Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the number of (a) verification requests and (b) refusals of seafood consignments entering the UK in each of the last five years.

Answered by Mark Spencer

This information is not held centrally by the Government.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) work with the Mayor of London and (b) otherwise help improve air quality in London.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in London and has devolved powers under the Environment Act 1995 allowing him to require London boroughs to take action to address local air pollution. The Mayor has received over £6.6bn of funding for transport in London since 2020, and London authorities have received further funding for specific air quality projects totalling almost £102m.

Nationally, we are driving down emissions and concentrations of the most harmful air pollutants and reducing their impact on public health and the environment. This Government has delivered significant reductions in emissions since 2010 – with emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) falling by 24%, and nitrogen oxides down by 48%. We met our targets to reduce emissions for all five key pollutants in the latest reporting year.

PM2.5 is the most harmful pollutant to human health, which is why we have set two new targets to drive down PM2.5 concentrations under the Environment Act 2021:

• A maximum annual mean concentration of 10 µg m-3 by 2040
• A population exposure reduction target of 35% by 2040 compared with 2018

These targets mean that on average, people’s exposure to particulate matter will be cut by over a third by 2040, compared with 2018 levels.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what outcomes her Department has achieved as part of the UK's 2050 net zero target.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

The UK is the first major economy to halve its emissions having cut them by around 53% between 1990 and 2023, more than any other major economy – while also growing the economy by around 80% and recently becoming the fourth largest exporter in the world. Government policy and spending ambitions will support up to 480,000 green jobs in 2030.

This is an enormous achievement by itself but also because we have done this in a pragmatic way - growing our economy and at the same time protecting family finances.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the annual local authority road maintenance survey 2024.

Answered by Guy Opperman

It is being considered.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many days e-gates were not in use in airports in each of the last five years.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

The Home Office does not hold this information in an accessible format.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle modern slavery in the maritime industry.

Answered by Guy Opperman

While onboard for surveys and inspections, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) inspectors assess the working and living conditions for crew including, but not limited to, employment agreements, payment of wages and standards of accommodation. These inspections implement the standards of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No.188), that came into force in 2013 and 2019, respectively.

Inspectors also interview crew while they are onboard during merchant and fishing vessel inspections and surveys, offering a confidential space for concerns to be raised. If there is any evidence of modern slavery, the matter is followed up and information is also forwarded to HMRC or local police for further investigation, as needed.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to simplify the tax system.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)

The Chancellor has been clear that tax simplification is a key priority. He has set a clear mandate for officials in HMT and HMRC to focus on simplification during tax policy making and implementation.

Recent fiscal events have included several simplification measures. At Autumn Statement 2023 the government abolished the obligation to pay class 2 self-employed national insurance contributions, simplified the capital allowances system for large businesses by making full expensing permanent, and made it easier for self-employed to use a simplified method for calculating small business profits known as the cash basis.

The Government announced additional simplifications in a Written Statement on 16^th January.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department plans to take to commemorate the D-Day landings.

Answered by Andrew Murrison

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the lead Department for the Government’s National UK D-Day 80^th anniversary and is working across Whitehall and with external stakeholders to lead a programme of official commemorations in the UK and in France, ensuring our Normandy Veterans are the VIPs for this significant anniversary.

The UK’s National Commemorative Event in Portsmouth will once again highlight this nation’s major contribution as a leading partner in the Western Alliance. The programme will commemorate the service and sacrifice of all who fought under British command on D-Day, by honouring our veterans, securing their legacy within our youth and demonstrating the UK’s global role in defence and security alliances.

The official programme includes:

UK:

A National Commemoration on Southsea Common, Portsmouth on 5 June – an audience of 4,000 and live BBC One broadcast.

In France on 5 June:

A Royal British Legion service of commemoration in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Bayeux War Cemetery, with up to 50 Normandy veterans present and 1,500 guests.

A CWGC led Bayeux Cathedral Service in partnership with the MOD for 1,000 guests.

A CWGC and MOD partnered BBC One live broadcast from Bayeux War Cemetery when all 4,144 graves will be illuminated.

In France on 6 June:

A National Commemoration at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver sur Mer with up to 50 Normandy veterans present and an audience of 2,500, live broadcast on BBC One. It is the first time, during a major commemorative year, that this event will take place at the Memorial following its official opening in 2021.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many maritime boarding actions Border Force performed on (a) recreational and (b) commercial vessels in each of the last five years.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

Border Force does not hold the data requested in an easily accessible format.

