Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with abortion providers on potential changes to the law on abortion.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has not held discussions with abortion providers regarding potential changes to the 1967 Abortion Act.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the safeguards used in the abortion pills by post scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Following amendments to the 1967 Abortion Act that allow women in England and Wales to take early medical abortion (EMA) pills at home, the Department have taken forward work to ensure that robust safeguarding processes for home-use EMA are embedded across all services. This included publication of national safeguarding guidance for under 18 year olds accessing EMA services, and strengthening the Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures, which all independent abortion providers must comply with, to require providers to have robust safeguarding processes in place to identify and support women and girls who need it.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the effectiveness of the operation of Section 178 of the Health and Care Act 2022 on the early medical termination of pregnancies at home.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are no current plans to review or hold an inquiry into the operation of Section 178 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold an inquiry into the operation of Section 178 of the Health and Care Act 2022 on the early medical termination of pregnancies at home.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are no current plans to review or hold an inquiry into the operation of Section 178 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
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 merits of relocating the British Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are no plans to move the UK embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv. Israel is a close friend and key strategic partner, built on decades of cooperation. We will continue to strengthen our relationship with Israel through our Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has plans to review the BBC licence fee.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The BBC's funding model faces major challenges to its sustainability due to changes in the way people consume media.
We remain committed to reviewing the licence fee model ahead of the next Charter period to explore the potential for alternative ways to ensure the BBC remains appropriately funded over the long-term.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's policy is on decriminalising abortion after 24 weeks.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government maintains a neutral stance in terms of changing the criminal law relating to abortion in England and Wales.
Any change to the law in this area would be a matter of conscience for individual Parliamentarians rather than for the Government.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have sought to enter the UK to study a course that was found to be fake in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not publish a record of those on student visas who overstayed.
Our published data can be found in the available Migration Statistics on GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2022/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-to-study
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who entered the UK on a student visa overstayed the duration of their visa in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not publish a record of those on student visas who overstayed.
Our published data can be found in the available Migration Statistics on GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2022/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-to-study
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle fly-tipping.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Prime Minister’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan sets out how we will support councils to take tougher action against those who fly-tip. This includes raising the upper limit of spot fines for fly-tipping to £1,000; delivering on our manifesto commitment to increase penalties.
We have also awarded councils nearly £1.2 million to purchase equipment to tackle fly-tipping, such as CCTV, and consulted on reforms to how waste is managed to stamp out criminal activity.