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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of prioritising aid for Christians and ethnic faith groups in Myanmar following the recent earthquake.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has announced up to £25 million in life-saving support for people affected by the earthquake in Myanmar, including ethnic and religious minorities.
The UK's earthquake support is funding local actors on the ground who can directly access affected populations and will prioritise the most in need.
The UK Government is committed to defending religious freedom for all in Myanmar. In April this year, the UK co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Myanmar, emphasising the importance of eliminating all forms of discrimination against ethnic and religious minority groups and stressing the importance of equal access to health services, education, livelihood opportunities, and basic services.
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 types of humanitarian aid his Department is providing to Myanmar; and what assurance his Department has that the aid will reach those in need.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has announced up to £25 million in life-saving support for people affected by the recent earthquake in Myanmar. This includes up to £5 million to match the British public's generous donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal.
The UK's earthquake support is funding local actors on the ground who can directly access affected populations. UK-funded food, water, healthcare and shelter supplies are already reaching affected areas, helping over 86,000 people so far.
Since the 2021 coup the UK has provided more than £170 million in live-saving humanitarian assistance, emergency healthcare and education support, and work to support civil society and local communities in Myanmar.
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 recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of declining bee and pollinator populations on UK food production; and what steps he plans to take to promote pollinator-friendly farming practices.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to restoring and protecting nature. We are committed to halting the decline in species abundance by 2030 and reversing species decline, reducing the risk of species extinction and restoring and creating more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042.
For our pollinator species we are considering lessons learned from the recently completed review of our Pollinator Action Plan (PAP), which set out plans to fulfil the vision, aims and objectives of the National Pollinator Strategy over the last three-year period from 2021-24.
Figures from the annual UK Hive Count suggest that honey bee numbers are stable.
Healthy soils that are rich in nutrients and organic matter, abundant pollinators and clean water are essential for sustainable food production. We will provide farmers and land managers with the support they need to help restore nature, which is vital to safeguard our long-term food security, support productivity and build resilience to climate change.
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, whether his Department plans to increase (a) funding and (b) other resources for enforcement agencies for the (i) detection and (ii) prevention of illegal meat imports at ports.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Border Force is responsible for securing our borders and officers have powers to stop and search vehicles and passengers at ports and airports. Border Force may call on Port Health Authorities for assistance in seizing any illegal meat detected. Border Force is funded by the Home Office.
We are not complacent about illegal meat smuggling, which may pose threats to animal health, food safety and public health. That is why we are working closely with the Home Office and the Food Standards Agency to tackle this issue with the support of Border Force, Port Health Authorities and local authorities
This includes Defra’s offer of funding to Dover Port Health Authority to support Border Force with enforcement in 2025/26.
The Secretary of State is also working with Home Office and Border Force on plans to seize the cars, vans, trucks and coaches used by criminal gangs to smuggle illegal meat into our country and crush them so they can’t be used again.
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 recent assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of microplastics in UK drinking water sources; and what steps he has taken to regulate and reduce microplastic pollution in the water supply chain.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Drinking water quality is a devolved matter and therefore I can only respond in relation to England.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has published two research projects on microplastics in drinking water – one in January 2019 reviewing the potential risks from nanoparticles and microplastics and another in October 2022 looking at the removal of microplastics by drinking water treatment processes. This found that more than 99.99% of microplastic particles were removed through conventional drinking water treatment processes and that microplastics were present at very low levels in drinking water. Their contribution to total daily exposure, and presenting a potential risk to human health, was likely to be low or insignificant. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also recommended that routine monitoring of microplastics in drinking water was not necessary at this time.
The DWI published a report in December 2024 recommending revisions to some of the parameters listed in the drinking water regulations.
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, how much and what proportion of Government funding for the promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief was allocated to supporting persecuted religious communities globally in the each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK champions and remains strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) John Bunyan Fund (JBF), the designated programme for FoRB-focused overseas projects has a budget allocation of £460,720 in the financial year 2024/25. In the financial year 2023/24 the JBF spent £170,000 and in financial year 2022/23, £70,000. The FCDO works to ensure that Official Development Assistance (ODA) is allocated to those who are most vulnerable and most in need of this assistance irrespective of race, religion, or ethnicity. This includes minority religious or belief communities who are assessed by our partners when determining those most in need of protection and assistance.
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, if he will take steps to review the Border Target Operating Model to introduce mandatory spot checks on all vehicles entering the UK, in the context of illegal meat smuggling.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Border Target Operating Model aims to mitigate sanitary and phytosanitary risks, while enabling the flow of legitimate goods through our ports and airports. We will continue to operate a compliance first approach enabling importers and the public to move compliant goods, backed up by robust, intelligence-led, enforcement controls on illegal activity.
We take illegal meat smuggling very seriously, as it may pose threats to animal health, food safety and public health. That is why we are working closely with the Home Office and the Food Standards Agency to tackle this issue with the support of Border Force, Port Health Authorities and local authorities.
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, whether his Department is taking steps to strengthen border checks to prevent illegal meat imports from entering the UK through (a) Dover and (b) other ports of entry.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has made additional funding of £1.9 million available to Dover District Council for the Port Health Authority, for the remainder of this financial year (2024 to 2025), to support Border Force to conduct safeguarding checks on the illegal import of products of animal origin. This is in addition to the £1.2 million already committed. This total funding of £3.1 million is based on the existing staffing costs provided by Dover Port Health Authority. This funding is only for this financial year. Defra has also contributed operational equipment to support Border Force with relevant checks.
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 assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the illegal importation of meat from regions affected by (a) African swine fever and (b) foot and mouth disease on risks to the UK agricultural sector.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Whilst we have never had an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the UK, it remains a key priority in terms of exotic notifiable disease preparedness. The overall risk of an incursion is currently assessed to be medium, and we continue to prepare for a possible outbreak. To safeguard the UK’s pork and pig industries, Defra, Devolved Governments, together with the pig industry and veterinary bodies have been working together to raise awareness of the risks of the introduction of ASF to the UK. Defra announced further controls in September 2024, restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain.
The risk of incursion of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) to Great Britain was increased to medium following the confirmation of disease in Germany on the 10 January 202 and then Hungary on 6 March 2025. The Government has taken decisive and rapid action to protect the UK by suspending the commercial import of susceptible animals from Germany and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the EU. The UK has robust contingency plans in place to manage the risk of this disease as set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how revenue generated from passport fees is allocated.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Revenue generated from passport fees contribute to the recovery of the costs provided for under section 86 of the Immigration Act 2016: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/19/section/86.