Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of clinical endoscopists working in the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
To support the workforce as a whole we have commissioned NHS England to develop a Long Term Workforce Plan, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years. The Plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce. It will not provide detailed workforce assessments for individual services or for every staff group.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of licensing of trail hunting on his Department's owned and managed land.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Third party activities on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Estate including trail hunting take place under licences which contain provisions to comply with all legal requirements, including those related to the protection and welfare of flora and fauna.
Any fixtures booked under the licence will also take into account any additional site-specific matters.
There are no plans to make a specific assessment of the potential impacts of licensing trail hunting on MOD land.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the political and human rights situation in Hong Kong.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The imposition of National Security Law and actions by the authorities in Hong Kong have eroded the civil and political rights promised to Hong Kongers under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
We are clear that China remains in an ongoing state of non-compliance with the Declaration. As the Foreign Secretary has said, we will act when China breaks its obligations, as we did in giving nearly 3 million Hong Kongers a path to British citizenship.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the security cooperation agreements concluded with Saudi Arabia in March 2023.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
We do not plan to publish any agreements.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia on the detention of Saudi human rights defender Mohammed Fahad Al-Qahtani.
Answered by David Rutley
The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has raised this case with the Saudi authorities, alongside a range of human rights issues, most recently during his visit to the Kingdom in February.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in Tunisia on the arrest and detention of representatives of the political opposition and civil society in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Rutley
On 18 April, the Minister of State for North Africa, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon made clear the UK's view that the recent wave of arrests and restrictions on political opposition in Tunisia is eroding the space for political plurality, urging the Tunisian Government to respect the principles and values of an open and democratic society. Lord Ahmad also raised our issues over the arrests directly with Tunisian Chargé d'Affaires on 23 February, as did His Majesty's Ambassador to Tunisia with Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar on 23 February. The UK believes in the importance of space for legitimate political opposition, civil society, strengthening human rights and including all voices in building resilient and successful democracies. The UK is a constructive partner to Tunisia, and we will continue to raise these important issues with the Tunisian authorities at every available opportunity. We continue to monitor the political and human rights situation in Tunisia closely.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the national statistics entitled Statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain: 2021, published by her Department on 30 June 2022, under which regulations the 59,586 procedures on mice were carried out as set out in the column entitled Regulatory use: Quality control Batch potency testing; and how many and what proportion of these involved a (a) LD50 and (b) lethal dose test.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Home Office licences programmes of work using animals in science, including testing to satisfy regulatory requirements set out in legislation.
Establishments must only conduct work for limited permissible purposes, according to the terms of their licences, which the Home Office assures through audit and inspection processes.
The Home Office publishes extensive data on the use of animals in science in the annual national statistics. The statistics do not include data broken down by the specific tests requested.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the national statistics entitled Statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain: 2021, published by her Department on 30 June 2022, under which regulations the 11,163 lethal dose procedures on mice were carried out as set out in the column entitled Regulatory Use: toxicity and other safety testing including pharmacology acute and sub-toxicity testing methods: LD50 and LC50 purposes.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Home Office licences programmes of work using animals in science, including testing to satisfy regulatory requirements set out in legislation.
Establishments must only conduct work for limited permissible purposes, according to the terms of their licences, which the Home Office assures through audit and inspection processes.
The Home Office publishes extensive data on the use of animals in science in the annual national statistics. The statistics do not include data broken down by the specific tests requested.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the national statistics entitled Statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain: 2021, published by her Department on 30 June 2022, under which regulations the 12,496 procedures on mice were carried out as set out in the column entitled Regulatory use: Quality control Batch safety testing; and how many and what proportion of these involved a (a) LD50 and (b) lethal dose test.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Home Office licences programmes of work using animals in science, including testing to satisfy regulatory requirements set out in legislation.
Establishments must only conduct work for limited permissible purposes, according to the terms of their licences, which the Home Office assures through audit and inspection processes.
The Home Office publishes extensive data on the use of animals in science in the annual national statistics. The statistics do not include data broken down by the specific tests requested.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the business test under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) England Regulations 2018 for breeders who breed two or fewer litters per year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
We are currently conducting a post-implementation review of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018. The review will consider the need for any refinements to the eight licensable activities, including dog breeding, in light of evidence provided by stakeholders, partners, and local authorities.