Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with his counterparts in China on that country's organ transplant programme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We continue to engage the Chinese authorities on our concerns surrounding their organ transplant programme. I opened the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 27 October, where my officials raised these concerns, and also allegations of forced organ removals, with the Chinese delegation. My officials have raised the issue separately with the Chinese Embassy and our Embassy in Beijing has received information from the National Health and Family Planning Commission in China about their handling of organ transplants.
As my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan MP), the Minister for Europe and the Americas, stated in a Westminster Hall debate on 11 October 2016: "Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of "organ harvesting" is definitely happening in China."
Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps he has taken to advise businesses with respect to trading with illegal Israeli settlements; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Garnier
I refer the hon Member for Slough to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Knowsley on 23 November, UIN: 53322.
Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2016 to Question 906162, what steps he plans to take in a future trade agreement with Israel to make that deal contingent on preventing illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The UK is clear that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law. We firmly believe that the occupation is unacceptable and unsustainable. We are determined to see a just and lasting resolution that ends the occupation and delivers peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. The UK remains focused on achieving a two-state solution and we continue to believe that the best way to achieve this is through negotiations between the parties.
The UK and Israel have a strong and important trading relationship. We are supportive of the current EU-Israel Association Agreement. Whilst it would be wrong to set out unilateral positions on trade deals at this stage, we are committed to working towards a smooth transition for businesses to minimise disruption to exports and investment as we leave the EU.
Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which prisons deaths in custody occurred in the last 12 months; and which such deaths were (a) the result of natural causes, (b) self-inflicted, (c) caused by others and (d) the result of causes as yet unidentified.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Safety in Custody statistics are published quarterly, and establishment level data on natural causes and self-inflicted deaths are included and updated annually. The latest bulletin was published on 27 October 2016 and can be found on gov.uk.
Lists of the prisons in which apparent homicides and deaths awaiting further information prior to classification took place in 2015 are provided below.
Apparent homicides by prison, 2015, England and Wales | ||
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Prison | Number of deaths |
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Dartmoor | 1 |
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Doncaster | 1 |
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Long Lartin | 1 |
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Nottingham | 1 |
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Peterborough | 1 |
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Ranby | 1 |
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Sheppey: Swaleside | 1 |
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Wandsworth | 1 |
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Deaths awaiting further information by prison, 2015, England and Wales | ||||
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Prison | Number of deaths |
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Altcourse | 1 |
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Brixton | 1 |
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Dartmoor | 1 |
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High Down | 1 |
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Liverpool | 1 |
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Lowdham Grange | 1 |
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Winchester | 1 |
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Data Sources and Quality |
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Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many deaths occurred in police custody suites in the last 12 months; and who managed the suites in which those deaths occurred.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Annual statistics on deaths during or following police contact are published by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The latest statistics, which were published on 26 July 2016, show that there were 14 deaths in police custody across England and Wales over the 2015/16 period. The number is down from 17 deaths the previous year.
The Department does not hold information on the management of police custody suites, which is a matter for chief officers.
See link to IPCC publication for full details.
https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/research_stats/Deaths_Report_1516.pdf
Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on business of airport expansion in the South East.
Answered by John Hayes
Expansion at Heathrow will enable businesses to take advantage of new destinations, extra seats and more frequent services.
It is expected that in 2040 alone, businesses from all over the UK will make an extra 6 million trips through an expanded Heathrow. Making use of this greater international connectivity would help boost trade and productivity, and the UK economy.
Not only will greater connectivity enable business travel, the significant increase in flights, especially to long haul destinations, represents a big increase in the capacity available to the air freight industry, helping to lower costs and increase trade.
An additional runway at Heathrow will also deliver a significant boost in local employment and opportunities for businesses. Analysis suggests that an additional runway at Heathrow would deliver up to 77,000 local jobs by 2030. Expansion is also expected to benefit businesses located around the expanded airport, further boosting productivity.
Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps she has taken to improve access to cultural experiences for young people from low-income households; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Improving access to culture for young people from low-income backgrounds remains a core part of this Government's strategy and our Culture White Paper.
The Government is improving cultural access through a number of schemes including:
through the Arts Council's Creative People and Places Programme.
Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many victims of human trafficking applied for asylum in each year from 2010 to 2015 by gender, age, citizenship and type of exploitation.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Between 1 January 2010 and 30 September 2015 1,200 applications for asylum were submitted by individuals recognised as victims of human trafficking by the National Referral Mechanism. Of those, 782 individuals (65.2%) were successfully granted some form of leave to enter/remain in the UK as a result of their asylum application.
Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how potential victims of trafficking whose type of exploitation is recorded as unknown in the National Referral Mechanism Statistics, end of year summary 2015, published on 11 February 2016 were identified; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Potential Victims who are recorded in the National Referral Mechanism Statistics (NRM) statistics as having suffered an unknown type of exploitation are identified and referred through the same process as other victims. The breakdown of agencies who referred them to the NRM are included in published statistics, data for which is derived from initial referral forms. An ‘unknown’ categorisation can result from missing or incomplete information on this form, which may be collected at a later stage as part of the ongoing assessment and safeguarding of the potential victim concerned.
Asked by: Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who are also either identified or potential victims of trafficking were housed in safe house accommodation rather than National Asylum Support Service accommodation in 2015.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Potential victims of modern slavery in England and Wales are supported through a Government-funded contract, delivered by the Salvation Army. This provides extremely vulnerable victims with a tailored and specialised package of care and support. This can include accommodation in a shelter.