Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of recent alleged instances of persecution against Christians in Iran.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We condemn Iran's restrictions against Freedom of Religion or Belief. Christians, particularly converts from Islam, and other minority religions, continue to face severe repression in Iran. We were proud to help deliver the Iran Human Rights resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, which called on Iran to cease monitoring individuals on account of their religious identity and to ensure rights are upheld. We will continue to hold Iran accountable for its repression of religious minorities.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has reviewed policy on recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus since 2020.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK's long-standing position is not to recognise the so-called "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" as an independent state. This is in accordance with several UN Security Council Resolutions and in line with the rest of the international community, with the sole exception of Turkey. As a Guarantor Power and a friend to all parties, we will continue to support the efforts of the UN and all Cypriot communities towards a just and lasting settlement.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the impact assessment for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, published on 5 November 2024, whether the specified cost of retailer staff training (a) is a one-off cost and (b) reflects ongoing costs in relation to planned secondary legislation relating to that Bill.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

The estimated familiarisation and staff training costs included in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill impact assessment are assumed to be one-off costs, and individual estimates are provided for each specific policy.

The bill will gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country, so an individual born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be legally sold these products, including through proxy purchasing. Although it will mean the legal age of sale effectively increases by one year each year, the regulations will not change every year. This means it will be a one-off cost for retailers in terms of training staff.

Some indicative estimates for staff training are included for secondary legislation. This, however, will be subject to consultation and, where proportionate, further work will be completed to assess the costs and benefits of these measures.

We will continue to work closely with retailers to support them in implementing the smoke-free generation policy in the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make a comparative estimate of the costs of (a) implementing a one-time increase in the legal purchase age of tobacco and (b) introducing an age escalator, in the context of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability, and ill health. It causes approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, one in four of all cancer deaths, and kills up to two-thirds of its users.

Smoking also substantially increases the risk of many major health conditions throughout people’s lives, such as strokes, diabetes, heart disease, stillbirth, dementia, and asthma. Three quarters of smokers wish they had never started smoking but are unable to stop due to the addictive nature of tobacco.

It is estimated that smoking costs the country £21.8 billion a year in England. This includes an annual £18.3 billion loss to productivity, through smoking related lost earnings, unemployment, and early death, as well as costs to the National Health Service and social care of over £2 billion.

On 5 November 2024, the Department published an impact assessment on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. This found that the introduction of the smoke-free generation policy, the progressive increase in the age of sale, will get smoking rates in England for 14 to 30 year olds to 0% as early as 2050. Over the next 50 years it will save tens of thousands of lives, and avoid up to 130,000 cases of cases of lung cancer, strokes, and heart disease.

The impact assessment explored a one-time age increase, but this has been discounted as it does not achieve the policy objective to prevent future generations from ever taking up smoking and getting smoking prevalence to 0% to achieve a smoke-free United Kingdom. Simply raising the age of sale to one set year will only raise the age that people start smoking, and would not break the cycle of addiction and disadvantage.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a STEM teachers continuing professional development fund with industry.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department has a range of programmes to support continuing professional development for teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), for 2025/26 these include:

• The subject knowledge for physics teaching programme, which supports non-specialist teachers of physics in teaching the requirements of the key stage 3 and key stage 4 physics curriculum.
• The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, mathematics hubs and the advanced mathematics support programme, which provide professional development to teachers of mathematics from reception to key stage 5.
• The National Centre for Computing Education, to support the teaching of computing and increase participation in computer science qualifications.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has not had any discussions with teaching groups on the potential merits of establishing a continuing professional development fund with industry, but funding to support STEM education beyond the 2025/26 financial year will be considered as part of the forthcoming spending review.

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Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with teaching groups on the potential merits of establishing a STEM teachers continuing professional development fund with industry.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department has a range of programmes to support continuing professional development for teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), for 2025/26 these include:

• The subject knowledge for physics teaching programme, which supports non-specialist teachers of physics in teaching the requirements of the key stage 3 and key stage 4 physics curriculum.
• The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, mathematics hubs and the advanced mathematics support programme, which provide professional development to teachers of mathematics from reception to key stage 5.
• The National Centre for Computing Education, to support the teaching of computing and increase participation in computer science qualifications.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has not had any discussions with teaching groups on the potential merits of establishing a continuing professional development fund with industry, but funding to support STEM education beyond the 2025/26 financial year will be considered as part of the forthcoming spending review.

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Compensation for Equitable Life policyholders

Independent parking regulator

Publication of fuel court prices

Mobile phone theft

80th anniversary of Grosvenor Grammar School

Found: _7 Sammy Wilson .

Found: _7 Sammy Wilson .

Found: _4 Sammy Wilson ★.