Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to producing a rural crime strategy which would be fully integrated into the overall Government Crime Strategy, as called for in the National Rural Crime Network’s recent report, Rural Crime: Serious, Organised and International, published on 10 March.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.
This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). In December 2023, we published the 2023 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.
Serious and organised crime is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK. It costs lives, blights communities, hampers economic growth, and corrodes the global reputation of the UK and its institutions.
The Government welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022, this provides a comprehensive framework through which policing, and partner agencies can work together to tackle rural and wildlife crime, including where it is linked to other forms of serious and organised crime such as the drugs trade.
The National Rural Crime Unit works closely with Interpol to share information about stolen agricultural and construction machinery. As a result of the partnership it has established with INTERPOL, equipment has been recovered from criminal gangs across Europe.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the National Rural Crime Network’s call for the Home Office to undertake a comprehensive economic impact assessment of rural crime in its report Rural Crime: Serious, Organised and International, published on 10 March.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.
This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). In December 2023, we published the 2023 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.
Serious and organised crime is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK. It costs lives, blights communities, hampers economic growth, and corrodes the global reputation of the UK and its institutions.
The Government welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022, this provides a comprehensive framework through which policing, and partner agencies can work together to tackle rural and wildlife crime, including where it is linked to other forms of serious and organised crime such as the drugs trade.
The National Rural Crime Unit works closely with Interpol to share information about stolen agricultural and construction machinery. As a result of the partnership it has established with INTERPOL, equipment has been recovered from criminal gangs across Europe.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU on the UK’s ability to track down or trace stolen plant and agricultural machinery.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.
This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). In December 2023, we published the 2023 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.
Serious and organised crime is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK. It costs lives, blights communities, hampers economic growth, and corrodes the global reputation of the UK and its institutions.
The Government welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022, this provides a comprehensive framework through which policing, and partner agencies can work together to tackle rural and wildlife crime, including where it is linked to other forms of serious and organised crime such as the drugs trade.
The National Rural Crime Unit works closely with Interpol to share information about stolen agricultural and construction machinery. As a result of the partnership it has established with INTERPOL, equipment has been recovered from criminal gangs across Europe.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the links between wildlife offences and the drugs trade, as highlighted in the report Rural Crime: Serious, Organised and International published by the National Rural Crime Network, published on 10 March.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.
This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). In December 2023, we published the 2023 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.
Serious and organised crime is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK. It costs lives, blights communities, hampers economic growth, and corrodes the global reputation of the UK and its institutions.
The Government welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022, this provides a comprehensive framework through which policing, and partner agencies can work together to tackle rural and wildlife crime, including where it is linked to other forms of serious and organised crime such as the drugs trade.
The National Rural Crime Unit works closely with Interpol to share information about stolen agricultural and construction machinery. As a result of the partnership it has established with INTERPOL, equipment has been recovered from criminal gangs across Europe.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make it his policy to support Kosovo becoming a member of the Council of Europe.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK supports Kosovo's current application to join the Council of Europe. Membership of the Council of Europe would bring practical benefits and protections for all Kosovo citizens, including minority communities. The Foreign Secretary made our support clear during his visit to Kosovo in January this year.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have raised the issue of fire safety in high-rise dwellings in any international meetings; and what proposals, if any, have been brought forward to share lessons learned and to co-ordinate an international response to improve fire safety between member states of (1) the UN, and (2) the Council of Europe.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Government regularly looks at construction practices in other jurisdictions, seeks to learn from any significant incidents and, where appropriate, are always willing to share our experiences with other countries and collaborate further. We should be mindful though that construction practices and methods can be quite different across different countries and so the actions and mechanisms that the UK has put in place would not necessarily be directly transferrable. Experts from the UK participate in both the CEN and ISO committees which facilitate the sharing of international standards. The UK is a member of the Inter-jurisdictional Regula-tory Collaboration Committee (IRCC) which promotes effective international collaboration concerning ‘best current practice’ building regulatory systems.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to secure the release of Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government has consistently condemned Vladimir Kara-Murza's politically motivated conviction and called for his release since his arrest. The Foreign Secretary met Mr Kara-Murza's wife and mother on 1 March to discuss our approach. We continue to call for his immediate release on humanitarian grounds for urgent medical treatment. We continue to raise his case with the Russian authorities at every available opportunity, including at ambassadorial-level, and in multilateral fora, most recently at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and UN Human Rights Council. The FCDO sanctioned 11 individuals in response to his sentencing and appeal, as well as two individuals involved in his earlier poisoning.
Asked by: Michael Shanks (Labour - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1784 on Vladimir Kara-Murza, what progress his Department has made on securing the release of Vladimir Kara-Murza; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the sanctions on the 13 individuals related to this case.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government has consistently condemned Vladimir Kara-Murza's politically motivated conviction and called for his release since his arrest. The Foreign Secretary met Mr Kara-Murza's wife and mother on 1 March to discuss our approach. We continue to raise his case with the Russian authorities at every available opportunity in London and Moscow, and call for his immediate release on humanitarian grounds for urgent medical treatment, including at ambassadorial-level, and in multilateral fora, most recently at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and UN Human Rights Council. Our sanctions are targeted, based on information from a range of sources and we continue to keep them under review.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of the proposed ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, what steps they will take to ensure that they discharge their obligations under that convention in relation to the Ulster Scots community in a manner that is consistent with the recognition of Ulster Scots as a national minority of the United Kingdom under the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government is taking an inclusive approach to the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage across the whole UK. We want to engage with everyone, including the Ulster Scots community, and to provide the conditions to allow everyone to express, preserve, and develop their culture and identity within the UK’s implementation of the framework of the 2003 Convention.
Asked by: David Morris (Conservative - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the debate entitled Allegations of systemic torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in places of detention in Europe at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 24 January 2024.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government unreservedly condemns the use of torture for any purpose and continues to call on all States to ensure that those in detention are treated in line with international human rights law. We value the work of the Committee on the Prevention of Torture at the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe and our UK delegation in debating these important issues.