of the region in which they live. Therefore, the spending in Northern Ireland is not pre-allocated and will depend on the uptake of the service in Northern Ireland.

Rishi Sunak
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
5th Feb 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have registered for the tax free childcare scheme in each constituent part of the UK since its inception.

Statistics relating to Tax-Free Childcare account usage are published quarterly in “Tax-Free Childcare Statistics” on the gov.uk website. The latest publication, containing information up to September 2019 is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-free-childcare-quarterly-statistics

Table 5 of the publication shows the number of families, by Government Office Region, that have a Tax-Free Childcare account. The table below shows the number of accounts that are open, regardless of whether or not they have been used.

Region

Year

2017-18

2018-19

Families with Open Tax-Free Childcare accounts

United Kingdom

272,320

449,355

England

263,255

426,130

North East

11,355

18,200

North West

37,310

59,495

Yorkshire and Humber

25,395

40,750

East Midlands

23,580

38,215

West Midlands

26,615

43,220

East of England

30,045

50,140

London

33,800

54,550

South East

45,535

74,660

South West

29,625

46,900

Wales

2,285

6,745

Scotland

3,400

9,700

Northern Ireland

1,340

3,240

In September 2019 15% of families with an open Tax-Free Childcare account had at least one self-employed parent.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
5th Feb 2020
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of people registered for the tax-free childcare scheme are self-employed.

Statistics relating to Tax-Free Childcare account usage are published quarterly in “Tax-Free Childcare Statistics” on the gov.uk website. The latest publication, containing information up to September 2019 is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-free-childcare-quarterly-statistics

Table 5 of the publication shows the number of families, by Government Office Region, that have a Tax-Free Childcare account. The table below shows the number of accounts that are open, regardless of whether or not they have been used.

Region

Year

2017-18

2018-19

Families with Open Tax-Free Childcare accounts

United Kingdom

272,320

449,355

England

263,255

426,130

North East

11,355

18,200

North West

37,310

59,495

Yorkshire and Humber

25,395

40,750

East Midlands

23,580

38,215

West Midlands

26,615

43,220

East of England

30,045

50,140

London

33,800

54,550

South East

45,535

74,660

South West

29,625

46,900

Wales

2,285

6,745

Scotland

3,400

9,700

Northern Ireland

1,340

3,240

In September 2019 15% of families with an open Tax-Free Childcare account had at least one self-employed parent.

John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
7th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the clandestine entrant civil penalty scheme applies to (a) heavy goods vehicles, (b) accompanied trailers, (c) unaccompanied trailers and (d) coaches travelling from Northern Ireland (i) directly and (ii) indirectly to Great Britain.

The Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme does apply to (a) heavy goods vehicles, (b) accompanied trailers, (c) unaccompanied trailers and (d) coaches travelling from Northern Ireland indirectly to Great Britain.

It does not apply to vehicles travelling from Northern Ireland directly to Great Britain.

Robert Jenrick
Minister of State (Home Office) (Immigration)
27th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether HM Passport Office has a target time for responding to queries from hon. Members on behalf of their constituents.

The target time for His Majesty’s Passport Office to respond to written queries from hon. Members is 20 working days. For the most urgent cases, hon. Members can continue to contact HM Passport Office via the dedicated hotline.

Robert Jenrick
Minister of State (Home Office) (Immigration)
24th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time for an application for a child's first passport to be processed is; and if she has made an assessment of the potential impact of industrial action on that waiting time.

HM Passport Office is well-positioned to manage the current period of industrial action, and there are no plans to change the guidance which states that it takes up to ten weeks to get a passport.

In March 2023, the median processing time* for applications using the standard UK service for a child’s first passport was ten days.

*The processing time starts from the date that supporting documents are received and allocated to the application, to the date that the passport is printed plus a further two days for courier delivery.

Robert Jenrick
Minister of State (Home Office) (Immigration)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of current firearms licensing laws in preventing ammunition licensed for legitimate reasons from being acquired by people who manufacture, sell or acquire 3D printed weapons.

The Home Office is committed to tackling the threat posed by 3D printed firearms and they are subject to the same legislative controls as any other firearms. We are working closely with the National Crime Agency (NCA) to tackle the emergence of unlicensed 3D firearms in the UK, including Project Interknow in which the NCA is leading the multi-agency response to this issue. The Home Office continues to work closely with law enforcement, including the NCA and other operational partners to manage the national security threat and protect public safety.

The possession, purchase or acquisition of ammunition is strictly controlled under the Firearms Act 1968. A person wanting to possess ammunition, and any associated firearms that it will be used with, must hold a valid firearms certificate issued by the police. This includes for 3D printed firearms.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of the manufacture and supply of 3D printed weapons on the capabilities of organisations and individuals who pose a threat to national security.

The Home Office is committed to tackling the threat posed by 3D printed firearms and they are subject to the same legislative controls as any other firearms. We are working closely with the National Crime Agency (NCA) to tackle the emergence of unlicensed 3D firearms in the UK, including Project Interknow in which the NCA is leading the multi-agency response to this issue. The Home Office continues to work closely with law enforcement, including the NCA and other operational partners to manage the national security threat and protect public safety.

The possession, purchase or acquisition of ammunition is strictly controlled under the Firearms Act 1968. A person wanting to possess ammunition, and any associated firearms that it will be used with, must hold a valid firearms certificate issued by the police. This includes for 3D printed firearms.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many licensing applications for 3D printed firearms have been received in England and Wales in each of the past ten years.

The Home Office is committed to tackling the threat posed by 3D printed firearms and they are subject to the same legislative controls as any other firearms. We are working closely with the National Crime Agency (NCA) to tackle the emergence of unlicensed 3D firearms in the UK, including Project Interknow in which the NCA is leading the multi-agency response to this issue. The Home Office continues to work closely with law enforcement, including the NCA and other operational partners to manage the national security threat and protect public safety.

The possession, purchase or acquisition of ammunition is strictly controlled under the Firearms Act 1968. A person wanting to possess ammunition, and any associated firearms that it will be used with, must hold a valid firearms certificate issued by the police. This includes for 3D printed firearms.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
8th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for a firearms license have been made in England and Wales in each of the last ten years.

The Home Office publishes data on firearm and shotgun certificates in England and Wales, including the number of firearm licence applications made in the last ten years. The latest data cover the period April 2021 to March 2022, and are available here: Firearm certificates in England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Data on the number of firearm licence applications by year are published in table 1 of the accompanying data tables.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people applied to the Government's temporary visa scheme for poultry workers, pork butchers or heavy goods vehicle drivers to transport food.

