Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of caste-based discrimination in Nepal; what part of the Overseas Development Assistance is being used to support Dalit women across South Asia and specifically in Nepal; and what resources they have made available for grassroots organisations supporting Dalit women’s rights.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Gender inequality and social exclusion are significant challenges in Nepal. Whilst Nepal has a progressive constitution and many progressive laws and policies, implementation issues remain. The rights of women and girls is one of FCDO's core goals in Nepal. We fund grassroot organisations which work with the most vulnerable including Dalit communities and regularly engage with Dalit organisations to inform our existing and future programming. The UK is invested in shifting negative norms in society and institutions, improving processes and strengthening systems. Full information on our programmes can be found on DevTracker.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Pakistan on ensuring the availability of thalassaemia treatment and awareness; and what allocations of the Official Development Aid is being put towards this.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK uses Official Development Assistance (ODA) to support Pakistan in realising its ambition of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and ending preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children. We take a systems approach to this, providing technical assistance to strengthen decision making on health policy and financing. We also build the evidence base on effective sub-system interventions for UHC. No specific investments are made in Thalassaemia treatment or awareness raising in Pakistan. However, our support will strengthen core components of Pakistan's health system and increase coverage and service offers that should be of benefit to those with Thalassaemia.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the White Paper on International Development published on 20 November 2023 (CP 975), when they expect to publish the FCDO Strategy on Open Societies and Human Rights; and what they anticipate the impact of the Strategy will be on (1) developing protection mechanisms, respite schemes and rapid response support for human rights defenders, and (2) supporting local networks that emphasise the protection of such defenders.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO acknowledges the commitment made in the International Development White Paper to publish an Open Societies and Human Rights Strategy. The Strategy is in draft, and it will be published in due course. In line with commitments made in the International Development White Paper, the Strategy will signal our intent to provide additional support to human rights defenders. This is in line with the recent announcement that the UK will provide £1 million in funding over the next two years to the Lifeline Embattled Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Assistance Fund to provide much needed support to civic actors facing reprisals for their important work.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the amount of rosewood timber that is exported from West African countries such as Mali, The Gambia and Senegal; what steps they have taken to ban or control within UK markets the sale of products made from West African rosewood; and what steps they have taken to protect endangered wild species, including rosewood in West Africa.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is currently contributing funding towards a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) study on the conservation and trade in rosewood tree species but does yet not have an assessment of rosewood timber exports. We have robust mechanisms in place through the UK Timber Regulations (UKTR), which prohibit the placing of illegally harvested timber and timber products on the GB market and require operators - those first placing timber products on the market - to exercise due diligence. Those who trade in timber and timber products after they have been placed on the market are required to keep records of who they buy timber products from and any traders they sell them to. This enables timber and timber products to be traced.
The primary objective of the UKTR is to tackle illegal logging and to create a demand for legally harvested timber. Implementing the Regulations enables the protection of forests around the world, supporting the Government’s ambition to lead the world in environmental protection, end extreme poverty, and be at the forefront of action against global climate change.
The requirement to exercise due diligence under UKTR does not apply where a valid CITES permit accompanies the timber.
Rosewood species (Dalbergia and Guibourtia spp.) are listed on the CITES Appendices and so most rosewood timber imports into the UK will need a valid permit. Permit applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis by the UK CITES Management Authority, which will only issue permits if it has been possible to determine that the specimens to be imported were legally acquired and sustainably harvested.
The Government provides grants to a wide range of stakeholders to contribute to the protection of endangered wild species, including tackling illegal wildlife trade in West Africa, through the Biodiversity Challenge Funds. While these do not address rosewood in West Africa specifically, this has included empowering communities to protect their forests by the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia, and supporting Royal Botanic Gardens Kew to monitor and halt illegal timber trade through DNA barcoding in Gabon and Congo (Brazzaville).
