Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to publish the UK's delegation to the COP 31 Summit in Antalya, Türkiye.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The final list of UK delegates travelling to COP will be published by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat at the end of COP31.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
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 13 October 2026 to Question 34398 on ME/CFS: Health Services, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of its efforts to promote the e-learning modules; and what further steps it plans to take to improve participation among healthcare professionals.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of October 2026, 2,133 people have accessed any or all of the e-learning modules. Of those, 1,064 people have completed at least one module.
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): the final delivery plan committed to promoting the e-learning through a range of channels such as the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. The modules were also added to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence tools and resources page for ME/CFS. The Department is continuing to explore further possible avenues for promotion.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
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 13 October 2026 to Question 34398 on ME/CFS: Health Services, how many of the people who accessed the e-learning modules have completed them.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of October 2026, 2,133 people have accessed any or all of the e-learning modules. Of those, 1,064 people have completed at least one module.
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): the final delivery plan committed to promoting the e-learning through a range of channels such as the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. The modules were also added to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence tools and resources page for ME/CFS. The Department is continuing to explore further possible avenues for promotion.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Government of Turkey on fulfilling its obligations under the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals to protect the welfare of street dogs forcibly moved into shelters as a result of the 2024 Animal Protection Law.
Answered by Uma Kumaran - Assistant Whip
As a member of the Council of Europe, the UK expects Turkey to act in line with conventions promoting animal welfare. This includes the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals. The UK will continue to support international efforts to promote the humane treatment of animals and responsible approaches to animal welfare.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to raise concerns with the Government of Turkey regarding the potential mistreatment of street dogs forcibly moved into shelters under the 2024 Animal Protection Law.
Answered by Uma Kumaran - Assistant Whip
As a member of the Council of Europe, the UK expects Turkey to act in line with conventions promoting animal welfare. This includes the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals. The UK will continue to support international efforts to promote the humane treatment of animals and responsible approaches to animal welfare.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Council of Europe on the level of Turkey's compliance with its obligations under the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals in rehousing street dogs into shelters, including under that country's Animal Protection Law, No. 7527.
Answered by Uma Kumaran - Assistant Whip
As a member of the Council of Europe, the UK expects Turkey to act in line with conventions promoting animal welfare. This includes the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals. The UK will continue to support international efforts to promote the humane treatment of animals and responsible approaches to animal welfare.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many a) cats and b) dogs were euthanised by vets in each of the last five years; and what proportion of each of these had their microchips scanned prior to the procedure.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Earlier this year, Defra concluded an exercise engaging with key stakeholders to consider how new microchip scanning requirements prior to euthanasia have been embedded. Defra intends to issue a response to this exercise later in the year. Defra does not hold data on the number of cats and dogs euthanised by vets or the proportion scanned prior to the procedure.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she intends to publish her Department's response to its 'Consultation on scanning microchips prior to euthanasia', which closed on 10 February 2026.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Earlier this year, Defra concluded an exercise engaging with key stakeholders to consider how new microchip scanning requirements prior to euthanasia have been embedded. Defra intends to issue a response to this exercise later in the year. Defra does not hold data on the number of cats and dogs euthanised by vets or the proportion scanned prior to the procedure.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the policy development underway to give effect to the commitment to amend GB CLP to safeguard the UK Internal Market by June 2027.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The UK Government is committed to maintaining a consistent classification labelling and packaging (CLP) regime across the UK through the incorporation of relevant EU CLP requirements into GB CLP. This reflects the commitment made in 2025 by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to avoid new regulatory barriers emerging between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Subject to consultation, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will make legislative changes to deliver that commitment. Officials and industry representatives engage regularly on the development and implementation of proposals to support regulatory alignment and maintain consistency across the UK.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the Health and Safety Executive will a) regularly report GB/EU divergence on chemical hazard classifications and b) set out the reasons why a substance that has received a mandatory hazard classification in the EU is not being considered for a GB hazard classification.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the GB Classification, Labelling and Packaging (GB CLP) Agency, includes all information and reasons for GB/EU divergence in the mandatory classification and labelling of substances in the GB MCL Technical Reports that are publicly available from the GB CLP publication table on the HSE website.
The only situation currently where an EU mandatory classification relevant for GB is not considered under the GB CLP Regulation is where the EU has diverged from international consensus on the classification and labelling of substances (as set out under the United Nations Globally Harmonised System (UN GHS) and has adopted its own hazard classes that are not included in the GB CLP Regulation. An explanation is provided in the Agency Technical Report.