Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) provide funding for and (b) otherwise support the Ukrainian government to (i) investigate, (ii) arrest and (iii) prosecute Russian military (A) commanders and (B) personnel involved in the deployment of (1) choking and (2) other illegal chemical agents.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Russia's use of chemicals as a method of warfare in Ukraine is a breach of its obligations under the UN Chemical Weapons Convention. The UK has provided Ukraine with assistance against potential chemical attacks, including medical countermeasures and protection. We have supported the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to assist Ukraine to detect the use of chemicals on the battlefield.
We have provided £6.2 million of capacity-building support to Ukraine's domestic work to document, investigate, and prosecute war crimes. Since 2022, we have provided £2.3 million in additional contributions to the International Criminal Court, in addition to our £13.2 million annual budget contribution for 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what his (a) process and (b) timetable is for engaging with (i) governments and (ii) elected representatives on his Department's upcoming strategy refresh on the Overseas Territories.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, working with other UK Government departments, is leading the development of a refreshed strategy for the Overseas Territories (OTs) to be published in 2024. The strategy will set clear direction and renewed aims for the UK Government across each of the following themes: economies, environment and climate, defence and security, governance, and communities. As set out in the December 2023 UK-OT Joint Declaration, the strategy is being developed through collaboration with the Territories. Consultations across the strategy themes are ongoing and are being delivered through engagement with OT governments, the OTs' representatives in the UK, Governors, and other key stakeholders.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to update the Digital skills and inclusion policy published on 5 April 2017, and when they plan to publish an updated version.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The 2022 Digital Strategy outlined work across Government to promote digital inclusion and digital skills. HMG is investing £3.8bn in skills in England by 2024-25 and recently quadrupled the scale of Skills Bootcamps. Additionally, the Digital Skills Entitlement offers free basic digital skills training to adults in England.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is responsible for coordinating cross-Government digital inclusion policy. Digital inclusion is a cross-cutting issue and responsibility for relevant policies, including monitoring and evaluation, sit within individual government departments.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to build on the proposals in the report of Sir Andrew Dilnot’s Commission on Funding of Care and Support, Fairer Care Funding, published in July 2011.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the Autumn Statement 2022, we listened to the concerns of local government and made the decision to delay the rollout of charging reforms from October 2023 to October 2025. These reforms include the introduction of a cap on personal care costs, and a more generous adult social care means test. The Government has been considering what form the rollout of charging reform from October 2025 will take.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what support his Department plans to provide to (a) Fritz Bélizaire, (b) Edgard Leblanc and (c) the Transitional Council in Haiti.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to supporting a Haitian-led political solution to address the escalating violence in the country. We welcomed the swearing in of the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) in Haiti as an important step on the journey to restoring much needed political stability. We now stress the need for TPC agreement on the candidates for the positions of President and Prime Minister so that these might be ratified swiftly.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the AI Safety Institute, launched in November 2023, will report its findings, risk analysis and recommendations to Parliament.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Institute reports directly to the Secretary of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, who will provide updates to Parliament in the usual way. The AI Safety Institute will publish, and make available to Parliament, its findings where it is appropriate to do so, given consideration on proprietary, sensitive, or national security-related information.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence on the strategic role of Gibraltar, in the context of the negotiations with the EU on the Gibraltar-Spain border.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is clear that any agreement will preserve the operational autonomy of the military facilities in Gibraltar. The Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Defence have discussed and are unequivocal on this. Ministry of Defence officials are fully involved in our approach to the negotiations.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his US counterpart on the (a) handling of pro-Palestine protests on university campuses and (b) potential impact of disbanding those protests on (i) free speech and (ii) the right to assembly in that country.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The handling of protests in the US is a matter for US authorities. The Deputy Foreign Secretary has not had any discussions with his US counterpart on the handling of pro-Palestine protests on university campuses or the potential impact of disbanding these protests.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of steel that will be able to be produced from Port Talbot following its conversion to electric arc furnaces.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Tata Steel’s new Electric Arc Furnace will have a production capacity of approximately 3 million tonnes of crude steel per year.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Georgian counterpart on the impact of the foreign agent bill on the treatment of (a) UK and (b) international non-governmental organisations during elections in that country.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The UK is committed to supporting a vibrant civil society in Georgia, which is an essential attribute of a healthy democracy. I [Minister for Europe] discussed this and a range of other issues with the Georgian Ambassador on 17 April, and on 2 May I publicly raised my concerns regarding the apparent excessive use of force by police during demonstrations in Tbilisi. His Majesty's Ambassador to Georgia has consistently made our concerns about the proposed law on Transparency of Foreign Influence known to the Georgian Government, most recently to the Prime Minister on 22 April and President on 4 May.