Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to provide funding to help tackle antisemitism in other countries.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Antisemitism has no place in our, or any, society and the UK has a long-standing track record of fighting it.
The UK currently holds the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), through which we have worked with IHRA's 35 member states and permanent international partners to promote Holocaust education and research and combat antisemitism across the globe.
Under our presidency we also funded IHRA's annual €50,000 Yehuda Bauer Grant, which finances a project aiming to undertake new and significant research on the Holocaust and antisemitism.
The FCDO additionally administers the John Bunyan Fund, a designated programme for overseas projects focused on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports that Christians are being forced to convert to Buddhism in the Naga self-administered zone of Myanmar; and what steps his Department is taking to help tackle religious persecution in Myanmar.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to defending freedom of religion for all in Myanmar, including in the Naga self-administered zone. We remain concerned by the Race and Religion Laws in Myanmar, which are used to discriminate against non-Buddhists, including Christians. We are deeply troubled by the increasing reports of religiously motivated violence, including the destruction of places of worship and the forced conversions of Christians to Buddhism. We provide funding to the UN's Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar and have established the Myanmar Witness programme to collect and preserve evidence of violations and abuses, including atrocities against religious minority groups.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to review the adequacy of the Charities Act 2011.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government has no plans to conduct a review of the adequacy of the Charities Act 2011.
DCMS regularly considers the charity regulatory landscape to ensure that charities are sufficiently transparent and accountable, and to ensure that the Charity Commission for England and Wales has appropriate oversight of the sector.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in England and Wales received discretionary housing payment after qualifying for local housing allowance in 2023-24.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We do not hold this information.
Local authorities administer the Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) scheme as they are best placed to make informed judgements about relative priorities and needs in their area to ensure that the most vulnerable are supported and the funds are targeted effectively. As such, DWP do not hold administrative data on households in receipt of a DHP and thus cannot state how many awards were made for households who received housing support via the Local Housing Allowance in 2023/24.
The Department publishes Official Statistics on the use of DHPs twice a year, based on information supplied by local authorities: Discretionary Housing Payments statistics - GOV.UK
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress he has made on supporting (a) Rakhine Muslim and (b) Christian communities in Myanmar.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all. Since 2017, the UK has provided over £48 million in aid including cash assistance and water, sanitation and hygiene services to the Rohingya and other Muslim minorities in Rakhine state. We continue to stress the need for de-escalation in Rakhine and for civilians to be protected. This was recently reiterated in a joint statement with international partners in January 2025. We continue to condemn the abuses taking place against Myanmar's religious minorities, including its Christian population. In response to the Myanmar military's worsening aerial attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including churches, we announced seven sanctions in October 2024, targeting suppliers of aviation fuel and equipment to the Myanmar military.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies on freedom of religion or belief of the imposition of legal restrictions on the Burqa in public spaces in Switzerland; and whether he plans to take steps to help promote freedom of religion or belief in Switzerland in the context of that legislation.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to champion freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all. We are working to uphold the right to FoRB through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora and in our important bilateral work. These are ultimately matters for the democratic Swiss authorities but we engage with Switzerland on a range of issues both bilaterally and multilaterally- including human rights and FoRB issues, this includes during the Swiss Chairing of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, as well as through our shared membership of the Council of Europe and OSCE.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made on helping to improve freedom of religion or belief of minority Buddhist communities in Southeast Asia.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We are championing the right to FoRB multilaterally, bilaterally and through programme funding. In Southeast Asia, for example, as a member of the International Contact Group on Freedom of Religion and Belief in Vietnam, the UK has often worked to raise cases of concern with Vietnamese authorities in this area. The appointment of David Smith MP as the Special Envoy for FoRB is a clear signal of the UK's ongoing commitment to these efforts in Southeast Asia and across the globe.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to investigate the business practices of rent-a-roof companies under the (a) Feed-In-Tariff and (b) Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is aware of allegations that have been made about the business practices of some companies that operated rent-a-roof or leasing models in the Feed-in Tariff and Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive schemes. Ofgem is currently looking into these allegations.
If Ofgem finds evidence of wrongdoing, then the Department will support Ofgem in using the full extent of its powers to address the issue.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on aviation objections to onshore wind in Wales.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on renewable energy projects in Wales. Wales will play an important role in increasing the UK's onshore wind capacity and meeting our Net Zero and energy security ambitions.
The UK Government has set up an Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce to identify and address the barriers to increased onshore wind deployment, including in relation to airspace management and aviation. The government engages regularly with the Welsh Government, who are represented on the Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce. Welsh Government officials have been attending the Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce Working Group 4: Aviation and Defence. The group is discussing the challenges, opportunities and risks associated with accelerating onshore wind deployment to 2030, relevant to aviation and defence policy.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with the Welsh government on aviation objections to onshore wind in South Wales.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
I have regular discussions with the Welsh Government on renewable energy projects in Wales. Wales will play an important role in increasing the UK's onshore wind capacity and meeting our Net Zero and energy security ambitions.
The UK Government has set up an Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce to identify and address the barriers to increased onshore wind deployment, including in relation to airspace management and aviation. The government engages regularly with the Welsh Government, who are represented on the Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce. Welsh Government officials have been attending the Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce Working Group 4: Aviation and Defence. The group is discussing the challenges, opportunities and risks associated with accelerating onshore wind deployment to 2030, relevant to aviation and defence policy.