Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many UK-based staff from his Department worked in (a) HM Embassy or the High Commission and (b) Consulates General, Consulates or Deputy High Commissions in (i) China, (ii) South Korea, (iii) Vietnam, (iv) the Philippines, (v) India and (vi) the Asia Pacific region in 2023.

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

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what support his Department offered to Taiwan after the recent earthquake.

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

Following the earthquake, the Foreign Secretary issued a statement offering condolences to the people of Taiwan and stating that the UK stood ready to support. The UK's International Search and Rescue team made contact with the relevant Taiwanese authorities. No request for assistance was made by Taiwan.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether the (a) Prime Minister and (b) Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs has raised the impact of Article 23 of the Basic Law on Hong Kong's (i) autonomy and (ii) civil liberties with his Chinese counterpart.

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

The Foreign Secretary made a second statement on Hong Kong's new national security law (Article 23) on 19 March, in which he made clear our view that it will further damage the rights and freedoms enjoyed in the city. He stated that we expect the Hong Kong authorities to respect the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law, uphold its high degree of autonomy and act in accordance with its international commitments and legal obligations. We continue to raise our firm objection to the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong at the highest levels of government. The Prime Minister raised Hong Kong with Premier Li Qiang on 20 September at the G20 and the Foreign Secretary last raised Hong Kong with his counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 16 February at the Munich Security Conference.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his Vietnamese counterpart on furthering the bilateral relationship.

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

I visited Vietnam from 25-27 October 2023 to attend the South China Sea Conference and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) South East Asia Ministerial Forum, and to discuss regional security, investment and economic development. The UK and Vietnam continue to have positive cooperation on long-term strategic priorities such as energy transition and adaptation to climate change, maritime security in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, illegal immigration, trade, technology and investment, and on education and research partnerships. Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Philip Barton recently visited Vietnam on 25 March to meet with Vietnamese ministries to discuss further cooperation in these areas.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what (a) diplomatic and (b) cultural steps his Department plans to take with the Secretary of State for Defence to support the planned Carrier Strike Group deployment to the Asia Pacific in 2025.

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

The Carrier Strike Group deployment in 2025 will reinforce the UK's commitment to upholding international security, including in the Indo-Pacific, and will strengthen our broad-based partnerships across the region. The FCDO will be closely involved in planning for the deployment, as it develops, as part of an established Cross Government process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2024 to Question 19417 on Mental Health Services: Parents, what steps her Department is taking to provide community mental health services to bereaved (a) fathers and (b) partners following pregnancy or baby loss.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are committed to expanding and transforming mental health services in England so that more people, including bereaved fathers and partners following pregnancy or baby loss, can get the help and support that they need.

As part of this, we are expanding access to psychological and talking therapies within specialist perinatal mental health services. Specialist community perinatal mental health services have now been rolled out in every part of England, and should work closely with maternal mental health services, which are also being rolled out, with 39 maternal mental health services currently available across England. Fathers and other partners of women accessing specialist community care should be able to access an evidence-based assessment for their mental health and signposting to support as required. Individuals can also access psychological support by referring themselves to NHS Talking Therapies. Details of local services are available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/nhs-talking-therapies/

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure carers are made aware when they have exceeded the threshold for claiming carer's allowance.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP remains focussed and passionate about ensuring that the experience for our DWP customers is at the forefront of the decisions that we make, the processes we deliver, and the improvements that we design.

We have made it easier for customers to contact DWP via the channel that makes the most sense for them. DWP customers can report change of circumstances by telephone, letter, and online via GOV.UK which outlines the routeway of how a customer should notify DWP for each benefit where changes occur. This includes the use of Universal Credit Journal to report changes directly to the appropriate benefit affected where earnings increase or decrease accordingly.

For customers seeking advice on Carer’s Allowance (CA) entitlement, GOV.UK provides detail on eligibility. The CA threshold for earnings is £151 a week from April 2024, after tax, National Insurance, and expenses.

Following a successful claim to CA customers are issued with an ‘award letter’ which includes a reminder that ‘You must tell us if your earnings or expenses change.” This helps to ensure that their CA claim runs smoothly, and the earnings threshold for claiming Carer's Allowance is not exceeded.

As benefit and pension rates are uprated, CA customers are further issued with new benefit rate ‘uprating letters’ which also include reminders to report changes in circumstances.

For irregular earners, CA work closely with our customers to ensure CA is only paid for the periods when the customer’s earnings fluctuate and are below the earnings limit. In this way, this should ensure that CA is not overpaid, as information is obtained from the customer for set periods of time to ensure CA is paid correctly for that period.

As our customers rightly expect, DWP is committed to continuous improvement, and we have many mechanisms in place to measure, and analyse the experience of our customers, providing DWP with a rich source of feedback that helps us to review and improve our services.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of closing schools so they can be used as polling stations on children's educational attainment.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of closing schools so they can be used as polling stations.

Local returning officers have the power to require a school to act as a polling venue and may choose to do so where no suitable alternative accommodation is available. Whether or not the school then has to close is a decision for the headteacher. Before making a decision, headteachers should always consider the impact of a school closure on their pupils and parents and work to minimise this impact so that it will not detrimentally affect pupils' educational attainment.

Decisions about closure will usually depend on what arrangements can be made for voting to take place separately from the rest of the school premises. If the school decides to close on the day of the poll, it should try and make up the lost day of education.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help support women in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency to return to work after a career break.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Local Jobcentre teams are supporting residents into work and helping those in work to progress to higher paid jobs. We are working with local and national employers to help fill vacancies quickly, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), recruitment days, Job Fairs, and work trials, all of which can help support women to return to work after a career break.

In addition, one to one support from a Work Coach and Contracted Employment Programmes, the department also offers help with CVs and employability skills, mentoring circles for people aged 50 plus and support with childcare costs. Where a Work Coach identifies a barrier to securing or progressing in employment, they can use the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) to procure clothing, tools, digital devices, and to help with travel to work costs.

In Haringey, we are working with the Construction Youth Trust to support more women into construction roles, with referrals made by Jobcentres across the borough, and funding available to support women who want to work in this sector.

To help facilitate signposting discussions with claimants, staff have access to a database of national and local support information, the District Provision Tool as well as the new Managed Jobs and Opportunities which ensures that claimants can access tailored support where required. This includes provision aimed at women across London such as Dress for Success, a service that supports women to improve their confidence when attending interviews and Smart Works, a UK charity that provides high quality interview clothes and interview training to unemployed women.

We are also working with Transport for London and the College of North East London on their Women into Transportation and Engineering provision. This provides two weeks of pre-employment training, covering CV writing, and workplace skills, plus a Smart Works coaching and styling appointment designed to give participants the confidence to apply for the roles offered within the programme

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the responses to the call for evidence on The Fur Market in Great Britain which closed on 28 June 2021.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

At this stage we do not have a confirmed date for publication of a summary of responses to the call for evidence on the fur market in Great Britain. In the meantime, we are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade.  We have also commissioned a report from our expert Animal Welfare Committee into the issue of what constitutes responsible sourcing in the fur industry. This report will support our understanding of the fur industry and help inform our next steps.