Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to respond to the Egyptian Government's refusal to (a) release and (b) recognise the British nationality of Alaa Abd El-Fattah.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains committed to securing the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah. We continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian Government. The Egyptian Government does not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and is refusing consular access. The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions, most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on 14 November. The Prime Minister also raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 8 August. I raised Mr El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 15 October.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress his Department has made on securing the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains committed to securing the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah. We continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian Government. The Egyptian Government does not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and is refusing consular access. The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions, most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on 14 November. The Prime Minister also raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 8 August. I raised Mr El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 15 October.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many officials in his Department have worked on product standard regulations in each year since 31 January 2020.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is the UK’s national product regulator within the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). As well as policy responsibility for product safety and standards, OPSS delivers front line product regulation for DBT, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and the Department for Transport.
The Department does not routinely publish separate data on the number of staff employed in OPSS. The last separately published figures for OPSS were that it employed 430 staff in the year 2021/22.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an estimate of the number of EU product standard regulations that will be issued in the next five years.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No estimate has been made on the number of product standard regulations that will be issued by the EU in the next five years. Some expected changes to EU regulations have been identified, with outdoor noise regulations due to be implemented in May 2025 for instance.
The Government takes consumer protection very seriously which is why we are introducing the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. This Bill is intended to enable the UK to maintain high product standards, supporting businesses and economic growth, by allowing the UK Parliament the power to update relevant laws.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make a comparative assessment of UK and EU product standard regulations issued since 31 January 2020.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s product safety and metrology framework is derived from EU law and has developed over the past four decades, while the UK was a Member of the EU. While there have been some product standard developments since 31 January 2020, the regulations in the EU and UK currently remain broadly similar.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2024 to Question 612 on Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, when section 31 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 will come into force.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Appropriate protections for victims of harassment or stalking are vital. We are carefully considering implementation of section 31 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 to ensure data and safeguarding protections are built into the process. As part of this consideration, we have included a provision in the Data (Use and Access) Bill to ensure that section 31 extends UK-wide, given the nature of the UK’s data protection framework.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what work the UK- Egypt Subcommittee of the Association Committee on Trade and Investment is undertaking; and when that committee will meet next.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-Egypt Trade and Investment Subcommittee is a forum for promoting further trade and investment between our two countries, and the inaugural meeting was held on 18 July 2023.
At this meeting, market access issues, including ongoing regulatory collaboration in areas of shared priority and interest, such as renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and financial services, were discussed.
The Subcommittee meets as circumstances require and officials in the UK and Egypt work together on an ongoing basis on trade and investment issues.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children for whom no living parent was identified were allocated a legal guardian in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of special guardianship orders, however, information held centrally does not include whether the application was granted due to the child having no living parent. This information may be held on court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish guidance on the responsibilities of freeholders for the external areas of an estate on which leaseholder have secured the right to manage.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Guidance on the responsibilities of freeholders under the right to manage is provided by the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) and is available on their website: https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/right-manage.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average time was for a consignment entering Sevington Border Control Post to leave following (a) a physical inspection and (b) any other inspection in each week since 30 April 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Monitoring and enforcing the border controls introduced under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) is undertaken collaboratively between bodies including Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Border Force and HMRC.
Our checks are intelligence-led and based on biosecurity risk: It would be inappropriate for us to set out operational details such as the exact inspection details from 30 April.
Checking details, such as time taken to review consignments, could be used by bad actors looking for exploitable elements of the border to facilitate illegal imports.
Furthermore, this information is also commercially sensitive. HMG does not wish to impact trader choice of route as details of checks completed may advantage/disadvantage other ports as traders may BCP shop to find what appears on paper to be the “fastest route”.