Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure former race horses are not slaughtered for meat.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is committed to the highest standards of animal welfare, including at slaughter. Ensuring the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards, is a priority.
Slaughter in an approved abattoir is a humane option for some horses, provided the animal is fit to transport and the journey time is not excessive. Legislation sets out strict requirements to protect the welfare of horses when slaughtered and official veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency are present in all approved slaughterhouses to monitor and enforce animal welfare requirements.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase access to thrombectomy treatment for stroke patients.
Answered by Will Quince
Thrombectomy is available in 24 centres in England. The National Health Service is committed to bringing about a tenfold increase in the delivery of mechanical thrombectomy from 1% to 10%. Progress has been made, with latest data showing that 3.3% of patients are receiving a thrombectomy following a stroke.
NHS England are taking steps to increase access to thrombectomy treatment for stroke patients by expanding access, with six centres currently offering 24/7 services, eight services currently providing extended hours and the remainder offering in-hours or a limited service. All thrombectomy providers and integrated stroke delivery networks are actively working to provide access to 24/7 services across England.
In addition, NHS England have worked with the General Medical Council in approving the thrombectomy curriculum and credentials to support non-interventional neuroradiologists to conduct thrombectomy and increase the number of thrombectomies that can be delivered.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to implement the recommendations in the Law Commission report entitled Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law, published in July 2022.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Marriage will always be one of our most important institutions, and the Government has a duty to consider the implications of any changes to the law in this area very carefully.
The Government is considering the Law Commissions’ 57 recommendations for legislative reform and a response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the locations of shared banking hubs that will be set up in the future; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing shared banking hubs in post office branches.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Treasury Ministers and officials regularly meet with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss a variety of policy matters
The government believes that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking and cash services.
Decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue. However, the FCA’s guidance sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on the everyday banking and cash access needs of their customers and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access to banking can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
New shared Banking Hubs are also being introduced, providing cash and basic banking services and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet customers of that bank. Decisions regarding the operation and location of Banking Hubs are taken by the parties involved. Following successful pilots Cash Access UK Ltd is rolling out shared Banking Hubs and other new shared facilities in communities across the UK. To date, industry has committed to deliver Banking Hubs in 80 locations. Further information on Banking Hubs is available at: https://www.cashaccess.co.uk/
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on steps to help ensure local communities have access to essential in-person banking services.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Treasury Ministers and officials regularly meet with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss a variety of policy matters
The government believes that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking and cash services.
Decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue. However, the FCA’s guidance sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on the everyday banking and cash access needs of their customers and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access to banking can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
New shared Banking Hubs are also being introduced, providing cash and basic banking services and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet customers of that bank. Decisions regarding the operation and location of Banking Hubs are taken by the parties involved. Following successful pilots Cash Access UK Ltd is rolling out shared Banking Hubs and other new shared facilities in communities across the UK. To date, industry has committed to deliver Banking Hubs in 80 locations. Further information on Banking Hubs is available at: https://www.cashaccess.co.uk/
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that vulnerable individuals have access to (a) financial advice and (b) support with essential banking services.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government seeks to ensure that everyone can access useful support with their finances, including those in vulnerable circumstances. As part of this, the Government established the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to provide people with comprehensive, consistent, guidance for each stage of their financial lives. MaPS offers resources to support consumers with a range of issues, including everyday money, benefits, financial difficulty, pensions and retirement, savings, and work.
Building on its consumer vulnerability work, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has also introduced the Consumer Duty which raises the standard expected from firms for all customers.
HM Treasury and the FCA are also working on a joint review of the regulatory boundary between financial advice and guidance with the aim of improving the support available to consumers with their financial decision-making.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with (a) lenders and (b) other relevant stakeholders on the levels of early repayment charges for tracker mortgages.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
HM Treasury is regularly in contact with mortgage lenders on all aspects of their mortgage business to understand their position and current lending conditions. However, the pricing of mortgages, including early repayment charges, is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene.
Nevertheless, Financial Conduct Authority rules set out that lenders should not impose early repayment charges at a level that is more than a reasonable pre-estimate of the costs that would be incurred as a result of a loan being terminated early.
Consumers should also be given adequate information about the existence of these charges in the pre-sale disclosure documents lenders are required to give them.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the average clearance time is for HM Land Registry to complete registrations for new leases and lease extensions as of 1 September 2023; and what steps his Department is taking to to reduce the time taken to complete those registrations.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
HM Land Registry (HMLR) publishes information about its average processing times on GOV.UK here.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 187953 on 14 June 2023 for information about the steps HMLR is taking to improve its speed of service.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of registrations for new leases or lease extensions take (a) less than 18 months and (b) over 24 months to be processed by HM Land Registry.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
HM Land Registry (HMLR) publishes information about its average processing times on GOV.UK here.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 187953 on 14 June 2023 for information about the steps HMLR is taking to improve its speed of service.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what consular protection his Department provides to refugees with UK asylum status who travel abroad; and whether he has plans to extend that protection.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
HMG provides consular assistance to British nationals travelling or living abroad. We may also help Commonwealth nationals in non-Commonwealth countries where they do not have any diplomatic or consular representation. We cannot help other nationalities, even if they live in the UK or have close connections to the UK. Home Office travel documents contain information making it clear that HMG cannot provide consular or diplomatic assistance to the bearer outside the UK. Our consular offer is set out on gov.uk.