Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of children in families that are unable to satisfy the requirements for a spousal visa.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not collate or publish the information requested. However, the Home Office does publish data on the outcomes of entry clearance visa applications at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/managed-migration-datasets.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking in (a) the UK and (b) overseas to tackle (a) working conditions and (b) exploitation in the food supply chain.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, large businesses with a turnover of £36m or more are required to publish annual modern slavery statements detailing the steps they are taking to prevent modern slavery in their UK operations and global supply chains. The requirement applies to all sectors, including agriculture. The Government is committed to doing more and will shortly be launching a consultation to strengthen the transparency in supply chains legislation, making it harder for companies to avoid scrutiny.
The Home Office regularly engages with businesses across a range of sectors to accelerate progress in tackling modern slavery in global supply chains.
The Gangmasters Labour and Abuse Authority (GLAA) licenses UK businesses which provide workers to the farming, food processing and shellfish gathering sectors to make sure they meet the employment standards required by law; and carries out inspections and enforcement activity. The GLAA also partner with businesses such as Sainsbury’s to deliver training sessions to their suppliers, equipping them to better identify and manage risks in their supply chains.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the forthcoming national alcohol strategy will be published.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We are considering the precise timing of next steps across Government
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is to process Surinder Singh applications, and how that compares with other types of applications made under the EU Settlement Scheme since that scheme's inception.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Current processing times for applications made under the EU Settlement Scheme can be found at:
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many animals have been experimented on in the UK in the last 12 months for household product ingredients.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Home Office publishes data on the use of animals in scientific
procedures annually at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals.
The breakdown of the number of animals used for the testing of Household Product ingredients is published in the Animals in Science Regulation Unit’s Annual Reports at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports.
Data from 2018, for both numbers of procedures, and animals used in household product ingredient testing, will be published later this year.
The HO has published guidance on the Household Products testing ban, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/660233/Household_products_testing_ban_advice_note.pdf
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the statement in the document entitled Additional Statistics on Breeding and Genotyping of Animals for Scientific Procedures, Great Britain 2017, published on 8 November 2018, that 1.81 million non–genetically altered animals were bred for but not used in regulated procedures, if the Government will bring forward plans to achieve a significant reduction in such breeding.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Home Office will publish a framework for the efficient breeding of animals shortly. The framework has been piloted and used for at least the last year by both the Home Office Inspectorate and scientific establishments to drive best practice for efficient breeding. The framework is
focussed on the efficient breeding of genetically altered animals, yet also applies to non genetically altered animals.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance his Department has issued to universities engaged animal testing on the implementation of the principles of the 3Rs, Replacement, Reduction and Refinement.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Home Office has published guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The guidance includes information on the implementation of the 3Rs and is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/research-and-testing-using-animals#animals-in-science-regulation-unit-asru-guidance.
The Home Office regulator for the use of animals in science has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NC3Rs. The Memorandum of Understanding is published and available at:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/734630/establishment-licence-holder-newsletter-august-2018.pdf
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the consultation on the review of Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, published in 2014.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The government will issue a response to the consultation on the review of Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in due course.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer on 6 September 2018 to Question 169147 on Animal Experiments, if the Government will introduce legislative proposals to bring regulations for the testing on animals of ingredients used in household products into line with those on ingredients used in cosmetics.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Home Office has published clear guidance on the Household Products testing ban, which is available on Gov.uk
The Household Products Testing ban has been in place since 2015.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 27 of the report, Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2017, published by his Department on 19 July 2018 on the use of an neuromuscular blocking agent which did not also include a general anaesthetic, which species of animal was involved; and what procedures were conducted with that agent.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Neuromuscular blocking agents were licensed for use, without general anaesthetic, for basic research on zebra fish fry for the purposes of research into the functioning of the nervous system. The procedures authorised were non-invasive imaging. The procedures are not painful, and although at this stage the fry do not need to move for respiration, they are kept in water while being imaged.
The neuromuscular blockers ensure that swimming movements do not interfere with the highly sophisticated imaging of their nervous systems
This work was licensed following a robust Harm Benefit Analysis, consistent with the requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.