Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
A Bill to support women in UK sponsored and supported conflict prevention, peace processes, mediation and diplomatic delegations; to ensure systematic gender consideration and responsiveness in UK foreign and defence policy; and for connected purposes.
Baroness Hodgson of Abinger has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Ministers consider a range of factors when deciding whether to nominate a UK candidate for election to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, including the time and resources to mount a campaign, the potential benefits and the impact on other international elections.
This Government is committed to championing the rights of women and girls both domestically and internationally. Our leadership is demonstrated through the progress we have made on tackling violence against women and girls, launching the Women's Health Strategy and our International Women and Girls Strategy, published last year.
The UK government does not include youth representatives on the delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The Government works closely with civil society representatives before, during and after CSW. We held our pre-CSW consultation event on 25 January which was attended by approximately 40 civil society representatives. The relationship that the Government delegation has with civil society representatives at CSW is often held up as a model of good practice.
The UK government does not include civil society representatives on the delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The Government works closely with civil society representatives before, during and after CSW. We held our pre-CSW consultation event on 25 January which was attended by approximately 40 civil society representatives. The relationship that the Government delegation has with civil society representatives at CSW is often held up as a model of good practice.
The Government delegation attending the Commission on the Status of Women has not yet been decided.
The next election for members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women will take place in June 2024. The Government has not put forward a candidate.
Ministers consider a range of factors when deciding whether to nominate an independent candidate for election to an international body such as the CEDAW Committee, including the time and resources to mount a campaign, the potential benefits and the impact on other international elections.
We will not be submitting a report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this year. Since we last went through the reporting cycle there has been a change in process, and we now follow the simplified reporting procedure.
Under the simplified reporting procedure, the Committee sends a list of issues to the state party, to which the state party sends a reply. This reply constitutes the periodic report. This change came into effect after the Committee issued their concluding observations on our eighth periodic report in 2019.
The Committee has not yet indicated when they will send the list of issues.
The UK delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was led by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon. Officials from FCDO and the Cabinet Office were also part of the delegation. The UK does not include civil society and youth representatives on the delegation, instead we hold regular briefing sessions with them to keep them updated. The relationship that the Government delegation has with civil society representatives at CSW is often held up as a model of good practice.
Some other visitors to CSW from the UK are allowed to attend and are thus provided with delegate passes for the purpose of access to the UN building. This year this included a number of parliamentarians, a civil society speaker at one of our side events and a UN Women Youth delegate. We do not, though, consider them members of the official HMG delegation.
The Government recognises the important role played by CEDAW in holding state parties to account in implementing the convention.
As with all UN bodies, the Government considers a range of factors in deciding whether to nominate a UK candidate for election to the Committee and will continue to consider future vacancies as they arise.
The UK continues to ensure that we put women at the heart of our domestic and international policies, as shown on International Women’s Day when the government published the UK’s new international women and girls strategy.
Ministers considered a range of factors when deciding whether to nominate an independent candidate for election to the CEDAW Committee, including the time and resources to mount a campaign, the potential benefits and the impact on other international elections. Following analysis of these factors Ministers decided not to nominate candidate for the 2022 election.
The UK strongly supports the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and it is committed to advancing women’s rights. We are committed to the CEDAW process and regularly engage with the UN and the Committee. Ministers consider a range of factors when deciding whether to nominate an independent candidate for election to an international body such as the CEDAW Committee, including the time and resources to mount a campaign, the potential benefits and the impact on other international elections. The Government will decide whether to nominate a candidate for the 2024 election closer to the time, taking these factors into account once again.
The next election for members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women will take place later this month. The Government has not put forward a candidate. The election after this will be in 2024 and the Government will decide nearer the time whether to nominate a candidate.
Since the creation of the Sponsor Body in April 2020 to the end of March 2022, the Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority spent an estimated £212 million on the Restoration and Renewal Programme. This includes costs for design work, surveys, preparation of the detailed and costed plan (also known as business case development), programme management, staffing the two organisations, and data and digital services. All of the spend to date has been in accordance with the Restoration and Renewal Programme remit to progress the work required under the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019.
