John Howell

The Government remains fully committed to building a fairer Britain and taking action to address disparities wherever they exist. That is why the Prime Minister established the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in July 2020.

The Commission submitted its findings to the Prime Minister on 31 March, along with 24 recommendations for key actions for the Government. We will publish our response to the report later this summer and it would be inappropriate to comment on the implications of the debate of 24 June in advance of that.

We have more women MPs than ever before, making up 34% of the commons, and in 2019 around a third of local councillors were women, but we must ensure all women have an equal voice in the decisions that affect them. Government can’t control who political parties select as candidates, and it is for parties to ensure that their selection processes are responsive to known barriers and lead the way in improving representation of women from all groups.

The Government is committed to protecting the freedom of the press and recognises that a vibrant and free press plays an invaluable role in our cultural and democratic life. We want to make sure that this continues, with high journalistic standards working in the public interest. The government set up the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, and published the National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists. The plan and the Committee’s aim is to ensure that journalists operating in the UK are as safe as possible, reducing the number of attacks on and threats issued to journalists. In addition, the government recently published an Online Media Literacy Strategy and Action Plan. Matters involving the Council of Europe are the responsibility of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The Charity Commission is the independent regulator and registrar for charities in England and Wales. As an independent non-Ministerial Department, Ministers cannot direct or control the Charity Commission. It is answerable to the courts for its legal decisions.

Disputes and disagreements in charities can be particularly damaging to the public’s confidence in charities. The Charity Commission opened a regulatory compliance case into Christ Church college in January last year and has continued to engage with the charity over a number of issues connected to the dispute at the College. These have included the expenditure of charitable funds on legal expenses connected to the dispute. The Commission has also instructed the trustees to commission an independent governance review. The Commission continues to closely engage with the charity and will do so until the matter is resolved.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, protecting and promoting the best interests of the child has been at the heart of the action this government has taken, and continues to take. The debate at the Council of Europe highlighted a number of areas impacted by COVID-19 relating to children’s rights, such as education, socio-economic inequality and vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak the government has worked to prioritise vulnerable children. During the outbreak, we were one of few countries across the world to keep schools open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers throughout national restrictions, protecting children’s right to education. We also distributed over 1.3 million laptops and tablets to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education providers for disadvantaged children and young people as part of a £400 million government investment to support access to remote education and online social care services.

We know that the mental health and wellbeing of young people has been affected by the outbreak, and that being back in school and college plays a central role in promoting wellbeing for pupils. That is why we worked hard to ensure that schools were first to reopen in March 2021. We have also announced £17 million towards improving mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges, including £7 million additional funding for local authorities to deliver the Wellbeing for Education Recovery programme.

We have put £200 million into Summer Schools, giving secondary pupils access to enrichment activities and this year we are investing up to £220 million in our Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has now been expanded across England.

Children's social care services and early help services have also continued to support vulnerable children and young people and their families throughout the outbreak.

The government is now looking ahead to recovery. We must 'build back better' for vulnerable children and their families to ensure support is available for those that need it most, when they need it. As part of this, we have invested over £3 billion since June 2020 to support education recovery for children aged 2-19 in schools, colleges and early years settings. This will have a material impact in addressing lost learning and closing gaps that have emerged.

The UK remains deeply concerned about the restrictions on movement and access that affect Gaza. DFID is providing £1.3 million (2018-21) to support the UN’s Access Coordination Unit (ACU), which works with all relevant parties to ensure humanitarian access to Gaza for UN and NGO workers. The ACU works with the Egyptian authorities to facilitate access through the Rafah crossing.

We will provide an update on whether the project should continue in due course.

The UK is committed to the protection and promotion of social rights. The UK has ratified the 1961 European Social Charter (ESC), the European Code of Social Security and numerous other international social rights instruments. The UK is fully committed to all of the Council of Europe instruments it is Party to and engages constructively in work on socio-economic inequalities at the Council of Europe.

The UK Government is taking important steps to reduce inequalities and levelling up across the whole of the United Kingdom, particularly as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. We have launched a suite of employment support schemes, significant investments in skills, training and apprenticeships, and Universal Credit has played a crucial and effective role in protecting the most vulnerable.

The Department for Work and Pensions is continuously reviewing its policies on socio-economic inequalities to ensure that no one and no community is left behind.

The Government continues to make the case that anyone on a COVID-19 vaccine trial should be treated the same in terms of certification as someone who has received a deployed vaccine. Our Chief Medical Officer has written to all of his counterparts in the European Union and European Economic Community on this matter. Discussions are ongoing with other countries, including through groups such as the Group of Seven, the European Commission and the World Health Organisation to shape the approach taken around the world to sharing health status for travel.

