Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce melanoma incidence rates.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department continues to advise patients to follow National Health Service guidance on reducing the risk of melanoma. The advice is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-health/sunscreen-and-sun-safety/
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals equivalent to the (a) US Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act, (b) EU Corporate sustainability due diligence directive and (c) EU forced labour regulation.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to working with international partners and businesses to ensure global supply chains are free from environmental harms, and human and labour rights abuses. No UK company should have these in their supply chains.
The Government is reviewing the detail and implementation of the EU’s Forced Labour Regulation and its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, as well the US’s Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act, and will continue to engage with our European and US partners to understand how we best tackle environmental harms, modern slavery and forced labour in supply chains.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 potential impact of the forthcoming Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on the (a) glass, (b) aluminium and (c) plastic packaging sectors.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the previous Government, the 2022 Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) impact assessment made an assessment of the impact of introducing the scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment covered glass, aluminium, plastic and other materials, but did not split the assessment by sector.
The new Government has now published two sets of pEPR illustrative base fees and is undertaking engagement with all relevant industries to ensure that they are based on the best evidence to date.
As part of this engagement, the potential impact on specific packaging sectors is being discussed. The pEPR scheme administrator will continue to monitor the impact of implementing the pEPR scheme on the packaging market.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2024 to Question 4722 on Fisheries, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) adopting and (b) implementing the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government welcomes the broad principles set out in the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency and sees considerable merit in its objective of improving transparency and accountability in global fisheries governance and management.
The UK already implements many of the policies set out in the Charter. These include: requiring the use of identification numbers on fishing vessels; publishing beneficial ownership data within the People with Significant Control register; not permitting transshipment of fish at sea; and ratifying key international agreements such as the Agreement on Port State Measures, International Labour Organization (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the Work in Fishing Convention (C188).
We will continue to keep under active review the steps we can take to combat illegal fishing and will continue to welcome engagement with the organisations who have produced the Charter.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (a) domestically and (b) internationally.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a significant threat to ocean ecosystems, coastal communities and global food supplies which undermines fisheries conservation and management measures. The UK Government holds key responsibilities under domestic and international law to tackle IUU fishing.
Domestically, catch documentation is required when importing seafood into the UK from another country to prevent IUU-derived fish entering UK supply chains. Furthermore, seafood caught by a vessel listed on the UK’s IUU vessel list is banned from entering the UK, and controls are also in place to prevent foreign vessels accessing UK ports if suspected of engaging in IUU fishing.
Internationally, the UK co-founded the IUU Action Alliance in 2022 to help drive international support and cooperation to tackle IUU fishing globally and, in line with this, is funding a project in the Philippines to support implementation of robust controls at their ports. The UK Government is also party to a number of regional fisheries management organisations which focus on ensuring our shared fish stocks in international waters are managed sustainably and illegal fishing is tackled effectively.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his planned timetable is for the audit of the UK-China bilateral relationship; and what topics that audit will consider.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government will bring a consistent, long-term and strategic approach to managing the UK's relations with China, driven by the national interest. We will co-operate where we can, including on global net zero, health and trade; compete where we have different interests; and challenge where we must, to protect our national security and values. An audit of the UK's relationship with China will improve the UK's capability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities. A timeline for the audit is to be determined.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; whether he plans to continue with the cull of badgers in Derbyshire; and for what reason 1,675 badgers were to be culled.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has committed to ending badger culling by the next General Election. In contrast, in the past decade over 230,000 badgers were culled.
On 30 August, Defra announced that we will be working on a comprehensive new TB eradication strategy to end the badger cull and drive down bovine TB rates to protect farmers’ livelihoods.
Badger culling is licensed under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease. The figure quoted in the question refers to the maximum number of badgers to be culled under supplementary badger control licences in Derbyshire. In previous years, the total number of badgers culled has been closer to the minimum, which this year is set at 425, rather than the maximum.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the findings of the Decapods: Call for Evidence, published on 5 July 2023; and what recent estimate she has made of when the Animals in Science Committee will report on options for the future regulation of the use of decapod crustaceans in research.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Following earlier research and reports on this issue, the next step is for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to decide whether to regulate Decapods under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Any decision of publication of earlier research or the commissioning of further advice will follow in due course.