Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a comprehensive surveillance programme in place to monitor the level of BSE over time and check on the continued effectiveness of our BSE controls. It was the effectiveness of these controls that recently identified a case in Scotland. Defra officials have engaged closely with Scottish counterparts on this matter, as they do regularly on animal disease issues more broadly with officials from all UK administrations under the Animal Health and Welfare Framework.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will hold discussions with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other Cabinet colleagues on duty-free shopping in Northern Ireland airports when travelling to and from destinations in the EU.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government is committed to maintaining unfettered access for NI to the whole UK market, as well as full access to the EU market, along with our commitment to avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Enabling duty-free shopping between Northern Ireland and the EU (of which Ireland is a member) without also introducing border controls on the island of Ireland would lead to significant distortions of trade as well as a significant revenue loss for both UK and Ireland, as it would otherwise create a legal route for unlimited amounts of alcohol and tobacco to flow into the UK market duty-free.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Japan-UK Reciprocal Access Agreement, signed on 11 January 2023, whether he plans to deploy armed forces to the South China Sea in proximity to Taiwan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK-Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement enables UK and Japanese military personnel to operate and exercise together in each other’s countries. There are no plans to utilise the RAA in the South China Sea.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of projected trends in the number of hotels being used as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers between 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute and accommodation needs are kept under continuous review.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). Data is published on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the £100m Security Investment Programme in preventing drugs being smuggled into prisons since March 2022.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government’s £100m Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs, was completed in March 2022.
This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we have recorded 46,925 positive indications, helping to tackle the smuggling of drugs and other illicit items into prisons.
The investment also funded Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high-risk sites, enhancing our routine searching of staff and visitors. Over 140 new staff were recruited into the Counter-Corruption Unit through the Security Investment Programme. This includes regional Prevent teams dedicated to building staff resilience through training, awareness raising and individual support, as well as 20 Police Investigators dedicated to investigating corruption within HMPPS.
As part of this investment, we are undertaking a full evaluation for the Security Investment Programme. The evaluation explores whether the programme has achieved its intended outcomes, how the programme has been delivered, whether it has been delivered as intended and to identify factors which further strengthen its effectiveness.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2024 to Question 9340, when she plans to respond the correspondence of an East Londonderry constituent of 16 June 2023 on water fluoridation policy; and for what reason a response has not yet been provided.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department received the hon. Members’ correspondence of 16 June 2023, and, with apologies, responded on 16 January 2024. We have resent the response to the hon. Member on 15 May 2024.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
There is a UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur, which the UN renewed in March 2023. There is also a longstanding bilateral UK arms embargo in place for the whole of Sudan. In our engagement with international partners as well as in our regular statements at the UN Security Council, the UK continues to emphasise the importance of refraining from actions that prolong the conflict. We will work closely with the US, as penholders on the UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur, on its renewal by September 2024.