Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, If he will discuss with his Turkish counterpart the resolution of persons missing following the invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the role that Turkey could play in providing access to military sites for exhumation and the release of information from military archives.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK maintains close contact with the Committee on Missing Persons which is mandated to search for, recover, identify and return to their families the remains of Cypriots from both communities. In July, the UK ensured language was included in the renewal of the mandate for the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus calling on all parties to enhance their cooperation with the Committee on Missing Persons, explicitly through providing full access without delay to all areas and responding in a timely manner to requests for archival information on possible burial sites.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport applications are (a) outstanding and (b) remain unprocessed for more than ten weeks.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Since April 2021, people have been advised to allow up to ten weeks when applying for their British passport as more than 5 million people delayed applying due to the pandemic. 98.6% of all passport applications are dealt well within 10 weeks and we are processing around 250,000 per week,
A British passport cannot be issued until all checks are satisfactorily completed to ensure the applicant is entitled to hold one. If further information is required to enable an application to be progressed, then it will take longer.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the economic impact of the planned closures of the M2 motorway between junctions 5 and 6 at weekends in (a) spring and (b) summer 2022 on tourist industries in the seaside towns of (i) Whitstable, (ii) Herne Bay, (iii) Birchington-on-Sea, (iv) Westgate-on-Sea, (v) Margate, (vi) Broadstairs and (vii) Ramsgate.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The closures are required to carry out essential replacement of life-expired bridge components. The Department does not, as standard practice, carry out economic impact assessments for road closures. However, National Highways has agreed the planned closures in consultation with Kent County Council and timed them to avoid school holidays and major events in the local area.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of staff in the Passport Office working from home as of 18 May 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
For staff where they role can only be performed from an office, they will continue to work from a Home Office building at all times.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office operational teams securely process passport applications both working from an office and through the use of homeworking solutions. Passport Applications are being processed in higher numbers than ever before. Across March and April 2022, HM Passport Office completed the processing of approximately two million applications.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the backlog of outstanding passport applications.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Ahead of unrestricted international travel returning, HM Passport Office prepared extensively to serve an unprecedented number of customers, with 9.5 million British passport applications forecasted throughout 2022.
These preparations have ensured that passport applications can be processed in higher numbers than ever before. Across March and April 2022, HM Passport Office completed the processing of approximately two million applications.
Ministers continue to meet regularly with officials to monitor performance, and to explore further options that will help to ensure that people receive their passports in good time.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current animal welfare arrangements for the 77 million fish farmed annually in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any protected animal, or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of an animal, including fish, for which that person is responsible.
Regulations also require that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.
As part of the Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we are currently considering a number of improvements that could be made to the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing and have asked the Animal Welfare Committee to update its 2014 Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing.
Any allegations of welfare or health issues will be investigated by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Cefas, and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken against anyone who breaks the law when non-compliances are disclosed.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to announce details of the Primary PE and Sport Premium for the 2022-23 academic year.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is considering arrangements for the primary PE and sport premium for the 2022/23 academic year and beyond and will confirm the position in due course.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many permits his Department has issued for the import of hunting trophies from Russia in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK recorded 2 imports of brown bear hunting trophies from Russia under CITES in 2020, 12 in 2019 and 0 in 2018. 2020 is the latest full year for which data is available. Data for 2021 is currently being finalised and will be made available through the CITES trade database at https://trade.cites.org/.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of new trade deals on the import and export volumes that will require air freight transportation.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department actively monitors the passage of air freight in and out of the UK and engages regularly with industry including airlines, airports and ground handling companies.
The Government recognises the vital role air freight plays in supply chains by ensuring that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the UK without disruption. The sector is highly resilient and exclusively private. In 2017 air freight contributed £7.2 billion to the UK economy.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of future GDP growth on air freight tonnage for (a) imports into and (b) exports from the UK.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department actively monitors the passage of air freight in and out of the UK and engages regularly with industry including airlines, airports and ground handling companies.
The Government recognises the vital role air freight plays in supply chains by ensuring that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the UK without disruption. The sector is highly resilient and exclusively private. In 2017 air freight contributed £7.2 billion to the UK economy.