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Written Question
Hong Kong: Religious Freedom
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the impact of trends in the level of freedom of expression on levels of freedom of religion and belief in Hong Kong.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is committed to protecting the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) and freedom globally. We continue to monitor FoRB in Hong Kong through our regular Six-monthly Reports to Parliament and interactions with local faith leaders. In our latest report, published on 19 September, we noted religious practice is generally not restricted in Hong Kong, with a variety of religious practices coexisting across the territory. However, it is clear many of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Hong Kong's Basic Law are being curtailed under the guise of national security. China's imposition of the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong represents a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns regarding the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 5 December. In line with the UN Human Rights Council recommendation in its International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights report on Hong Kong, we urge the Chinese authorities to repeal the NSL.


Written Question
Hong Kong: Religious Freedom
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of levels of freedom of religion and belief in Hong Kong.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is committed to protecting the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) and freedom globally. We continue to monitor FoRB in Hong Kong through our regular Six-monthly Reports to Parliament and interactions with local faith leaders. In our latest report, published on 19 September, we noted religious practice is generally not restricted in Hong Kong, with a variety of religious practices coexisting across the territory. However, it is clear many of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Hong Kong's Basic Law are being curtailed under the guise of national security. China's imposition of the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong represents a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns regarding the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 5 December. In line with the UN Human Rights Council recommendation in its International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights report on Hong Kong, we urge the Chinese authorities to repeal the NSL.


Written Question
Shoplifting
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will undertake a review of the adequacy of the legislation relating to bystanders and shoplifting.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is clear that violent and abusive behaviour towards any public-facing worker is never acceptable. We take this issue very seriously and recognise the implications on businesses as well as the victims.

We keep all legislation under review. This Government has recently made significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime, including shoplifting.

In October, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all police forces in England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals. There are no plans to review PACE legislation which makes it legal (as it has been for many decades) for a member of the public to perform a citizens arrest in certain circumstances.

This builds on the commitment made by the NPCC in August 2023 that all police forces across England and Wales will follow up all crimes where there is actionable evidence and the chance of identifying an offender, including shoplifting.


Written Question
Technology: Equality
Monday 4th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, in conjunction with employers, to increase diversity within the UK technology sector.

Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to increasing diversity within the technology sector. We do this by working with external organisations and employers, and highly value this collaboration to overcome current barriers. We are also improving diversity in the cyber security sector through the National Cyber Strategy. This focuses particularly on attracting more woman and girls to the cyber profession, and includes the CyberFirst Girls Competition which saw over 12,500 girls (aged 12-13) take part this year alone.

We have supported the Tech Talent Charter (TTC) since 2017, a not-for-profit organisation that provides measurement and insights into diversity through its work with over 700 organisations and across 42 industry sectors, representing 160,000 people in UK technology roles. This year, we also commissioned Color in Tech to deliver research exploring what works for attracting and retaining ethnically diverse talent within the technology sector. The data was used to create a best practice toolkit for employers to build an inclusive workplace environment.

HMG supports diverse entrepreneurs through the £12m Digital Growth Grant, delivered by Barclays Eagle Labs to support startups across the UK. In addition to a range of accelerator programmes, mentorship and educational materials funded by the grant, Barclays Eagle Labs and specialist partners are running growth programmes targeted specifically at female founders and black founders. Among the grant’s primary objectives is that at least 35% of all entrepreneurs supported by the programme will come from diverse backgrounds.

Additionally, the £30 million AI and Data Science Conversion Course programme was established to address the lack of diversity and supply of talent in the UK AI labour market. It is funding up to 3000 scholarships for students from backgrounds underrepresented in the tech industry. We are working with industry to co-fund these scholarships - for every one scholarship that industry funds, the government will fund an additional three across the programme. The Digital Skills Council is also harnessing industry efforts to support further action on digital upskilling and improve the diversity of the digital workforce.


Written Question
Smart Devices: China
Friday 1st December 2023

Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the National Security Council has carried out a national security risk assessment of the potential threat posed by Chinese-made cellular internet of things modules.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.


Written Question
Fly-tipping: Fires
Thursday 30th November 2023

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of fires in illegal dumps on public health in (a) Havering and (b) England.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, and it is an offence to dump waste on land without appropriate authorisation. The Prime Minister’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan set out how we will support councils to take tougher action against those who fly-tip. We have raised the upper limit for fixed penalties for fly-tipping to £1,000 and taken steps to encourage councils to issue more of these penalties.

We are developing a toolkit with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, to help councils and others tackle fly-tipping. This includes a guide on how to present robust cases to court and a new framework on setting up and running effective local partnerships.

We have also awarded nearly £1.2m to help more than 30 councils purchase equipment to tackle fly-tipping at known hot-spots. We have recently launched another grant opportunity that could see a further £1m handed out in grants next year to help even more councils tackle the issue.