Border Force enhance UK maritime border security through intelligence-led and proactive maritime operations to deliver the right law enforcement effect in the right place, at the right time. This is in order to:

• Detect and prevent the smuggling of people and prohibited and restricted goods into the UK.
• Deter those who use commercial and general maritime to pose a threat to the UK.
• Prevent and interdict in criminal activity and preserve and secure evidence to support prosecutions where appropriate.

Reassure the public and wider maritime community whilst minimising interference into the lawful passage of people and goods within UK Territorial Waters.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contingency measures are in place to mitigate delays when eGates are not in use.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

It has never been Government practice, for reasons of law enforcement, to comment on operational issues relating to border security and immigration controls. This includes offering commentary on the performance of border systems and of ePassport Gates data specifically.

The Home Office has a number of contingency arrangements in the event of a single system failure, including technical and business contingency measures.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many sea-faring vessels are under the command of the Border Force.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

Border Force Maritime Command operate a fleet of vessels including five offshore Cutters, six inshore Coastal Patrol Vessels (CPV), and a range of smaller crafts to secure the UK maritime border.

Since April 2022, Border Force Maritime have deployed five dedicated rescue vessels to the Channel, formerly in support of the Ministry of Defence and currently Small Boats Operational Command. These five vessels work on rotation to provide 24 hours support to rescue operations in the Channel.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of Border Force sea-fairing vessels have been out of service in each of the last three years.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

Border Force Maritime Command operate a fleet of vessels including five offshore Cutters, six inshore Coastal Patrol Vessels (CPV), and a range of smaller craft to secure the UK maritime border. Routine maintenance on these vessels is an essential part of ensuring operational availability.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of (a) GPS and (b) alcohol monitoring tags in operation.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Shadow Minister (Justice)

The Ministry of Justice has an ambitious programme in place to expand the use of electronic monitoring, as well as building the evidence base for the effective future use of the technologies in helping to protect the public and reduce reoffending.

Our latest published data shows at 31 March 2024 the total number of individuals fitted with an electronic monitoring device was 20,084, a 16% increase over the previous 12 months and exceeding 20,000 for the first time. Of this total, 10,031 individuals were wearing a GPS tag, a 36% increase over the previous 12 months, and 2,862 were wearing an alcohol monitoring tag, a 27% increase over the same period.

While defendants on court bail make up the largest proportion of electronically monitored individuals, the fastest growing cohort over the 12 months to 31 March 2024 was offenders serving post-custody licences. The Ministry of Justice has focused expansion activity on this cohort, providing probation officers with an additional tool to help support robust offender management by providing certainty of detection of non-compliance with licence conditions. The four expansion projects in the post-custody cohort target prison leavers with risk linked to alcohol, domestic abuse and acquisitive offending, as well as those whose risk increases while they are in the community. Each expansion project is subject to a robust evaluation which will help to inform whether, where and how we continue to expand the use of electronic monitoring.

In addition to our expansion projects, the department has a programme of stakeholder engagement with decision makers to raise awareness of the availability and functionality of electronically monitored conditions and requirements as an alternative to custody where appropriate. In October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced the doubling of GPS tags available to the courts for community orders and suspended sentence orders to support tough community-based sentences. In August 2023 we published the ‘Electronic Monitoring Court Bail Protocol' for England and Wales which sets out key information for those involved in imposing and managing electronically monitored conditions of court bail to help build stakeholder confidence in the delivery of electronic monitoring, including GPS tags.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure serious sex offenders serve their entire sentence in custody.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Shadow Minister (Justice)

Unlike Labour, who in Government reduced the prison time served by all Standard Determinate Sentence prisoners (including rapists and serious violent offenders) from two thirds of their sentence to half, we have taken a robust approach to increasing both the sentence length of rapists and the proportion of that sentence served in prison.

Average sentence length for adult rapists has increased by over 40% since 2010, from around 6.5 years to over 9.5 years. We have also reversed Labour’s changes, so that rapists and other serious sexual offenders currently serve two thirds of that time behind bars.

But we are now going further. The Sentencing Bill, introduced on 14 November, will ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders serve their full custodial term in prison, before being released on a fixed licence period, which is critical for public protection and in reducing reoffending.

