Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of Border Officers employed at the Port of Cairnryan a) during the day and b) in the evening.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In the interests of maintaining border security, Border Force does not routinely disclose information of a port-specific nature.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to replace the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I introduced the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill on 14 October – a significant step in fulfilling our commitment to repeal and replace the Legacy Act.
The Bill received its Second Reading yesterday, and I look forward to continued debate and scrutiny as it progresses through Parliament.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the cooling-off period proposals in section 267 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 on printed news products.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has consulted on how refunds should work when consumers exercise their statutory cooling-off rights (Consultation on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime). We are analysing all the responses, including in relation to digital platform fees and views from the printed news sector.
The impact assessment for the subscriptions chapter in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act can be found here: Subscription traps: annex 2 impact assessment. Together the subscription measures are anticipated to provide £400m of consumer benefits per year and the estimated net direct cost to businesses is £171m per year. Sector-specific analysis has not been conducted.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of section 267 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 on platform fees for digital subscriptions.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has consulted on how refunds should work when consumers exercise their statutory cooling-off rights (Consultation on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime). We are analysing all the responses, including in relation to digital platform fees and views from the printed news sector.
The impact assessment for the subscriptions chapter in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act can be found here: Subscription traps: annex 2 impact assessment. Together the subscription measures are anticipated to provide £400m of consumer benefits per year and the estimated net direct cost to businesses is £171m per year. Sector-specific analysis has not been conducted.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of visits abroad by Scottish Government Ministers on UK trade policy.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Hon Gentleman, not the Scottish Government, can be assured that it is the UK Government that has delivered trade deals with India, the United States, the European Union. As the former trade policy Minister, I have some experience in these matters.
In every negotiation there is give and take. The President does not give gifts, he does deals and the negotiating counterpart of the United States is the United Kingdom.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on strengthening the Union.
Answered by Nia Griffith
The Spending Review demonstrated how our two Labour Governments are investing in Wales’ future and strengthening our Union for generations to come.
With a record settlement for the Welsh Government, an historic investment of at least £445m into Welsh rail, money to keep coal tips safe and protecting every penny of Wales’ growth funds, we have ended Tory austerity.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the number of postmasters convicted as a result of failures in the Capture software; and how many of those convictions have been quashed.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
There is no definitive number or record of the number of convictions related to Capture. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has received 31 pre-Horizon applications to date. Incomplete due to the passage of time complicates confirming they are Capture-related. To support the CCRC, we commissioned the Post Office to review its branch files for the period from 1992 to 2000 for potential prosecutions. 448 potential cases have been reviewed with 31 confirmed Capture-related cases. The findings have been sent to the CCRC. If convictions related to Capture are overturned by the courts, we will provide appropriate redress.
For non-convicted postmasters, the Government announced the Capture scheme design on 19 June. We expect to launch in Autumn, starting with an initial 150 claimants before broader rollout.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans his Department has to review the convictions of postmasters affected by Capture errors in instances where those convictions have not already been quashed.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
There is no definitive number or record of the number of convictions related to Capture. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has received 31 pre-Horizon applications to date. Incomplete due to the passage of time complicates confirming they are Capture-related. To support the CCRC, we commissioned the Post Office to review its branch files for the period from 1992 to 2000 for potential prosecutions. 448 potential cases have been reviewed with 31 confirmed Capture-related cases. The findings have been sent to the CCRC. If convictions related to Capture are overturned by the courts, we will provide appropriate redress.
For non-convicted postmasters, the Government announced the Capture scheme design on 19 June. We expect to launch in Autumn, starting with an initial 150 claimants before broader rollout.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress he has made on providing (a) redress and (b) justice for people affected by Capture software.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
There is no definitive number or record of the number of convictions related to Capture. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has received 31 pre-Horizon applications to date. Incomplete due to the passage of time complicates confirming they are Capture-related. To support the CCRC, we commissioned the Post Office to review its branch files for the period from 1992 to 2000 for potential prosecutions. 448 potential cases have been reviewed with 31 confirmed Capture-related cases. The findings have been sent to the CCRC. If convictions related to Capture are overturned by the courts, we will provide appropriate redress.
For non-convicted postmasters, the Government announced the Capture scheme design on 19 June. We expect to launch in Autumn, starting with an initial 150 claimants before broader rollout.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions his Department had with the Scottish Government on the planned visits of the Scottish Government's (a) Minister for Business and Employment to China and Japan in April 2025 and (b) Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to Japan in June 2025.
Answered by Catherine West
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and our Embassies in Beijing and Tokyo engaged with Scottish Government officials in support of the visit of the Scottish Government's Minister for Business and Employment to China and the visits of Minister Lochhead and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to Japan. Such support is common practice supporting Devolved Government Ministerial visits overseas.