A further £87 million of R&R funding for 2022/23 has been agreed by the Commissions of both Houses and the Parliamentary Works Estimates Commission.
We recognise that progress on gender equality can drive progress on climate action and vice versa. This is why the COP26 unit’s dedicated civil society and youth engagement team is working with diverse individuals and groups to amplify the voices of those most impacted by climate change in the run up to COP26, including women and girls. The team welcomes engagement with organisations that have an interest in gender-responsive climate action.
The COP President-Designate has regular engagements with the Friends of COP and Civil Society and Youth Advisory council. When selecting the membership of these groups, inclusivity was at the centre of our approach. We have strived to ensure they have global representation, expertise and influence, as well as gender balance. The membership of both of these groups is publicly available as deposited papers in the UK Parliament's Libraries. The 6 weekly calls the COP26 unit runs with civil society and youth organisations is an open invite to ensure that we are consulting the broadest range of groups in the run-up to COP26, and we encourage, in particular, those from the global south and most marginalised groups to join.
To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, the COP26 unit profiled the pioneering work of women climate actors from across the world on COP26 social media channels and through a panel event.
The COP President-Designate is committed to meeting with civil society and youth during his international visits and in February, met with inspiring women climate leaders in Nepal. The UK COP26 presidency is aware that we cannot tackle climate change effectively without ensuring inclusion is placed front and centre of our climate action.
Championing women’s roles as decision-makers, educators and climate leaders is essential if we are to deliver effective, long-term solutions to climate change and ensure that women and girls are empowered as agents of change, including at COP26.
There is a dedicated civil society and youth engagement team in the COP Unit that facilitates engagement with diverse women and gender groups in addition to a team responsible for gender policy that works on implementing the COP25 Gender Action Plan. Officials also lead 6 weekly calls with civil society and youth groups to update on COP Unit priorities and planning. Both have good representation of women’s civil society groups and are a part of the Presidency’s wider approach of ensuring civil society is at the heart of COP26 preparations.
The COP President Designate has also set up the Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council which is meeting monthly in the run up to COP26. The most recent meeting took place on 24 February 2021 where gender and climate change was discussed. Officials also regularly meet with the high level Friends of COP, who advise the UK Presidency on a variety of issues such as gender and inclusion.
The new Equality Hub, in the Cabinet Office, brings together the Disability Unit, Government Equalities Office, Race Disparity Unit and, from 1 April, the sponsorship of, and secretariat to, the Social Mobility Commission. The Government Equalities Office’s remit related to gender equality, LGBT rights and the overall framework of equality legislation for Great Britain. The Equality Hub reports to Ministers who have other portfolios outside of the Cabinet Office, led by the Minister for Women and Equalities Liz Truss.
The Equality Hub has a key role in driving Government priorities on equality and opportunity. The Hub has a particular focus on improving the quality of evidence and data about disparities and the types of barriers different people face, ensuring that fairness is at the heart of everything we do.
Key to this is looking beyond a focus solely on statutory protected characteristics to ensure we understand how different issues interact, including in socio-economic and geographic inequality. In this way, the Equality Hub is key to driving progress on the Government’s commitment to levelling up opportunity and ensuring fairness for all.
The CEDAW Committee published their concluding observations in March 2019, following submission of the UK’s eighth periodic report and examination. We are grateful to the Committee for their consideration. We take our CEDAW responsibilities seriously and will be reporting our progress to the Committee in due course.
Non-governmental and civil society organisations play an important role in the reporting and examination process, and representatives from the Government Equalities Office meet with them regularly.
The Government has invested over £750 million in the charity sector so that they can continue their vital work through the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes £10 million funding for charities providing safe accommodation for victims of domestic abuse and £15 million for 2020/21 from the Tampon Tax Fund.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Baroness Hodgson of Abinger CBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
08 September 2023
Dear Lady Hodgson,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people died of mesothelioma in each of the five years up to December 2022 (HL9787).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in England and Wales [1]. Information for Scotland [2] and Northern Ireland [3] is available from National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency respectively.