Offenders convicted of certain serious sex offences, including rape, which carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment will no longer receive a standard determinate sentence with automatic or discretionary early release by the Parole Board. Instead, these offenders will now get an Extended Determinate Sentence (EDS) or a Sentence for Offenders of Particular Concern (SOPC).

The Bill also alters the release arrangements for these offences so that they will now serve the entirety of the appropriate custodial term in custody, with no referral to the Parole Board at the two-thirds point.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of prosecutions for illegal downloading in each of the last five years.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Shadow Minister (Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of offenders found guilty of criminal offences in England and Wales, up to June 2023, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-june-2023.

Information on whether offenders were prosecuted for offences relating to illegal downloading is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as this information is not recorded centrally in the Court Proceedings Database.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Government of South Africa on (i) the Supreme Court judgment of 8 May 2024 in Argentum Exploration Ltd v Republic of South Africa [2024] UKSC 16 and (ii) the silver cargo in that case.

Answered by Victoria Prentis

I have not had any discussions with the Government of South Africa on this legal case.

With respect to discussions with Cabinet colleagues, the Law Officers’ Convention requires that it is not generally disclosed outside Government whether I have been asked to provide advice or the contents of any such advice. This is a long-standing principle of Cabinet collective agreement which enables the government of the day to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on what dates the Trade Envoy for Bangladesh visited that country in each of the last three years.

Answered by Greg Hands

The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy visited Bangladesh on the following dates in the last three years: 2021 - no visit undertaken; 2022 – 27 March-1 April; 2023 – 8-9 January and 20-23 March.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on continuing military support to Ukraine.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani

The UK has increased our military support to Ukraine this year by £500 million to £3 billion, and pledged to maintain that support until the end of this decade, or longer if required. The Foreign Secretary is in constant contact with international partners making the case for allies to increase their military support to Ukraine. His recent international engagement includes, for example: a visit to Ukraine on 2 May; meetings with NATO Foreign Ministers, G7 Foreign Ministers and his counterparts in the USA in April; Germany in March; and Poland, Bulgaria, France, G20 Foreign Ministers and the UN in February.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding he has allocated to supporting the the fisheries sector; and what steps he is taking to support sustainability in that sector.

Answered by Mark Spencer

The Government is committed to supporting the UK fishing sector through our funding schemes. Through the annual investment of £32.7 million across the UK for domestic grants schemes, control and enforcement and data collection activities, in addition to the UK-wide £100 million UK Seafood Fund (UKSF), the Government is investing in projects that will support the long-term economic and environmental sustainability of the UK fisheries and seafood sector.

The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme funds projects that boost the sale of seafood, increase business resilience and support more environmentally sustainably practices. The UKSF has four pillars providing funding to: improve infrastructure; deliver science and innovation projects; support the current and future skills and training needs of the sector; and boost seafood exports.

The first Fisheries Management Plans published in December 2023 are part of a package of reforms to make our fisheries more sustainable. Other reforms related to the management of discards and introduction of remote electronic monitoring policies were set out on 13 May 2024.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the security of UK (a) military bases and (b) service personnel in the Middle East.

Answered by Leo Docherty

The force protection of UK Service personnel and our bases in the Middle East is kept under constant review. For reasons of operational security, I am unable to comment on specific assessments or mitigations.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on reducing the cost of the civil service.

Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Treasury Ministers hold regular discussions with Cabinet counterparts on the cost of the Civil Service.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has taken steps to ensure that before selling homes under the Right to Buy scheme between 1980 and 2022, local authorities (a) assessed those buildings for (i) cladding and (ii) building safety defects and (b) informed prospective buyers of (A) non-standard construction in and (B) the life expectancy of such homes; and if he will provide guidance to local authorities on ensuring that (1) such assessments are made for before homes are sold under the Right to Buy scheme and (2) prospective buyers are informed of (x) non-standard construction in and (y) the life expectancy of such homes.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Local authorities are responsible for conservation areas. The Manual to the Building Regulations notes that where the functional requirement of Part B Fire Safety applies to buildings of special architectural or historic interest, local authority building control and conservation officers may be able to advise on how to comply appropriately, if guidance intended for common building situations might prove too restrictive.

We are aware of the action being taken by Barnet Council and continue to engage closely with them on the steps they are taking, following the Moss Hall Grove fire in June 2023.

