Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ratifying the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement is a major victory for ocean protection and multilateral diplomacy and underpins the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the cornerstone of ocean governance. The Agreement means much greater protection for the two-thirds of the global ocean that lies beyond national jurisdiction. It will play a key role supporting the delivery of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including helping to achieve the target to effectively conserve and manage at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. The UK played a significant and proactive role in achieving this success in over 10 years of negotiations and will continue to be proactive in preparing for implementation and entry into force and supporting other, particularly developing, countries, to do so. The UK continues to work at pace on the legislation and other measures needed to implement the Agreement and aims to implement and ratify in time for the UN Ocean Conference in June 2025 and will be in the forefront of the countries ratifying the treaty.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce barriers to entry for young deaf people in sport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government recognises that there are significant benefits to participation in sport and physical activity for disabled people, including D/deaf people at both the grassroots and elite levels.
We believe that every child, no matter their background or ability, should have the opportunity to play sport and do regular physical activity.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s arm’s length body, Sport England, is committing £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level, build wider participation, and develop strong governance within UK Deaf Sport.
Sport England have also agreed to work with UK Deaf Sport to help to identify a small number of governing bodies that, on a trial basis, will have their talent pathways supported to be as inclusive to D/deaf athletes as possible. This work with Sport England will help open up opportunities at all levels for D/deaf people.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase participation by deaf people in sport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government recognises that there are significant benefits to participation in sport and physical activity for disabled people, including D/deaf people at both the grassroots and elite levels.
We believe that every child, no matter their background or ability, should have the opportunity to play sport and do regular physical activity.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s arm’s length body, Sport England, is committing £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level, build wider participation, and develop strong governance within UK Deaf Sport.
Sport England have also agreed to work with UK Deaf Sport to help to identify a small number of governing bodies that, on a trial basis, will have their talent pathways supported to be as inclusive to D/deaf athletes as possible. This work with Sport England will help open up opportunities at all levels for D/deaf people.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to help evacuate people in Gaza who have permission to enter the UK.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
FCDO staff are working with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities to ensure any remaining British nationals and eligible persons that want to leave Gaza are cleared to cross as soon as possible. The Rafah border crossing continues to be open for controlled and time-limited periods to allow specific groups of foreign nationals to cross. Whilst it is for the Egyptian and Israeli authorities to determine who is permitted to cross, and when, we have assisted over 300 people to leave so far.