Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made in ensuring women and girls have access to (a) safe and (b) fair play in gender-affected sports at all levels.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We want to break down the barriers that prevent women and girls from being active, including but not limited to kit, facilities, time and cost. As a government, we are investing £123 million in inclusive grassroots sport facilities that will support more women and girls to take part in the sports that they love.
Sporting bodies have a responsibility to protect the integrity and fairness of women's sport and the safety of all participants, particularly when it is not possible to balance those factors with inclusion.
National Governing Bodies set their own policies for who can participate in their sports in domestic competitions. Our UK sports councils have produced guidance to help domestic sports bodies determine the right position for their sport.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will revise guidance on the maximum alcoholic strength at which a drink should be described as alcohol free from 0.05% to 0.5% ABV.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives.
The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms, including exploring the potential opportunities presented by No and Low alcohol alternative drinks. While the department has not made a specific assessment of the economic impact of the United Kingdom’s 0.05% alcohol by volume (ABV) threshold on British brewers we will continue to consider how alcohol labelling can be improved to support consumers make informed decisions about the products they are purchasing, whilst also promoting responsible consumption.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
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 the potential role of no and low alcohol products in supporting the Government’s public health objectives on alcohol harm reduction.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives.
The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms, including exploring the potential opportunities presented by No and Low alcohol alternative drinks. While the department has not made a specific assessment of the economic impact of the United Kingdom’s 0.05% alcohol by volume (ABV) threshold on British brewers we will continue to consider how alcohol labelling can be improved to support consumers make informed decisions about the products they are purchasing, whilst also promoting responsible consumption.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
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 the potential merits of increasing the alcohol-free threshold from 0.05% ABV to 0.5% ABV.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives.
The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms, including exploring the potential opportunities presented by No and Low alcohol alternative drinks. While the department has not made a specific assessment of the economic impact of the United Kingdom’s 0.05% alcohol by volume (ABV) threshold on British brewers we will continue to consider how alcohol labelling can be improved to support consumers make informed decisions about the products they are purchasing, whilst also promoting responsible consumption.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
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 the economic impact of the UK’s 0.05% ABV threshold on British brewers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives.
The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms, including exploring the potential opportunities presented by No and Low alcohol alternative drinks. While the department has not made a specific assessment of the economic impact of the United Kingdom’s 0.05% alcohol by volume (ABV) threshold on British brewers we will continue to consider how alcohol labelling can be improved to support consumers make informed decisions about the products they are purchasing, whilst also promoting responsible consumption.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential role of youth services in (a) preventing and (b) tackling violence against women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government has set an ambitious target to halve VAWG in a decade. To achieve this, we must reduce the current levels of offending and reoffending but also prevent abuse from happening all together.
The Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy will set out our strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver this ambition. We are considering a range of policy options across Government to prevent these crimes including education for young people around healthy relationships and consent, community interventions and tackling online VAWG.
That includes looking at how we can work most effectively with youth services and through the Young Futures programme to deliver this ambition.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when he plans to publish the Bertin Review.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Independent Pornography Review is an important area of interest for this government. The Review has now concluded, the government is assessing its findings and the report will be published in due course.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to medical cannabis on the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Licensed cannabis-based medicines are routinely funded by the NHS where there is clear evidence of their quality, safety and effectiveness. Two licensed cannabis-based medicines are available for prescribing on the NHS, but more research is required on unlicensed cannabis-based medicines to inform use on the NHS. We are supporting this by investing over £8.5m in randomised clinical trials.Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of new measures to help ensure that independent distilleries in rural areas receive adequate support to help foster economic growth.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Alcohol duty is a reserved matter.
The reformed alcohol duty system was introduced in August 2023 and taxes alcohol in a progressive manner, ensuring higher strength products pay proportionately more duty. This approach is supported by public health exports including clinical advisors to the Department of Health & Social Care and the Chief Medical Officer.
Small Producer Relief (SPR) was introduced alongside the reforms and allows small producers to pay a reduced duty rate on products below 8.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV). Retaining a strength limit for SPR is important as it aligns the relief with the Government's public health objectives and the new simplified band structure. Small spirits producers are able to claim the relief on any goods they make below this level, such as pre-mixed spirits.
At the recent Budget, the Chancellor announced that she would uprate alcohol duty in line with RPI inflation on 1 February 2025, except on qualifying draught products. This decision weighed the impacts on businesses, cost-of-living pressures on people who drink moderately and responsibly, and the public health case for higher duties to tackle increasing alcohol-related deaths, as well as economic inactivity.
However, to support UK spirits producers, the government will invest up to £5 million to support the delivery of the Spirits Drinks Verification Scheme administered by HMRC. This scheme helps spirits producers, such as UK whisky distilleries, verify their products against protected geographical indicators. Further, alcohol duty stamps scheme will end from 1 May 2025, reducing the administrative burden on spirit producers and importers.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing small distilleries' relief to help support independent distilleries from 1 February 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Alcohol duty is a reserved matter.
The reformed alcohol duty system was introduced in August 2023 and taxes alcohol in a progressive manner, ensuring higher strength products pay proportionately more duty. This approach is supported by public health exports including clinical advisors to the Department of Health & Social Care and the Chief Medical Officer.
Small Producer Relief (SPR) was introduced alongside the reforms and allows small producers to pay a reduced duty rate on products below 8.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV). Retaining a strength limit for SPR is important as it aligns the relief with the Government's public health objectives and the new simplified band structure. Small spirits producers are able to claim the relief on any goods they make below this level, such as pre-mixed spirits.
At the recent Budget, the Chancellor announced that she would uprate alcohol duty in line with RPI inflation on 1 February 2025, except on qualifying draught products. This decision weighed the impacts on businesses, cost-of-living pressures on people who drink moderately and responsibly, and the public health case for higher duties to tackle increasing alcohol-related deaths, as well as economic inactivity.
However, to support UK spirits producers, the government will invest up to £5 million to support the delivery of the Spirits Drinks Verification Scheme administered by HMRC. This scheme helps spirits producers, such as UK whisky distilleries, verify their products against protected geographical indicators. Further, alcohol duty stamps scheme will end from 1 May 2025, reducing the administrative burden on spirit producers and importers.