I would be delighted to meet my Hon Friend and I know we are trying to do so, alongside our Rt Hon Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet, as soon as diaries permit.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of restrictions in conservation areas on the safety of (a) residential cladding materials and (b) fire safety remediation and mitigation measures.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Local authorities are responsible for conservation areas. The Manual to the Building Regulations notes that where the functional requirement of Part B Fire Safety applies to buildings of special architectural or historic interest, local authority building control and conservation officers may be able to advise on how to comply appropriately, if guidance intended for common building situations might prove too restrictive.

We are aware of the action being taken by Barnet Council and continue to engage closely with them on the steps they are taking, following the Moss Hall Grove fire in June 2023.

I would be delighted to meet my Hon Friend and I know we are trying to do so, alongside our Rt Hon Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet, as soon as diaries permit.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will meet with the hon. Member for Hendon to discuss what steps his Department is taking following the meeting with Barnet Council on 3 May 2024.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Local authorities are responsible for conservation areas. The Manual to the Building Regulations notes that where the functional requirement of Part B Fire Safety applies to buildings of special architectural or historic interest, local authority building control and conservation officers may be able to advise on how to comply appropriately, if guidance intended for common building situations might prove too restrictive.

We are aware of the action being taken by Barnet Council and continue to engage closely with them on the steps they are taking, following the Moss Hall Grove fire in June 2023.

I would be delighted to meet my Hon Friend and I know we are trying to do so, alongside our Rt Hon Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet, as soon as diaries permit.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of terraced timber-frame homes that have (a) timber cladding and (b) UPVC cladding that may be affected by fire safety issues.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Local authorities are responsible for conservation areas. The Manual to the Building Regulations notes that where the functional requirement of Part B Fire Safety applies to buildings of special architectural or historic interest, local authority building control and conservation officers may be able to advise on how to comply appropriately, if guidance intended for common building situations might prove too restrictive.

We are aware of the action being taken by Barnet Council and continue to engage closely with them on the steps they are taking, following the Moss Hall Grove fire in June 2023.

I would be delighted to meet my Hon Friend and I know we are trying to do so, alongside our Rt Hon Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet, as soon as diaries permit.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timeframe is for assessing the effectiveness of the annual local authority road maintenance survey 2024.

Answered by Guy Opperman

Each year the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) commissions an independent survey of local authority highway authorities in England, including London, and Wales.

According to the AIA report, the aim of the survey is to take a snapshot of the general condition of the local road network based on information provided directly by those responsible for its maintenance.

The Department considers the report, along with a range of other evidence, when we are bidding to His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT).

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to extend the limitation period for making claims under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 to 52 years.

Answered by Lee Rowley

I am grateful for my Hon Friend’s suggestion. Whilst we are not proposing to extend the Defective Premises Act limitation period any further, I will bear in mind his suggestions should it ever be considered in the future.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate her Department has made of the trade generated by the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Sri Lanka since his appointment.

Answered by Greg Hands

It has not proved possible to respond to the Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what areas of the economy the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Sri Lanka has promoted during his tenure.

Answered by Greg Hands

It has not proved possible to respond to the Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on the Environment Improvement Plan’s objective to secure £500 million of private finance for nature restoration by 2027.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

The Government has set a target to mobilise over £500m per year of private finance into nature’s recovery in England by 2027, rising to over £1 billion by 2030. We are making progress towards the target by supporting the development and integrity of nature markets through the British Standards Institution Nature Investment Standards Programme; delivering Biodiversity Net Gain; committing £30 million of investment into a blended finance Big Nature Impact Fund; helping farmers with advice and support on accessing nature markets; and increasing the supply of nature investment projects through the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund.

We recently published an update on progress on our Nature Markets Framework, and we will consult on further policy interventions needed to support the growth of high integrity voluntary carbon and nature markets in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she is taking steps to strengthen UK-Israel trade relations.

Answered by Greg Hands

It has not proved possible to respond to the Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral evidence given by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Water and Rural Growth) to the Environmental Audit Committee on 15 May 2024, which designated bathing water location was tested three times more than was statutorily necessary.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are currently 451 designated bathing waters in England and the Environment Agency takes over 7,000 bathing water samples each year. The Bathing Water Regulations 2013 require designated bathing waters to be sampled at least 5 times per bathing season. This year, all bathing waters in England will be sampled more than this statutory minimum. The table below summarises the number of sites at each planned sampling frequency for the 2024 bathing season.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many times the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Sri Lanka has visited Sri Lanka in the last 12 months.

