Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's press release of 27 February 2024 entitled UK businesses welcome protection for iconic British food and drink in Japan, for what reason Yatsushiro Tokusan Banpeiyu was not included among the 37 Japanese products listed in that press release as receiving geographical indication status in the UK, but was included among the 37 Japanese products added to the protected food and drink names website maintained by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 8 March 2024.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Kikuchi Suiden Gobo was added onto the UK GI register as a protected product on 8 March 2024. The department has amended the press release of 27 February 2024 to include Kikuchi Suiden Gobo. The updated press release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-businesses-welcome-protection-for-iconic-british-food-and-drink-in-japan.
The entry for Yatsushiro Tokusan Banpeiyu was delayed but has now been completed and is listed alongside the other 37 first tranche products from Japan.
The UK was unable to register Iwate Mokutan as a GI because there is no classification under current UK domestic legislation which could include charcoal. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs wrote to the Japanese authorities in 2022 to explain this decision, which they accepted.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department's press release of 27 February 2024 entitled UK businesses welcome protection for iconic British food and drink in Japan, what the outcome was of the application by the Japanese authorities to award geographical indication status in the UK to Iwate Mokutan/Iwate Kirizumi, as published for consultation by the Department for International Trade on 21 December 2021.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Kikuchi Suiden Gobo was added onto the UK GI register as a protected product on 8 March 2024. The department has amended the press release of 27 February 2024 to include Kikuchi Suiden Gobo. The updated press release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-businesses-welcome-protection-for-iconic-british-food-and-drink-in-japan.
The entry for Yatsushiro Tokusan Banpeiyu was delayed but has now been completed and is listed alongside the other 37 first tranche products from Japan.
The UK was unable to register Iwate Mokutan as a GI because there is no classification under current UK domestic legislation which could include charcoal. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs wrote to the Japanese authorities in 2022 to explain this decision, which they accepted.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18492 on European Court of Human Rights, whether the Prime Minister considers the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea to be a foreign tribunal.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply to the answer of 18 April 2024, Official Report, PQ 20335.
A clear distinction can be made between the domestic courts of the United Kingdom applying our law on one hand, and international (foreign) courts on the other, which hear cases within their often limited jurisdiction, in which at least one party is likely to be a nation state, and which are composed of international panels of judges or arbitrators applying international law, and whose rulings or opinions are often but not always final and binding.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18492 on European Court of Human Rights, whether the Prime Minister considers the Permanent Court of Arbitration to be a foreign court.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply to the answer of 18 April 2024, Official Report, PQ 20335.
A clear distinction can be made between the domestic courts of the United Kingdom applying our law on one hand, and international (foreign) courts on the other, which hear cases within their often limited jurisdiction, in which at least one party is likely to be a nation state, and which are composed of international panels of judges or arbitrators applying international law, and whose rulings or opinions are often but not always final and binding.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, what steps his Department has taken to mitigate the risks of red-rated legacy IT systems.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has funded and resourced a dedicated Legacy Technical Debt Working Group within DWP. This group managed the population and ongoing accuracy of Legacy IT System Risk Score Cards. The information recorded includes plans for mitigating key risks which are assessed ahead of each fiscal planning round to bid for funds to implement mitigating measures.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing non-repayable maintenance grants for higher education students from the least advantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The government believes that income contingent student loans are a fair and sensible way of financing higher education (HE). It is only right that those who benefit from the system should make a fair contribution to its costs. The government have continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for undergraduate and postgraduate students each year, with a 2.8% increase for the 2023/24 academic year and a further 2.5% increase announced for 2024/25.
In addition, the government have frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven successive years. The department believe that the current fee freeze achieves the best balance between ensuring that the system remains financially sustainable, offering good value for the taxpayer, and reducing debt levels for students in real terms.
The government understands the pressures people have been facing with the cost of living and has taken action to help. The government have already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students including disadvantaged students.
The government have also made a further £10 million of support available to help student mental health and hardship funding for the 2023/24 academic year. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes. For the 2024/25 financial year, the government have increased the Student Premium (full-time, part-time, and disabled premium) by £5 million to reflect high demand for hardship support. Further details of this allocation for the academic year 2024/25 will be announced by the Office for Students in the summer.
Overall, support to households to help with the high cost of living is worth £108 billion over 2022/23 to 2024/25, which is an average of £3,800 per UK household. The government believes this will have eased the pressure on family budgets, which will in turn enable many families to provide additional support to their children in HE to help them meet increased living costs.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many properties in Lincolnshire other than hotels Serco have operated for housing asylum seekers since 2020.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of car insurance premiums in the last 12 months.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department has not made an assessment of the rising cost of motor insurance premiums over the past year. However, officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance. I will also soon meet with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, and industry, to discuss this matter further.
The Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority rules. It is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene in or seek to control the market.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with HM Treasury on the proposed consultation into the impact of the July 2023 High Court ruling in Uber Britannia Ltd v Sefton MBC.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport and HM Treasury have worked closely on the consultation, which was launched on 18 April, on the impacts that recent High Court rulings on private hire vehicle legislation may have on the sector and its passengers.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of guidance issued by his Department to (a) Network Rail, (b) National Highways and (c) the Great British Railways transition team on potential conflicts of interest.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Arm’s Length Bodies have a duty to manage public money responsibly and effectively and in a transparent way. This includes managing any potential conflicts of interest effectively through the implementation of an effective and appropriate Conflicts of Interest (CoI) policy, in line with the Cabinet Office’s Procurement Policy Note: Applying Exclusions in Public Procurement, Managing Conflicts of Interest and Whistleblowing (PPN 04/21).
As the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) employs people from across the rail industry, DfT’s Rail Reform team has been working closely with them to maintain and improve current information sharing processes, including ensuring NDAs have adequate provisions to protect all parties where potential conflicts of interest exist. This includes ensuring GBRTT have adequate provisions in place when working with Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and contractors.