Paragraph 1.3.2 on the Gov.Uk page below provides the published statistics for HGV Drivers, Poultry Workers and Pork Butchers.

Why do people come to the UK? To work - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

12th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been received by the places of worship protective security funding scheme, by region of the UK in each of the last three years.

The Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme is available in England and Wales. Data on the Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme is collated by geographic region.

Applications to the 2021/2022 round closed on 16th July. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application in due course.

Over the last three years, which includes the 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021 rounds, we have received 707 eligible applications in total.

In the 2018/2019 round, we received 88 eligible applications. This can be broken down as 3 East of England applications, 10 East Midlands applications, 9 London applications, 1 North East applications, 19 North West applications, 9 South East applications, 2 South West applications, 17 West Midlands applications, 17 Yorkshire & Humber applications, and 1 Wales applications.

In the 2019/2020 round, we received 376 eligible applications. This can be broken down as 10 East of England applications, 38 East Midlands applications, 100 London applications, 13 North East applications, 50 North West applications, 27 South East applications, 11 South West applications, 56 West Midlands applications, 54 Yorkshire & Humber applications, and 17 Wales applications.

In the 2020/2021 round we received 243 eligible applications. This can be broken down as 9 East of England applications, 23 East Midlands applications, 52 London applications, 3 North East applications, 35 North West applications, 27 South East applications, 13 South West applications, 44 West Midlands applications, 29 Yorkshire & Humber applications, and 8 Wales applications.

Damian Hinds
Minister of State (Education)
12th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been received by the places of worship protective security funding scheme, by the religious faith of the applicant organisation in each of the last three years.

The Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme is available in England and Wales. Applications to the 2021/2022 round closed on 16th July. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application in due course.

Over the last three years, which includes the 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021 rounds, we have received 707 eligible applications in total.

In the 2018/2019 round, we received 88 eligible applications. This can be broken down as 46 Muslim applications, 18 Christian applications, 6 Hindu applications, and 18 Sikh applications.

In the 2019/2020 round, we received 376 eligible applications. This can be broken down as 208 Muslim applications, 106 Christian applications, 29 Hindu applications, 30 Sikh applications, and 3 applications from other faiths, such as Buddhism, Jain, or Multi-faith.

In the 2020/2021 round we received 243 eligible applications. This can be broken down as 89 Muslim applications, 103 Christian applications, 22 Hindu applications, 21 Sikh applications, and 8 applications from other faiths.

Damian Hinds
Minister of State (Education)
15th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in the UK have been issued with football banning orders in each of the last five years.

The Home Office publishes annual figures on the number of football banning orders issued each year. The latest figures for the last five years are available from tables 1 to 4 of the Football-related arrests and banning orderspublication.

20th May 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will undertake a review of investigatory practices by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services in response to criticism of their investigation of how the Police Service of Northern Ireland handled the funeral of Bobby Storey.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) is independent of Government and the police. Their role is to assess and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces and policing in the public interest using an evidence-based approach. In fulfilling this role, HMICFRS continuously review their approach to ensure their inspections are best placed to promote improvements.

As the Hon Lady will be aware, the inspection into the funeral of Mr Storey was commissioned by the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland, who has expressed her gratitude for HMICFRS’ swift and comprehensive report.

22nd Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Government has made of the extent of online content that does not meet the criminal threshold, but facilitates abuse and grooming; and what steps she is taking through the Online Safety Bill to tackle that matter.

The Government is firmly committed to making the UK the safest place to be online and taking action against online material that may not be illegal, but is linked to abuse and grooming.

We are working across Government and engaging industry to prevent all forms of online child sexual exploitation and abuse. The interim code of practice on online CSEA made clear that we expect companies to already start taking voluntary action against such content, including material that doesn’t meet a criminal threshold.

The Online Safety Bill will require companies to ensure the safety of children on their services. They will need to seriously consider the risks their services may pose to children using their services and take action to mitigate this. This will include taking measures against all content that facilitates abuse or grooming of children on their services.

The Government is also continuing to engage with technology companies around the Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, a framework of principles launched by the Five Country Ministerial partners in March 2020. These are a set of 11 actions tech firms should take to ensure children are not sexually exploited on their platforms, , including taking steps to stop the livestreaming of abuse and stop grooming and predatory behaviour.

Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
22nd Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the cross-platform nature of grooming and abuse for children online; and what steps he will take in the forthcoming Bill on online safety to tackle that risk to children.

We are working across Government and engaging industry to prevent all forms of online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Government is continuing to engage with technology companies around the Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, a framework of principles launched by the Five Country Ministerial partners in March 2020. These are a set of 11 actions tech firms should take to ensure children are not sexually exploited on their platforms. Principle 10 includes how companies should support opportunities to share relevant expertise, helpful practices, data and tools where appropriate and feasible.

The strongest protections from harmful or inappropriate content in the Online Safety Bill are for children and young people. These laws will close the gap between what companies say they do, and what they will actually do. All companies in scope will be required to fulfil the duty of care by ensuring that they take reasonably practicable steps to tackle relevant illegal content, and protect children where they are likely to access their services.This includes bearing down on the threat of livestreaming and taking necessary steps to target grooming and the proliferation of child sexual abuse material.

We have published the interim code of practice on online child sexual exploitation and abuse, the code will help to ‘bridge the gap’ between Government’s response to the Online Harms White Paper, and the establishment of the independent regulator. This will enable companies to take swift action in tackling the most serious of online harms before the regulator is established.

Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
22nd Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with (a) Facebook, (b) Google and (c) other social media companies on the introduction of end-to-end encryption within their platforms; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect of that encryption on child abuse online.

Ministers and officials have regular contact with technology companies, including Facebook and Google, about the safety of their platforms.

The UK supports strong encryption, but we are clear that the implementation of end-to-end encryption which wholly precludes tech companies’ access to content will have a disastrous impact on public safety.

As well as preventing law enforcement from securing lawfully authorised access to vital content as part of their investigations, it severely erodes tech companies’ ability to tackle the most serious illegal content on their platforms, including online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

All communication service providers must ensure that there will be no reduction to public safety when they implement new technology or other design choices.

Facebook’s proposals are of particular concern due to the risk profile of the platform. In 2020 Facebook provided 20.3 million child sexual abuse referrals to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC, the US body which processes industry reports of child sexual abuse). NCMEC’s previous assessment is that 70% of Facebook’s total referrals relate to Messenger and are therefore likely to be lost once that service is end-to-end encrypted.

The UK is leading work across the world urging all tech companies to collaborate with governments on mutually agreeable solutions that ensure user privacy is protected.

Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
24th Feb 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the devolved Administrations on (a) violence reduction strategies and (b) where she plans to allocate additional funding to help tackle violence in the devolved regions.

The Government is committed to reducing serious violence and putting an end to the tragedies afflicting our communities. It is important that we work across government, statutory, private, and voluntary sectors to deliver change, including with the devolved administrations.

We are, for example, working closely with the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland, the Police Service for Northern Ireland and the Scottish Government to deliver the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 surrender and compensation scheme across the United Kingdom. We also work closely with the devolved administrations on other aspects of our firearms controls.

Crime prevention and policing are devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland but we maintain regular dialogue on our shared interests. On Monday 8 February, the Minister for Crime and Policing addressed the ‘Four Nations’ conference on the subject of public health approaches in policing and serious violence across the UK. This week-long conference was match funded by the Home Office.

Crime prevention and policing are reserved in Wales, however, other areas of focus in reducing and preventing serious violence such as health and education are devolved and we continue to work closely with the Welsh Government on these matters. The Home Office has invested a total of £176.5 million over two years into the 18 police force areas worst affected by serious violence – the Serious Violence Fund (SVF). South Wales is one of these 18 areas. From the SVF, South Wales Police have been allocated £1.98m to Surge their police operational capacity. Additionally, £1.76m of the SVF has been invested into the South Wales PCC to develop their Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), which brings together key partners to identify the drivers of serious violence and agree a multi-agency response to them. On the 8 February 2021 we announced a further £880,000 investment into the South Wales area to further develop their VRU for 2021-2022.

In addition to the Serious Violence Fund, we have invested £200 million in early intervention and prevention support initiatives over 10 years to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). In total, 12 grantees in Wales are in receipt of funding from all grant rounds. The YEF will reform the way this government responds to serious violence by identifying what works in diverting children and young people away from involvement in serious violent crime. That is why this government has awarded an extra £5 million towards the expedited development of a national Centre of Excellence (CofE) to help guide government investment and national policies. The CofE will develop a robust evidence base and share best practice across local and national partners to facilitate learning.

24th Feb 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 as a result of increased reliance on secure digital technologies during the covid-19 pandemic and the increased threat posed by cyber crime.

The Home Office keeps the Computer Misuse Act (CMA) under regular re-view. The Home Office have been engaged in ongoing discussions with relevant partners in law enforcement, government and private sector to ensure that the legislation continues to remain effective.

The Home Office and its operational partners continue to monitor and respond to the cybercrime threat during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also have a gov.uk page on coronavirus-related fraud and cybercrime. The page includes easy-to-follow steps for people to better protect themselves and signposts other relevant advice and tips.

6th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to expedite the approval process for new technologies aimed at enforcing road traffic speeds and other road traffic offences.

As part of the joint DfT and Home Office Roads Policing Review, the Home Office is reviewing the type approval system used to provide enforcement agencies with the equipment they need to prosecute speeding, drink or drug driving and other offences.

The aim is to modernise and streamline the current process whilst delivering new technologies quickly.

14th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been made to the Places of worship protective security funding scheme; and how much funding has been awarded in each year since the creation of the scheme.

Over the last four years of the Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme, 807 eligible applications have been received. For the 2020/2021 round of the scheme, which closed on 9 August, we have received 243 eligible applications.

In the 2016/2017 round we awarded £435,446, in 2017/2018 we awarded £440,203, in 2018/2019 we awarded £806,281, and in the 2019/2020 we awarded £1,718,763. For the 2020/2021 round, the available funding is £3.2 million.

25th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of police officers in England and Wales are from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the ethnicity of police officers, in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin.

As at 31 March 2019, 7% of police officers in England and Wales were from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. Up from 4% a decade earlier.

24th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the migrant salary threshold of £25,600 on the labour market in Northern Ireland.

The MAC advised against regional variations in these thresholds. We will deliver a future immigration system which works for the whole of the UK.

The Government published “The UK’s Points-Based System: Policy Statement” on 19 February.

Aligned with the independent Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) recommendation, the Government will reduce both the general salary and skills thresholds for those who wish to come to the UK under the new skilled work route.

In delivering on its manifesto commitments for a new points-based system, the Government has considered relevant views, evidence, and analysis. We will also keep labour market data under careful scrutiny.

The Home Office will publish further detail on the points-based system in due course and continue to engage with stakeholders across Northern Ireland on our future migration system.

10th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Football Banning Orders have been issued in each of the last three years.

Data on football banning orders issued by courts in England and Wales under the Football Spectators Act 1989 is shown in the table below.

Season

Number of football banning orders issued

2016/17

517

2017/18

460

2018/19

549

Note: the dates used for football seasons are from 1st August to 31st July

17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to increase awareness of the potential merits of joining the Reserve Forces and Cadets in Northern Ireland.

The single Services have provided the following information:

Royal Navy

Based in Lisburn, HMS Hibernia is Northern Ireland's Royal Naval Reserve Unit. This Unit has a proactive recruiting posture and is regularly represented in colleges and careers fairs, as well as through online recruiting events. HMS HIBERNIA has also participated in Northern Ireland Armed Forces Day activities, as well as delivering Employer Engagement events.

The Royal Navy Cadet Forces are well represented in Northern Ireland with three units of the Combined Cadet Force and eleven units of the Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) across the Province, and a further two SCC units currently under consideration.

British Army

Advertising opportunities in Northern Ireland for Army roles takes shape in the exact same way as it does in the rest of the UK. In addition, the Army's Recruiting Group support three large events in Northern Ireland which cover both Regular and Reserve streams, providing recruiting literature which is specific to Northern Ireland. At a tactical level, the Army's Recruiting Group provides unit-specific recruiting literature and the last order saw around 15,000 personalised leaflets sent to units in Northern Ireland.

For Cadets, the #NoFilter campaign to recruit both new Cadets and adult volunteers ran for two weeks in Northern Ireland in February 2022, using outdoor media, streamed radio advertising and social media targeting. There was a marked increase in applications submitted during the two weeks the campaign was run.

Royal Air Force (RAF)

Air Officer Northern Ireland has an extensive, ongoing, regional Engagement Strategy to raise awareness of the RAF in Northern Ireland, often using 502 (Ulster) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force in its delivery. This provides the RAF Reserves with the opportunity to show who they are, tell their story, and highlight the benefits of Reserve Service. Activity and events that raise awareness are underpinned by regional recruiting and selecting radio advertisements and national television adverts which also promote the opportunities and benefits.

