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Written Question
Bypasses: Middlewich
Thursday 14th March 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to make a decision on the allocation of grant funding for the Middlewich Eastern Bypass programme.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

This is being considered and a decision will be issued shortly.


Written Question
Myanmar: Development Aid
Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the funding his Department has provided to healthcare projects for Rohingya and other Muslim minorities in the Rakhine state.

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

The UK has provided over £30 million in humanitarian and food security support for the Rohingya and other Muslim communities in Rakhine state since 2017, reaching over 160,000 Rohingya people, and is the largest donor of water, sanitation and hygiene services to Rohingya Internally Displaced Persons camps in central Rakhine. The UK also works to provide essential health services to approximately 3.3 million people in Myanmar, including in Rakhine, through a multilateral programme with the International Organisation for Migration. FCDO programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk].


Written Question
Myanmar: Rohingya
Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the funding his Department provided to the International Organization for Migration for healthcare projects for the Rohingya people in Myanmar.

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

The UK has provided over £30 million in humanitarian and food security support for the Rohingya and other Muslim communities in Rakhine state since 2017, reaching over 160,000 Rohingya people, and is the largest donor of water, sanitation and hygiene services to Rohingya Internally Displaced Persons camps in central Rakhine. The UK also works to provide essential health services to approximately 3.3 million people in Myanmar, including in Rakhine, through a multilateral programme with the International Organisation for Migration. FCDO programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk].


Written Question
Myanmar: Rohingya
Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the funding his Department has provided to NGOs to help support Rohingya people in Myanmar.

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

The UK has provided over £30 million in humanitarian and food security support for the Rohingya and other Muslim communities in Rakhine state since 2017, reaching over 160,000 Rohingya people, and is the largest donor of water, sanitation and hygiene services to Rohingya Internally Displaced Persons camps in central Rakhine. The UK also works to provide essential health services to approximately 3.3 million people in Myanmar, including in Rakhine, through a multilateral programme with the International Organisation for Migration. FCDO programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk].


Written Question
Myanmar: Bilateral Aid
Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using the bilateral aid allocated to the Myanmar-UK Health Partnership programme to (a) support and (b) protect (i) nurses and (ii) healthcare workers targeted by the Junta regime in Myanmar.

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

The UK Government remains committed to assisting nurses and healthcare workers in Myanmar. The Myanmar-UK Health Partnership has supported Myanmar health workers to establish pop-up clinics and provided crucial training to develop capacity in opposition-held areas. It supplies doctors and nurses in Myanmar with web-based learning materials and has provided more than 3,000 nurses with nursing training. The programme has also supported the provision of direct services through digital methods, such as telemedicine services. The programme is designed to ensure that Myanmar's population can access healthcare services despite access constraints, while reducing the risks to health workers.


Written Question
Abortion: Demonstrations
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that non-statutory guidance on abortion clinic safe access zones around abortion clinics issued by his Department supports the human rights of people with pro-life views.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government respects people’s fundamental rights provided under Article 9 (freedom of thought, religion and belief), Article 10 (freedom of expression) and Article 11 (freedom of association and assembly) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The enforcement of abortion safe access zones must be compliant with the ECHR.

The Government has recently consulted publicly on the guidance. We are currently analysing all responses to the consultation, which closed on 22 January, and we will publish the final guidance in due course.


Written Question
Bypasses: Middlewich
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an urgent decision on the full business case relating to the Middlewich Eastern Bypass to facilitate the commencement of construction.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Officials at DfT are assessing the business case of the scheme and will provide advice on whether to approve it as soon as possible.


Written Question
Abortion
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will have discussions with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on the adequacy of the range of stakeholders consulted for the guidance for healthcare staff on Involvement of the Police and External Agencies following Abortion, Pregnancy Loss and Unexpected Delivery it issued on 22 January 2024.

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

The recent guidance for healthcare staff on the involvement of the police and external agencies following abortion, pregnancy loss, and unexpected delivery, was produced independently by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The Department does not intend to review the stakeholder consultation related to this guidance. Abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance, and it is for Parliament to decide the circumstances under which abortions should take place. The Department’s focus is on patient safety and ensuring the law, as set out in the Abortion Act 1967, is applied to ensure women can access to safe, high-quality services.


Written Question
Roads: Cheshire
Thursday 11th January 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department provided to Cheshire East Council for highways (a) maintenance and (b) improvements in the (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24 financial year.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Over the two years in question, the Department has provided a total of over £30 million to Cheshire East Council for highway maintenance, as set out in the table below. Over the same period the Department has also provided over £4 million to Cheshire East Council for small-scale transport improvements through the Integrated Transport Block. Further details are available on gov.uk.

Table showing funding provided to Cheshire East Council

Funding Stream

2022/23 (£m)

2023/24 (£m)

Total (£m)

Highways Maintenance Block

7.249

7.249

14.498

Potholes Fund

5.799

5.799

11.598

Increase for 2023/24 announced in Budget 2023

2.319

2.319

Increase for 2023/24 announced as part of Network North programme

1.658

1.658

Total Maintenance

13.048

17.025

30.073

Integrated Transport Block

2.003

2.003

4.006

Total

15.051

19.028

34.079

The highway maintenance funding being provided in 2023/24 is a 30% increase on 2022/23.


Written Question
Sudan: Minority Groups
Monday 10th July 2023

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impacts of actions of (a) Rapid Support Forces and (b) the Sudanese Armed Forces on religious minorities in Sudan's (i) Blue Nile and (ii) South Kordofan states.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK condemns the rising violence across Sudan. We note reports of heavy fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), as well as between SAF and Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The spread of violence to these states has brought with it the killing of civilians and sexual assault of women, amongst other human rights abuses. We continue to demand that the warring parties respect calls for a ceasefire, humanitarian access be granted and those responsible be held to account. We will support international efforts to secure a permanent cessation of hostilities and protection of civilians through statements and resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council and Security Council and through cooperation with counterparts from African, Quad (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, UK and US) and European countries. We are also engaging with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the African Union, where we are now working through a new Core Group to ensure inclusive regional and international action to secure a viable peace process. Following reports of attacks on churches and mosques since 15 April, we are monitoring growing infringements of religious freedom in Sudan and continue to promote freedom of religion or belief as a means of enhancing tolerance and inclusion.