Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on taking steps to help support (a) Merton Council’s London Borough of Sport programme and (b) other local authority-led initiatives to increase physical activity.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
DCMS, as the lead department for the Government's arm's-length body Sport England, is investing up to £250 million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into more than 90 locations across England. This investment is being delivered in partnership with local organisations in the communities that need it most, helping more people to live active and healthier lives for longer.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in Bangladesh on the (a) anti-Ahmadi protests planned in Bangladesh for 15 November and (b) upholding freedom of religion for Ahmadi Muslims and other religious communities.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has a long-standing commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). We continue to support those goals through regular dialogue with the Interim Government of Bangladesh, to ensure that the rights of religious minorities, including the Ahmadiyya community, are respected, and that these communities are protected from discrimination.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
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 potential impact of local authority-led initiatives to increase physical activity on public health outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the vital role of local authorities in promoting physical activity and continues to support them with this through the Public Health Grant, the Public Health Outcomes Framework, and by working with other departments on the development of a standard evaluation framework to help assess the impact of physical activity interventions like active travel.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
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 implications for his policies of the dissemination of AI-generated misinformation in the lead-up to the regional elections in Kurdistan; and what steps his Department is taking to support free and fair elections in that region.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The upcoming elections in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) are essential for democratic legitimacy and for the people of the KRI to express their voice.
The British Consulate General in Erbil has supported roundtables and workshops with the Kurdistan Regional Government, parties, candidates and civil society, which have focused on preventing online harassment of women candidates, including through AI-generated fakes and misinformation.
Consulate General staff engaged with all parties in advance of the election campaign. We continue to encourage political parties and media in the KRI to act responsibly to ensure free, fair and inclusive elections on 20 October.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to respond to the call for evidence entitled Non-Discretionary Tax-Advantaged Share Schemes: Call for Evidence, which closed on 25 August 2023.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Non-Discretionary Tax-Advantaged Share Schemes Call for Evidence ran under the previous government.
The government is considering the responses to the call for evidence. The government is grateful to those who took the time to respond.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost was to the public purse of (a) legal fees and (b) related costs incurred for the rejection of freedom of information requests between 30 March 2020 and 9 September 2024 seeking the publication of the report entitled, The Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not know the total legal fees incurred as we have not yet been billed for the complete period between 30 March 2020 to 9 September 2024, but we expect the final cost to be in the region of £20,000-£22,500. There was no awarding of costs in the First Tier Tribunal judgment that the Department must disclose the Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal report. The only other costs incurred were Home Office officials’ time.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of exceptions that were used in the recruitment of civil servants (a) at and (b) above Payband 2 level before Civil Service Commission approval, between 2010 and 2018.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Data relating to exceptions for Civil Servants between 2010 and 2018 is no longer held/available in accordance with retention schedules.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of community service ordered to be carried out were not carried out in each (a) local justice area and (b) region in (i) England and (ii) Wales in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Argar
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of soldiers that took the Soldier Conditioning Review were graded (a) condition, (b) unconditioned and (c) other in each year since that review was introduced.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
In relation to the Soldier Conditioning Review, personnel are marked on the system as ‘red’ when they have areas of physical fitness they need to improve. If they are marked as ‘green’ it means they do not have any specific areas of physical fitness development / improvement and are at an adequate baseline. Personnel are marked as ‘Amber’ on the system if the individual needs to take another assessment in the next two months.
The table below shows the number and proportion of Regular and Reserve soldiers that took the Soldier Conditioning Review who were graded as ‘Green’ or ‘Amber’ and ‘All other grades’.
Year | Number of Pers | Status | Proportion |
01 Apr – 31 Dec 2022 | 74,336 | Green or Amber | 63.98% |
41,849 | All other grades | 36.02% | |
01 Jan – 31 Dec 2023 | 71,945 | Green or Amber | 67.86% |
34,081 | All other grades | 32.14% |
Notes/Caveats:
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2024 to Question 21508 on Armed Forces: Health, for what reasons members of the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) Royal Air Force were deemed medically non-deployable on 1 April (a) 2023, (b) 2016 and (c) 2010.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
It has not proved possible to respond to the right hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.