Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 ensure the Overseas Territories introduce public registers of beneficial ownership.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Please refer to my Written Ministerial Statement of 3 July which provides an update and details of next steps.
We have made very clear to our partners in the remaining Overseas Territories the importance of delivering on the previously committed to deadlines, and have offered technical support to achieve this. We have communicated that we expect rapid and robust action to be taken, given the crucial importance of tackling illicit finance and increasing transparency. We have set out that we expect access to be granted to a wide range of legitimate users, that registers should enable proactive investigations and should act as a deterrent to those seeking to conceal illicit gains.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials have conducted an in-house assessment of the latest policies and proposals from these Overseas Territories against the discussions at the Joint Ministerial Council in November 2024. In addition, we have reviewed feedback from a range of external stakeholders including expert NGOs and parliamentarians. We have also considered emerging international modalities which cover legitimate interest access registers. I have recently discussed this issue with a range of Overseas Territory leaders and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 potential merits of ringfencing funding for community preventive health initiatives through the forthcoming NHS 10 Year Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan has set out how we will reinvent the National Health Service through the radical shifts, namely hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. These are the core components of our new care model. To support the scale of change we need, we ensure the whole NHS is ready to deliver these three shifts at pace: through a new operating model, by creating a new workforce model with staff genuinely aligned with the future direction of reform, through a reshaped innovation strategy and by taking a different approach to NHS finances.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57896 on Funeral Payments, how many applicants (a) responsible for funeral costs and (b) in receipt of a qualifying benefit did not receive a social fund funeral expenses payment because (i) there was an immediate family member or (ii) a close relative of the deceased who was not in receipt of a qualifying benefit, in each of the last five years.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on conditions attached to the spending of the farming budget to ensure (a) value for money, (b) increased food security and (c) environmental targets are met.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor and I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a range of matters.
Defra’s settlement will invest more than £2.7 billion a year in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026-27 until 2028-29. This will protect the natural ecosystems underpinning food production, boosting food security and delivery of our environmental targets. We are increasing value for money, and accelerating progress towards our environmental targets, by rapidly winding down subsidy payments that do not provide a return on investment to increase funding for Environmental Land Management schemes from £800 million in 2023-24 to £2 billion by 2028-29.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure that the process of appointing the new Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection protects its independence.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Chair role is appointed by the Secretary of State acting jointly with the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. The appointment will be conducted in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments as regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The role will be publicly advertised, and an Advisory Assessment Panel, including a Senior Independent Panel Member, will be appointed to assess candidates objectively against the published criteria. The appointment will also be subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by a Parliamentary Select Committee.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any guidance has been issued to UK businesses following the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government has a clear position that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law. There are clear risks related to economic and financial activities in the settlements, and we do not encourage or offer support to such activity. The overseas business risk guidance, available on gov.uk, provides information for UK operators.
We respect the independence of the International Court of Justice, and we are carefully considering the Court’s advisory opinion.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of whether UK (a) company and (b) public sector supply chains are involved in (i) environmental harms and (ii) human rights abuses (A) in the UK and (B) overseas.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by officials in my department. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative means of supporting responsible business practices. It will have due regard to costs on business and the approaches taken by our trading partners. Throughout the review, we will harness the insights and expertise of businesses, investors, trade unions, academia and civil society.
We have also established the Office for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), to replace the UK's National Contact Point. This enhanced office will support industry to integrate responsible business practices and help victims of corporate malpractice through continuing to operate a non-judicial complaints mechanism for alleged violations of the OECD Guidelines on RBC.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for publication of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Tamworth on 17 March 2025, UIN 37341.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of time required to ensure adequate levels of (a) awareness and (b) voter registration ahead of a General Election in which 16 year olds vote.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government believes that enabling 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections will foster early and sustained participation in civic life and enhance engagement in our democratic processes. We want young people to find their voice and exercise their right to vote. Registering to vote is a vital first step towards doing that.
This will be a major change to the electoral franchise, and changes to electoral law of this magnitude require careful planning and should not be rushed. We have taken time to engage with stakeholders in the electoral sector, devolved and local government, education, civil society - and importantly, with young people themselves. We will continue this engagement to ensure the change is implemented successfully.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 has made of the potential impact of the time taken to introduce the due diligence scheme for forest risk commodities enabled by schedule 17 of the Environment Act 2021 on the achievement of targets in the global biodiversity framework.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Deforestation linked to UK consumption is estimated to have fallen by 55% since 2005. However, progress has slowed over the last decade and in 2022 UK consumption was still associated with 35.6 thousand hectares of deforestation. The Government recognises the urgent need to address the deforestation impact of UK demand for forest risk commodities, and we will set out our approach in due course.