Causes mentioned on the death certificate are converted to International Classification of Diseases 10th edition (ICD-10) codes, with the underlying cause of death defined as the disease or injury that initiated the events that directly lead to the death. The ICD-10 code for mesothelioma is C45, which comes under Chapter 2: Neoplasms [4].
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the number of deaths registered in England and Wales in each year between 2017 and 2022 where the underlying cause of death was mesothelioma. Age-standardised mortality rates have been provided to allow comparisons between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Number of deaths and age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) due to mesothelioma in England and Wales, registered 2017 to 2022 [5][6][7][8][9]
Year | Number of deaths | ASMRs |
2017 | 2,279 | 4.2 |
2018 | 2,143 | 3.8 |
2019 | 2,174 | 3.8 |
2020 | 2,231 | 3.9 |
2021 | 1,941 | 3.3 |
2022 | 1,926 | 3.2 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/
[2] https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/deaths
[3] https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/births-deaths-and-marriages/deaths
[4] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/methodologies/userguidetomortalitystatisticsjuly2017
[5] Figures are for deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in each period.
[6] Figures include the deaths of usual residents of England and Wales as well as those of nonresidents.
[7] Based on deaths where mesothelioma (ICD-10 code C45) was the underlying cause of death.
[8] Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 people, standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population.
[9] Number of deaths and age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) due to mesothelioma can be provided at a lower geographic area such as region upon request.
While the work required to protect our older generation stretches across the whole of Government, individual departments take responsibility for the delivery of relevant policies within their jurisdictions. The Department of Health and Social Care has jurisdiction over policy levers that relate to the physical and mental health of the older generation. The Department of Work and Pensions also has a strong role to play in its allocation of pensions and benefits. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has a taskforce that aims to improve the housing options for older people. Furthermore, the Cabinet Office’s Equality Hub leads on the Equality Act 2010, which provides strong protection from age discrimination in a variety of settings.
Gender equality is at the heart of our Presidency of the G7 this year, centred around the themes of ending violence against women, women’s economic empowerment, and education for women and girls. To support this the Prime Minister has reconvened the Gender Equality Advisory Council.
The UK has championed women’s meaningful participation in peace processes, including in Afghanistan, South Sudan and Yemen and supported grassroots women building peace and countering violent extremism. The UK remains committed to supporting Afghanistan on its path to a more peaceful and positive future. Only a negotiated and inclusive settlement will safeguard the rights and freedoms that Afghans want and deserve. We will continue to make clear to all sides that any Afghan-led political settlement must preserve progress, including protection for women and minorities.
Gender equality is at the heart of our Presidency of the G7 this year, centred around the themes of ending violence against women, women’s economic empowerment, and education for women and girls. To support this the Prime Minister has reconvened the Gender Equality Advisory Council.
The UK has championed women’s meaningful participation in peace processes, including in Afghanistan, South Sudan and Yemen and supported grassroots women building peace and countering violent extremism. The UK remains committed to supporting Afghanistan on its path to a more peaceful and positive future. Only a negotiated and inclusive settlement will safeguard the rights and freedoms that Afghans want and deserve. We will continue to make clear to all sides that any Afghan-led political settlement must preserve progress, including protection for women and minorities.
The Government is engaging regularly with UK civil society and other organisations, including the Women 7, to inform our Presidency policy agenda. We look forward to this dialogue continuing as we prepare for the G7 Leaders’ Summit. Details on the Advisory Council will be set out in due course.
The Government is engaging regularly with UK civil society and other organisations, including the Women 7, to inform our Presidency policy agenda. We look forward to this dialogue continuing as we prepare for the G7 Leaders’ Summit. Details on the Advisory Council will be set out in due course.
Discussions have taken place with a number of charities and businesses regarding increased energy costs, and the Government is aware of the impact this is having on the hospice sector. The Government will continue to provide support through the recently announced Energy Bill Discount Scheme, which will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible non-domestic customers, including the hospice sector.
