Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle companies that make employees redundant without (a) giving notice and (b) following a consultation process.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While we recognise that tough decisions such as redundancies remain a commercial matter, it’s important that employees are treated fairly and that correct process is followed.
The Government has a robust package of measures to address non-compliance including:
Whether an employer met consultation requirements for collective redundancy would be a matter for an employment tribunal to decide, having heard detailed evidence on the facts of the case.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Peruvian counterpart on supporting families from the indigenous Kichwa community of Santa Rosillo de Yanayacu.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is aware of the challenges faced by indigenous people and their supporters in the Peruvian Amazon. We monitor the threats that they face, as well as the actions of the Peruvian Government to protect these communities. We regularly engage with indigenous national organisations to discuss human rights and climate initiatives. I [Minister Rutley] visited Peru in October and met with representatives of indigenous groups, including from the Santa Rosillo de Yanayacu community, to hear directly about the challenges, threats and opportunities they face. I also discussed the importance of protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities with my former counterpart, Mr Ignacio Higueras Hare, during the annual UK-Peru High Level Dialogue in October.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department will provide support to Haitian police to help tackle the increase in violence from criminal gangs.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains concerned by the deteriorating security situation in Haiti that exacerbates pre-existing humanitarian and economic crises. On 9 April, the Foreign Secretary announced a £5 million UK contribution to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission, the main role of which is to work in collaboration with the Haitian National Police to tackle gang-related violence.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Human Rights Watch entitled The Massalit Will Not Come Home: Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in El Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan, published on 9 May 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK condemns in the strongest terms reported atrocities being committed across Sudan, particularly in Darfur. Reports of ongoing attacks on innocent civilians by militias, particularly the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing. These acts must stop immediately. The UK continues to pursue all diplomatic avenues to press the warring parties into a permanent ceasefire, to allow unfettered humanitarian access, to protect civilians, and to commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process. Atrocity prevention is one of the pillars of our Sudan strategy and we analyse the conflict on an ongoing and rolling basis. Our policies are under constant review and the FCDO will ensure we take the policy suggestions detailed in the report into consideration.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps to ensure that Trading Standards have adequate resources to investigate all reports it is provided on the alleged operation of rogue traders.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales are independent from central government and are responsible for determining their resourcing priorities in accordance with the needs of the local electorate.
The majority of Government funding is not ringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities including those relating to rogue traders.
The Department for Business and Trade provides additional funding through the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) and Trading Standards Scotland (TSS) to prioritise and coordinate national and regional consumer enforcement in England, Wales and Scotland respectively.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he plans to take steps to support the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul following recent floods in that area.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I [Minister Rutley] was saddened to learn of the terrible flooding that has ravaged Rio Grande do Sul. I offered my sincere condolences to all those affected by this tragic incident, including the families of those who have so sadly lost their lives. His Majesty's Ambassador to Brazil has also offered condolences to State Governor Eduardo Leite. Through the Start Fund the UK has supported an allocation of £193,000 to provide humanitarian aid in response to the flooding in Brazil. The Start Fund is a pooled fund to which the UK is a major donor.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to help sustainable aviation fuel producers meet levels of demand from airlines.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is supporting the development of a UK SAF industry to increase the supply of SAF in the UK.
We will introduce our SAF Mandate from 2025, which will secure demand, supporting investor confidence in UK SAF projects. It will incentivise the supply of SAF through the provision of tradable certificates with a cash value.
Thirteen projects have been awarded a share of £135m through the Advanced Fuels Fund, supporting them to reach commercial scale. Once at operational scale, funded projects could produce over 700,000 tonnes of SAF yearly. We have established a UK SAF Clearing House, which helps to remove barriers to new fuels coming to market.
We are also consulting on options to provide UK SAF producers with a revenue certainty mechanism, which will help provide greater certainty of future revenue and attract investment in commercial scale SAF plants within the UK.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to increase the provision of fast chargers for electric vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government and industry have supported the installation of over 61,000 publicly available charging devices. This is a 44% increase on last year. There are now more than 10,000 rapid charge points available.
ChargeUK members have committed to investing more than £6 billion in developing and operating charging infrastructure before 2030.
Going forward, the Government’s £381 million Local EV Infrastructure Fund is already supporting local authorities to deliver tens of thousands of local chargepoints and the £70 million Rapid Charging Fund pilot will future-proof electrical capacity at strategic locations