There is also a continual focus on promoting the benefits, values and experience that Royal Air Force Air Cadet membership brings to youth in Northern Ireland, as well as a direct effort to enlarge the footprint of Cadet units.

14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his oral statement to the House of 9 March 2022 on Ukraine, whether the Government has successfully delivered the consignment of anti-tank Javelin missiles to Ukraine; and how many of those missiles it will supply.

I can confirm that 218 anti-tank Javelin missiles, have been successfully delivered to Ukraine. The Prime Minister announced, on 8 April 2022, that a further consignment of Javelin missiles will be delivered in due course.

James Heappey
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
18th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria his Department uses to determine good faith security research, as outlined in his Department’s Vulnerability Disclosure Policy.

A Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP) is a 'see something, say something' process to allow security researchers to report a vulnerability in MOD systems (found through e.g. ethical hacking). MOD launched its VDP in December 2020.

Practically, 'to act in good faith' means working to find vulnerabilities in IT systems without causing damage to them, disrupting their operation, or exfiltrating data in an unauthorised manner. There are no set criteria for acting in good faith because the situations are context dependent. However, it does not give researchers permission to act in any manner that is inconsistent with the law, or which might cause the MOD or partner organisations to be in breach of any legal obligations.

1st Feb 2021
What progress is being made with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on bringing forward legacy legislation on tackling vexatious claims against veterans who have served in Northern Ireland.

This Government is committed to bringing an end to vexatious claims against the Armed Forces. We have introduced the Overseas Operations Bill to reduce the uncertainty faced by our Service personnel and veterans in relation to historical allegations and claims arising from overseas operations. We have also been clear that we will bring forward separate legislation to address the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland - including delivering on our commitment to Northern Ireland veterans - as soon as possible.

Johnny Mercer
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
15th Sep 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to circumstances which where a member of the auxiliary reserve forces lives in Northern Ireland but is part of a GB based military unit, that does not have an operating base in Northern Ireland, what support those service personnel get with travel costs to attend their regular training at their unit.

Volunteer Reserve personnel are eligible to claim Home to Duty Travel allowance which provides a contribution towards the costs incurred when they travel between their normal civilian place of work to attend training. Payment of this allowance is capped at a maximum travelling distance of 50 miles, regardless of any greater distance travelled, and this is in line with what is paid to Regular Service personnel. Some specialist Reservists may be eligible for rates in excess of 50 miles due to the location of certain Specialist Units. This extended mileage concession is only available on permission of Commanding Officers and after obtaining financial authority and applies to all specialist Reservists in the UK. The exceptional nature of this concession is because the Ministry of Defence needs to balance the cost of such travel with operational needs.

Not all Volunteer Reserve personnel live in the vicinity of their Unit. There will be some, for example, who have had to relocate for civilian employment reasons but who cannot, or choose not to, change to a new Unit. Where Volunteer Reserve personnel are unable to attend for training because of travel issues, they would not qualify for pay or be likely to earn a bounty, but that does not automatically mean they have to leave their Service. Units will do what they can to keep in touch with Volunteer Reservists in this situation.

Where Volunteer Reserve personnel are required to travel away from their normal Unit (e.g. for annual training) then they are eligible to claim Duty Travel allowance for the cost of the travel to and from their Unit to the temporary duty station where the training is due to take place.

Johnny Mercer
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
13th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support improved mental health amongst veterans in Northern Ireland.

Upon discharge from the Armed Forces, the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, is the purview of the NHS in England, and the Devolved Administrations in the rest of the UK. We are currently working with the NI Veterans Support Office (VSO) to take forward the important work of delivering the Armed Forces Covenant to our veterans in NI. The VSO has developed strong links between the NI Government Departments, Local Government Veterans’ Champions and the voluntary and charitable sector. This work with the VSO is key in building coherence and co-ordination among services through the NI Veterans Support Committee (NIVSC). The NIVSC was set up to improve cooperation between those organisations who are permanently based in NI and are committed to delivering support services to veterans.

Johnny Mercer
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
12th May 2020
What steps the Government is taking to improve mental health and well-being support for armed forces personnel and their families.

Our Defence People Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy launched in 2017 and it delivers education and training at appropriate points throughout Service life. Personnel and their families can access a 24hr helpline and Service Leavers are supported via the Veterans Gateway initiative. The incidence of mental health issues in Service Personnel and Veterans is comparable to the general population, a testament to the effectiveness of the support provided.

Johnny Mercer
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
6th Feb 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2020 to Question 6149, how much his Department spent on recruitment promotion in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) England, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales in each of the last three years.

Recruitment advertising and promotion costs are not held on a regional basis. The total spend for the current and two previous financial years (FY) are set out below. Figures have been rounded to one decimal place.

Service

FY2017-18

FY2018-19

FY2019-20 (to 31/1/2020)

Navy

£18.2million

£19.1million

£21.3million

Army

£19.4million

£19million

£21.2million

RAF

£13.3million

£15.2million

£15.6million

Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people from each part of the UK applied to join the British Army in each of the last five years.

The application figures for the last five recruiting years, broken down by Nation, can be found below.

Recruiting Year

England

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

2014-15

78,900

3,110

9,160

6,160

2015-16

76,580

2,790

8,940

5,510

2016-17

102,080

3,230

11,390

6,890

2017-18

86,040

2,960

9,040

5,710

2018-19

95,380

3,340

9,620

6,560

Notes/Caveats:

  • Application figures are based on single Service estimates; official statistics have not been produced by Defence Statistics.
  • The table includes applications received for both the Regular Army and Reserves.
  • If a candidate has made more than one application, each application will be counted separately.
  • Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards.
  • Applications made to join the Military Provost Guard Service have not been included.
  • These figures do not break down the total applications received to join the Army. Applications will have also been received from the Channel Islands, Republic of Ireland, Commonwealth countries and British Overseas Territories.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
27th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Written Statement of 9 November 2022, HCWS172 on Building Regulations, if his Department will take steps to ensure that the review considers equal access to male sanitary bins in already established buildings as well as new buildings..

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 83564 on 17 November 2022.

Lee Rowley
Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
11th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to provide financial support to victims of domestic of violence to help them find alternative accommodation so that they are protected from abuse and harm.

This Government is committed to the delivery of safe accommodation with support for all victims of domestic abuse. This is part of the Government's overall Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.

The Domestic Abuse Act includes new duties on local authorities in England, which came into force on 1 October 2021, to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe accommodation.

So far, we have distributed £250 million to local authorities for the delivery of their duties - £125 million in both 2021/22 and 2022/23. On 12 December 2022 we announced a further two years of government funding - £127.3 million and £129.7 million for the delivery of these duties in 2023/24 and 2024/25.

