Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on reviewing the EU-Turkey refugee agreement; and what steps he is taking to ensure the safety of refugees in Turkey and the surrounding region.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are committed to supporting the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal, which is key to managing effectively migratory flows and preventing people risking their lives in attempts to cross the Aegean. As declared in a joint EU statement issued on 14 October, we remain engaged in efforts to effectively address the serious humanitarian and refugee crisis, and ensuring the safety of refugees. We and our European partners have been clear that we cannot support any plans to return refugees to Syria unless conditions are in place for voluntary, safe and dignified return.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure equal protection for all domestic abuse survivors by upholding the non-discrimination principle in accordance with Article 4(3) of the Istanbul Convention.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In respect of migrant victims of domestic abuse we have committed to undertake a review into the Government’s overall response and this work began over the summer period. The review will specifically consider the recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Domestic Abuse following their pre-legislative scrutiny of the Domestic Abuse Bill. In considering our response, we will take into account any obligations we may have under the Istanbul Convention.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the share of the miners' pension scheme’s surplus that goes to former miners.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government does not intend to change the current surplus-sharing arrangements that have worked well for all parties. Instead, we are considering the Trustees’ proposals for changes to the scheme that include protection of bonuses already accrued and hope to reach agreement shortly. We will update the House in due course.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to create a regulator for online political advertising.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government has committed to implementing an imprints regime for digital election material. Our aim is to increase transparency and allow voters to see more information about who has produced election material. We will publish the technical proposals for this regime later this year.
The Cabinet Office is also preparing to launch a consultation on electoral integrity. The scope of this may include increased transparency on digital political advertising; closing loopholes on foreign spending in elections; preventing shell companies from sidestepping current rules on political finance; and action to tackle foreign lobbying. More detail will be brought forward in due course.
In addition, in February this year the Government announced its intention to lead a review of how online advertising is regulated in the UK. This review will identify and address the systematic social and economic challenges that arise from the sector.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that ceramics companies in North Staffordshire are able to avoid (a) delays in transferring raw materials to factories and (b) incurring additional costs when exporting goods in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government’s priority is to keep goods moving and avoid delays at the border. As the UK’s customs authority, HMRC will act to ensure that border processes are as smooth as possible, without compromising security.
In the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, businesses which trade with the EU will broadly be subject to customs controls in the same way as businesses who are presently trading with the rest of the world, although there are a number of temporary easements in place to help businesses make this transition.
To support traders with customs declarations, where the majority of UK businesses that currently export outside of the EU use an intermediary, the Government has made available £24m in grants to support training and IT costs for intermediaries and an additional £10m to support intermediaries with the costs of hiring new staff.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ban the (a) production and (b) use of polystyrene plastic packaging in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Packaging materials, including polystyrene, are already covered by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations which place a legal obligation on businesses that make or use packaging to ensure that a proportion of the packaging they sell is recovered and recycled. This creates an incentive for companies to use less packaging and to ensure that their packaging can be recycled at end of life as it will reduce their costs in complying with the Regulations.
In general, we prefer to help people and companies make the right choice, rather than banning items outright. We have, however, recently consulted on changes to the packaging producer responsibility scheme, looking at all aspects of the regime including mechanisms to encourage increased recyclability.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will include regulation of news publishers in her legislative proposals on online harms.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Online Harms White Paper sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online, and to better protect the rights and wellbeing of users online. It will make companies more responsible for their users' safety online, especially children and other vulnerable groups.
A vibrant, independent, pluralistic and free press is essential to our democracy. As set out in the former Secretary of State's letter to the Society of Editors, the White Paper's proposals do not impact journalistic and editorial content and will not interfere with the current approach to press regulation.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure equal protection for all domestic abuse survivors by upholding the non-discrimination principle in accordance with Article 4(3) of the Istanbul Convention.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing councils with the power to manage properties currently owned by housing associations.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
No such assessment has been made. The government believes that both local authorities and housing associations have an important role to play in building and managing the affordable homes this country needs. Making housing associations subject to local authority control would result in them being reclassified to the public sector, thereby adding their debt (currently £77 billion) to the Public Sector Net Debt.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that no products linked to Amazon deforestation are sold in the UK.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.