Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2024 to Question 20817 on Hamas: UNRWA, what assessment he has made of the threats faced by UNRWA staff members (a) John Ging and (b) Matthias Schmale.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Neither John Ging nor Matthias Schmale currently work for UNRWA. John Ging left the organisation in 2011 and Matthias Schmale in 2021, We hold regular discussions with UNRWA about their operations in Gaza and across the region. We are not currently aware of any threats made to their senior operations staff.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Turkish counterpart on the reported granting of (a) citizenship and (b) passports to senior Hamas figures (i) Ismail Haniyeh and (ii) Saleh al-Arouri by that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have not recently engaged with the Turkish Government on the reported granting of citizenship and passports to senior Hamas figures. Turkey granted citizenship to Ismail Haniyey in 2020, and Saleh al-Arouri was killed in January this year.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent estimate he has made of the number of British (a) dual-nationals and (b) citizens that were killed during the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office were informed of the deaths of 15 British nationals killed in the terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023.
We do not have details on how many of the victims were dual nationals.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with her Qatari counterpart on (a) businesses in that country having links to Hamas and (b) the potential impact of those links on the level of risk for British business partners.
Answered by Greg Hands
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) the Mental Health Foundation, (b) the Antisemitism Policy Trust and (c) other civil society organisations on the regulation of online forums that allow the sharing of (i) detailed instructional information about methods of suicide and (ii) other (A) dangerous and (B) hateful content; and whether she plans further such discussions.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State and department officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society groups, on online safety issues. During the development and passage of the Online Safety Act, the department and Ministers met with relevant civil society organisations to discuss issues such as suicide prevention and countering online hate and violence, to ensure the legislation took into account as broad a range of views as possible.
Following the Act gaining Royal Assent, there is ongoing engagement with relevant stakeholders as the legislation is implemented by Ofcom, the online safety regulator.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
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 publish the average mayoral precept in each mayoral authority.
Answered by Jacob Young
The Government publishes data on the average Band D council tax set by each individual authority - including mayoral combined authorities - in the annual council tax levels publication. Band D is used as the standard for comparing council tax levels between and across local authorities. Individual local authorities also publish further details about their council tax charges.
The average Band D council tax set by each local authority for 2024-25 are as follows:
Authority | Average council tax for the authority (Band D) – general functions of the mayor £ | Average council tax for the Authority (Band D) – Police and Crime Commissioner functions of the mayor £ |
West Midlands | 0.00 | N/A |
Greater Manchester | 112.95 (Note 1) | 256.30 |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough | 36.00 | N/A |
Liverpool City Region | 19.00 | N/A |
North of Tyne | 0.00 (Note 2) | N/A |
South Yorkshire | 0.00 | N/A |
Tees Valley | 0.00 | N/A |
West Yorkshire | 0.00 | 249.28 |
|
|
|
Greater London Authority | 166.27 (Note 3) | 305.13 |
Note 1: Greater Manchester’s general functions includes the responsibility for Fire and Rescue provision. This is not the case for any other Authority and so the figure is not directly comparable.
Note 2: The North of Tyne Combined Authority will be replaced by the newly established North East Mayoral Combined Authority.
Note 3: Greater London Authority is not a Combined Authority and therefore the Mayor has different roles and responsibilities which are not directly comparable.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the return of Ukrainian children unlawfully deported by the Russian authorities.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
We call upon Russia to cease these deportations immediately and return all Ukrainian children. In June 2022, we sanctioned the Russian Children's Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, and in June 2023, we announced new sanctions against 10 Russian officials and one entity involved. We have provided funding to the International Criminal Court and support to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The UK is also now a member of the 'International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children'. We are determined to hold to account those responsible for forcibly deporting and attempting to indoctrinate Ukrainian children.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the Director of Operations at UNRWA on (a) the precision of air strikes in Gaza and (b) whether Hamas tunnels ran near or under UNRWA schools.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations extremely seriously, including in relation to UN installations such as schools. The FCDO also monitors this closely through our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified, UNRWA has taken action, including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with UNRWA on alleged threats made to their senior operations staff by Hamas.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are not currently aware of any threats made to senior UNRWA operations staff by Hamas.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help secure the release of Israeli hostages.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Foreign Secretary met the Sharabi and Popplewell families on 16 January to hear about their relatives' horrendous ordeals at the hands of Hamas. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary also met with hostage families on 21 January.
We will continue to do all we can to secure the release of all hostages. We need a humanitarian pause now to allow for the release of hostages. We will continue to do all we can.