The Government has published guidance on GOV.UK on the phased return of sport and recreation, in line with the latest medical advice. The guidance for the public on outdoor sport and recreation has recently been updated to clarify that equestrian covered arenas can be used, provided social distancing guidelines can be followed. These facilities are not considered ‘indoor’ for the purposes of this guidance as they are large, open and well-ventilated structures. The guidance can be found here:
The Government has published guidance on GOV.UK on the phased return of sport and recreation, in line with the latest medical advice. The guidance for the public on outdoor sport and recreation has recently been updated to clarify that equestrian covered arenas can be used, provided social distancing guidelines can be followed. These facilities are not considered ‘indoor’ for the purposes of this guidance as they are large, open and well-ventilated structures. The guidance can be found here:
The Government has published guidance on GOV.UK on the phased return of sport and recreation, in line with the latest medical advice. The guidance for the public on outdoor sport and recreation has recently been updated to clarify that equestrian covered arenas can be used, provided social distancing guidelines can be followed. These facilities are not considered ‘indoor’ for the purposes of this guidance as they are large, open and well-ventilated structures. The guidance can be found here:
This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Jennifer Coupland, to write to the noble Lady and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
We know that language skills are crucial to help people integrate into life in England, as well as to break down barriers to work and career progression. This is why we want to support all new arrivals to England to secure the English language skills they need.
All Afghans being resettled through both the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will be granted ‘indefinite leave to remain’ and therefore are eligible from arrival for funding through the Adult Education Budget, including English language courses. They will also receive a package of integration support to help them acclimatise, learn English and find work, which will enable rapid self-sufficiency and social integration. We will be working with the private, voluntary and community sectors to harness a whole of society effort to address this challenge.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the government on which vaccine/s the UK should use and provide advice on who should be offered them. The JCVI advises that the first priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems. As the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is primarily based on age.
For phase 1, this will capture all those over 50 years of age and all those 16 years of age and over who are clinically extremely vulnerable or have certain underlying health conditions. This captures almost all preventable deaths from COVID-19 and will include thousands of staff in the education, childcare and children’s social care workforce.
The JCVI has been asked by the Department for Health and Social Care to give its advice on the optimal strategy to further reduce mortality, morbidity and hospitalisation from COVID-19 disease for phase 2 of the vaccine rollout. The JCVI have advised that the second phase of vaccine prioritisation should continue to be based on age. They advise that an age-based approach remains the most effective way of reducing death and hospitalisation from COVID-19 and will ensure more people are protected more quickly. The second phase of the vaccine rollout will begin from mid-April and will aim to offer every adult aged 18 and over a first dose of the vaccine by 31 July 2021.
All teachers in state-funded schools across England and Ministry of Defence (MoD) schools overseas are teachers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with duties to identify and meet these needs as they arise.
The Children’s Education Advisory Service within the MoD provides advice and guidance to Service parents, educational establishments and local authorities on educational issues relating to Service children, including issues relating SEND.
For those Service families living in England, the SEND Code of Practice has a specific section covering ‘Children of Service personnel’ (pages 219-221) that recognises that those SEND children whose parent(s) are Service personnel may face difficulties that are unique to the nature of their serving parent’s employment, namely service induced mobility and deployment. This section reiterates the requirement to have regard to this Code of Practice and to meeting the aspirations of the Armed Forces Covenant, which attempts to eliminate or mitigate some of the potential disadvantages faced by Service families.
UK legislation does not generally apply to Service families living outside the UK. Nevertheless, for those Service families based overseas, the MoD seeks to mirror so far as is reasonably practicable the support that would be normally be available in the UK. The MoD also undertakes a thorough assessment to determine whether families’ support needs can be met in overseas locations before an overseas assignment is agreed.
The MoD employs a team of educational psychologists, and other professionally qualified individuals, to assess need and provide support for children with SEND. MoD schools overseas routinely support children with SEND, in line with the statutory guidance contained in the Department for Education’s 2015 SEND Code of Practice. In overseas locations without MoD schools, assessments are made to ensure that host nation schools are able to provide any required SEND support before an overseas assignment is agreed.