Answered by Greg Hands

It has not proved possible to respond to the Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Sri Lankan reconciliation process.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Sri Lanka is a human rights priority country, and the UK regularly engages with the Government of Sri Lanka on areas of concern, including progress on reconciliation. We recognise the significant doubts expressed by affected communities regarding the credibility of reconciliation mechanisms. The UK has stressed the importance of an inclusive participatory process to build trust. Any mechanism must be independent, meaningful, and transparent, meet the expectations of affected communities, build upon previous transitional justice processes, and provide pathways for accountability. The UK continues to fund work on the removal of landmines and the resettlement of internally displaced communities to support reconciliation efforts.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much Value Added Tax has the charge for single-use carrier bags raised since its introduction.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The single-use carrier bag charged has generated over £72 million in Value Added Tax since its introduction in October 2015 to April 2023. Data from April 2023 to April 2024 is currently being requested from retailers and is not available yet.

Full data on the single-use carrier bag charge, including VAT figures, can be found online at Single-use plastic carrier bags charge data for England - data.gov.uk.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the planned timeframe is for the completion of the Environment Agency (a) works and (b) removal of scaffolding located by the bridge on the Silkstream on Colindale Avenue in Colindale.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency is aware of the scaffolding next to the bridge over the Silk Stream on Colindale Avenue. This scaffolding is not associated with any Environment Agency work. The Environment Agency has been in contact with the third party who arranged for the scaffolding to be erected and has asked them to remove it. As the scaffolding and sandbags appear to still be in place, this will be followed up to expedite the removal.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) meetings and (b) other discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on knife crime in the last 12 months.

Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

The Home Secretary and Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire regularly meet with the Mayor of London and Police and Crime Commissioners to discuss crime and policing matters.

Since 2019, the Home Office has provided over £43m of funding for a Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in London which is providing a multi-agency, preventative response designed to tackle the drivers of serious violence and knife crime in London. In addition, c.£8.1m has been awarded in 2024/25 to deliver the ‘Hotspot Response’ programme and enable additional, high visibility patrols and problem-solving tactics in the areas worst affected by serious violence and ASB.

Additionally, just under £1.3m has been awarded in 2023/24 to support delivery of the Serious Violence Duty in London.

Following a surrender scheme, the manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes that are designed to look intimidating but have no practical purpose will be outlawed from 24 September 2024.

Additionally, through the Criminal Justice Bill, we are providing more powers for police to seize knives held in private that they believe will be used for unlawful violence, increasing the maximum penalty for the offences of selling prohibited weapons and selling knives to under 18s and creating a new offence of possessing an article with blade or point or an offensive weapon with intent to commit unlawful violence.

We are also providing £3.5 million into the research, development, and evaluation of new technologies to reduce knife crime, including knife detection technologies. The Metropolitan Police has been given £547,863 for further live facial recognition mobile units to be deployed across their 75 London hotspots.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps to cease the transfer of (a) weapons and (b) ammunition to countries that support Hamas (i) diplomatically and (ii) financially.

Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Economic Secretary (Treasury)

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the average earnings received by junior doctors in addition to basic pay in each of the last five years.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

The following table shows the estimated annual basic pay, total earnings, and non-basic pay per person for doctors at Junior Doctor level, each year from 2018/19 to 2022/23, the latest year for which data is available:

Source: estimates are based on published figures from the NHS Staff Earnings Estimates and reweighted using headcount data from the NHS Workforce Statistics, both of which are available respectively at the following links:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-staff-earnings-estimates/december-2023

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the proposal from Planetary Technologies and South West Water to perform a carbon sequestration trial by adding magnesium hydroxide into treated wastewater outlet pipes.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technologies are technologies that seek to remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Technologies such as Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) are currently being considered under this category. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change now considers GGR technologies to be essential in limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. The Government has an ambition to reach 5MtCO2/year of removals by 2030, potentially rising to 23MtCO2/year by 2035.

Reaching Net Zero and achieving good environmental status in the seas is a priority for Defra. Trials which advance GGR technologies, such as the proposed trial by Planetary Technologies and South West Water, could bring us closer to being able to deploy these technologies at a large scale. Reaching Net Zero will have benefits for ocean health and ecosystems. GGR technologies such as OAE may also benefit ocean health in other ways, for example, they may temporarily help combat local ocean acidification and the related negative impacts on species and ecosystems, such as calcium carbonate dissolution of calcifying species.

