Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government plans to take to monitor the impact of General Product Safety regulations on SME's and sole traders sending goods to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is supporting SMEs to comply with the new General Product Safety Regulation. We have published guidance and have been engaging with businesses directly. We will keep the guidance under review and will continue to engage with businesses directly to monitor the situation and to ensure we are supporting them to trade freely across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the current age range for bowel cancer screening.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Based on advice from the UK National Screening Committee, NHS England committed in the Long Term Plan to extend the age range of people eligible for bowel screening using the FIT home testing kit from age 60 down to age 50.
The age extension for bowel screening is already underway. NHS England started in April 2021 with the 56-year-old cohort and, based on modelling and clinical advice, has planned to gradually reduce to age 50 by 2025. This has been done to ensure that screening centres could manage any required increase in colonoscopy capacity.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
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 implications for his policies of the report by Amnesty International entitled You feel like you are subhuman: Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the report by Amnesty International, entitled "You feel like you are subhuman: Israel's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza". The UK is fully committed to international law. The UK Government's long-standing policy is that any formal determination as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent national or international court, such as the International Court of Justice, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. Since 2 September, the UK has suspended relevant export licences to Israel for use in military operations in the Gaza conflict, following a review which concluded there is a clear risk that UK export items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law. The UK remains resolute in our call for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages cruelly held by Hamas since 7 October 2023 and urgent action to address the humanitarian crisis.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Northern Ireland will be impacted by changes proposed to the Work Capacity Assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Social security is transferred (devolved) to the Northern Ireland Executive where it is administered by the Department for Communities.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will provide (a) guidance and (b) practical support to (i) charities, (ii) community groups and (iii) voluntary groups to assist them in complying with the requirements of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Free, dedicated guidance and support will be provided to ensure that those in scope will understand how to meet the obligations of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill. Guidance is currently being designed so that it is self-explanatory and easy to follow. It will be published ahead of the Bill’s requirements coming into force.
The Bill requires the production of two separate pieces of guidance: statutory guidance for the public to understand how they can meet the requirements of the legislation; and operational guidance which will set out how the regulator will discharge its duties. This will be freely available on the Security Industry Authority website and Gov.uk.
We continue to engage with key stakeholders across relevant sectors including those in the voluntary and community sector in developing this guidance.
In the interim, factsheets have been published on gov.uk which provide more detailed information on certain elements of the Bill Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill 2024: factsheets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). We also continue to encourage referral to the ProtectUK platform for the latest updates on the Bill.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill on (a) charities, (b) community groups and (c) voluntary organisations that organise events.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is extremely mindful of the many community, voluntary-run and charity events that occur across the UK.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill has been designed to achieve public protection outcomes whilst avoiding undue burden on businesses and other organisations.
Many organisations will have procedures and measures in place for fire safety and health and safety legislation. This Bill’s proposals are based on similar concepts, following similar systems and processes. The ‘reasonably practicable’ standard of requirements in both tiers is designed to allow procedures and measures to be tailored to the specific circumstances of a premises or event. This will enable those responsible to consider what is within their control and the resources they have available to them, as well as what is suitable and appropriate for their premises or event.
Dedicated guidance and support will be provided for those in scope of the Bill, to ensure that they have the required information on what to do and how best to do it. The guidance will be easy to follow, needing no particular expertise.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission will consider matters relating to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Energy policy is largely devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE). As such the Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission is focused on decarbonisation of the power system in Great Britain. However, we are keen to share learnings from this process with colleagues in Northern Ireland and will work with them to this end as NIE produces its own plan to decarbonise the power sector, which will receive UK government support.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to revise the upper purchase price on help to buy ISAs in line with the housing market.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government is committed to helping first time buyers own their own home, and will do this by building 1.5 million more homes.
The Government keeps savings policy under review, any changes of this kind would be made at a relevant fiscal event.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress she is making on returning the level of the aid budget to 0.7% of gross national income.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government remains committed to restoring Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending to 0.7% of GNI as soon as fiscal circumstances allow, but this isn’t currently affordable. The OBR’s latest forecast shows that the ODA fiscal tests are not due to be met within the Parliament. The Government will continue to monitor future forecasts closely, and each year will review and confirm, in accordance with the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, whether a return to spending 0.7% GNI on ODA is possible against the latest fiscal forecast.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of Overseas Development Assistance spent on development and humanitarian work overseas.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is taking measures to reduce the asylum backlog and end the use of expensive hotel accommodation. We expect these plans to enable a greater proportion of the ODA budget to be spent on our international development priorities overseas. The FCDO's ODA programme budget, including the Integrated Security Fund, is planned to be £9.24 billion in 2025/26 - the highest level in recent years and an increase of around £450 million from 2024/25.