Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps with his international partners to reduce arms sales to warring parties in Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Support from external actors to both warring parties only prolongs the conflict and the terrible human suffering. In our engagement with international partners, the UK continues to emphasise the importance of refraining from activity that prolongs the fighting and rather use their influence to support a peaceful resolution to the conflict. We will continue to work closely with partners at the UN Security Council to enforce the existing UN sanctions regime and arms embargo on Darfur. There is also a longstanding UK arms embargo in place for the whole of Sudan.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he ha made of the potential merits of using swift bricks when building new homes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England has identified that the lack of nest sites is a pressure on certain bird species, including the swift. Therefore, provision of swift bricks may aid recovery alongside other actions, such as to increase food resources.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework, published by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in December 2024, included several changes designed to enhance and protect the environment. For example, it expects developments to provide net gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features such as swift bricks which support priority or threatened species. Defra policy officials are also working with MHCLG colleagues to consider what action may be appropriate to drive up rates of swift brick installation in new build properties.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the police in Hertfordshire on tackling the driving of (a) motorbikes and (b) mopeds on (i) pavements and (ii) other public spaces in Hertfordshire.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour involving vehicles is a priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.
On 25 February 2025, the Crime and Policing Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Bill includes proposals to give the police greater powers to clamp down on all vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing vehicles.
This will allow the police to quickly remove anti-social motorbikes and mopeds from pavements and other public spaces and send a clear message to antisocial drivers that their behaviour will not be tolerated.
Enforcement of the law in Hertfordshire, including in relation to illegal driving of motorbikes, mopeds, on pavements and other public spaces, is an operational matter for Hertfordshire Police.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the wearing of balaclavas in public spaces.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Face coverings have a variety of legitimate purposes and as such the Government does not support a general ban on the wearing of balaclavas or other types of face coverings in public.
However, the Crime and Policing Bill contains a new criminal offence of wearing, or otherwise using, an item that conceals identity in an area designated by police due to the risk of criminal activity taking place at protests. This will enable the police to put a stop to individuals hiding behind masks to avoid conviction for criminal activity at protests.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will hold discussions with the Parole Board on the potential impact of the release of James Hurley on PC Frank Mason's family.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
James Hurley is rightly serving a life sentence for the murder of PC Frank Mason. The Court set his minimum term for the purposes of retribution and deterrence at 20 years. The minimum term expired on 8 January 2022, and from that date he became eligible for a review of his imprisonment by the independent Parole Board.
To assist the Parole Board in making its determination, it received detailed risk assessments from experienced probation and prison officers. The Lord Chancellor also submitted an overarching view of Hurley’s remaining risk of serious harm. In the overarching view, the Lord Chancellor concluded that Hurley should not be released, because she had concluded that his risk remained too high for him to be safely managed in the community.
Having considered all the reports, on 31 October 2024 the Parole Board directed Hurley’s release on life licence. The Lord Chancellor currently has only limited power to challenge a release decision by the Parole Board. Under the Parole Board Rules, she may apply to the Board to reconsider its decision where she has an arguable case that the decision is irrational or based on an error of law or reached in a procedurally flawed way. Unfortunately, there was no basis to apply for reconsideration, meaning that the release became final. Whilst the Lord Chancellor was disappointed by the outcome, she has to respect the independence of the Parole Board. By law, HMPPS then had to release him from prison.
Hurley will be on licence for the rest of his life. He is currently subject to stringent licence conditions, including exclusion zones, and faces being recalled to prison if he breaches them. Mrs Neaves will be informed by her Victim Liaison Officer of any developments whilst Hurley is on licence. He is managed under the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements. The statutory MAPPA framework requires the Probation and Police Service to work together to assess and manage the risks presented by known dangerous offenders.
My thoughts are with Mrs Neaves at this difficult time.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on the level of Russian involvement in the attack by pro-Assad forces prior to the outbreak of violence on the west coast of Syria in March 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The events in Syria at the start of March 2025 were deeply concerning, and reports that large numbers of civilians have been killed are horrific. We are working as quickly as possible to establish from reliable sources of information what exactly happened and who was responsible.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2024 to Question 10916 on Chelsea Football Club: Sales, for what reason the Government is unable to access these funds.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club are currently frozen in a UK bank account. A licence from the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) is needed to move or use the proceeds, but they are not Government funds.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
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 he has made of the potential impact of harmful pesticides on the number of bees in Hertfordshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of pesticides on Hertfordshire’s bee population.
Defra funds a monitoring programme providing information about the concentrations of different pesticides in honey collected from beehives across England, and the subsequent risk to honeybees.
Defra partly funds the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS) which generates systematic data on the abundance of bees and other flower-visiting insects at a national scale. Data from PoMS insect surveys contributes to providing an invaluable resource from which to measure trends in pollinator populations and target conservation efforts.
England biodiversity indicators provide data about the relative abundance of wild bees.
These schemes collect data from around the country and have been designed to ensure regional representation, but do not allow assessment of the impact of pesticides on bee populations locally.
Pesticides are only authorised following a thorough scientific risk assessment that concludes all safety standards are met. This includes an evaluation of the effect on bees.
Use of the neonicotinoid pesticide Cruiser SB is not allowed on sugar beet in England in 2025 as an application for its emergency use was not approved. This decision underlines the Government’s commitment to protecting pollinators and the wider environment.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of repurposing decommissioned Bofors anti-aircraft weapons for use in Ukrainian.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We have not assessed the potential merits of repurposing decommissioned Bofors anti-aircraft weapons for Ukraine, as the system was withdrawn from UK service in the 1970s and Defence no longer holds these systems. We have not received any requests from the Armed Forces of Ukraine for Bofors guns.
We continue to work closely with the Ukrainian Government to ensure the capabilities we provide meet the tactical demands of the conflict as it evolves to resist Russia's illegal invasion. We have provided a number of capabilities to Ukraine that are similar to Bofors anti-aircraft weapons, and we have refurbished a number of previously decommissioned capabilities.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the supply of computer numerical control machines to Ukrainian defence companies.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Computer numerical control (CNC) machines enable the precise production of advanced components. We have not received requests for CNC systems in the last two years. The Ministry of Defence is not taking any steps to increase the number of systems to Ukraine as we have not provided these type of systems to Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defence has and continues to work closely with the Armed Forces of Ukraine to understand their specific requirements, this includes the provision of components and specific tools to enable production of systems and capabilities in Ukraine.