Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the scientific evidence on the welfare impacts of routine tail docking and castration in lambs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government considered the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the Implications of Castration and Tail Docking for the Welfare of Lambs including the scientific evidence prior to issuing a UK-wide consultation on proposals to improve the welfare of lambs earlier this year. Consultation proposals included seeking views on the use of pain relief and those circumstances when castration or tail docking should only be carried out by a veterinary surgeon. We are currently analysing consultation responses and will publish a formal response in due course.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consideration her Department has given to the potential merits of requiring the use of effective pain relief when tail docking or castration is carried out on lambs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government considered the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the Implications of Castration and Tail Docking for the Welfare of Lambs including the scientific evidence prior to issuing a UK-wide consultation on proposals to improve the welfare of lambs earlier this year. Consultation proposals included seeking views on the use of pain relief and those circumstances when castration or tail docking should only be carried out by a veterinary surgeon. We are currently analysing consultation responses and will publish a formal response in due course.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to restrict the routine use of tail docking and castration in lambs to exceptional circumstances under veterinary supervision.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government considered the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the Implications of Castration and Tail Docking for the Welfare of Lambs including the scientific evidence prior to issuing a UK-wide consultation on proposals to improve the welfare of lambs earlier this year. Consultation proposals included seeking views on the use of pain relief and those circumstances when castration or tail docking should only be carried out by a veterinary surgeon. We are currently analysing consultation responses and will publish a formal response in due course.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking with international partners to promote freedom of religion or belief in Iran, particularly for members of the Bahá’í community.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government's position on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Iran, and the persecution of the Baha'i community, remains as set out in the answer of 19 May to Question 611, and it continues to be unacceptable for the Iranian authorities to target religious minority groups because of their faith.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of recent reports of escalating persecution of the Bahá’í community in Iran.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government's position on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Iran, and the persecution of the Baha'i community, remains as set out in the answer of 19 May to Question 611, and it continues to be unacceptable for the Iranian authorities to target religious minority groups because of their faith.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether proposed SEND reforms will provide funding for the SEND workforce including teaching assistants and specialist professionals.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop a new Experts at Hand offer. This offer is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to support from health and specialist education practitioners, including speech and language therapists and support workers or assistants, occupational therapists and support workers or assistants, educational psychologists and trainees, and specialist teachers, both local authority-based and those based in specialist or alternative provision settings.
To support delivery, over £40 million is being invested in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train more educational psychologists and £15 million to support more speech and language therapists to work with education settings. In addition, we are investing over £200 million during the course of this Parliament ensuring all staff in every school, college and nursery are trained to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
We are further investing £1.6 billion in an Inclusive Mainstream Fund to support the development of a more inclusive education system. Funding will be provided to early years, schools and colleges to boost their existing core funding for SEND, with over £500 million per year over the next three years to help schools strengthen their inclusive offer. This represents the beginning of a deliberate tilt in funding towards mainstream inclusion, enabling settings to invest in their workforce alongside their core funding.
This funding will support schools to invest in the SEND workforce, alongside their existing core funding for SEND, which will help equip schools to invest in high quality, adaptive teaching, inclusive pedagogy and decision-making, and in creating safe, calm and accessible learning environments.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has called for an independent investigation into the treatment of individuals detained following the interception of the Gaza Sumud Flotilla.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to my statement to the House on 21 May, and to the answer provided on 1 June in response to Question 2817.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 compatibility with international law of the interception of civilian humanitarian vessels in international waters.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to my statement to the House on 21 May, and to the answer provided on 1 June in response to Question 2817.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what consular assistance was provided to British nationals detained following the interception of the Gaza Sumud Flotilla.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to my statement to the House on 21 May, and to the answer provided on 1 June in response to Question 2817.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of whether current strategic prioritisation for ME research is proportionate to the disease burden.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of whether the strategic prioritisation for research into myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), is proportionate to the disease burden. However, we recognise that this has been an under researched area and the Government is committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of ME/CFS.
The Government funds research into ME/CFS through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation. The NIHR and the MRC are working together to deliver the actions on research in the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan. Two projects have recently received funding to investigate the feasibility of a new clinical trial that tests multiple interventions for the treatment of post-acute infection syndromes, including Long Covid and ME/CFS. In addition, £4.75 million of Government funding has been provided to SequenceME, which will create the first high-resolution genetic map of the condition, paving the way to future diagnostics and treatments.