Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his counterpart in Nicaragua on the suppression of (a) human rights and (b) religious freedoms in that country.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We share widespread international concern about the relentless suppression of democratic, religious, and other freedoms in Nicaragua. We continue to urge the Nicaraguan authorities to re-establish democratic freedoms in our engagements with the Nicaraguan Embassy and in Managua, as well as through our public statements in international fora. Most recently, on 28 February at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, we raised our grave human rights concerns, including relating to freedom of religion and belief, and arbitrary detentions. Nicaragua's declaration on 27 February that it is leaving the UN Human Rights Council does not change the need to hold the authorities accountable for the suppression of human rights in Nicaragua.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to support steps to help tackle malnutrition at the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris in March 2025; and whether he plans to maintain funding for such programmes in the official development assistance budget from 2027.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.
The UK worked in close partnership with France to make the recent Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit in Paris a success. The Minister for International Development led the UK delegation. Alongside the Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement and other partners, the Minister launched the Global Compact on Nutrition Integration.
Partners have welcomed the Compact as a new initiative to drive change, and a positive signal of the UK's continued leadership on development. We will continue to support new approaches like this as we modernise our approach to international development.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that sugar beet growers receive an adequate price for their product.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of sugar beet farmers who are vital to UK sugar production. Also, that sugar beet itself, used in crop rotations, is beneficial to soil and crop health and allows arable farms a season of “rest” from cereal production.
We are committed to promoting fairness across the food supply chain. That includes seeing a price agreed for sugar beet that benefits both growers and processors, in the context of the global market. There is a well-established process in place to agree the sugar beet price; designed to be independent between both parties. An Inter Professional Agreement is agreed each year between both parties and sets out the process for negotiating and agreeing price, terms and conditions for the upcoming crop year, as well as any dispute resolution process.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has in place to ensure that urgent biosecurity information reaches farmers quickly.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Biosecurity is a priority for this government. Urgent biosecurity information, such as alerts about animal and plant health disease incidents, any geographic restrictions in place as a result, and signposting to information on what farmers should do to maintain good biosecurity measures – are shared frequently across the sector.
During the current bluetongue virus outbreak, text messages and email alerts are regularly sent to those registered via livestock keeper databases so that they are aware of their responsibilities. We have made bird registration mandatory for those with poultry or other captive birds, so that we can inform them of the biosecurity risks, for example from Avian Influenza.
We maintain continued communications through our industry partners, on gov.uk, social media and, where possible, through the national and trade press, to increase awareness and action to help protect the UK from biosecurity risks.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to promote the Advance into Justice scheme; and whether she plans to take steps to establish continuity of service between the armed forces and civil service pension schemes.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
‘Advance into Justice’ is a Ministry of Justice recruitment initiative aimed at providing a direct recruitment channel for Armed Forces Service Leavers, Veterans and Veterans Spouses into key operational roles across HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).
The Ministry of Justice recognises that Armed forces personnel have a wide range of transferable skills that are aligned with many HMPPS roles, allowing them to form a second career whilst continuing to protect the public.
Ahead of the launch of the next Advance into Justice campaign in May 2025, the Ministry of Justice is working on a marketing and communication strategy to promote the scheme externally using various media approaches.
The Ministry of Justice attends regular Armed Forces Recruitment events across the country managed by the Career Transition Partnership, the official resettlement provider for the Ministry of Defence and British Forces Resettlement Services.
The Department does not hold information on any plans to establish continuity of service between the armed forces and the Civil Service pension schemes as this is the remit of Cabinet Office.