Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to help ensure that victims of (a) financial crime and (b) corruption in (i) the UK and (ii) other jurisdictions are recognised as victims for compensation purposes.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, in England and Wales, all victims who have suffered harm, including economic harm, as a direct result of a crime are entitled to information about compensation and, where eligible, to be told about how to claim compensation.
Relevant compensation will depend on the circumstances of the crime. For example, if the defendant is convicted, they may be ordered by the court to pay the victim compensation. Outside of the criminal justice system, there is also the possibility of civil compensation. For victims of fraud specifically, the government has just legislated to give the Payment Systems Regulator the powers it needs to make payment service providers reimburse victims of authorised fraud (where the victim is deceived into making a payment). This will come into effect in 2024. There are also arrangements in cases where an organisation is being prosecuted for fraud, bribery or other economic crimes where organisations can agree to a number of conditions, including paying compensation, in order to make reparations without a conviction (Deferred Prosecution Agreements).
For potential overseas victims, (whether individuals, organisations or governments), the Serious Fraud Office will consider at an early stage whether compensation may be appropriate as part of the sentencing or resolution, and through which route that may be achieved.
Development of a new UK Anti-Corruption Strategy is underway with publication expected in 2023 and will outline the UK response to strengthen resilience against corruption and illicit finance in the UK and internationally.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) academic research and (b) evidence from (i) young people, (ii) teachers and (iii) schools her Department has sought to inform the (A) expert advisory group and (B) review on relationships, sex and health education; and whether she plans to publish that evidence.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In carrying out its review of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance, the Department has sought evidence from a range of stakeholders, including groups representing pupils, teachers and schools, to share evidence about areas of the guidance they think should be strengthened.
The conclusions of the independent expert panel will be reflected in the revised draft of the guidance that will be subject to a full public consultation. The accompanying consultation document will set out the background to the panel’s recommendations to help inform responses.
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 he plans to regularly (a) monitor and (b) review progress towards meeting the target for increasing cancer treatment capacity set out in the NHS England 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance, published on 27 January 2023; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department continues to support NHS England in increasing cancer treatment capacity, and it is the responsibility of NHS England to work with integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers to ensure targets are being met.
NHS England has instructed ICBs to increase and prioritise diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer. This includes by ensuring new diagnostic capacity, particularly via community diagnostic centres (CDCs), as set out in the 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance.
As at August 2023, 93 surgical hubs are currently operational across England providing additional elective surgical capacity, including for cancer treatment. As at September 2023, there are 119 CDCs currently operational that have delivered over four million additional tests since July 2021 (including large, standard and hub models).
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, whether he has made a recent assessment of the implications for his policies of the Government of Israel’s level of compliance with the recommendations made in UNICEF’s report entitled Children in Israeli Military Detention: Observations and recommendations, published in 2003.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK draws on a wide range of sources when assessing human rights issues in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children. We have issues about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary. The Israeli authorities must comply with their obligations under international law and either charge or release detainees. We remain committed to working with the Israeli government to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention and continue to raise this with the Israeli Ministry of Justice through our embassy in Tel Aviv. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, also frequently meets with charities and NGOs regarding issues relating to the occupation. He most recently discussed child detention in a meeting with representatives of Save The Children, Oxfam GB, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Christian Aid on 4 July.
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 steps his Department is taking to work with the Israeli Government to help secure improvements to the condition of Palestinian children in military detention.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK draws on a wide range of sources when assessing human rights issues in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children. We have issues about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary. The Israeli authorities must comply with their obligations under international law and either charge or release detainees. We remain committed to working with the Israeli government to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention and continue to raise this with the Israeli Ministry of Justice through our embassy in Tel Aviv. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, also frequently meets with charities and NGOs regarding issues relating to the occupation. He most recently discussed child detention in a meeting with representatives of Save The Children, Oxfam GB, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Christian Aid on 4 July.
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, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Israel on the treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK draws on a wide range of sources when assessing human rights issues in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children. We have issues about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary. The Israeli authorities must comply with their obligations under international law and either charge or release detainees. We remain committed to working with the Israeli government to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention and continue to raise this with the Israeli Ministry of Justice through our embassy in Tel Aviv. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, also frequently meets with charities and NGOs regarding issues relating to the occupation. He most recently discussed child detention in a meeting with representatives of Save The Children, Oxfam GB, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Christian Aid on 4 July.
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 it is her policy to devolve areas of radiotherapy commissioning within NHS Trusts to local Integrated Care Systems in Rotherham constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England’s National Moderation Panel will determine how many integrated care boards (ICBs) will take on responsibility for specialised commissioning in October 2023. Following this moderation process, recommendations will be taken to the NHS England Board for final decisions in December 2023, before new arrangements go live from April 2024.
This process will consider the delegation of radiotherapy commissioning for ICBs across England, including across the Rotherham constituency.
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 many projects under the Women’s Integrated Sexual Health programme his Department has allocated funding to; and how many of those projects closed before their initial planned end date.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) programme initially operated in 27 countries. In response to budgetary re-prioritisation and contextual changes (such as the security situation in Afghanistan), adjustments were made to the scale and pace of delivery. This included focusing support on 17 countries to ensure better value for money and coherence. Despite these changes, the WISH programme has continued to deliver strong results. In the last year alone, WISH has averted 6,800 maternal deaths and 2.2 million unintended pregnancies, and supported 873,540 additional users of modern methods of contraception.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many homeowners in Rotherham constituency bought their homes using the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2023 1,675 homes were purchased in Rotherham using the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme. Further data on the number of households in England which have benefitted from the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme in each local authority area can be found in the latest HtB Equity Loan scheme statistics at the following link.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government response to the Eighth Report of the International Development Committee, Debt relief in low-income countries, HC 1393, published on 8 June 2023, what the evidential basis is for the conclusion that a legislative approach to debt relief could have unintended consequences in terms of access to finance for developing countries.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government’s policy position on private sector participation in debt relief initiatives, including a legislative approach, has been informed by extensive engagement with a diverse range of stakeholders with an interest in sovereign debt. These included representatives from the private sector, international governments, civil society organisations and academics. The Government has also previously consulted extensively on this issue.