Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussion with his counterparts in (a) France, (b) Germany and (c) Sweden to learn on steps to reduce plastic waste.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials have had discussions with their counterparts in other countries to learn lessons on tackling waste, including plastic waste. For instance, officials have had discussions with the German Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) administrator to assist in developing the DRS in the UK.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing a garment trading adjudicator to regulate the purchasing practices of domestic fashion retailers.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK fashion industry is famed for its historic creativity and this government recognises the important role the sector plays both in our domestic economy and on the global stage.
It is important to take an evidence-based approach to considering policy options. As well as the garment trade adjudicator or fashion watchdog idea, there have been other proposals including licensing and increased guidance on managing supply chains. We will continue to review measures to drive up standards across the sector and monitor global regulatory proposals in the sector.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote a circular economy.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To enable delivery of a Circular Economy Strategy for England, the Secretary of State has asked his department to convene a taskforce of experts from industry, academia, civil society, and the civil service.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent children in Lowestoft constituency being exposed to pornography.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Online Safety Act platforms must proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content including extreme pornography, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls. The Act requires services in scope to understand risks from illegal content online and take mitigating action.
Separate to provisions in the Online Safety Act, the Independent Pornography Review, led by Independent Lead Reviewer Baroness Gabby Bertin will explore the effectiveness of regulation, legislation and the law enforcement response to pornography. The government expects the Review to present its final report by the end of the year.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of recognising (a) non-formal and (b) experiential learning alongside academic achievements in the curriculum review.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) is being independently conducted by a group of education leaders (the review group) and chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Terms of Reference were published in July 2024.
The review has been asked to consider how to remove barriers to learning and remove ceilings to achievement. It will support the innovation and professionalism of teachers, enabling them to adapt how they teach the curriculum to their students’ lives and life experiences.
The review will also look at whether the current assessment system can be improved for both young people and staff. It will seek to deliver an assessment system that captures the strengths of every child and young person and the breadth of curriculum with the right balance of assessment methods whilst maintaining the important role of examinations.
The role of the review group is to consider the evidence, the responses to the call for evidence and widespread engagement with the sector over the coming months, and then make recommendations for the government to consider.
The review group will publish an interim report in the new year setting out their interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work. The final review with recommendations will be published in autumn 2025.
The government will consider changes to the National Curriculum and assessment in light of the recommendations of the review.
A link to access the CAR’s call for evidence can be found below: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/improving-the-curriculum-and-assessment-system.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the harmful effects of pornography in Lowestoft constituency.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content including extreme pornography, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls. The Act requires services in scope to understand risks from illegal content online and take mitigating action.
Separate to provisions in the Online Safety Act, the Independent Pornography Review, led by Independent Lead Reviewer Baroness Gabby Bertin will explore the effectiveness of regulation, legislation and the law enforcement response to pornography. The government expects the Review to present its final report by the end of the year.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent organised crime groups advertising victims of trafficking and other sexual exploitation offences on websites advertising prostitution in Lowestoft constituency.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this.
The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through operational intensifications to target prolific perpetrators.
We have several ways to estimate the scale of sexual exploitation. Victims of sexual exploitation make up a significant proportion of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (the framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery to appropriate support). The most recent statistics show that in 2023, sexual exploitation accounted for 10% (1,679) of all referrals, a 2% increase from the previous year, with 9% (1,470) of referrals relating to women. The Home Office does not hold data specific to Lowestoft. However, from January to June 2024, 6 potential victims of modern slavery referred to the NRM who reported (either part or wholly) sexual exploitation disclosed that their exploitation occurred in Suffolk. As we both know this will not be the extent of sexual exploitation in this area.
Online platforms are a significant enabler of sexual exploitation. The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out priority offences, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking offences, and companies will need to adopt measures and put in place systems and processes to identify, assess and address these offences based on a risk assessment.
To help support victims, we are providing £1.36m over three years to Changing Lives for their Net-Reach project, which provides early intervention and targeted support for women and girls at high-risk of commercial exploitation. We are also providing £378,811 to Trevi Women who provide trauma-informed support to women wishing to exit on-street prostitution.
In addition, the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides support to adult potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery in England and Wales. This support includes safe accommodation where necessary, financial support and a support worker to help them access wider support services, including medical treatment, legal aid, legal representatives, and legal advice.
Home Office Ministers regularly meet with stakeholders, including NGOs and law enforcement partners, to promote the better identification and prosecution of perpetrators, and to enhance support for victims who are trapped within commercial sexual exploitation under the guise of prostitution.
The Government will set out next steps in this area in due course.