Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, what progress she has made on developing digital requirements for Education, Health and Care Plans.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is working with local authorities and suppliers to deliver a digital project to digitise the Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan process for England. The department started this project in summer 2023 to understand what role digitisation should play in the EHC plan process, and the potential longer-term benefits of digital solutions.
The department launched a second project phase in October 2023. This helped the department to understand the benefits, barriers, and limitations of the digitisation of the EHC plan process. This phase resulted in recommendations.
The department launched a third project phase in February 2024 to test the recommendations, which are due to be shared with local authorities and the wider sector this month.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the progress that has been made since the publication of the SEND and AP Improvement Plan; how many additional education psychologists have been employed by local authorities and; how many additional teachers have undertaken SENCO training since the publication of that plan.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) frequently require access to additional support from a broad specialist workforce across education, health and care. To support this, the department has completed the following:
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Balochistan in the context of law enforcement actions against the Baloch Long March protestors.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is concerned about reports of human rights abuses in Pakistan, including in Balochistan. We strongly condemn any instances of extrajudicial killings or enforced disappearances. The former Foreign Secretary met with Pakistan's Caretaker Prime Minister on 25 September to discuss human rights. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, raised the issue of enforced disappearances with the then Minister for Human Rights in June 2022. On the 20 February, Minister Trevelyan attended a Westminster Hall Debate on Human Rights in Balochistan. The UK will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people as laid down in Pakistan's Constitution and in accordance with international standards.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the UK defence industry of Armenia's withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Answered by James Heappey
On Thursday 22 February, Armenia froze their membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), stating that Russia had not fulfilled its security obligations towards Armenia. This does not yet represent a formal withdrawal from the organisation.
The UK recognises this decision as Armenia's sovereign right and will work with Euro-Atlantic allies to support Armenia in the face of Russian threats of retaliation.
The UK is a signatory of the OSCE arms embargo, and as such any benefits to UK defence industry must occur within the mandated restrictions. We will continue to work closely with Armenia to explore opportunities for closer cooperation.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to tackle the proliferation of malign AI generated content farms.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government takes the issue of information threats to national security very seriously, including threats posed by foreign states, and the use of AI and deepfakes. DSIT works closely across government and with social media platforms, civil society groups, academia, and international partners, to tackle these risks.
DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) is focused on threats from foreign states, as well as risks emerging from the use of deepfakes to imitate elected leaders and interfere with elections and the use of bots to drive disinformation and fuel division.
The Online Safety Act will also address a range of threats posed by AI. The Act will force companies to take action against illegal content online, including illegal AI-generated content, and will require companies to take steps to remove this illegal content if they become aware of it on their services. This includes the Foreign Interference Offence, which has been added as a priority offence in the Act, forcing companies to remove a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and state-linked interference online.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what support his Department is providing to the Armenian government to bolster democracy in that country.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The United Kingdom strongly supports democracy in Armenia. I [Minister Docherty] discussed domestic reforms with Armenia's Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, during my visit to the South Caucasus in November last year. We provide Armenia support through The Good Governance Fund (GGF), including up to £2.3 million this year for programmes that are focused on strengthening and promoting inclusive governance, economic growth and supporting safeguards of democracy in Armenia.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential relationship between the government of Rwanda and the M23 militia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK government is alarmed by the further escalation of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and we continue to raise our concerns with the governments of DRC and Rwanda at every appropriate moment. I [Minister Mitchell] met with President Kagame and Foreign Minister Biruta during my visit to Rwanda in late August, where I encouraged de-escalation and emphasised the need for a peaceful political solution. I anticipate engaging with the Government of Rwanda on this issue in my upcoming visit this April. The UK Special Envoy has recently returned from a UN-led trip to the region, where she encouraged de-escalation and a return to regional peace processes. We continue to work with members of the international community to bring an end to the violence, human rights abuses and the violations of international humanitarian law documented by armed groups including M23.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the level of risk to bird life in the British Antarctic Territory following the discovery of Avian Influenza on the continent; and whether the Government plans to take steps to mitigate that risk.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We receive regular reports from the British Antarctic Territory on the status of suspected avian influenza cases.
We provide support to the region and other British Overseas Territories proactively, to rapidly test for, track and monitor progression of disease spread and impact in Southern Oceans/Antarctica. This includes working with others to define risk.
National Antarctic programmes have protocols in place to manage and mitigate the spread of outbreaks and best practice on reporting and biosecurity standards is also shared through International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and the Commission for the Conservation Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the treatment of (a) babies, (b) children and (c) young people by integrated care systems.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Organisations within integrated care systems (ICSs) that hold the commissioning responsibility for children and young people’s services, provide treatment to the whole population, including babies, children, and young people. There are various mechanisms for monitoring the treatment provided by different organisations, for example general practice services, including immunisations, are monitored via General Practice Indicators.
Statutory guidance sets out that all integrated care boards (ICBs) have an Executive Lead for children and young people, and that all ICB Joint Forward Plans include a section on babies, children and young people.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is due to begin assessing ICSs. The Department has asked the CQC, as part of its new scrutiny, to assess whether each ICS is adequately considering health and wellbeing outcomes for babies, children, and young people.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Defending Democracy Taskforce has made of the implications for its work of the use of AI in election campaigns in (a) Pakistan and (b) Indonesia.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce (DDTF) is committed to working with international partners to build collective democratic resilience and share best practice to tackle shared challenges including from dis/misinformation and AI.
In Indonesia, the UK is working with the government and civil society to strengthen their democratic processes against threats. We are also working with Indonesia to progress work on AI safety, following the AI Safety Summit in November 2023.
In Pakistan, the FCDO supported efforts to counter the influence of disinformation in the electoral process through the CSSF Hate Speech and Disinformation Programme, which supported the development of a fact-checking tool called iVerify.
The UK will continue to work with international partners holding elections this year to exchange best practice on shared threats to our election systems, including from AI. We will continue to monitor international electoral events to inform our work to protect the UK from interference in our democratic process, including elections.