Natural England is responsible for the designation of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Natural England, the responsible body for designating Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) in England, confirms that the Surrey Hills remain an AONB. There are no plans for it to be de-designated and, in fact, Natural England are currently considering potential extensions to the Surrey Hills AONB boundary. As part of a national rebranding of AONBs to ‘National Landscapes’, the Surrey Hills AONB is now referred to as the Surrey Hills National Landscape but, legally, it remains an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
To designate an Area of Natural Beauty, Natural England must issue an order under section 82 of the CROW Act for the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of that area. The area must meet a set of natural beauty criterion. Based upon the legislation, the designation process includes technical assessment against designation criteria and assessment of the desirability of designating the area. The desirability tests recognise that a designation may have an impact beyond the immediate statutory purpose. As such, consideration is also given to government policy which will influence how AONBs operate in relation to wider policy areas, such as housing, the economy and planning.
In 2021, Defra ran a call for evidence to gather data on the potential impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare, including considerations around imports, production systems and method of slaughter. We received over 1,600 responses and a summary of these responses is available on GOV.UK.
Based on the evidence provided, Defra committed in the Government’s Food Strategy to consult on improving and expanding mandatory animal welfare labelling, covering both domestic and imported products, in 2023.
The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway maps out how farmers and the Government will work together to continually improve the health and welfare of our farmed animals, supported by the best science and evidence. It involves three mutually reinforcing pillars in making this change: financial incentives to help farmers deliver on-farm improvements; stimulating market demand through labelling and mandatory public disclosure to improve the accessibility, availability and affordability of higher welfare products; and, where needed, strengthening regulation to ensure the changes made endure. Following the post-implementation review of our welfare at killing legislation, and as part of our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we are looking at a wide range of welfare at slaughter improvements that could be made to strengthen the regulatory baseline in slaughterhouses. Welfare at slaughter is a devolved matter, and the Government remains committed to working closely with the devolved administrations on our shared aims for animal welfare.
Defra is committed to maintaining our high standards in areas such as the welfare of animals at the time of killing. The Department is in the process of analysing and assessing its retained EU law stock to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law, and what should be repealed, or amended. This work will determine how we use the powers in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, including in relation to the welfare of animals at the time of killing legislation.
This Government takes the welfare of all animals seriously and as set out in the Government's Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we are committed to promoting high animal welfare standards both at home and abroad.
Tourists, here, are being offered holiday packages overseas involving unacceptably low-welfare animal activities, attractions, and experiences. Animals that are part of tourist attractions with high levels of human interaction are often subjected to cruel and brutal training practices to ensure their compliance. Reputable and responsible tour operators should not be offering activities that create animal welfare issues. The Association of British Travel Agents has published guidelines and lists activities which have been classified as unacceptable. Holidaymakers should be encouraged to do research and be informed to make the right choices that benefit wildlife.
We support measures which ensure that money from tourists from this country is not channelled towards animal experiences abroad that involve the unacceptable treatment of animals.
In May 2021 we published the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, which sets out the Government's ambitious programme of legislative and non-legislative measures to further improve our high standards of animal welfare. As a key part of delivering this plan, we introduced the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill in June 2021. The Bill provides enhanced protections for pet, farmed and kept wild animals in Great Britain.
The Bill completed Commons Committee Stage in November. Since introduction, the Government has added a new pet abduction offence to the bill and extended the primates measure to Wales. We have also consulted on the use of powers in the Bill to tackle puppy smuggling. The Government is committed to this Bill and it will progress in its current form as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
In England, wildlife is protected by law through legislation such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
Section 11 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits certain methods of killing or taking wild animals. Under subsection 2(c), a person will be guilty of an offence if they set in position any electrical device for killing or stunning, calculated to cause bodily injury to any wild animal included in Schedule 6 of that Act, such as badgers and hedgehogs. It is also an offence under regulation 45 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 to use electrical and electronic devices capable of killing or stunning, for the purpose of capturing or killing a European protected species, or for any of the protected species listed on Schedule 4 of those Regulations.
The Government has no current plans to introduce further legislation to prohibit conduct involving the 'baiting' of electric fences with honey and other substances designed to attract wildlife.