Planetary Technologies have informed the Environment Agency that they wish to delay their formal application for their proposed trial for a period of approximately 6 to 12 months. A new application will be considered as and when it is received.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by the Water Research Centre entitled Pre-Trial Audit of the Planetary and South West Water Ocean and Alkalinity Enhancement Pilot, published in February 2024.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

The pilot proposed by Planetary Technologies and South West Water involves the addition of alkaline material into the sea to assess the extent to which this results in the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as a method of engineered greenhouse gas removal.

The Environment Agency commissioned the Water Research Centre (WRC) to independently audit Planetary Technologies’ proposal and received WRC’s report in February 2024. The report concluded the trial was low risk and made several recommendations to Planetary. The WRC report can be found on a dedicated Planetary Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Trial Information Page hosted by the Environment Agency. More information can be found here. Planetary Technologies have informed the Environment Agency that they wish to delay their formal application for this proposed trial for a period of approximately 6 to 12 months, to allow them time to action the recommendations.

The Government is still evaluating the potential for marine-based technologies, such as ocean alkalinity enhancement, to provide a route for effective greenhouse gas removal. The benefits and risks to the environment need to be explored before these technologies can be deployed on a large scale. Pilot studies are essential to understanding the risks and benefits of these new technologies, but they need to be regulated to ensure they do not have adverse impacts themselves on the marine environment.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of looked-after children in the London Borough of Barnet.

Answered by David Johnston

The latest information on the number of looked after children at 31 March 2023 for the last five years by local authority, region and for England can be found in table LAA1 in the statistical release ‘Children Looked After in England: Including Adoption: 2022 to 2023’ at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2022-to-2023.

Additional information on the numbers of looked after children can be found in the local authority interactive tool on GOV.UK. This shows rates of children looked after in Barnet are consistently below those of comparator areas and have remained broadly static in rate per 10,000.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help increase the number of foster care placements in the London Borough of Barnet.

Answered by David Johnston

The department is investing over £36 million this parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme, so that foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost the number of foster carers recruited, as well as taking steps to retain the foster carers that we have.

Greater financial support for foster carers will help to improve the experience of all children in care. For the second year running, the department is uplifting the National Minimum Allowance (NMA) above the rate of inflation. For the 2024/2025 financial year, the NMA will increase by 6.88%. This is on top of a 12.43% NMA increase in 2023/24.

In addition, the department estimates that changes to tax and benefit allowances will give the average foster carer an additional £450 per year, as well as simplifying the process for self-assessment returns for most foster carers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2024 to Question 25470 on UK Border Force: Patrol Craft, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting that data.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

Border Force are constantly improving our data capture in support of maritime operations to ensure an effective response across a range of threats that we deal with.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is to make a decision on whether Planetary Technologies and South West Water will be granted permission to carry out carbon sequestration trials involving adding alkaline minerals to treated waste water being pumped into the sea.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

In March 2023, Planetary Technologies and South West Water asked the Environment Agency to authorise their carbon sequestration trial in St Ives Bay. Varying South West Water’s EPR (Environmental Permitting Regulations) permit would not have been appropriate for a short term trial (less than one month) so the approach would be to issue a Local Enforcement Position. The current EPR permit for the discharge doesn’t cover the proposed dosing activity and only considers the local environmental aspects rather than the wider policy implications and effectiveness of carbon sequestration of adding alkaline material (magnesium hydroxide) into the waste water outfall pipe.

We commissioned the Water Research Centre (WRC) to audit Planetary Technologies’ proposal and we received WRC’s report in February 2024. The report concluded the trial was low risk and made several recommendations to Planetary. Planetary Technologies have now informed us that they wish to delay their formal application for the Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement trial for a period of approximately 6 to 12 months, to allow them time to action the recommendations.

We will consider a new application as and when we receive it.

More information can be found here.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of humanitarian aid supplied to Gaza in the last six months; and what information his Department holds on the countries of origin of that aid.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We trebled our aid commitment in the last financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air.

As of 9 May, the UK has participated in 12 airdrops into Gaza, and on 17 April we announced £3 million of additional funding for equipment to support UN and aid agencies to get more aid into Gaza, including trucks, forklifts, generators, fuel stores and lighting towers.

