Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many tanks are in service with the Army as of 19 April 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I am withholding this information as it is held by the Ministry of Defence with a view to its publication, at an undetermined future date. This information will be published in the form of the UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2024, which will be accessible here https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-equipment-and-formations.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to reply substantively to the correspondence of 11 March 2024 from the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, reference MC2024/04369.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The response to the correspondence in question was sent to the hon. Member on 23 April 2024. The delay was due to an administrative oversight, for which I apologise. (Please note that the correct reference is MC2024/04269 rather than 04369 which we had previously advised.)
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the Disability Confident scheme on the disability employment gap.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Disability Confident (DC) is one of a range of policies to support disabled people into work and to close the disability employment gap. It is difficult to isolate the direct impact of individual policies on the disability employment gap as numerous, interacting factors are at play, including overall labour market trends and changes to the composition of the disabled population, in addition to the effects of disability employment policies and programmes in themselves.
When an employer signs up to DC, they agree to commitments which encourage employers to think differently about disability and to take positive action to address issues disabled employees face in the workplace. There are currently over 19,000 DC members and they estimate 11.5 million employees in total working in their businesses.
In September 2023, the Department published findings from a survey with members of the DC scheme, conducted by an independent research agency[1]. The research explored the effect that signing up to the DC scheme had on members’ recruitment and retention attitudes towards disabled people.
The DWP and Cabinet officials regularly meet with Ministerial Disability Champions to drive this agenda across Government. The Champions’ role is to ensure disability inclusion is a priority in their Department’s work. They are helping to deliver our commitment to support disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society.
[1] The survey was conducted in February to March 2022. In total 1,233 survey interviews were conducted with scheme members.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to improve trade links with the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK and Taiwan already share a deep, £11bn trade and investment relationship.
Trade Talks with Taiwan are longstanding and held annually to boost trade and support economic growth. To build on this the UK and Taiwan are developing an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) to further increase trade and investment. This will promote co-operation and support British businesses to take advantage of opportunities, initially in investment, digital trade, and energy and net-zero.
Minister Huddleston hosted the 26th UK Taiwan Trade Talks in London on 8 November 2023, and I met with Taiwan’s Minister Deng in February at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what channels SMEs can use to feed into export policy.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Export Digital Enquiry Service is the first point of contact for businesses seeking to trade internationally and the route to the Department for Business and Trade’s wider network of support. SMEs can feed into export policy via numerous channels, including our International Trade Advisers and the Export Champions Advisory Group. The department’s Ministers interact with SMEs regularly and at the recent Business Connect conference, SMEs could put their concerns directly to the Prime Minister.
Trade Associations regularly engage with the department to represent the interests of SMEs.
The department regularly invites businesses, including SMEs, to contribute to Calls for Input ahead of Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the line management of the Ministry of Defence Police has moved to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) transport, (b) venue hire and accommodation, (c) printed materials including backdrops, (d) security, (e) staffing, (f) filming and photography and (g) other costs of each public meeting since her appointment.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is a business unit of the Cabinet Office and, as such, its administrative costs are part of the Cabinet Office’s wider administrative costs.
Information for 2022-23 can be found in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-23), copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
Information for the last financial year will be published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 in due course.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many prosecutions Companies House has launched for giving false information in registration of a company in each year since 2019.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Companies House does not bring prosecutions under section 1112 of the Companies Act 2006 for a false statement offence but refer such potential cases to the Insolvency Service for investigation and prosecution.
The number of prosecutions commenced by the Insolvency Service for a false statement offence contrary to s1112 of the Companies Act 2006 in each year since 2019 is:
2019 | 0 |
2020 | 0 |
2021 | 1 |
2022 | 0 |
2023 | 0 |
2024 | 1 |
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) parental consent in clinical trials involving children.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are legal measures in place to ensure informed consent in clinical trials, through the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004. Parental consent for clinical trials investigating medicines which involve children is also legislated for via the same Regulations.
Promoting and ensuring transparency is central to the role of the Health Research Authority to facilitate safe and ethical research as defined in the Care Act 2014. This includes clinical trials involving children.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures are in place to ensure informed consent in clinical trials.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are legal measures in place to ensure informed consent in clinical trials, through the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004. Parental consent for clinical trials investigating medicines which involve children is also legislated for via the same Regulations.
Promoting and ensuring transparency is central to the role of the Health Research Authority to facilitate safe and ethical research as defined in the Care Act 2014. This includes clinical trials involving children.