Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department holds information on whether the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has approved Hamas’ use of its supplies and equipment.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations extremely seriously including reports of diversion of equipment. This is something we monitor in our annual assessment of UNRWA.
The UK is following closely the independent review led by Minister Catherine Colonna which is assessing the mechanisms and procedures that the Agency currently has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, over which motorway service areas his Department holds the freehold interest.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government, via its shareholding of National Highways, owns the freehold of 35 following motorway service areas:
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Highways England has used the community payback scheme in the last three years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways has collaborated with the National Probation Service, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, to provide opportunities for community service order candidates. In 2021 and 2022, National Highways was invited to make arrangements for litter picking trials and light maintenance at several motorways service areas including trial sites at Gloucester, Hartshead Moor, Chester and Leicester Forest East. In August 2023, National Highways also launched a project where candidates serving community service orders are assisting with graffiti removal and general maintenance in subways.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what dates the Priestley Way trash screen that sits on the River Brent and enters the Welsh Harp was cleared by the Environment Agency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency plans to attend once a week to clear the debris and waste build up on the Priestley Way Screen. By exception, operatives may not attend if they are required elsewhere to carry out higher priority work that could cause flooding or an environmental incident (for example, responding to emergency incidents). The Environment Agency arranges for a grab lorry to attend site once a month (although this frequency does increase at times of heavy rain and higher river levels when the screen can become inundated with waste much quicker). This lorry takes away up to 3 tonnes of rubbish each trip.
The Environment Agency cannot provide exact dates for when it cleared the screen in the past 12 months but can confirm it cleared the screen 43 times (this includes planned visits to end of March 2024).
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that imported fisheries products are not produced through the use of (a) illegal, (b) unreported and (c) unregulated fishing practices.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Imports and direct landings of fish into the UK are required to be accompanied by catch certificates. This ensures traceability throughout the supply chain to mitigate the risk of the fish having been derived from illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing.
The UK has powers to apply import restrictions to countries identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing. At present, the UK does not permit the import of fishery products from Comoros, Cambodia or Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Import restrictions can also be implemented at vessel level. Any vessel that has been identified as associated with IUU fishing activities, can be placed on the UK’s IUU Vessel List meaning it is not eligible to import fishery products into the UK. Advice and guidance for importers of fish and fisheries products is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to help achieve net zero.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Church Commissioners are committed to reducing the carbon intensity of their portfolio by 2025 and, as a member of the Asset Owners Alliance, reaching ‘Net Zero’ in the investment portfolio by 2050.
The General Synod has set a target for the Church of England to become Net Zero by 2030. The National Church Institutions are supporting every diocese with a grant to grow capacity and employ staff to manage the work of achieving this net zero ambition. The Church Commissioners have committed funding of £30m for 2023-25 and £190m total for a 9-year programme from 2023-31.
Stage one will explore the best ways to decarbonise the diverse range of buildings and navigate planning and governance structures. The project will assess cathedrals and clergy housing, with demonstration churches that can act as showpieces of what is possible. There will be a special grant available from dioceses to enable churches to fund improvements to their energy efficiency.
A second workstream supports schools in accessing public sector decarbonisation funds, and another stream of grants will match local fundraising in churches for net-zero carbon projects through the Buildings for Mission scheme
This will provide a clear picture of the kinds of projects that are effective in reducing emissions, ready for a scaled-up investment in the second 3-year period
Recent success stories include York Minster and the Chapel at Kings College, Cambridge, which have joined many other major churches and cathedrals across the country in installing new solar panels and renewable technologies, reducing their running costs and making them more sustainable buildings.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether a recent assessment has been made of the environmental improvements being advanced through the church's holding of agricultural land.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Church Commissioners undertake rolling assessments of environmental improvements being made to the farmland portfolio by tenants, which is used to update the baseline study undertaken five years ago. Data has so far been provided on over 25,000 acres of Commissioners’ land holdings and contains details of environmental changes, such as transitioning to regenerative agricultural practices. The Commissioners are pleased to announce a partnership with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), which will further develop this work.
The Church Commissioners’ rural estates team continues to engage with our new and existing agricultural tenants through regular individual farm visits, the sharing of ground-sourced data, including carbon audits, and the gathering of information from third parties. On recent assessment revealed that on a single Commissioners’ farm in Kent, over 45 species of bird were recorded during a single visit in December 2023.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether he has made an assessment of the contribution of church schools in Hendon constituency.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Though the National Church Institutions are not responsible for the operation of individual schools, the Diocese of London has volunteered the following information, which I hope is useful.
There are two Church of England schools in the Hendon Constituency.
St Mary’s and St John’s educates more than 1,600 pupils. One quarter are on free school meals, which is higher than the Local Authority average. Pupils are making above-average progress at an 8-level attainment of 0.39 compared with the national average of -0.03.
St Paul’s School Mill Hill educates 210 pupils. One fifth of pupils are in receipt of Free School Meals, in line with the Local Authority average. Pupils attainment is above-average; 84% attained the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths last summer compared to the national average of 60%.
I commend the teachers and leadership teams in both schools for these achievements.
The Church of England educates over one million children in its 4,700 schools across England. Church Schools are committed to the flourishing of children and deliver a rounded education that remains in high demand with parents. They serve all those in the community, whatever their faith or belief.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the fisheries transparency reforms introduced by Thailand's government in 2015 on fish stocks in the region.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are monitoring developments regarding proposals to reform Thailand's Fisheries Act and are engaging with relevant organisations to understand the potential impact of these reforms. The UK complies with its international obligations to maintain labour, maritime and environmental standards, and we encourage other countries to do the same.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with representatives of Thailand's government on its proposed fishing reforms.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are monitoring developments regarding proposals to reform Thailand's Fisheries Act and are engaging with relevant organisations to understand the potential impact of these reforms. The UK complies with its international obligations to maintain labour, maritime and environmental standards, and we encourage other countries to do the same.