On 6 April, the UK announced a £9.7 million package of military and civilian support to set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza, including the deployment of a Navy ship.

In addition, a field hospital, provided by UK Aid funding to UK-Med, is up and running in Gaza and has already treated thousands of patients, and we have funded more than 2,000 tonnes of food aid, which entered Gaza in March for distribution by the World Food Programme (WFP) on the ground.

Updates on the number of aid trucks and type of aid entering Gaza are published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on their publicly available aid dashboard at gazadashboard.unrwa.org. Between 2 November and 2 May 24,390 trucks entered Gaza. It remains challenging to track deliveries by weight and origin.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make representations to his counterpart in Iran on stopping the execution of Arvin Nathaniel Ghahremani.

Answered by David Rutley

FCDO is aware of Mr Ghahremani's case. We continue to call on Iran to establish a moratorium on executions, including at the UN General Assembly last year. We have sanctioned 94 individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022, including the Prosecutor General and Deputy Prosecutor General who are responsible for Iran's application of the death penalty. We continue to call for the release of all those who are unjustly detained in Iran.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2024 to Question 7549 on Hamas: Audio Equipment, what steps his Department is taking to help support Israel to remove Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK is doing all it can to reach a long-term solution to this crisis by calling for the immediate release of all hostages, the removal of Hamas' capacity to launch attacks against Israel, Hamas no-longer being in charge of Gaza, the formation of a new Palestinian Government for the West Bank and Gaza accompanied by an international support package, and a political horizon to a two-state solution.

The Prime Minister has spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu several times, most recently on 30 April. The Foreign Secretary spoke with Foreign Minister Katz on 13 May. He also visited Israel with German Foreign Minister Baerbock on 17 April, met G7 partners in Italy immediately afterwards, and has spoken with leaders and counterparts in the OPTs, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran in recent weeks.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken to increase the accountability of police (a) services and (b) officers to the public.

Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is his policy to ensure that interim payments are made to those who have been affected by infected blood.

Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General

The Victims and Prisoners Bill includes provisions which place a statutory duty on the Government to make interim payments of £100,000 to estates of the deceased infected people who were registered with existing or former support schemes before 17 April 2024 for deaths not yet recognised.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that every family who lost a relative from infected blood is compensated.

Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General

It is important that the Scheme recognises the immense suffering endured by people whose lives and families have been impacted by infected blood. Affected persons will be eligible for compensation in their own right where their case is linked to that of a person eligible under the compensation scheme. This includes affected partners; children; parents; siblings; and other friends and family members who cared for loved ones with an infection without reward or remuneration. Where a person has multiple family members who have been infected, multiple injury awards will be made to reflect the scale of their loss.

Found: ) Anna McMorrin MP (Labour, Cardiff North) John McNally MP (Scottish National Party, Falkirk ) Dr Matthew

Found: Philip Dunne Barry Gardiner Sir Robert Goodwill James Gray Caroline Lucas Jerome Mayhew Dr Matthew

Found: ) Anna McMorrin MP (Labour, Cardiff North) John McNally MP (Scottish National Party, Falkirk ) Dr Matthew

Found: ) Anna McMorrin MP (Labour, Cardiff North) John McNally MP (Scottish National Party, Falkirk ) Dr Matthew

Found: present: Philip Dunne (Chair); Barry Gardiner; Chris Grayling; Caroline Lucas; Jerome Mayhew; Dr Matthew

Found: Q52 Dr Matthew Offord: You raised the point that someone was going to die.

Found: Q52 Dr Matthew Offord: You raised the point that someone was going to die.

Found: Q52 Dr Matthew Offord: You raised the point that someone was going to die.

Found: Grayling; Ian Levy; Clive Lewis; Caroline Lucas; Cherilyn Mackrory; Jerome Mayhew; Anna McMorrin; Matthew

Found: Grayling; Ian Levy; Clive Lewis; Caroline Lucas; Cherilyn Mackrory; Jerome Mayhew; Anna McMorrin; Matthew

Found: Members present: James Gray (Chair); Philip Dunne; Barry Gardiner; Clive Lewis; Anna McMorrin; Dr Matthew

Found: John Hayes Henry Smith Sir Edward Leigh Nick Fletcher Tom Hunt Bob Blackman Miriam Cates Dr Matthew