Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department calculated its estimate of the number of dogs which would be affected by a ban on XL Bully dogs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra calculated its assessment of the number of dogs which would be affected by a ban on XL Bully dogs using evidence and data collated in consultation with key stakeholders.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects his Department’s Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group to report.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We expect the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to publish its findings soon. These should address all aspects of tackling irresponsible dog ownership effectively, from prevention to robust, consistent enforcement, focussing on owners as well as on their dogs.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what extra resource is being provided for police forces to support their increased caseloads in enforcing the ban on XL Bully dogs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office to assess enforcement capability and capacity in relation to the ban on XL Bully type dogs. We have supported the police to deliver additional training to Dog Legislation Officers to make sure the ban is effectively enforced.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the income raised from charges for certificates of exemption to keep an XL Bully dog have been ringfenced to (a) cover the administrative costs of the exemption scheme and (b) support local authorities to enforce the ban.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The application fee paid by XL bully owners on registering an XL Bully covers the administrative costs for the life of the dog, including processing the application and lifetime record management.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help secure the release of Ms Elizabeth Tsurkov who was kidnapped in Iraq in March 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is concerned over the kidnapping of Israeli-Russian dual national Elizabeth Tsurkov. The Government of Iraq opened an investigation into her kidnapping last year and we await the findings. Those suspected of criminal responsibility for her kidnapping should be brought to justice in fair trials. However, as Elizabeth Tsurkov is not a British citizen, we are not in a position to offer direct consular assistance.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mental health trusts are implementing smoking cessation services.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 yearly deaths in the United Kingdom and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. Smoking is closely associated with poor mental health and wellbeing, as people with mental health conditions die 10 to 20 years earlier, with smoking contributing significantly to this. Further information on the wellbeing of smokers aged 18 years old and over, and the relationship between smoking and mental health, is available respectively at the following links:
https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2020/02/26/health-matters-smoking-and-mental-health/
It also costs our country £17 billion a year, £14 billion of which is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year. At the end of quarter three of 2023/24, 37 out of 48 Mental Health services identified as eligible under the NHS Long Term Plan, are reporting that they are delivering tobacco dependence treatment services.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her Department's planned timescale is for the review of banana tariffs.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-Andean Countries Trade Agreement is due to commence in summer 2024. The agreement does not commit the UK to any further liberalisation of the market.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2023 to Question 5408, if he will publish his Department's communications with the Hong Kong authorities on facilitating early drawdown of pension funds.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK firmly opposes the discrimination that British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) status holders are facing in applying for early withdrawal of their pension funds held by the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) in Hong Kong.
All representations to the Hong Kong authorities have been made via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office or the Department for Business and Trade.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 9220 on Floods: Rotherham, how much funding has been allocated to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council via the Flood Recovery Framework since Storm Babet.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Flood Recovery Framework does not work on pre – determined allocations. Eligible local authorities are responsible for distributing flood recovery funding to affected households and businesses and the Government re-imburses those local authorities retrospectively, based on the certified costs of the eligible grants that they have provided.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3839 on Dangerous Dogs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on resourcing for the implementation of the ban on American Bully XL type dogs.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
My Department continues to work closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ensure the successful implementation of the ban on XL Bully type dogs.