The Vaccines Taskforce and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are working with Novavax to help ensure their COVID-19 vaccine is authorised as quickly as possible. The decision to license a vaccine is made by the MHRA.

The Department is not currently making any recommendations regarding hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment (HBOT) for long COVID due to a lack of scientific evidence to support its use.

There have been two long COVID research calls launched by the National Institute for Health Research and UK Research and Innovation, resulting in 19 funded projects. The calls specifically asked for projects investigating possible therapies for long COVID and a number of studies of this type have been funded. HBOT has not formed part of any application to either of these calls. Other ongoing calls are open and available for long COVID research applications and if a project on HBOT for long COVID was received, it would be considered.

The Department is aware of clinical trials currently taking place internationally, which are researching the use of HBOT for long COVID.

Face-to-face appointments have been available throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and approximately half of all appointments in June 2021 were delivered in person. NHS England and NHS Improvement wrote to general practitioner practices on 19 July to set out that practices should offer a blend of face-to-face and remote appointments, with remote triage where possible. The letter is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/B0783_Primary-Care-letter_190721-002.pdf

Patients’ input into the choice of consultation mode should be sought and practices should respect preferences for face-to-face care unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary, for example the presence of COVID-19 symptoms.

Public Health England monitors the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and whether they have received one or two doses of the vaccination. This data is used to calculate vaccine effectiveness estimates which are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-report

NHS Digital collects data on the number of people who have contracted COVID-19, patients who have received one or two doses of a vaccine and hospital data that can be used to calculate average length of stay. These three datasets can be linked where possible to track patient outcomes for vaccinated people.

The United Kingdom and European Union are aligned in the technical approach to COVID-19 status certification. We are actively engaging other states on a bilateral basis and multilaterally through organisations including the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Health Organization to support this work. The certification app in France now allows scans the code from the NHS COVID Pass and work continues to set up similar arrangements elsewhere.

We remain concerned at Lukashenko's continued use of migrants and refugees to increase pressure on neighbouring states. This harmful, aggressive and exploitative behaviour must stop. We stand in support and solidarity with Lithuania, Latvia and Poland in dealing with this situation. The Foreign Secretary discussed the issue with her Baltic counterparts on 11 October.

The Government has been clear that that the Taliban regime will be judged by its actions not its words. We agree with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that the situation requires a coordinated international approach and the Government has been working hard to achieve this.

The UK Government welcomes the important and influential role that the UK delegation to the CoE Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) continues to play. We note the Assembly debate on 27 September, on the humanitarian consequences of last year's conflict. I have continued to engage with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments on many of the topics discussed during that debate and will continue to do so. This includes key topics such as the return of prisoners of war and the remains of the deceased, and the importance of a sustainable and peaceful settlement that has been negotiated under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.

We welcome the role the Council of Europe plays in the Western Balkans. Euro-Atlantic integration is the sovereign choice of the governments and people of the countries of the Western Balkans. The UK works with the governments of the region and other partners to support internal reforms, in particular on the rule of law - including to tackle organised crime, illicit finance and corruption - and to promote reconciliation and good neighbourly relations.

We continue to call upon the Palestinian security forces and the Palestinian leadership to undertake necessary reform and to demonstrate their respect for Palestinians' human rights, including by delivering swift and transparent investigations into Nizar Banat's death and the policing of subsequent protests.

The Government takes note of the debate on overcoming the socio-economic crisis sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic and notes that the resolution and recommendations will go to the Committee of Ministers in due course.

The Government has acted to support the economy on a scale unmatched in recent history, protecting jobs and livelihoods and boosting public services.

Because of our economic plan, our recovery will be faster, with the Office for Budget Responsibility now expecting the economy to reach its pre-Covid size two quarters earlier and unemployment to peak at a rate 1 percentage point lower than in its November forecast.

The policy support announced by the Government has led to a significant but necessary increase in borrowing and debt. But it is clear that the costs of inaction would have been far higher.

Strong public finances are a fundamental part of a strong economy and a strong Union. The certainty that comes from ensuring the public finances are on a sustainable path will support economic stability across the UK. Measures announced at Budget 2021 bring debt under control over the medium term, through a fair and progressive package.

The Government notes the resolution and welcomes the Council’s support for the work of the OECD’s Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).

The Government has been proactive in pressing for an international solution to the tax challenges posed by digitisation of the economy for a number of years.

It is a Government priority to reach a comprehensive global solution this year which includes outputs on both OECD Pillars: on both reallocation of taxing rights and minimum taxation.

Reaching agreement on this would be a major multilateral achievement that introduces stability into the international tax landscape.

