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 it is his policy to end licenses for badger culling that have already been issued.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the reply I gave to PQ 1263.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average distance between refuges will be across the Smart Motorway network following the conclusion of the retrofitting of new emergency refuges.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways is adding over 150 Emergency Refuge Areas (ERAs) across the All Lane Running (ALR) network, to be completed by the end of March 2025. Some ERAs are still under construction, and sitings may be subject to final change due to topographical challenges. Once the rollout is completed, National Highways will be able to calculate the average spacing of places to stop in an emergency across the whole ALR network. We will share this information as soon as it becomes available.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to extend the £2 cap on bus fares after 31 December 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Delivering reliable and affordable public transport services for passengers is one of my top priorities and I know how important this is for passengers and for local growth. The government is urgently considering the most effective and affordable ways to deliver on these objectives.
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 ban the import and sale of fur.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Labour Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation.
Ministers are reviewing policies, which will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new emergency refuges will be constructed as part of the programme of retrofitting to existing smart motorways.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways is constructing 150 additional Emergency Refuge Areas across the All Lane Running smart motorway network. Construction, which is already well underway, began in 2022. The project is expected to be completed by the end of March 2025.
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 his Department will produce an animal protection strategy.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The welfare of animals is currently protected by a suite of legislation including the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
The Government has committed to introducing the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation. As outlined in their manifesto, the Government intends to ban trail hunting and the import of hunting trophies, to end puppy smuggling and farming and to stop the use of snare traps.
Ministers are considering the most effective way to deliver these commitments and will set out next steps in due course.
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 ban the use of farrowing crates for pigs.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 July 2024 to the hon. Member for Battersea, PQ UIN 414.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals were arrested in connection with suspected (a) live streamed online child sexual abuse and (b) exploitative behaviour in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2022 and (iv) 2023; and if he will list the nationalities of suspected overseas victims.
Answered by Laura Farris
The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests as part of the annual ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical bulletin. The most recent data up to the year ending March 2023 is available on gov.uk. There is no specific offence of livestreamed child sexual abuse or exploitative behaviour. Arrest data is collected by broader offence group e.g. “sexual offences”.
The Home Office does not hold information relating to the nationality of victims of crime.
However, the Government provides dedicated funding to the National Crime Agency and a network of Undercover Online Officers in Regional Organised Crime Units to tackle the highest harm child sexual abuse offenders, including those engaged in the livestreaming of child sexual abuse. Our understanding of the nature and scale of livestreamed child sexual abuse is informed by threat assessments produced by the National Assessment Centre and other organisations.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that overseas development aid to (a) Sudan, (b) Ethiopia and (c) other East African countries reaches (i) local and (ii) national non-governmental (A) youth, (B) women-led and (C) faith-based organisations.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Local and national organisations - including youth, women-led and faith-based organisations - play a vital role in delivering UK-funded development work across East Africa, where the UK plans to invest almost £750 million in ODA in 2024/25. In Sudan, we are providing technical assistance to the UN to develop a strategy for partnering with local organisations and using our seat on the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) advisory board to encourage a greater portion of assistance to be channelled to local, community-led organisations. The recent International Development White Paper is also clear on this priority and commits the UK to publish a strategy on partnering with national relief actors.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the number of veterans that have (a) died and (b) committed suicide whilst awaiting a final settlement of a claim to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme since 2019.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The information requested cannot be provided without exceeding the disproportionate cost limit.
However, I can confirm that between 1 January 2019 and 31 March 2024, ten veterans whose next of kin decided to proceed with the active claim died before receiving an outcome of either an initial Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) injury/illness claim or an appeal. The figure includes claims which were still open on 31 March 2024.
The Ministry of Defence does not hold information on the cause of death where a claimant dies before receiving an outcome of claim under the AFCS. Therefore, it is not possible to identify veterans that have committed suicide whilst awaiting a claim outcome since 2019.