Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on its Disability Confident employer scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Disability Confident scheme is delivered by a small policy team within the department, and by colleagues across the Jobcentre Plus network, who engage with employers and partner organisations as part of their day-to-day business. Total scheme expenditure is not separately recorded within departmental budgets.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the Government's policy on deporting migrants to Rwanda; and whether any international counterparts have raised concerns about that policy.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
FCDO Ministers and officials engage regularly with other governments and international organisations on a range of issues, including illegal migration. The recent passing of the Safety of Rwanda Act is an important step forward in the UK's innovative efforts to tackle illegal migration. As such, the policy has received widespread international attention. A number of other countries are also exploring similar models of relocating migrants to safe third countries to process their asylum claims. As the UK courts have confirmed, this approach is compliant with the UK's obligations under international law.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of disabled people receiving Personal Independence Payment are in work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In March 2023, 475,000 people in receipt of PIP in England, Wales, or outside the UK were in employment in the UK, including self-employment. The proportion of people in receipt of PIP who are in employment was published in Modernising Support for Independent Living - The Health and Disability Green Paper found here.
These figures contain all PIP claimants, including claimants with disabilities and long-term health conditions, and those over pension age.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department (a) logs and (b) registers potential concerns raised by (i) other governments and (ii) international bodies on UK responsibilities toward (A) refugees and (B) asylum seekers.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We engage regularly with other governments and international organisations on matters relating to refugees and asylum seekers. The FCDO ensures that any potential concerns are actioned via effective and well-established channels.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 7 of the document entitled ICF Brazil: Summary, published in March 2024, when the Government plans to disburse its £115 million contribution to the Amazon Fund.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK is the third biggest contributor of climate finance to Brazil, with more than £400 million committed. The UK’s contribution supports initiatives under the Green and Inclusive Growth partnership to help Brazil’s economic transition to net zero, reduce deforestation rates and support Brazil’s ambition to develop a bioeconomy which values standing forest and supports local communities’ livelihoods. At COP 28 the UK signed a legal agreement with the Amazon Fund and an initial disbursement is planned for 2024.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department is taking steps through the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative to help support Ukrainian officials to investigate alleged acts of sexual violence by Russian forces since 2022.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The UK is working with Ukrainian authorities to hold those responsible for gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, in Ukraine to account. The UK has committed up to £6.2 million to enhance Ukraine's domestic capacity for war crimes investigations and to help embed international guidelines and best practice into the work of Ukrainian prosecutors and investigators, including on survivor-centred approaches. This assistance has been largely delivered through projects via the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine, established with the US and EU, and deployments of UK experts, including the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Team of Experts.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the potential (a) presence and (b) spread of (i) antibiotic-resistant and (ii) antimicrobial-resistant organisms that are hazardous to human health in rivers.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have been working with the Environment Agency and the UK Health Security Agency, to trial methods for detecting and quantifying antibiotic resistant bacteria in 3 river catchments in England and to provide example data on their presence and prevalence. The work involved sampling river waters at sites along the length of each river and subject to different land uses and potential sources of resistant bacteria. We expect to publish the results in the summer. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of (a) antibiotic-resistant and (b) antimicrobial-resistant organisms in waterborne bacteria networks on public health.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have been working with the Environment Agency and the UK Health Security Agency, to trial methods for detecting and quantifying antibiotic resistant bacteria in 3 river catchments in England and to provide example data on their presence and prevalence. The work involved sampling river waters at sites along the length of each river and subject to different land uses and potential sources of resistant bacteria. We expect to publish the results in the summer. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 make an assessment of the potential impact of raw sewage in inland waterways on levels of (a) antimicrobial and (b) antibiotic resistance in waterborne bacteria networks.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no plans to perform assessments of possible impacts of raw sewage on levels of antimicrobic substances, and antibiotic resistance in bacterial communities in our surface waters. To do so would require extensive field monitoring, and analytical challenges would need to be robustly addressed to ascertain whether raw sewage discharges in the presence of other sources are responsible for antimicrobial resistance in river bacteria. However, the Environment Agency has been engaged in the cross government PATHSAFE programme to identify the pathways of antimicrobial resistance to humans and if it were decided necessary, the Agency would advise on the practical steps to undertake such assessments.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what estimate he has made of the number of companies importing oil from the Rosneft owned Vadinar refinery in India.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK regularly raises Russia's actions with India including at Foreign Secretary level, most recently on 16th February, and is working with the Government of India to accelerate India's transition to green renewable energy to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels. Tackling sanctions circumvention remains a key priority for the UK and G7, and we are committed to working with international partners to address circumvention risks. We must incentivise all countries to shift away from dependency on Russian goods and services by demonstrating that Russia is not a reliable partner. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes National level data on the origin of oil cargoes to the UK, but does not break this down by originating refinery. In 2023 imports of petroleum products from India to the UK totalled 2.0 million tonnes.