This is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.

Felicity Buchan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will increase existing awards of Levelling Up Funding, in the context of rising inflation.

The department is monitoring the impact of inflation closely through formal reporting mechanisms and regular discussions with local government counterparts and stakeholders.

The Levelling Up Fund has put in place a proportionate project adjustment process. Further discussions are underway about what other support can be offered to mitigate inflationary pressures.

17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people in Northern Ireland have been issued with sponsor payments under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

The data on the number of tariff and thank you payments made to all local authorities between March and May 2022 can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-for-ukraine-funding-march-to-may-2022/annex-a-homes-for-ukraine-local-authority-funding-allocations-march-to-may-2022-northern-ireland.

Note: The number of thank you payments may be less than the number of sponsoring households due to delays in authorities making thank you payments, or sponsors not accepting thank you payments.

There is flexibility for how councils can deliver the sponsor payments. Lead sponsors are not eligible for the £350 monthly payment if they are charging the guest rent. For the sponsor, the £350 payment is payable monthly in arrears backdated to the date the Ukrainian national commenced residence in the sponsor’s accommodation.

Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
12th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when awards made in the first tranche of the Levelling Up Fund must be spent by.

On 27 October, the Government announced £1.7 billion of investment into 105 infrastructure projects across the UK. Funding provided from the Fund should be spent by 31 March 2024, and exceptionally, into 2024-25 for larger schemes.

9th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of the Community Ownership Fund in Northern Ireland.

The first bidding round of the Community Ownership Fund has now closed and the successful bids have been announced. We are reviewing applications and uptake across the United Kingdom in each nation as part of our first round review and will consider how to increase awareness in the next round.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities officials worked closely with officials at the Northern Ireland Executive, the Northern Ireland Office and the Cities and Local Growth Unit Northern Ireland Area team during the first bidding round to ensure that communities were aware of the fund. They will continue to do this in future rounds.

6th Nov 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The Government is committed to working with the Devolved Administrations to ensure the Fund works for places across the UK. Government officials meet regularly with their counterparts, including the Northern Ireland Executive, to discuss the Fund. Government officials have also held 25 engagement events across the UK, including in Belfast. These were attended by over five hundred representatives from a breadth of sectors.

21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities to provide accessible play parks for people with disabilities.

In October 2019 my Department announced a £1.35 million grant scheme for local communities, working with local authorities to apply for funding to create new pocket parks or renovate existing parks.

Identifying a local need such as accessibility or supporting those with disability issues is one of the key criteria against which applications will be assessed. The application window closed on 31 December and a total of 375 applications were received with 3 per cent specifically addressing issues of disability. Results will be announced in early February.

31st Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a new offence for (a) encouraging or (b) assisting serious self-harm in the new online safety regime.

The Law Commission, in its report “Modernising Communication Offences”, recommended the creation of a specific offence of encouraging or assisting a person to self-harm. The Government is currently considering that recommendation and the details of such a new offence.

James Cartlidge
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
18th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the Computer Misuse Act 1990 has been used successfully to prosecute offences or attacks against computer systems that involve (a) ransomware (b) malware and (c) phishing in each of the last five years.

The number of prosecutions and convictions for offences which take place online is not centrally held in the court proceedings database as this type of offence is not separately identified in legislation. Equally, offences involving ransomware, malware and phishing are not separately identified in legislation. Identifying these offences separately would require a manual search of court records, which would be at disproportionate costs.

Published figures provide the number of prosecutions and convictions for the following offence that may include offences which occurred online:

Computer Misuse Act 1990

  • Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences (Computer Misuse Act 1990)
  • Unauthorised acts with intent to impair, or with recklessness as to impairing, operation of computer, etc (Computer Misuse Act 1990)
  • Unauthorised access to computer material
  • Making, supplying or obtaining articles for use in offence under SS.1 or 3 (Computer Misuse Act 1990, S.3A)

The number of prosecutions and convictions can be found by searching the above offences in the ‘Detailed offence’ filter in the ‘Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code’ data tool available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938554/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
18th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the Computer Misuse Act 1990 has been successfully used to prosecute cyber crime in each of the last five years.

The number of prosecutions and convictions for offences which take place online is not centrally held in the court proceedings database as this type of offence is not separately identified in legislation. Equally, offences involving ransomware, malware and phishing are not separately identified in legislation. Identifying these offences separately would require a manual search of court records, which would be at disproportionate costs.

Published figures provide the number of prosecutions and convictions for the following offence that may include offences which occurred online:

Computer Misuse Act 1990

  • Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences (Computer Misuse Act 1990)
  • Unauthorised acts with intent to impair, or with recklessness as to impairing, operation of computer, etc (Computer Misuse Act 1990)
  • Unauthorised access to computer material
  • Making, supplying or obtaining articles for use in offence under SS.1 or 3 (Computer Misuse Act 1990, S.3A)

The number of prosecutions and convictions can be found by searching the above offences in the ‘Detailed offence’ filter in the ‘Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code’ data tool available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938554/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
18th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria his Department uses to determine good faith security research, as outlined in his Department’s Vulnerability Disclosure Policy.

The intention behind the reference to 'in good faith' is to support a mechanism for cooperation with security researchers with the aim to identify and quickly remediate reported vulnerabilities. As such research and vulnerability disclosure must be carried out "in an honest and sincere way" without affecting the safety, security and continuity of any data or service in accordance with the disclosure policy and consistent with the law. Each situation is different and thus must be judged on its own merits, but the MoJ would consider whether the individual's approach has been proportionate to the problem they are trying to uncover, has been limited to simply proving the existence of the problem, and has protected confidentiality of data within the systems concerned.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
18th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the Fraud Act 2006 has been used successfully to prosecute phishing offences in each of the last five years.

The number of prosecutions and convictions for phishing offences is not centrally held in the court proceedings database as this type of offence is not separately identified in legislation. Identifying these offences separately would require a manual search of court records, which would be at disproportionate costs.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
20th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has had recent discussions with the British Medical Association Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

The Secretary of State has been corresponding with the BMA and understands their frustration over a pay award for healthcare professionals. The UK Government has no authority to negotiate pay in Northern Ireland. This is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Department of Health.

It remains the Government’s top priority to see the Executive restored with the support of all parties and for locally accountable political leaders to take fundamental decisions on public services and deliver better outcomes for the people of Northern Ireland.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
29th Aug 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether parents will be able to opt their children out of the new Relationship and Sexuality Education curriculum in Northern Ireland.

Yes.