Further information on these examples and other projects supported by the Biodiversity Challenge Funds can be found at the websites of the Darwin Initiative and the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Egypt regarding the release of the British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, and whether they have an expectation of the date on which he is likely to be released.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government and have been consistently clear in our calls for his release, while continuing to press the need for urgent consular access. The Foreign Secretary and I raised his case with President Sisi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry on 21 December 2023. The Prime Minister also recently raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 1 December 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the practice of the pension funds of regulators investing in companies for which the regulator has oversight responsibility, for example in the recent case of the Environment Agency’s pension fund investing in companies which produce PFAS.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Most regulators participate in the unfunded public service pension schemes, which do not invest monies in order to generate returns. Those that do have funded schemes are subject to DWP occupational pension scheme legislation, with investments separated from the organisation and trustees responsible for scheme investments, or, in the case of the Environment Agency, participate in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Trustees and LGPS administering authorities have specific legal and fiduciary duties.
LGPS administering authorities, including the Environment Agency Pension Fund, are required to act in the interest of the fund and not the employer in setting and implementing their investment strategy. DLUHC guidance sets out that it is good practice for administering authorities to have robust policies to manage any potential conflicts of interest. The EAPF conflicts of interest policy is available online.[1]
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter dated 29 August 2023 from Lord Sharpe of Epsom to the Chair of the Animals in Science Committee, what progress they have made in considering the relocation of the portfolio under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
There are no plans to relocate the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 portfolio from the Home Office to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
The Home Office is working with DSIT to advance the Government’s ambitions for the life sciences and the protection of animals used in science.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, regarding the Decapods: call for evidence which closed on 13 October 2023, what consideration they have made of the evidence received, when results will be published, and when a policy decision based on this evidence will be made.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is carefully considering the results from the call for evidence regarding the current use of decapods in science to inform future policy options.
The Home Office intend to commission the independent advisory body, the Animals in Science Committee (ASC), for advice on this issue. The scope of the commission to the ASC will be made public. We will then publish in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to inform and educate employers and occupational health professionals of the specific workplace adaptations that women experiencing menopause symptoms may require, and what assessment they have made of working conditions for frontline health workers experiencing menopause symptoms.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Government’s Women’s Health Strategy, improving care and support for women experiencing menopause symptoms is a priority for the Government. Helen Tomlinson has been appointed as the Government’s first Menopause Employment Champion and is working with employers to increase understanding of menopause in the workplace and support for women. In October 2023 Helen published a report, No Time to Step Back, which provides guidance to help recruit, support and retain women experiencing the menopause and stop women considering giving up their employment.
The Government has also launched a new online only space for guidance on the Help to Grow website, providing businesses, large and small, with the resources they need to help educate their organisation and workers about the menopause.
In the 2023 Autumn Statement, the Government published the response to the Occupational Health: Working Better consultation and set out plans to imminently set up an expert group to support the development of a voluntary minimum framework for quality occupational health provision. The voluntary framework will take account of existing initiatives that support those with health conditions and disabilities in the workplace and aims to set out the minimum level of quality occupational health provision that employers can adopt to help employees return to work from sickness absence, and prevent health-related job loss.
The Government also announced that it will identify longer-term options to build multidisciplinary workforce capability in work and health, building on existing work with the sector and exploring opportunities for businesses and providers to improve support for their employees. The Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme launched in July 2023 funds doctors and nurses to undertake occupational health training courses and qualifications with 99 Doctors and Nurses funded as part of the first round of applications.
In terms of frontline health workers, a key focus of the NHS England National Menopause Care Improvement Programme is the development of a retention programme for the National Health Service workforce, which is looking at how best to support menopausal staff and line managers in NHS settings. In November 2022, NHS England launched Supporting our NHS people through menopause, a guidance document developed for NHS line managers and colleagues. They have launched two e-learning packages, for general guidance and occupational health colleagues, and are developing one for human resources and line managers. A health and wellbeing app, Shiny Mind, is available to the nursing workforce, and launched a menopause specific section in November 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the personal protective equipment (PPE) industry about regulatory and technological solutions to improve short PPE use-by dates.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Personal Protective Equipment Regulation 2016/425 sets out essential safety requirements that PPE must meet. This includes an obligation on the manufacturer to give, if possible, the month and year of obsolescence, if it is known that the design performance may be significantly affected by ageing.
The Government has had no discussions with industry about changing this requirement in the Regulation, but welcomes new technological innovation to improve short PPE use-by dates.