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Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Taiwan
Monday 23rd December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to negotiate a reciprocal social security agreement with Taiwan.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

There are no current plans to negotiate a reciprocal social security agreement with Taiwan.


Written Question
Hong Kong: Official Secrets
Thursday 19th December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to declassify documents on Hong Kong dated prior to 1 July 1997.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Documents created about Hong Kong pre 1997 are part of the FCDO's ongoing high priority transfer programme to The National Archives. Currently we have transferred documents up to 1994 (Link to catalogue: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C15105). We aim to have completed the transfer of all documents up to 1997 to The National Archives by approximately 2027.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Poverty
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending access to benefits for families with children who have no recourse to public funds on levels of child poverty.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In developing a Child Poverty Strategy, the Child Poverty Taskforce is considering all children across the United Kingdom. We recognise the distinct challenges of poverty faced by migrant children. The causes of child poverty are deep-rooted, with solutions that go beyond government, and the Taskforce is exploring all available levers in response.

The Home Office sets the immigration rules and grants immigration leave to individuals which allows them to live and work in the UK. DWP cannot pay public funds benefits to individuals where the Home Office has applied a ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ condition to their immigration status.


Written Question
Nigeria: Malnutrition
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what bilateral funding to tackle malnutrition levels across northern Nigeria will be in 2025/26.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is committed to tackling the increasing levels of malnutrition across northern Nigeria. The FCDO will make funding decisions for programming in 2025/26 in due course.


Written Question
Nigeria: Nutrition
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to expand (a) inpatient, (b) community-based, (c) outpatient and (d) other nutritional treatment services across northern Nigeria.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK supports access to essential life-saving health services in northern Nigeria through the Lafiya Programme. Lafiya supports the states of Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Borno and Yobe to strengthen their health systems to improve access for the poorest and most vulnerable people. This includes access to inpatient, outpatient and community-based services to detect and treat severe acute malnutrition. The UK invests in Global Nutrition programmes including the Child Nutrition Fund which provides 1:1 matched funding for Nigerian Federal and State governments to scale up resource allocation for nutrition, and financing for 6 million units of Micronutrient Supplements for pregnant women.


Written Question
Nigeria: Malnutrition
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle malnutrition in northern Nigeria.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is providing support to tackle malnutrition in north-east Nigeria through the Humanitarian and Resilience Programme (HARP).

In 2024/25, the UK provided £12 million through HARP to UNICEF's Multisectoral Integrated Nutrition Action for Children, Adolescents and Women in North-East Nigeria (MINA) programme for prevention and treatment of malnutrition which aims to reach 500,000 children with life-saving support. HARP reduces mortality and increases resilience for people with the most severe humanitarian needs by (i) addressing food insecurity and malnutrition and (ii) protecting vulnerable people from harm.


Written Question
Taxation: International Cooperation
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had recent discussions with her G20 counterparts on a global agreement to tax the world’s richest individuals.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK was pleased to support the Rio de Janeiro G20 Ministerial Declaration on International Tax Cooperation, including the commitment to cooperate to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed.

The Government is committed to making sure that the richest in our society pay their fair share on their wealth and assets. That is why the Chancellor announced a series of reforms at the Budget on 30 October to make the tax system fairer and more sustainable.

The G20 can play an important role in helping countries implement progressive tax systems by sharing best practice, building capacity on tackling avoidance and evasion, and supporting international cooperation to increase tax transparency.


Written Question
Nigeria: Vaccination
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to expand routine immunisation programs across northern Nigeria.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK supports immunisation programmes in Nigeria through our contributions to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate more than half the world's children against some of the world's deadliest diseases. The UK's contribution to GAVI is £1.65 billion over five years (2021-2025). Nigeria will receive over $1 billion in funding from GAVI between 2018 and 2028, one of the largest of any country.

The UK continues to work with the Government of Nigeria to strengthen health systems in northern Nigeria, which are crucial for ensuring access to life-saving vaccinations for the poorest and most vulnerable people.


Written Question
Migrants: Finance
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of families that have no recourse to public funds.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The availability of data in respect of the number of families that have No Recourse to Public Funds condition is currently limited, while the Home Office transitions its casework operations to a new management information system until the transition process is complete.

Once fully migrated to the new system, it will be possible to explore what further information on NRPF can be produced.


Written Question
Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019
Monday 16th December 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will extend the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019 to (a) restaurant menus and (b) non-pre-packed food.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has policy responsibility for food safety, including food allergen labelling, in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and is working to improve the availability and accuracy of allergen information for non-prepacked foods, which includes foods made to order in restaurants.

Last year, the FSA board agreed that businesses selling non-prepacked foods, such as cafes and restaurants, should be required to provide allergen information to consumers in writing, as well as having a conversation.

As a non-ministerial department, the FSA cannot make legislation, but has written to ministers in England and Wales, the Executive in Northern Ireland, and Food Standards Scotland, who would ultimately decide whether to change the law.

Any new legislation needs to be carefully considered, taking into account the views of all stakeholders and the balance of costs and benefits, and the FSA will provide more information to support a decision on legislation if needed.

To make improvements more quickly, the FSA is creating best practice guidance for businesses, which makes it clear that they should provide both written allergen information and support this with a conversation. A public consultation on this guidance has recently concluded and the guidance, along with tools to assist businesses in following it, will be published early next year.

The FSA has conducted a number of research projects looking at the provision of allergen information by businesses, including those in the hospitality sector. The FSA is currently carrying out another two research projects, a consumer survey and a food business survey, to understand the allergen information provision landscape and allow for evaluation of change.

Food business operators are legally required to ensure that food handlers are supervised, instructed, or trained, or both, in food hygiene and safety measures.

The FSA provides support for food businesses through guidance and training to help drive up knowledge and compliance with allergen regulations and safe practices. For example, free allergen e-learning was launched in 2020 and has over 700,000 users to date.