Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a right of tenants in social housing to keep a pet.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Many social landlords set out their pet policies in their tenancy agreements and will allow tenants to keep pets where it is appropriate to do so. Consideration is given to whether the pets can be well looked after and any adverse effects on the lives of neighbours and those living nearby. We encourage all social landlords to adopt similar policies. The circumstances in which pets may be kept is, however, for social landlords to determine locally, taking account of the views of their tenants.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that Northern Ireland is integrated into the national defence strategy for (a) cyber defence and (b) hybrid threats.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Cyber defence and hybrid threats are crucial considerations as part of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which will establish the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century.
The first duty of Government is to defend the UK and its citizens, making the defence of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales a priority for the SDR. The Reviewers have invited the views of the devolved administrations and will ensure that Defence is central both to the security, economic growth and prosperity of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that former Armed Forces personnel based in Northern Ireland are adequately supported through veterans' services.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Government is committed to ensuring that veterans are able to access the appropriate support they require wherever they live in the UK and will be seeking to more effectively coordinate and cohere the support that is available.
Specialist statutory support is delivered by the Veterans Welfare Service Northern Ireland, which has been successfully expanded to all veterans and their families across Northern Ireland. This provides information and practical support to veterans and their families, including physiotherapy and psychological therapies for eligible veterans.
In addition, the £500,000 Defence Medical Welfare Service pilot, which supports veterans’ health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland, is providing valuable insight to improve our understanding of veterans’ health needs.
These initiatives also build on the work of the 11 Veterans’ Champions in Northern Ireland and the recent enhancement of the Office for Veterans Affairs’ presence in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) resources and (b) training his Department provides to the Animal and Plant Health Agency to assist in the detection of puppies being smuggled through UK ports.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals.
We work closely with UK enforcement bodies including the Animal and Plant Health Agency to develop guidance and ensure they have the correct tools and resources to enforce the Pet Travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Fireworks Regulations 2004 in protecting (a) people and (b) animals from negative impacts of fireworks.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The current regulatory framework is designed to support people to enjoy fireworks whilst lowering the risk of dangers and disruption to people, pets, and property. The Government recently launched an awareness campaign on the Gov.uk website to provide guidance on minimising the impacts of fireworks on people and animals.
To inform any future decisions on the legislative framework, the Government intends to engage with stakeholders to gather evidence on the issues and impacts of fireworks.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) scale and (b) nature of the persecution and murder of Christians in Nigeria.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Terrorist groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa have sought to undermine the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) by attacking those who do not subscribe to their extremist views, including both Christians and Muslims. These incidents are distinct from the ongoing intercommunal violence across Nigeria. The root causes of this violence are complex, and whilst religious identity can play a role, so can loss of economic opportunity, competition over land and natural resources, disruption to traditional ways of life created by environmental degradation, and historical grievances. The precise scale of people killed in attacks in Nigeria recently remains uncertain, particularly as not all attacks are reported to local authorities.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to police forces on assessing whether silent prayer is taking place during public protests or gatherings whereby that action may constitute a breach of the law.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not issued any guidance to police forces on the topic of silent prayer.
The College of Policing have primary responsibility for publishing police guidance and are operationally independent from Government.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to police forces on ensuring that their methods of assessing silent prayer respect individuals' rights to freedom of (a) thought, (b) conscience and (c) religion.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not issued any guidance to police forces on the topic of silent prayer.
The College of Policing have primary responsibility for publishing police guidance and are operationally independent from Government.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the Government is taking to increase the resilience of telecommunications infrastructure in Northern Ireland, in the context of recent ransomware attacks in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring the security and resilience of the UK's telecommunications infrastructure. The Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 introduced a robust security framework throughout the United Kingdom and requires public telecoms providers to identify, reduce, and prepare for security and resilience risks, including ransomware attacks. Ofcom is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with this framework. The Government keeps its telecoms security and resilience policies under constant review to ensure evolving risks to UK telecommunications networks are effectively mitigated.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the treatment of Uighur peoples in Xinjiang, China.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government stands firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. These concerns were raised directly by the Foreign Secretary on his recent visit to China. We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations, for example, joining a statement led by Australia on China's human rights situation at the UN Third Committee on 22 October.