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, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of progress made towards tackling desertification at the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
COP16 was the biggest and most inclusive Desertification COP to date. It marked a significant milestone, raising global ambition and mobilising finance to strengthen drought resilience, restore degraded land and combat desertification: issues critically interlinked with the UK's international development, climate and nature goals. We welcome the leadership the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia COP16 Presidency has shown in elevating these critical issues. Many important outcomes were achieved at UNCCD COP16, including over $12 billion announced to support UNCCD issues over the next decade, and the launch of the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership to scale support for vulnerable countries. There is further to go, including reaching an agreed global approach on drought resilience, that drives ambition, progress and delivery.
The UK is committed to supporting vulnerable countries to build resilience and scale action on drought, desertification, water security, and land degradation. Our £11.6 billion International Climate Finance commitment includes £1.5 billion for adaptation in 2025 - a tripling from 2019 levels. This includes an initial investment in the Resilience and Adaptation Fund, which will help hundreds of thousands of vulnerable families across the world secure better access to food, water and productive land.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 16151 on Energy: Supply Chains, whether his Department is taking steps to include (a) trade unions and (b) civil society in the solar taskforce.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Solar Taskforce is working towards the publication of the Solar Roadmap in Spring 2025. This will outline the actions required to develop supply chains that are resilient, sustainable, innovative, and free from forced labour.
Solar Energy UK, the solar industry trade association that co-chairs the Taskforce, is leading the industry response on this matter by developing and launching the Solar Stewardship Initiative, in partnership with Solar Power Europe.
As part of this work, members of the Taskforce are engaging with relevant civil society groups and trade unions.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with refence to the oral contribution of 6 November 2024 by the Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security, Official Report column 70WH, how the solar stewardship initiative will support the delivery of the solar roadmap.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Solar Roadmap will set out the Government’s solar deployment ambitions as part of its mission to achieve Clean Power by 2030. It will outline the actions required to develop resilient, sustainable, innovative, and free from forced labour supply chains.
The UK’s main solar industry trade association – Solar Energy UK, who co-chair the Solar Taskforce - is leading the industry’s response on this matter by developing and launching the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI), in partnership with Solar Power Europe. Members of the SSI have committed to applying its traceability standards and audits, while encouraging its adoption throughout their supply chain.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the BBC Eye Investigation televised on 2 December 2024, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Tesco, (b) Waitrose, (c) Asda and (b) Morrisons on product labelling.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is responsible for general product labelling on food products and the Department for Business and Trade works closely with them on this issue.
The Government has high standards regarding the information provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy. No company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain. The Government expects businesses to respect human rights and the environment throughout their supply chain in line with the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct, the UN Guiding Principles, and the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
I have written to the supermarkets concerned to request a full account of the allegations raised in the BBC Panorama documentary and the steps they are taking to investigate.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the then Minister of State in her Department during the Ninth sitting of the Public Bill Committee on the Victims and Prisoners Bill on 4 July 2023, Official Report column 310, and to correspondence on the timetable for implementation of the duty on public authorities to collaborate under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, published on 5 November 2024, whether (a) the guidance to be developed under this implementation process will clarify that modern slavery victims (i) can and (ii) are likely to be covered by the duty and (b) stakeholders involved in supporting victims of modern slavery will be included in the consultation process.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The duty to collaborate, as set out in sections 13-14 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, will, once in force, require local policing bodies, local authorities and integrated care boards to collaborate when commissioning services for victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and serious violence in England.
Collaboration in relation to the commissioning of services for victims of modern slavery will be required under the duty where the crime amounts to serious violence, including the threat of violence and violence against property (see section 13(7) of the 2024 Act).
The statutory guidance on the duty issued pursuant to section 15 will make this clear and will be consulted on in early 2025, in accordance with section 15(2). The Ministry of Justice has engaged with stakeholders involved in supporting victims of modern slavery during the development of the draft guidance and will continue to do so during consultation.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending food labelling legislation so that sourcing information of ingredients is required on pre-packed food and drink products.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable consumers to make informed decisions.
Country of origin information is required for fresh and frozen meat of beef cattle, sheep, goat, pigs and poultry, as well as uncut fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, wine and some fish products. It is also required for all prepacked food where its omission would be misleading to consumers.
Additional labelling rules apply for foods with primary ingredients. For processed food, where the origin of the primary ingredient is different to that of the food itself and the origin of the food is given, an indication that the origin of the primary ingredient is different must also be provided, for example 'British cheese made with milk from Ireland.’
In any case, where an origin or provenance is given or indicated including when provided voluntarily this must always be accurate.
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, how much and what proportion of the aid provided by his Department in response to the conflict in Sudan will be allocated to the UN in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is continuing to respond to the catastrophic situation in Sudan and assist those most in need, largely through funding key UN partners. The UK recently announced a further £113 million of aid to support over a million people affected by the violence in Sudan, and displaced across the region including to South Sudan, Chad and Uganda. With this announcement, the UK has doubled our aid to £226.5 million. A large majority of UK funding is allocated to key UN agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide assorted food commodities to those most in need, and UNICEF to provide life-saving food assistance particularly in hard-to reach areas in Sudan, including nutrition and water.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on potential steps to ensure UK energy supply chains are free from Uyghur forced labour.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government opposes all forms of forced labour, including the use of Uyghur forced labour, and is determined to ensure that all UK business do everything in their power to remove any instances of it from their supply chains.
Through the reconvened Solar Taskforce, the Government is working widely across Whitehall and closely with industry stakeholders to take forward the actions needed to develop supply chains that are resilient, sustainable, innovative, and free from forced labour. These actions will be set out in the Solar Roadmap, which is expected to be published in Spring 2025.
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, whether the 10 Year Health Plan will help tackle specific health challenges faced by women; and whether gender-specific health interventions such as menstruation will be included in its long-term goals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we reform the National Health Service, and women’s equality will be at the heart of our missions. We are considering how to take forward the Women’s Health Strategy, by aligning it to the Government’s missions and forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan.
The 10-Year Plan will ensure a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. We will carefully be considering policies with input from the public, patients, health and care staff, and our partners as we develop the plan.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 24 October to Question 11004 on Cars: Digital Technology, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the misuse of digitally connected cars by domestic abusers.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government has set out our ambition to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, and that will include tackling domestic abuse in all its forms.
Digitally connected cars could risk the safety of women and girls if perpetrators can use them to track and control their victims. Technology-facilitated domestic abuse is a particularly insidious form of domestic abuse, and the Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Statutory Guidance references such behaviours.
We will go further than before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halve all forms of violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published next year. This will include our approach to tackling technology-facilitated domestic abuse.
We are also clear that the industry must play their part in helping to prevent their technologies being used for harmful purposes through safer by design approaches. I would gladly meet with manufacturers to discuss these approaches further.