The Relationships and Sexuality Education (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 place a duty on the Department of Education to introduce regulations to ensure that a pupil may be withdrawn from education on sexual and reproductive health and rights or elements of that education, at the request of a parent. This follows the approach taken in England and Scotland.

Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
20th Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department plans to conduct a public consultation of (a) parents and (b) other stakeholders on Relationships and Sex Education before guidance in this area is implemented in Northern Ireland.

In line with my Department’s statutory obligations under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, and in consultation with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, my Department completed an equality screening, the outcome of which did not indicate a need to publicly consult on the policy.

Consultation with parents on Relationships and Sex Education is already common practice in Northern Ireland. The Department of Education requires each school to have in place its own written policy on how it will address the delivery of Relationships and Sex Education. A school’s Relationships and Sex Education policy should be subject to consultation with parents and endorsed by a school’s Board of Governors.

Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
20th Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether a parent in Northern Ireland can excuse their child from Relationships and Sex Education,.

The Relationships and Sexuality Education (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 place a duty on the Department of Education to introduce regulations to ensure that a pupil may be withdrawn from education on sexual and reproductive health and rights or elements of that education, at the request of a parent. This follows the approach taken in England and Scotland.

Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
28th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has had discussions with the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on policing budgets.

Policing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) main budget is allocated by the Department of Justice from the Northern Ireland Executive block grant. The budget set out in the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 27 April gives the Department of Justice a total allocation of £1.2 billion and is now being put on a statutory footing with the introduction of the Northern Ireland Budget (No.2) Bill on 29 June. We have provided the Department of Justice with the third largest budget allocation after Health and Education.

It is now for the Department of Justice to determine the allocation of funding to the PSNI from their budget allocation for 2023-24. It is an operational matter for the Chief Constable to determine how to deploy the funding allocated to the PSNI, in consultation with the Northern Ireland Policing Board, to deliver the best outcomes possible.

Recognising the unique security situation in Northern Ireland, the UK Government makes additional contributions to PSNI through Additional Security Funding. The contribution for the financial year 2023-24 will be £31.2 million.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is in regular contact with the Chief Constable of Northern Ireland regarding a variety of matters. The UK Government fully supports the excellent work that the PSNI undertakes to keep people in Northern Ireland safe, often in exceptionally challenging circumstances.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
28th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has made an assessment of the potential economic impact of the US President's visit to Northern Ireland in April 2023.

The visit from the President of the United States to Northern Ireland during the 25th Anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement further underscored the commitment of the United States to peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland has benefitted from substantial Foreign Direct Investment from the United States, having generated nearly 13,000 jobs and £1.5 billion worth of investment in the last decade. During his visit, the President outlined the potential for this to substantially increase.

The UK Government is working closely with Joe Kennedy III, U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs, particularly as we build up to the Northern Ireland Investment Summit on 12 and 13 September. This Summit will further position Northern Ireland as an ideal location for investment, including from the United States.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
28th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many times he has met with representatives of the Parades Commission since September 2022.

In line with the Framework Agreement between the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Office, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has met the Parades Commission once since September 2022.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
28th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department has spent on hospitality in each of the last three years.

The amount spent on hospitality by the Northern Ireland Office is as follows:

2019-20 - £258,327

2020-21 - £33,458

2021-22 - £62,872

The 2022-23 spend is subject to end of year audit and therefore not yet available.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to help the Department of Education in Northern Ireland to maintain the (a) Engage and (b) Healthy Happy Minds programme.

Education is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Department of Education has the responsibility for matters relating to the provision of the Engage and Healthy Happy Minds programmes in Northern Ireland.

In the absence of functioning devolved institutions, Northern Ireland Office officials are working with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Department of Finance to set the Northern Ireland budget for the 2023-24 financial year.

The right people to make these decisions are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly. In the absence of these, it will be for the relevant Northern Ireland department, in this case the Department of Education, to manage its funding, including provision for the Engage and Health Happy Minds programmes.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to help bring about a resolution to the healthcare workers pay dispute in Northern Ireland.

The Government is acutely aware of the pressures facing the health service in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State met with representatives of the Health Unions in Northern Ireland on 5 April to offer clarity on the Government’s pay offer to healthcare workers in England. As this is a devolved matter, the Secretary of State does not have the authority to negotiate on pay.

A fully functioning devolved government is the best way to deliver the necessary reforms to transform healthcare. That is why the Government is doing all it can to restore the Executive as soon as possible.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what support the Government is providing to the Electoral Office in Northern Ireland to raise awareness of the local elections.

Raising awareness of elections is the responsibility of the Electoral Commission which runs a variety of media and social media campaigns, as well as providing resources to interested groups to inform the public about elections and encourage engagement. The Northern Ireland Office highlighted the date change of the local elections in Northern Ireland through social media channels and the UK Government continues to use social media to support the work of the Electoral Commission to raise awareness of elections in Northern Ireland.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2022 to Question 80975, whether the findings in the 2015 report entitled Paramilitary Groups in Northern Ireland still reflects his assessment of links between the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein in 2023.

This Government’s first priority is to keep people safe and secure across the United Kingdom. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and security partners continue to work to keep the people of Northern Ireland safe, including monitoring the continuing threat from paramilitary and terrorist groups.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, further to the Answer of 20 December to Question 109699, on Belfast Agreement, how much has been identified under the budgetary arrangements for Government activity to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement.

The Government is steadfast in its commitment to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the hard-won gains of the peace process and to marking the Agreement’s 25th anniversary appropriately. At this time, a core budget of £575,671 has been allocated to deliver the Northern Ireland Office’s own programme of activity.

In Autumn Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced a fund of up to £2 million for the Department for International Trade (now known as The Department for Business and Trade) to: “work with local partners including Invest Northern Ireland to host a trade and investment event in Northern Ireland in 2023.” This is designed to be part of events to mark the 25th anniversary.

The UK Government’s wider programme of activity in the anniversary year also includes programming taking place in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office diplomatic network.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much the Government has spent so far on defending the legal case on the lawfulness of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Government has spent £196,567 on fees associated with the legal challenges of Clifford Peeples and Jim Allister and others.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many times he has visited Northern Ireland since his appointment to his post.

I have visited Northern Ireland 22 times since my appointment.

Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on how many occasions he has met with the Permanent Secretaries in each Department in Northern Ireland, since the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive in 2022.

I have held a roundtable with the Permanent Secretaries and their representatives. I have had three meetings with the Department for Finance Permanent Secretary and met with the head of the NI Civil Service numerous times.

Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for what reason the Government has provided ring-fenced funding for abortion services in Northern Ireland.