HMT officials are in discussion with the IMF, through the UK’s delegation at the IMF, on the situation in Lebanon and options for IMF economic support. Any new programme needs to be agreed with a new Government, who will succeed the current caretaker arrangement, to ensure that all commitments can be delivered and implemented. No new programme is able to be proposed at this interim stage, so a formal view on the adequacy of safeguards is not possible.

The IMF must establish adequate safeguards for use of its resources, consulting and updating the Board of Directors, as its policy develops. Safeguards can include for example: strengthening auditing or procurement rules, and wider Central Bank reform. The UK uses its seat on the IMF Board, in conjunction with other board members, to help ensure that programme conditions are consistent with the IMF’s mandate.

There have not been formal discussions at the IMF board on Lebanon, though the IMF’s spokesman has said recently that “there is significant scope to strengthen the transparency and accountability of economic policies, and public sector entities.”

For all IMF programmes, the UK uses its seat at the IMF’s Board to engage in the process of programme design and stipulation of conditions on lending. We utilise the expertise of our embassy network to ensure that programme conditions reflect the domestic political situation while remaining consistent with the IMF’s mandate.

IMF programmes in general are subject to strict policies of oversight and monitoring, underpinned by well-established mechanisms.

Under its Articles of Agreement, the IMF must establish adequate safeguards for the use of its resources. IMF lending requires safeguards covering key areas of governance and control to help mitigate the risks of misuse of Fund resources and misreporting of data. These safeguards may include limits on how much can be borrowed, conditions on the loans, measures to deal with misreporting or arrears, and safeguard assessments of central banks. The UK also uses its seat at the Board to help shape these policies and ensure that they are applied across all the IMF’s lending arrangements.

The Government strongly supports the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime as the leading international treaty on cybercrime. We also welcome the work of the Council of Europe to develop the Second Additional Protocol to the Convention, to ensure that the Convention remains effective if the face of changing threats in cyberspace, and that it continues to provide an effective legal basis for international cooperation to tackle these threats.

So called 'honour’-based abuse (HBA) is a terrible form of abuse, and we are clear that we will not allow political or cultural sensitivities to get in the way of tackling it. No-one should suffer because of who they are or what community they are born into.

Our focus remains on preventing these crimes from happening, supporting and protecting survivors and those at risk, and bringing perpetrators to justice. The Home Office is providing up to £150,000 to the charity Karma Nirvana this year to run its national HBA helpline; between April and September 2021 the helpline provided assistance to 1,212 users of the service. The joint Home Office/Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Forced Marriage Unit has provided advice and support for thousands of victims of forced marriage and delivers regular training to police officers and social workers.

The Government’s recent Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy set out a number of further actions to tackle HBA, including that the Home Office will seek out community advocates who can talk to community audiences to explain why HBA practices are wrong, that the College of Policing will produce advice for police officers to advise both first responders and investigators on how to deal with cases of HBA, and that the Department for Health and Social Care will work to criminalise ‘virginity testing’ to send a clear message that this practice is wholly unacceptable in our society.

We welcome the insights communicated in the debate at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe last month. The Government pays close attention to the experiences of our international partners in tackling HBA and works closely with them in tackling it. For example, in 2018 the Government signed a protocol on female genital mutilation (FGM) with the United States to increase collaboration and the sharing of intelligence between the two countries. This enabled the UK and the United States to run Operation Limelight (a joint operation between border staff and the police which seeks to raise awareness of FGM and forced marriage at the border in order to safeguard potential victims) concurrently at several ports in the two countries.

The Government does not routinely comment on intelligence matters, including whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.

The UK is committed to creating a fair society in which all people are valued and able to participate fully and realise their own potential. We have made great strides to become a fairer and more tolerant society, but we must acknowledge that there is so much more to do in eradicating prejudice and creating opportunity. We supported the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly debate on a European policy on diasporas on 24 June, and note that the resolution and recommendations will go to the Committee of Ministers in due course for appropriate review. We will continue to engage with international institutions as this work progresses.

We welcome the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s important work in this area. The UK Government continues to take its responsibilities under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities very seriously and does not underestimate the importance and challenge of preserving national minorities.

The UK is committed to creating a fair society in which all people are valued and able to participate fully and realise their own potential. In that respect, we call on all member States who have not done so, to ratify the Framework Convention for National Minorities in a timely manner, as a valuable tool for protecting the rights of minorities across Europe.

My Hon Friend will appreciate that there are a number of competing demands for time in the House of Commons chamber. This includes ensuring adequate time for scrutiny of the government's legislative programme and meeting the standing order requirements to provide opposition and backbench time. While I am not in a position to commit to an annual debate on the Council of Europe, this is the type of subject matter for debate that my Hon Friend may wish to take up with the Backbench Business Committee.