Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the authorities in the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq on the cases of (a) Sherwan Sherwani and (b) Omed Baroshki.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the hon Member to the answer provided on 17 September to Question 71439.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle littering.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local councils are responsible for keeping streets clear of litter with the role of central Government to support local action. The Pride in Place Strategy sets out how Government will support local action by bringing forward statutory enforcement guidance on both littering and fly-tipping, modernising the code of practice that outlines the cleaning standards expected of local authorities, and refreshing best practice guidance on the powers available to local authorities to force land and building owners to clean up their premises.
We are introducing a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers due to go live in October 2027. Single-use drinks containers are some of the UK’s most commonly littered items, typically making up half of litter by volume. The Deposit Return Scheme is expected to drastically reduce litter.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions ships' captains were given a direction under the Marine Safety Act 2003 between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2024; and if she will list the (a) date, (b) ship and (c) nature of each direction.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Safety directions are issued under Schedule 3A of the Merchant Shipping Act (MSA) 1995 (as amended); Schedule 1 of the Marine Safety Act 2003 was inserted as Schedule 3A of the MSA 1995 (as amended).
In the period in question, ships’ masters were directed under Schedule 3A powers on four occasions:
On 16 March 2013, the master, owners and insurers of the general cargo vessel Danio were directed to notify their plans or intentions, including the appointment of competent salvors, following the grounding of the vessel.
On 3 February 2017, the master and owners of the bulk carrier V Due were directed to remove their ship from the port of Liverpool to take the undamaged cargo on board the ship for discharge to another port. The ship had previously been directed into the port of Liverpool after a cargo combustion fire on board and damaged cargo was subsequently discharged in the port.
On 19 July 2018, the master, owners and insurers of general cargo vessel Priscilla were directed to appoint competent salvors following the grounding of the vessel.
On 23 December 2018, the master and owners of the bulk carrier Kuzma Minin were directed to move the ship from an anchorage position to a casualty mooring buoy in Falmouth harbour. The ship had previously run aground and was then refloated in port controlled waters.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of emergency alerts being displayed in the language that the recipient's phone is set to.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Emergency Alert system is a UK Government capability that allows time critical life saving information to be broadcast to phones within a certain area.
English is the primary language Emergency Alerts are sent in. This is to ensure standardisation in message clarity and avoids the risk that any rushed translation may result in messaging which poorly conveys the necessary action to the recipient. However, where practicable, alerts impacting Wales will be sent in both English and Welsh.
Local Resilience Forums also work with partners in a local area to alert people of an emergency. Owing to their local knowledge of each area, the Local Resilience Forums are well-equipped to ensure the relevant information is communicated to non-English speakers.
The Cabinet Office will consider the feasibility for future technical improvements to the system in which an alert would come through in the language set by the individual user.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to amend the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to include decapod crustaceans.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is responsible for the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which provides a framework for animal protection and welfare. Defra is building an evidence base for considering if decapods should have greater protections. The Home Office will be guided by these decisions as to whether decapod crustaceans are regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
The Government is committed to accelerating the development, validation and uptake of non-animal alternatives in science and will publish a strategy later this year. The Government has a manifesto commitment to work towards a vision to phase out animal testing through the acceleration of development and uptake of validated non-animal alternatives.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that all British Overseas Territories have implemented publicly accessible registers for beneficial ownership before the end of the year.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Please refer to my Written Ministerial Statements of 3 July and 22 July which provide an update on progress achieved to date and details of next steps. We have clearly conveyed to our partners in the remaining Overseas Territories the urgency of meeting previously agreed deadlines and expect prompt action. To assist in this effort, we have offered technical support. The registers should offer streamlined access to a broad range of legitimate users, supporting proactive investigations, deterring the concealment of illicit gains, and promoting maximum transparency.
Baroness Hodge will visit BVI at my request shortly to examine these issues directly with the Premier and his Government there, and I regularly raise our clear expectations in discussions with OT leaders, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending Northern Ireland’s rules for new drivers to all new drivers across the UK.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driving Licences, we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads and continue to tackle this through our THINK! campaign.
We are considering other measures to address this problem and protect young drivers, as part of our upcoming strategy for road safety - the first in over a decade.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she intends the offence of assaulting a shop worker to apply to people working in a bureau de change.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 created a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public, including public-facing roles in banks, bureau de changes and building societies.
Alongside this, through our Crime and Policing Bill, this Government has introduced a new specific standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to help tackle the epidemic of shop theft and violence towards shop workers that we have seen in recent years, and protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
For the purposes of this new offence, our definition of a ‘retail worker’ is intentionally narrow given the vital need to provide legal clarity and ensure there is no ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker, and the assault took place in the course of their work.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how she defines mainly by retail in Clause 15 of the Crime and Policing Bill.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 created a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public, including public-facing roles in banks, bureau de changes and building societies.
Alongside this, through our Crime and Policing Bill, this Government has introduced a new specific standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to help tackle the epidemic of shop theft and violence towards shop workers that we have seen in recent years, and protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
For the purposes of this new offence, our definition of a ‘retail worker’ is intentionally narrow given the vital need to provide legal clarity and ensure there is no ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker, and the assault took place in the course of their work.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of creating a fashion watchdog to help tackle exploitation in the supply chains of clothing manufacturers.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
The UK is one of the leading countries confronting the scourge of modern-day slavery, including forced labour. We engage through bilateral and multilateral fora to find ways to tackle forced labour in global supply chains and ensure workers benefit from high labour standards domestically and internationally. We recognise that trade policy is an important tool in a comprehensive approach to prevent, identify and eliminate forced labour in global supply chains and we are considering measures that can help improve supply chain transparency and traceability.
As well as the Fashion Watchdog or Garment Trade Adjudicator idea, there have been other proposals including licensing and increased guidance on managing supply chains. We will continue to review measures to drive up standards across the sector and monitor global regulatory proposals in the sector.