The UK Government has a clear statutory duty under section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019 to ensure that the recommendations in the Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (“the CEDAW Report”), are implemented in Northern Ireland.

The Government’s strong preference has always been for the Northern Ireland Department of Health to take responsibility for providing and funding abortion services.

Regrettably, the Department of Health failed to commission and fund abortion services in line with the framework set out in the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020, despite being under a statutory obligation to do so since July 2021. The UK Government was left with no option but to commission services and ensure that funding is available to enable Health and Social Care Trusts to recruit and train staff to support the development of high-quality and sustainable services.

It remains the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive to fund abortion services in Northern Ireland. The UK Government will continue to ensure funding is made available until the Department of Health takes full responsibility for the provision of that funding.

Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether a budget has been identified for actions to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement.

The Government is steadfastly committed to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions, and to ensuring that the 25th anniversary of that Agreement is marked appropriately.

In reflection of this commitment, I can confirm that budgetary arrangements for Government activity to mark the 25th anniversary have been identified. The Government intends to announce more details of that activity in the coming months.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much funding his Department has provided to An Ciste Infheistiochta Gaeilge since 2000.

The Irish Language Investment Fund, An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge, was established by a grant-in-aid of £8 million from the Government in 2010 in connection to the Hillsborough Castle Talks.

On 25 May, the Government announced the provision of an additional £4 million in capital money to the Fund as part of the commitments on Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances that were agreed in New Decade, New Approach.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether equality screening assessment was undertaken by his Department of An Ciste Infheistiochta Gaeilge prior to providing £4 million of funding to that organisation.

The £4 million in capital money for the Irish Language Investment, An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge, forms part of the package of New Decade, New Approach funding commitments on Northern Ireland’s Unique Circumstances, which together seek to deliver for all parts of the community.

Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 places a statutory duty on public authorities to undertake equality screening assessments when carrying out functions relating to Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Office is not responsible for the delivery of this funding and is not carrying out functions in relation to it, and is therefore not responsible for completing an equality screening assessment.

The Northern Ireland Office will continue to meet its legal duties in relation to its full set of New Decade, New Approach funding commitments.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if the Government will take steps to provide funding to help increase the level of understanding of Ulster-Scots language.

The Government firmly believes that Northern Ireland’s tapestry of identities and cultures is a strength of the Union, and is proud of its strong track record of delivering for the Ulster Scots. The Government has already met its specific funding commitments to support Ulster Scots broadcasting set out in New Decade, New Approach, which was referred to in my answer of 21 November, UIN 85057.

In addition to this New Decade, New Approach funding and the recognition of the Ulster Scots as a National Minority, the Government has delivered the Identity & Language (NI) Act which will establish a specific Commissioner for the benefit of the Ulster Scots. We also secured agreement for the BBC Framework Agreement to include a specific clause that provides a clear commitment to BBC output in the Ulster Scots language.

The Government will continue this important work to support linguistic diversity across the UK.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will take steps to remove the payment of allowances to hon. Members representing Sinn Fein in the context of those Members not taking their seats.

The Government has previously set out its position that all Members of Parliament should play a full part in the business of the House of Commons.

However, the level of expenses received by Members of this House is a matter for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and not for the Government.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to help support the restoration of Craigavon House.

Under the UK Government commitments to promote Northern Ireland's Culture, Heritage and Society we committed to explore projects including the restoration of Craigavon House. The government remain committed to support conversations on the future of Craigavon House should a suitable plan be forthcoming on its future and restoration.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much financial support the Government has provided to the International Fund for Ireland in each of the last three years.

The Northern Ireland Office and the International Fund for Ireland separately publish Annual Reports and Accounts, including audited financial statements. I would refer the honourable Lady to those resources for the information she requires.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with Northern Ireland Screen on the remit of the Ulster Scots Broadcasting Fund.

As part of New Decade, New Approach, the Government committed to discussions with Northern Ireland Screen on expanding the respective remits of the Irish Language and Ulster Scots Broadcast Funds. In the course of these discussions, the Government agreed to provide a one-off boost of £1 million to each fund, to cover an expansion in their remits. This additional funding has been delivered in full, meeting the Government’s New Decade, New Approach commitment in this regard, and was referred to in my answer of 21 November, UIN 85057:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-11-11/85057

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the New Decade, New Approach deal, published on 8 January 2022, what recent progress his Department has made on attracting a portfolio of national and international events to Northern Ireland.

It is important that Northern Ireland continues to play a role on both the domestic and international stage, as part of our commitment under the New Decade, New Approach Agreement.

We are in regular contact with colleagues in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport around the bid to host Euro 2028. I am pleased that Casement Park was part of the preliminary bid announced last month. If the bid is successful this will provide a welcome opportunity to help drive economic growth in local communities in Northern Ireland.

I am also pleased that Belfast is the host city for Cyber UK in April 2023, which is the UK’s flagship cyber security event. This will provide an excellent opportunity for Northern Ireland to showcase its growing cyber industry and continue to place the region as a hub for cyber security. This will also further support our commitment in New Decade, New Approach to achieve 5,000 cyber security professionals working in Northern Ireland by 2030.

In the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement, it was also announced that £2 million would be provided for the Department for International Trade to work with local partners to host a trade and investment event in Northern Ireland in 2023. This will demonstrate Northern Ireland as an attractive and vibrant place to do business and help drive new mobile investment into its economy.

I look forward to both attending and supporting events promoting Northern Ireland over the coming months.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
11th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department plans to provide funding to the Ulster Scots language community.

As part of New Decade, New Approach, the Government undertook to provide funding to address Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances. In May 2021, the Government announced this funding would include £1 million for the Ulster Scots Broadcast Fund, which the Government is proud to have delivered.

The Government is committed to supporting Northern Ireland’s diversity of identities, languages and cultures, including the Ulster Scots. This commitment is also reflected in the Government's progression of legislation and in tandem the recent recognition of Ulster Scots as a National Minority under the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many times he has met with the Chief Electoral Officer in Northern Ireland in the last two months.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has met with the Chief Electoral Officer once in the last two months.

In addition, the Chief Electoral Officer has frequent and regular communication with officials in the Northern Ireland Office to discuss operational matters.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department has spent on hosting meetings of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in each of the last five years.

The Northern Ireland Office regularly publishes Annual Report and Accounts, including audited financial statements. I would refer the Honourable Lady to that resource for the information she requires.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department has conducted recent polling into attitudes in Northern Ireland on his plan to commission abortion services.

The Northern Ireland Office has not conducted any recent polling into attitudes in Northern Ireland in relation to the UK Government plans to commission abortion services.

Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of attacks on Orange Halls on community relations in Northern Ireland.

These incidents are an operational matter for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) who I understand treat them as sectarian hate crimes. As criminal investigations continue, we await their findings.

I utterly condemn these cowardly and pointless attacks on the halls. I would encourage everyone to work with PSNI to help track down the perpetrators. This type of activity undermines the efforts of Northern Ireland's people to establish a peaceful and prosperous society where all communities live together and thrive.

I welcome calls from the Orange Order for calm and echo their appeal for no retaliation as such a response would be wrong and entirely counterproductive.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the report entitled Paramilitary Groups in Northern Ireland, published on 19 October 2015, what recent assessment his Department has made of whether that report's assessment of links between the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein is still accurate.

The ‘Paramilitary Groups in Northern Ireland’ report was published in 2015 by the UK Government in order to provide a factual assessment from the UK security agencies and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on the structure, role and purpose of paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland.

The PSNI and security partners continue to work to keep people safe. The IRA, including the Provisional IRA, remains a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if his Department will take steps to inform school principals of whether their buildings will be required for use as polling stations on 15 December 2022.

The use of schools as polling stations is an operational matter for the Chief Electoral Officer.

I am aware that following the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s announcement on 4 November that no election would take place during December, the Electoral Office was in direct contact with all polling station premises managers as soon as possible to inform them that their premises would not be required for a 15 December poll.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on what date the election to the Northern Ireland Assembly will be held.

Following the expiry of the period for the formation of an Executive, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland came under a duty to call an election in the twelve weeks from 28 October. The Secretary of State announced in Parliament on 9 November that he will introduce legislation to provide a short, straightforward extension to the period for Executive formation - extending the current period by 6 weeks to 8 December, with the potential of a further six-week extension to 19 January if necessary.

I urge the Parties to use the time available to come together and restore government, in the interests of all people in Northern Ireland.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
7th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what protocols there are for the prior notification of visits to Northern Ireland by Ministers serving in the (a) UK and (b) Republic of Ireland Government.

UK Government Ministers are encouraged to notify the Northern Ireland Office in advance of their visits to receive advice on logistics and substance of their visit programmes.

The UK Government is, by convention, informed in advance of visits to Northern Ireland by members of the Irish Government, as a matter of courtesy. As expressed in our answer of 7 November (UIN 74995), records are not kept of these notifications.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
31st Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many notifications of upcoming visits to Northern Ireland by representatives of other governments have been received by the Northern Ireland Office in each of the last three years; and how many of those notifications have related to visits by the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Irish Republic.

The Department does not keep a record of the number of notifications of visits to Northern Ireland by representatives from other Governments.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer given on 4 July 2022 to Question 26055, on War Memorials Trust: Northern Ireland, if he will meet with the Minister for Communities to discuss (a) how to fulfil the commitment set out in the New Decade, New Approach document and (b) how to ensure that the War Memorials Trust is better promoted and understood in Northern Ireland.

I am always happy to meet with Northern Ireland Ministers to discuss areas of joint interest. As highlighted in the answer given on 4 July 2022 to Question 26055, my Officials have already been engaging with the Department of Communities on the approach to this commitment.

Steve Baker
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
27th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the commitments set out in the New Decade, New Approach document published in January 2020, what progress has been made in (a) supporting the delivery of the Northern Ireland International Trade plan, (b) establishing a new Trade Advisory Board, (c) the appointment of Northern Ireland Trade Ambassadors and (d) developing a Trade Accelerator Plan and a “Made in NI” campaign.

The Government is committed to supporting Northern Ireland businesses to trade. Through the New Deal we have invested £8 million to expand Invest NI’s presence overseas.

We are pleased that businesses in Northern Ireland are reaching out to access the specialist support offered by the DIT hub in Northern Ireland, which includes access to the Export Academy, to help businesses trade globally. This new hub will be responsible for driving forward much of these trade commitments, with support from my department. This will include development of a trade and investment plan, including scoping a Trade Accelerator proposal, working in conjunction with Northern Ireland Executive departments, Invest NI and the business community. Work is already underway to recruit DIT Export Champions for Northern Ireland, and DIT are promoting Northern Ireland products through their new “Made in the UK, Sold to the World” campaign.

27th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the commitment set out in the New Decade, New Approach document published in January 2020, what progress has been made in promoting Northern Ireland as a global cyber security hub.

This Government is committed to promoting Northern Ireland as a global cyber security hub, and to helping achieve the New Decade, New Approach target of 5,000 cyber security professionals working in Northern Ireland by 2030. Cyber is a growing sector in Northern Ireland, home to 4% of the UK’s cyber security workforce despite representing 2.8% of the UK population.

To this end, the Government provided Invest NI with £8 million to expand their overseas presence, through the New Deal for Northern Ireland, to attract investment and further promote Northern Ireland’s cybersecurity excellence on a global stage.

The Government has also invested £15 million from the New Deal fund in the Skill Up initiative which includes courses focused on cyber security to develop a pipeline of cyber professionals. Cyber security is a sector we are also supporting through the City and Growth Deals programme, with projects such as the Global Innovation Institute forming part of the Belfast Regional City Deal.

27th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the commitment set out in the New Decade, New Approach document published in January 2020, what steps have been taken to ensure that the work of the War Memorials Trust is better promoted and understood in Northern Ireland.

Officials have been engaging with the Department of Communities, which is responsible for Northern Ireland’s Historic Environment, in order to ensure that our proposed programme of work with the War Memorial Trust complements the Department’s strategic approach, and does not undermine the existing policies on built heritage in Northern Ireland.

7th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will provide an update on the work of the Castlereagh Foundation.

In July 2021, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland appointed an Advisory Committee to provide advice on appropriate delivery partners to establish the Castlereagh Foundation, the legal form it should take, the role of the foundation and the cost to establish it. The Advisory Committee submitted their written advice to the Secretary of State in January and we thank the committee for its work.

The Secretary of State is considering that advice and considering the appropriate next steps.

15th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans his Department has to celebrate the Queens' Platinum Jubilee in Northern Ireland.

My officials are working closely with officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport who are the lead Government department for Jubilee celebrations, in support of Buckingham Palace. You may be aware that a number of UK-wide projects are already in development such as the lighting of Jubilee Beacons. The public are also being encouraged to participate in Big Jubilee Lunches, in order to bring the Jubilee celebrations into the heart of communities.

15th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many meetings he or his predecessors have had with the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland engages regularly with the Chief Constable of the Police Service for Northern Ireland to discuss a range of issues including National Security matters.