The Environment Agency (EA) investigates fly tipping if the incidents are large-scale, serious, organised illegal dumping or if it immediately threatens human health or the environment. They work in partnership with other local partners such as the police, local authorities, the fire service and United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) as needed. This includes seeking advice from UKHSA about public health risks from illegal waste activities if necessary.

As part of its partnership work the EA has provided advice and guidance to the London Borough of Havering to help deal with a specific site in Havering and will continue to do so. The council is the lead authority on regulating this particular site and for monitoring air quality. Its work will take into account any advice on public health matters that it might receive from UKHSA.


Written Question
Fly-tipping
Thursday 30th November 2023

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has taken steps to assist local authorities to tackle illegal dumps in (a) general and (b) Havering.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, and it is an offence to dump waste on land without appropriate authorisation. The Prime Minister’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan set out how we will support councils to take tougher action against those who fly-tip. We have raised the upper limit for fixed penalties for fly-tipping to £1,000 and taken steps to encourage councils to issue more of these penalties.

We are developing a toolkit with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, to help councils and others tackle fly-tipping. This includes a guide on how to present robust cases to court and a new framework on setting up and running effective local partnerships.

We have also awarded nearly £1.2m to help more than 30 councils purchase equipment to tackle fly-tipping at known hot-spots. We have recently launched another grant opportunity that could see a further £1m handed out in grants next year to help even more councils tackle the issue.

The Environment Agency (EA) investigates fly tipping if the incidents are large-scale, serious, organised illegal dumping or if it immediately threatens human health or the environment. They work in partnership with other local partners such as the police, local authorities, the fire service and United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) as needed. This includes seeking advice from UKHSA about public health risks from illegal waste activities if necessary.

As part of its partnership work the EA has provided advice and guidance to the London Borough of Havering to help deal with a specific site in Havering and will continue to do so. The council is the lead authority on regulating this particular site and for monitoring air quality. Its work will take into account any advice on public health matters that it might receive from UKHSA.


Written Question
Wholesale Trade: Crime
Thursday 30th November 2023

Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will hold discussions with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors on trends in the level of crime affecting the wholesale sector.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is concerned about recent increases in crime affecting the retail and wholesale sector, including organised theft. We take this very seriously and are committed to tackling it.

I recently met the Federation of Wholesale Distributors, as part of a meeting with senior policing leads and representatives of the retail sector, to discuss shoplifting and retail crime and action we have taken.. Home Office officials are also taking forward further discussions with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors about the crime affecting them specifically.

On the 23 October, the National Police Chiefs Council published a Retail Crime Action Plan, which includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.

The 23 October also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. This will include development of a new information sharing platform and training for retailers.


Written Question
Fenethylline: Smuggling
Monday 27th November 2023

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the value of the illegal trade in Captagon.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

In December 2021, the Government launched its ten-year drugs strategy, From Harm to Hope, to cut crime and save lives. As part of this, £300 million has been allocated to fund activity to break drug supply chains from end-to-end, this includes restricting upstream flow, securing the UK border, and ensuring we remain agile in the face of changing threats. Further, an additional £780 million will fund the first three years of an ambitious, decade-long transformation of drug treatment and wider recovery support in England.

Specifically, in relation to captagon, the UK remains engaged with likeminded partners and regional states to combat this and is drawing international attention to the issue (for example at the UN Security Council including the most recent meeting on Syria on 30 October).

The UK recognises that the production and smuggling of captagon is a lucrative trade, which provides illicit revenue streams to multiple actors, notably the Asad regime and its supporters . We have not assessed the value of the global captagon market and independent estimates vary significantly.

The National Crime Agency regularly assess the threat posed to the UK by the trafficking of illicit drugs, and currently assess that there is no direct UK facing threat. To date, no instances of captagon being seized at a UK border have been recorded.


Written Question
Fenethylline
Monday 27th November 2023

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to stop the availability of Captagon in England.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

In December 2021, the Government launched its ten-year drugs strategy, From Harm to Hope, to cut crime and save lives. As part of this, £300 million has been allocated to fund activity to break drug supply chains from end-to-end, this includes restricting upstream flow, securing the UK border, and ensuring we remain agile in the face of changing threats. Further, an additional £780 million will fund the first three years of an ambitious, decade-long transformation of drug treatment and wider recovery support in England.

Specifically, in relation to captagon, the UK remains engaged with likeminded partners and regional states to combat this and is drawing international attention to the issue (for example at the UN Security Council including the most recent meeting on Syria on 30 October).

The UK recognises that the production and smuggling of captagon is a lucrative trade, which provides illicit revenue streams to multiple actors, notably the Asad regime and its supporters . We have not assessed the value of the global captagon market and independent estimates vary significantly.

The National Crime Agency regularly assess the threat posed to the UK by the trafficking of illicit drugs, and currently assess that there is no direct UK facing threat. To date, no instances of captagon being seized at a UK border have been recorded.