Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on aid contributions to (a) the Palestinian Authority and (b) the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are longstanding supporters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We recognise that UNRWA needs to be on a more secure financial footing to ensure that Palestinian refugees' basic needs are met. On 22 September 2022 in New York, The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, attended a ministerial dialogue on UNRWA's financial situation where he reiterated UK support for the agency and the need for the international community to support it to be on a more viable financial footing. We accompany our support for the UNRWA with stringent attention to implementation of their neutrality policy, including how they apply this to textbooks and other learning material to ensure they reflect UN values. We also regularly raise the issue of textbook content with the Palestinian Authority directly. Lord Ahmad also reinforced this message during his visit to a UNRWA school on 12 January.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What progress he has made on devolving power to local communities.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Through the announcement of six new devolution deals last year and most recently ground-breaking trailblazer devolution deals with Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities, as well as the publication of the English Devolution Accountability Framework, Government is empowering local leaders by ensuring they have more control and influence over the decisions that affect their communities.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, what progress has been made on (a) the review of Education Oversight bodies and (b) appointing new Education Oversight partners for English Language Centres; and will she make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We keep our immigration policies and processes under constant review, including any future appointment of educational oversight bodies. Any updates will be communicated by my officials in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing licensed student sponsors who are not eligible to register with the Office for Students to achieve a track record of compliance in England; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Student sponsors which are eligible to register with the Office for Students (OfS) as higher education providers in England continue to gain track record sponsor status once they have passed an annual basic compliance assessment conducted by UKVI for four consecutive years as set out in the Student sponsor guidance which is published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of the wider adoption of biomass plastics to reduce plastic waste; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In April 2021, we published our response to our call for evidence on the need for standards for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics. Concerns were raised that the full environmental impacts of bio-based plastics, including land and water usage for example, were potentially greater overall compared with conventional based plastics.
Further research is required to make sure that bio-based plastics lead to a better environmental outcome overall. During the production of these materials, there are a number of factors we need to better understand – we need to consider water consumption, the impact of crop switching and carbon footprint, so a full lifecycle approach is considered. On the basis of current information, a key area of interest for Government is bio-based plastics derived from materials that would otherwise have been waste.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of offering (a) financial incentives and (b) introducing a tax to encourage the use of biomass plastic; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
No.
Further research is required to make sure that bio-based plastics lead to a better environmental outcome overall. Our position on this was set out in the response to our call for evidence on the need for standards for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics in April 2021.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of running a publicity campaign to raise awareness of biomass plastics as an alternative to regular plastics; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
No.
Further research is required to make sure that bio-based plastics lead to a better environmental outcome overall. Our position on this was set out in the response to our call for evidence on the need for standards for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics in April 2021.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support defence jobs in all regions of the UK.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The most recent estimate shows Ministry of Defence investment supports 219,000 jobs in industries across the UK.
Continued high, and focussed, investment in defence, along with the changes we continue to make as part of our Defence and Security Industrial Strategy, will contribute to further economic growth and prosperity, including jobs, across the Union.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask to the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on the objective of ensuring the number of rape cases being referred by the police and going to court is on track to be at the level reached in 2016 by the end of the Parliament; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
In June 2021, we published the End-to-End Rape Review Report and Action Plan. During that review, we took a hard and honest look at how the entire criminal justice system deals with rape and in too many instances it simply has not been good enough. We apologised at the time for this and committed to delivering real improvements to transform support for victims, and working with the police and the CPS to more than double the number of adult rape cases being charged and reaching court by the end of this Parliament.
Since June 2021, we have made significant progress in delivering actions to change the system for the better. Whilst the majority of actions are on track and have been delivered in the timescales we intended, there is much work still to do to ensure that the actions are having the impact they need to.
We are committed to going further and pushing harder on our actions so that we can drive bigger impacts, deliver wider system change and crucially, deliver justice for victims of rape and sexual abuse. We are:
These actions are starting to have an impact on the system, though there is still more progress to be made:
The average number of days for adult rape from CPS charge to the case being completed continued to fall by 38 days – roughly 5 weeks - since the peak in June 2021 – down from 457 days to 419 in October - December 2021.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 May 2022 to Question 8084, what the Government's position is on the findings of the EU review into Palestinian textbooks that the Palestinian Authority school curriculum features anti-Israel, antisemitic content; and if she will make a statement on her Department’s aid strategy to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Answered by Amanda Milling
We have been clear that incitement to hatred or violence is unacceptable and has no place in education. The report commissioned by the EU into Palestinian textbooks highlights meaningful progress but also indicates that problematic content remains. We continue to raise our concerns to the highest level of the Palestinian Authority and urge removal of the content. The UK is a longstanding supporter of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We accompany our support for the UNRWA with stringent attention to implementation of their neutrality policy, including how they apply this to textbooks and other learning material to ensure they reflect UN values.