Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has plans to review the effectiveness of Form A restrictions in protecting third party interests for a tenancy in common.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
There are no plans to review the law in this area at present. The Law of Property Act 1925, Land Registration Acts of 1925 and 2002 and the Land Registration Rules set out a clear legal framework and checks and balances for protecting the various interests in registered estates and charges, including those of third party interests.
HM Land Registry publish practice notes which offer guidance on the role and use of Form A and other restrictions, including one on ‘Notices, restrictions and protection of third-party interests’:
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure British troops deployed on the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali tackle conflict-related sexual violence against women.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence work together to ensure that British troops deployed to the UN's peacekeeping operation in Mali, MINUSMA, receive comprehensive pre-deployment training, including on human rights, preventing sexual exploitation and abuse and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV). The UK's long range reconnaissance task group in Mali is a high capability commitment intended to enable MINUSMA to conduct more effective intelligence-led operations across the full range of its mandated tasks, including protection of civilians and prevention of CRSV. UK troops themselves have visited a large number of Malian communities, including some which have not previously interacted with peacekeepers, to deter criminal activity and violence against civilians, to provide a UN presence and to understand local population's concerns.
The UK Government has a strong commitment to ensuring UN peacekeeping is equipped to tackle CRSV. Across all missions, including MINUSMA, and as a member of the UN Security Council, we support specific protection and assistance for women affected by armed conflict, and advocate for civilian and uniformed gender advisers to enable missions to address the needs of victims and survivors of CRSV.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to upgrade British cyber security capabilities in response to misinformation and wide-scale hacking by malign state sponsored entities.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes cyber security and resilience very seriously and conducts a range of activities to ensure its systems are protected against attack from malign state and non-state actors. As a result of the Integrated Review settlement, the MOD is increasing its already substantial investment in defensive cyber capabilities. These are delivered through three dedicated programmes: Defensive Cyber Operations, Cyber Resilience Programme and the Joint Crypt Key Programme. The MOD continues to work closely with industry and partners across Government, especially the National Cyber Security Centre. To guard against disinformation, Defence provides support to the cross-departmental Counter Disinformation Unit's campaigns. This work is led by the Cabinet Office and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil proceedings for non-compliance by financial institutions under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 have been (a) applied for and (b) granted since the introduction of that legislation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Under the landmark transparency provisions contained in section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to require certain commercial organisations to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery, including institutional investors who fall within scope of the requirement.
The Government regularly engages with businesses, investors, civil society and industry experts to collaborate on best practice and promote key measures to tackle modern slavery. The Home Office’s statutory guidance, ‘Transparency in Supply Chains: a Practical Guide’, emphasises that it is crucial that large organisations are transparent and accountable, not just to investors but to other groups including employees, consumers and the public, whose lives are affected by their business activity. The Government also supports ShareAction’s Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI) and provided £200,000 of funding in 2020/21. The initiative has mobilised investors with $6.5 trillion of assets under management to call for transparency from multinational companies on how they manage their workforce.
In the meantime, to further enhance transparency, in March 2021 the Government launched an online GOV.UK registry for modern slavery statements. This new service enables investors, consumers, NGOs and others to scrutinise the effectiveness of the actions being taken and monitor progress across sectors over time. Within the first month of launching, statements covering c. 8,000 organisations have already been submitted to the registry.
If an organisation fails to publish a statement, the Secretary of State can seek an injunction to require compliance. This power has not been used to date. However, following the transparency in supply chains consultation, the Government has committed to an ambitious package of changes to section 54, including introducing financial penalties for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to encourage institutional investors to consider modern slavery risks inherent in wider investment portfolios under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Under the landmark transparency provisions contained in section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to require certain commercial organisations to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery, including institutional investors who fall within scope of the requirement.
The Government regularly engages with businesses, investors, civil society and industry experts to collaborate on best practice and promote key measures to tackle modern slavery. The Home Office’s statutory guidance, ‘Transparency in Supply Chains: a Practical Guide’, emphasises that it is crucial that large organisations are transparent and accountable, not just to investors but to other groups including employees, consumers and the public, whose lives are affected by their business activity. The Government also supports ShareAction’s Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI) and provided £200,000 of funding in 2020/21. The initiative has mobilised investors with $6.5 trillion of assets under management to call for transparency from multinational companies on how they manage their workforce.
In the meantime, to further enhance transparency, in March 2021 the Government launched an online GOV.UK registry for modern slavery statements. This new service enables investors, consumers, NGOs and others to scrutinise the effectiveness of the actions being taken and monitor progress across sectors over time. Within the first month of launching, statements covering c. 8,000 organisations have already been submitted to the registry.
If an organisation fails to publish a statement, the Secretary of State can seek an injunction to require compliance. This power has not been used to date. However, following the transparency in supply chains consultation, the Government has committed to an ambitious package of changes to section 54, including introducing financial penalties for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the value for money of Big Society Capital since its inception.
Answered by Matt Warman
In July 2020, The Oversight Trust published an independent review of Big Society Capital (BSC) as part of its role in overseeing the organisation. This report outlined the progress BSC has made towards its objectives as a social investment wholesaler and market-builder, including in mobilising private capital for social investment. Since 2011, BSC has signed £680m of investments to support social enterprises and charities, and has leveraged £1.4bn of investments from private investors alongside this. This has contributed to 97 fund level investments and provided capital to over 1,200 charities and social enterprises, with 73% of these organisations located in the 50% most deprived places in the UK.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Big Society Capital at mobilising private capital for investments in the social enterprise sector.
Answered by Matt Warman
In July 2020, The Oversight Trust published an independent review of Big Society Capital (BSC) as part of its role in overseeing the organisation. This report outlined the progress BSC has made towards its objectives as a social investment wholesaler and market-builder, including in mobilising private capital for social investment. Since 2011, BSC has signed £680m of investments to support social enterprises and charities, and has leveraged £1.4bn of investments from private investors alongside this. This has contributed to 97 fund level investments and provided capital to over 1,200 charities and social enterprises, with 73% of these organisations located in the 50% most deprived places in the UK.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is able to take steps to prevent off-road vehicles causing damage and disruption to footpaths in rural villages.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Driving a motorised vehicle on a footpath, bridleway or restricted byway without the landowner’s consent is a criminal offence and enforcement is a matter for the police.
An offence under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 may have been committed if damage is caused.
The maintenance of public rights of way is a local issue. Local highway authorities have statutory duties to record and keep public rights of way open and it is the authority’s responsibility to prevent the stopping-up or obstruction of public rights of way.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential opportunities for the UK of leaving the EU.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
The Government is clear however that leaving the EU presents the UK with many opportunities. The Government has already established a new points-based immigration system to attract the brightest and best, new trade agreements, and a replacement of the bureaucratic Common Agricultural Policy. This Government will continue to maximise opportunities to support long-term economic growth and strengthen the UK’s global position.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What diplomatic steps he is taking to strengthen UK relations in the Indo-Pacific.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Deeper engagement with the Indo-Pacific is fundamental to the UK’s future economy, security and values.
The Foreign Secretary’s visits to India in December, and to the Republic of Korea and Vietnam in September, advanced collaboration across critical sectors. The UK’s application for ASEAN Dialogue Partner status and planned accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will deepen our political, security and economic relations across the region.