Deferring the 2026 cut-off date for registration of historic rights of way is a possibility, which would create more time for the reforms to rights of way legislation to be implemented effectively. However, we must weigh this against the desire for certainty around where rights of way exist, which implementing the cut-off date will bring. Officials will continue to keep this under review in consultation with the Stakeholder Working Group.
Public rights of way are a local issue and this matter is the responsibility of local highway authorities, usually the County Council. It is for the local authority to take the necessary action to resolve conflicts between building and the rights of way network, such as creating orders to extinguish, divert or create a new path.
The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) administers rights of way cases on behalf of Defra, including confirming orders and dealing with cases where the decision has been challenged. If an order is confirmed, then it is for the authority to decide the appropriate action to take regarding any obstruction. PINS does not have the power to make orders itself to overcome planning issues or to direct a local authority to make one.
Public rights of way are a local matter and are handled by individual local highway authorities.
Local authorities are required to keep a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) to plan improvements to their network, which is usually available on the authority’s website. I would hope local authorities, whenever possible, would look at the needs of all users, including walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. Safety must be a consideration in this process.
Local authorities receive most of their rights of way funding from central Government through the Revenue Support Grant to deliver various duties, including ROWIPs. It is not ring-fenced and we cannot say how much authorities should spend on ROWIPs. It is up to local authorities to manage their own budgets and decide how much they should spend on their different duties, and for local people to hold them to account.
Public rights of way are a local matter and are handled by individual local highway authorities.
Local authorities are required to keep a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) to plan improvements to their network, which is usually available on the authority’s website. I would hope local authorities, whenever possible, would look at the needs of all users, including walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. Safety must be a consideration in this process.
Local authorities receive most of their rights of way funding from central Government through the Revenue Support Grant to deliver various duties, including ROWIPs. It is not ring-fenced and we cannot say how much authorities should spend on ROWIPs. It is up to local authorities to manage their own budgets and decide how much they should spend on their different duties, and for local people to hold them to account.
Public rights of way are a local matter and are handled by individual local highway authorities.
Local authorities are required to keep a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) to plan improvements to their network, which is usually available on the authority’s website. I would hope local authorities, whenever possible, would look at the needs of all users, including walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. Safety must be a consideration in this process.
Local authorities receive most of their rights of way funding from central Government through the Revenue Support Grant to deliver various duties, including ROWIPs. It is not ring-fenced and we cannot say how much authorities should spend on ROWIPs. It is up to local authorities to manage their own budgets and decide how much they should spend on their different duties, and for local people to hold them to account.
Public rights of way are a local matter and are handled by individual local highway authorities.
Local authorities are required to keep a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) to plan improvements to their network, which is usually available on the authority’s website. I would hope local authorities, whenever possible, would look at the needs of all users, including walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. Safety must be a consideration in this process.
Local authorities receive most of their rights of way funding from central Government through the Revenue Support Grant to deliver various duties, including ROWIPs. It is not ring-fenced and we cannot say how much authorities should spend on ROWIPs. It is up to local authorities to manage their own budgets and decide how much they should spend on their different duties, and for local people to hold them to account.
Defra has commissioned an independent external review of the available scientific evidence on sentience in decapods and cephalopods. This review and the Seafish Report are both expected to be published shortly.
Now that we have established a new relationship with the European Union, we have a unique opportunity to shape future animal welfare policy in the UK to ensure our already high animal welfare standards are maintained and enhanced.
There has never been any question that this Government's policies on animal welfare are driven by the fact that animals are sentient beings. We have committed to bringing in new laws on animal sentience. Any necessary changes required to domestic legislation will be made in an effective and credible way and will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.
The Government will ensure that animal sentience is not only recognised in domestic law, but that we will have an effective and proportionate means of taking animal sentience into account in policy making.
Here in the UK, we are already improving animal welfare standards without EU input and beyond the scope of Article 13. The Government is committed to taking action to improve animal welfare at home and abroad, including by increasing maximum sentences for animal cruelty, banning third party sales of puppies, and introducing one of the world's toughest bans on ivory sales. We have also made CCTV mandatory in slaughterhouses and we are planning other reforms. These steps show how seriously this Government gives regard to animal welfare.