Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure Hong Kong culture is celebrated in the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Welcome Programme supports integration into the UK for BN(O) status holders and their families to help them successfully settle into their new communities. Hong Kong culture is celebrated through events such as Lunar New Year celebrations, which can be hosted or funded by our delivery partners, particularly the Strategic Migration Partnerships, which host the Welcome Hubs.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to recognise chronic urinary tract infections as a distinct illness in its guidelines.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Classifying a condition as a distinct illness is outside the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) remit. The NICE has no plans to develop guidance on chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs) at this time, and the topic has not been considered by their prioritisation board. The NICE has produced a clinical guideline on antimicrobial prescribing for recurrent UTIs, which provides recommendations on treatments and self-care for the prevention of recurrent UTIs.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's policy is on the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The adoption and special guardianship fund (ASGSF) offers valuable support to adoptive and kinship families, helping families to thrive and enabling children and young people to make the best start in life.
Announcements on funding for the ASGSF will be made shortly.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking with the Metropolitan Police to help tackle police abstractions from Sutton Borough to Central London.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Visible and responsive policing in communities is critical and that is why the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee is placing 13,000 additional police personnel into neighborhood policing roles.
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will hold forces to account for ensuring neighbourhood policing teams are protected from routine abstraction to ensure neighbourhood teams remain focused on serving their local communities and providing a visible policing presence.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the NHS Payment Scheme on the availability of ADHD assessment services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As required by law, NHS England has assessed the impact of the proposed NHS Payment Scheme. This is available at the following link:
This impact assessment includes consideration of the impact on patient choice, as well as an assessment of the impact on patients, in line with NHS England’s public sector equality duty.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients will continue to benefit from the Right to Choose their provider at the point of referral. None of the proposed changes to the NHS Payment Scheme included in the consultation would change this.
Local integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for planning service provision in their local area, including for ADHD assessments. In doing so, ICBs should take account of waiting lists, considering how local funding can be deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether additional vetting will be implemented for diplomatic visas issued to PRC and HKSAR applicants, specifically screening for connections to transnational repression activities.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
All visa applications are subject to a number of background checks.
Any attempt by any foreign state to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK will not be tolerated. We have a broad suite of powers to counter foreign interference, including those actions which amount to transnational repression. We will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to keep people safe.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help protect Ahmadiyya Muslims from hate crimes.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All forms of hatred and intolerance are completely unacceptable, including that directed at Ahmadiyya Muslims. We are committed to protecting the rights of individuals to freely practice their religion and we will not tolerate Islamophobia in any form.
The Government has established a working group to provide a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia, advising government and other bodies on how to best understand, quantify and define prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime targeted against Muslims. Alongside drawing on their own expertise, members will engage widely to ensure the definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of Muslim communities across the United Kingdom.
This announcement builds on existing work with police and community partners to ensure effective monitoring of Islamophobia. The Government has worked with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We have also made up to £1 million of funding available this year to monitor Islamophobia and provide support to victims.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the international community on the recognition of transnational repression as a distinct human rights threat.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes the protection of individuals' rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. Attempts by foreign States to coerce, intimidate, harass, or harm individuals overseas, or undermine democracy and the rule of law, are unacceptable. We regularly assess potential threats to the UK and use a range of measures, including operational, policy, and legal tools, to counter them, in co-ordination with international partners.
The UK is working closely with international partners to tackle transnational repression. We also work closely with Canada as part of their G7 Presidency in 2025 to better align international efforts to counter this activity and publicly call out all forms of transnational repression.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce is reviewing the UK's response to transnational repression, to develop our understanding of the issue and ensure a strong, system-wide, response. This review will inform our approach to internationalising this issue.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will offer asylum and temporary travel documents to pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK has a proud history of providing protection for those who need it through a number of safe and legal routes, including a route for British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders coming from Hong Kong. However, those non BNO passport holders who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the redevelopment of a Chinese embassy in London on transnational repression efforts against Hong Kongers, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Chinese dissidents.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The planning application has been called in by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and she will make this quasi-judicial decision independent from the rest of Government.
We are clear that national security is the first duty of Government. The Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary submitted written representations to the Planning Inspector on 14 January. That letter is clear that the Home Office has considered the breadth of national security issues.
We have a broad suite of powers to counter foreign interference, including those actions which amount to transnational repression. We will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to keep people safe.