Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Kosovo on a potential reciprocal driving licence exchange agreement with that country.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following a request from the Kosovan Embassy to consider a possible reciprocal driving licence exchange agreement, officials have carried out a full assessment of the licensing and testing information provided by the Kosovan authorities. This assessment concluded that arrangements in place in Kosovo for the issue of driving licences, including having driving tests and licensing procedures, are comparable with those in Great Britain.
The department is now progressing the work required to achieve an exchange agreement as quickly as possible. All such licence exchange agreements are subject to public consultation and the introduction of the relevant legislation.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of access to carbon capture and storage capabilities in each region; and whether she is taking steps to help ensure the (a) equity and (b) efficiency of the distribution of such capabilities.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has previously undertaken assessments of the potential CCUS capabilities of industrial clusters across the UK, including the HyNet, East Coast Cluster, Acorn, and Viking clusters, as part of the Cluster Sequencing Process. The guidance and eligibility criteria for these assessments is available on gov.uk.
CCUS will be essential to meeting the UK’s 2050 net zero target, playing a vital role in levelling up the economy, supporting the low-carbon economic transformation of our industrial regions, creating new high value jobs across the UK. We remain committed to industrial decarbonisation across all nations and regions of the UK as we work toward net zero.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve water quality; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of these steps on (a) public health and (b) environmental sustainability.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published the Plan for Water in April 2023. The Plan is our comprehensive strategy bringing together the significant steps we have already taken with a suite of new policy actions. The Plan is underpinned by Increased investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement. Improving public health and delivering environment sustainability were core elements built into the Plan to ensure we improve our water environment for people and wildlife. Public Sector Equality Duty and Environmental Principles considerations are factored into delivery of Plan for Water policies as is standard for all government policies.
In addition to the commitments in the Plan for Water, government monitors water quality at designated bathing waters and shellfish waters in England for public health.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
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 publish guidance for businesses on verifying the origin of imported forest risk commodities to the plot of land where they were grown under Schedule 17 of the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government committed to tackling illegal deforestation in UK supply chains through the Environment Act in 2021 and announced further details of the secondary legislation at COP28 in December 2023. This law will make it illegal for organisations with a global annual turnover of more than £50m to use key forest risk commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used. Our regulations will not require information on the plot of land where commodities were sourced. However, regulated organisations will have to put in place due diligence systems—and will have to report on these systems—in order to lower the risk that there are prohibited forest risk commodity products in their supply chains to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable. Initial secondary legislation will focus on four commodities identified as key drivers of deforestation: cattle products (excluding dairy), cocoa, palm oil and soy.
We are committed to laying the secondary legislation to tackle illegal deforestation in the United Kingdom's supply chains and plan to do so in Spring of this year. Initial guidance will be published alongside this legislation, to support organisations in meeting their due diligence obligations.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the survey on Public attitudes to animal research, last conducted for the Office for Life Sciences in 2018, when her Department plans to commission a further survey.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The department does not currently have plans to run the Public Attitudes in Animal Research Survey. Policy teams are working with a variety of external and internal stakeholders to determine the future of the survey.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many families are housed through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The most up to date data on arrivals through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be accessed here.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with his Indonesian counterpart on authorising a visit to West Papua by (a) the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, (b) Special Rapporteurs and (c) mandate holders.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK fully respects the territorial integrity of Indonesia and regards the provinces of Papua and West Papua as an integral part of Indonesia. The UK Government continues to support the efforts of the Indonesian authorities and civil society to address the needs and aspirations of the Papuan people. We hope dates for a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights can be agreed soon.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will hold discussions with the Leader of the House on making time for a (a) debate and (b) vote on the Government’s treaty with Rwanda before 31 January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government places great importance in providing opportunity for parliamentary scrutiny. We have sought to provide this opportunity during various parliamentary activity, but most notably as part of the passage of the Bill which is intrinsically linked and gives legal effect to the treaty. Most recently, we have had the two days of Commons Committee stage (Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 January) on the floor of House, allowing members to scrutinise this policy. We look forward to debating all aspects of the Bill as it is scrutinised by both Houses.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of a Government scheme to fund internet connectivity improvements in housing estates with copper wires.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Project Gigabit is the Government’s flagship £5 billion programme to enable hard-to-reach communities, left out of commercial delivery plans, to access lightning-fast gigabit-capable broadband.
We expect most premises which require a Government subsidy through Project Gigabit to be in rural areas. However, to achieve our mission of nationwide coverage, which we expect to be at least 99% of premises having access to a gigabit capable connection, we are aware that there are pockets of more urban areas that are left out of commercial plans. Work is ongoing to identify an appropriate course of action for these premises. The solution here may involve working with suppliers to help remove barriers to commercial delivery rather than using public subsidy.
We have already amended building regulations so that new homes are future-proofed with gigabit connectivity; and where this is not available within a per-home cost cap, with gigabit-ready infrastructure to facilitate a gigabit-capable connection when this becomes available.
Alongside government intervention, the telecoms industry is leading on upgrading the UK’s landline network from the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), delivered over copper wires, to more reliable and future proofed services delivered over digital landlines, also referred to as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). These services will predominantly rely on fibreoptic cables for their infrastructure. Government is monitoring this switch-off closely, to ensure that vulnerable consumers are protected.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are employed to work on the access to work telephone helpline.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently 131.76 (full time equivalent) colleagues within the Access to Work Service Centre. These are not Case Managers dealing with applications for Access to Work but a separate team that covers telephony, processing claims for reimbursement of costs and other administrative tasks. The team is multi-functional and will be deployed on different areas dependant on demand and business priorities.