Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with international human rights organisations on the case of Ahmad Manasra.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government maintains regular engagements with many international partners, including the Government of Israel and other organisations, over issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children in detention. We remain committed to working with Israel to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention.
The Government continues to call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law, most recently in the Prime Minister's call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 15 February.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times HMRC has directed non-established taxable persons whose business is not established in the EU to appoint a VAT representative in each of the last five financial years; what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of these VAT representatives that were themselves established in the UK; and how many and what proportion of non-established taxable persons whose business is not established in the EU failed to comply with such a direction.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not hold data on how often they direct a non-established taxable person (NETP) to appoint a UK VAT representative, or levels of compliance.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department’s research on charity lottery sales and prize limits will assess the case for removing sales limits.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As set out in the response to WPQ 203179, the annual sales limits for charity lotteries were reviewed 12 months after the reforms were implemented in 2020. The review concluded it was too soon to reach any firm view on the impact of the reforms, and that more data on the growth of the sector was needed before considering any further changes.
The department will continue to look closely at this, and work closely with the Gambling Commission to keep the sector and research regarding charity lottery sales and prize limits under review.
I have committed to commissioning independent research, and we are currently considering a range of options in discussion with the Gambling Commission.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has received representations from (a) the police and (b) other bodies on the rounding of kitchen knives as a means of reducing the risk of injury in knife offending in domestic residential settings.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the requested data. Statistics on knife or sharp instrument offences may be found as part of the Office for National Statistics release: Crime in England and Wales: year ending September 2023.
There are no plans at present to commission specific research to provide a data set about prevalence of knife / sharp instrument offending in domestic residential settings.
The Home Office regularly considers representations about knife crime and knives from interested parties including the police, Members of Parliament and members of the public. This has on occasion included representations about round tipped kitchen knives reducing the risk of injury.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will commission research into the prevalence of offending with (a) knives and (b) other sharp instruments in domestic residential settings.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the requested data. Statistics on knife or sharp instrument offences may be found as part of the Office for National Statistics release: Crime in England and Wales: year ending September 2023.
There are no plans at present to commission specific research to provide a data set about prevalence of knife / sharp instrument offending in domestic residential settings.
The Home Office regularly considers representations about knife crime and knives from interested parties including the police, Members of Parliament and members of the public. This has on occasion included representations about round tipped kitchen knives reducing the risk of injury.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving (a) knives and (b) other sharp instruments were recorded in a (i) domestic residence and (ii) non-domestic setting by each police force in England and Wales in the last year for which information is available; and if he will provide a breakdown of those figures by the gender of the victim.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the requested data. Statistics on knife or sharp instrument offences may be found as part of the Office for National Statistics release: Crime in England and Wales: year ending September 2023.
There are no plans at present to commission specific research to provide a data set about prevalence of knife / sharp instrument offending in domestic residential settings.
The Home Office regularly considers representations about knife crime and knives from interested parties including the police, Members of Parliament and members of the public. This has on occasion included representations about round tipped kitchen knives reducing the risk of injury.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether existing smart meters will need to be replaced when the UK's 2G and 3G networks are phased out in 2033.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is working closely with industry to ensure a smooth transition of services when 2G/3G communication services are switched off by the end of 2033.
In premises where smart meters have reached the end of their expected lifespan, they will be replaced with a new smart meter as part of business-as-usual activity. Where smart meters are within their lifespan we expect suppliers to upgrade communications hubs, without the need to replace the smart meter itself.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when the management of the Data Communications Company's smart meter network will transfer from O2 to Vodafone.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The transfer will occur from 2025 until the end of 2033, when the smart metering communications service in the Central and South regions of Great Britain will have been transitioned to a 4G service using the Vodafone network.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring greater protection to landscapes with a distinct literary (a) heritage and (b) value in planning policy.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that planning policies and decisions should recognise the character and beauty of the countryside, and local authorities are expected to protect heritage assets which can include landscape and setting of listed buildings.
Substantial harm to, or loss of, the significance of designated heritage assets of the highest significance – including World Heritage Sites – should be wholly exceptional. A notable example of protected landscape is the Lake District, inscribed as a World Heritage Site for its rich cultural landscape in recognition of its importance to Wordsworth.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2023 to Question 3556 on Chemicals: Regulation, for what reason no new additions to the UK’s Substance of Very High Concern waitlist are expected before 2025.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) work under the agreed 2023-24 UK REACH Work Programme has not identified any substances that are suitable candidates for authorisation under UK REACH, which would need to be included in the Candidate List as Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC).
HSE’s work includes both technical assessments of substances candidate-listed in the EU and regulatory management options analyses (RMOAs), which are reviewed in the context of the interim principles for the inclusion of SVHCs on the candidate list (Approach to including substances of very high concern on the UK REACH candidate list – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). If suitable substances are identified to go onto the Candidate List from this work, they will be taken forward. RMOAs may, however, also identify that other regulatory approaches are more appropriate than REACH authorisation.