Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of secondary schools in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency had a dedicated (a) school library and (b) librarian in (i) 2010, (ii) 2023 and (iii) May 2024.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department believes that all pupils deserve to be taught a knowledge-rich curriculum that promotes the extensive reading of books and other texts, both in and out of school. School libraries complement public libraries in allowing pupils to do this.
It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian. Overall school funding is increasing by more than £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 academic year compared to the 2023/24 academic year, taking the total to £60.7 billion, which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. Many headteachers recognise the important role school libraries play in improving literacy and encouraging pupils to read for pleasure and ensure that suitable library facilities are provided. School libraries can take many forms, with some schools preferring to make books a focus in other ways, including housing them within classrooms.
The department’s Reading Framework, updated in July 2023, offers non-statutory guidance for teachers and school leaders, including helpful guidance for schools on how to organise their school library, book corner or book stock to make reading accessible and attractive to readers. Given this autonomy, the department does not collect information on the number of school libraries.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of secondary schools had a dedicated (a) school library and (b) librarian in (i) 2010, (ii) 2023 and (iii) May 2024.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department believes that all pupils deserve to be taught a knowledge-rich curriculum that promotes the extensive reading of books and other texts, both in and out of school. School libraries complement public libraries in allowing pupils to do this.
It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian. Overall school funding is increasing by more than £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 academic year compared to the 2023/24 academic year, taking the total to £60.7 billion, which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. Many headteachers recognise the important role school libraries play in improving literacy and encouraging pupils to read for pleasure and ensure that suitable library facilities are provided. School libraries can take many forms, with some schools preferring to make books a focus in other ways, including housing them within classrooms.
The department’s Reading Framework, updated in July 2023, offers non-statutory guidance for teachers and school leaders, including helpful guidance for schools on how to organise their school library, book corner or book stock to make reading accessible and attractive to readers. Given this autonomy, the department does not collect information on the number of school libraries.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of primary schools had a dedicated (a) school library and (b) librarian in (i) 2010, (ii) 2023 and (iii) May 2024.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department believes that all pupils deserve to be taught a knowledge-rich curriculum that promotes the extensive reading of books and other texts, both in and out of school. School libraries complement public libraries in allowing pupils to do this.
It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian. Overall school funding is increasing by more than £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 academic year compared to the 2023/24 academic year, taking the total to £60.7 billion, which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. Many headteachers recognise the important role school libraries play in improving literacy and encouraging pupils to read for pleasure and ensure that suitable library facilities are provided. School libraries can take many forms, with some schools preferring to make books a focus in other ways, including housing them within classrooms.
The department’s Reading Framework, updated in July 2023, offers non-statutory guidance for teachers and school leaders, including helpful guidance for schools on how to organise their school library, book corner or book stock to make reading accessible and attractive to readers. Given this autonomy, the department does not collect information on the number of school libraries.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what estimate he has made of the number of journalists detained in China; and what steps he is taking to support media freedom in that country.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are severe restrictions on media freedom in China, and the situation for journalists is deteriorating. The Government notes Reporters Without Borders' credible estimate that 109 journalists and media workers are currently detained by China.
The Government supports media freedom and the right of journalists to do their job. We consistently raise our concerns bilaterally and multilaterally. For example, at China's Universal Periodic Review in January we called on China to cease restrictions on civil society and independent media, and raised the cases of Sophia Huang Xueqin and Zhang Zhan, among others. I raised human rights concerns with my counterparts during my visit to China in April, and the Foreign Secretary did so when he met China's Foreign Minister in February. British diplomats have also attempted to attend trials of civilian journalists and rights activists in China to demonstrate support.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Australian national defence strategy on the UK's cooperation with (a) Australia (b) other partners in the Indo-Pacific.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK and Australia are close partners and we welcome Australia's inaugural National Defence Strategy. As set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, the UK is committed to and strategically focussed on the Indo-Pacific. Our partnership with Australia is an important part of this, and we regularly discuss Indo-Pacific collaboration at senior official and ministerial levels, including at the recent Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN) in Adelaide in March. We work closely with Australia as members of the Commonwealth, Five Eyes, the G20 and the UN, and we regularly discuss defence matters.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2024 to Question 24277 on South China Sea: Shipping, how much funding has been provided to maritime training programmes in Southeast Asia in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Prior to November 2022, the FCDO's approach to maritime security in Southeast Asia focussed on diplomatic engagement including legal dialogues. In November 2022, the FCDO launched the Southeast Asia Maritime Security programme funded by the Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) and spent in total £0.17 million in financial year (FY) 2022-23. In FY 2023-24, the programme invested £0.8 million on capacity and capability building projects with regional partners to strengthen their capacity on maritime law and security. In FY 2024-25, the programme has been allocated up to £3.5 million to continue delivering similar projects through the new Integrated Security Fund (ISF).
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 of the potential impact of climate change on UK food security.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
We recognise the impact of climate change on the food system which is why we are investing in the sustainability and resilience of the domestic sector and are undertaking work to the improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change on the wider food system and the resilience of the wider UK food supply chain. The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published in July 2023, and addresses the 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. NAP3 includes dedicated responses to risks to domestic agricultural productivity and UK food availability, safety, and quality from climate change overseas.
The Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.
The UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) sets out an analysis of statistical data relating to food security, fulfilling the duty in the Agriculture Act 2020 to present a report on food security to Parliament at least once every three years. It examines trends relevant to food security to present the best available understanding. The report was last published in December 2021 and will next be published by December 2024.
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister announced that we will introduce an annual Food Security Index to underpin the three-yearly UK Food Security report. This will present the key data and analysis needed to monitor how we are maintaining our current levels of self-sufficiency and overall food security. We will publish the first draft of the Food Security Index during the second UK Farm to Fork Summit on 14 May 2024.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his international partners on transnational repression.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The UK Government is committed to working with international partners to build our collective resilience to all forms of foreign interference including transnational repression (TNR). The Foreign Secretary attended the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting in April in Capri. The resulting communiqué included language which condemned the targeting of activists, critics, and journalists through TNR activity. Officials regularly engage with like-minded international partners bilaterally and in multilateral fora, such as the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism, to share knowledge and identify opportunities to collaborate to effectively counter TNR activity. The UK will continue to engage with international partners through bilateral and multilateral channels to address this issue.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to (a) assess instances of and (b) help tackle transnational repression.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The UK will not tolerate transnational repression and will stand up for the rights of all people to live here safely and freely. The National Security Act 2023 represents a step change in our ability to counter foreign interference, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats.
We do everything we can to keep citizens safe and the country secure. This involves taking a proactive approach to countering the most acute forms of state-directed threats to individuals. Anyone who thinks they might be a victim should report incidents or suspicious activity to the Police.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce, working across Government, is reviewing the UK’s response to transnational repression to ensure we have a robust and joined up response across government and law enforcement.
I recently announced new training for frontline officers to increase their understanding of threats that foreign powers present, and enhance their ability to combat these.
We will also be reforming our systems and processes within government to more effectively deal with transnational repression.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives of Unicef on (a) its Baby Friendly initiative and (b) trends in breastfeeding rates in the UK.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I met with representatives from UNICEF in March 2024 to discuss the Start for Life agenda. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, we are investing £50 million into infant feeding services. This is enabling participating local authorities to design and deliver a blended offer to ensure all mothers can meet their breastfeeding goals. The investment is being used to increase the range of advice and support available, including peer support.
We are also investing to increase the capacity of the National Breastfeeding Helpline. In March 2024, we launched a trial of extended helpline opening hours, so that support and advice is available at any time of the day or night, every day of the year.