Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Imkaan’s report entitled Why Should Our Rage be Tidy, published in November 2024, what steps his Department has taken to help tackle the mental health impacts of violence and abuse on Black and minoritised survivors of violence against women and girls.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Imkaan’s report entitled Why Should Our Rage be Tidy, published in November 2024, what steps he is taking to ensure that the NHS is equipped to (a) identify and (b) appropriately respond to signs of domestic and sexual violence.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to (a) bring forward modernised UK-specific legislative proposals for Substances of Human Origin (SoHO) and (b) (i) adopt and (ii) adapt relevant elements of the EU’s updated SoHO legislation.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to consult on reforms to the UK’s Substances of Human Origin; and whether that consultation will include proposals on (a) innovation, (b) patient safety and (c) donor protection.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to support the domestic (a) collection and (b) processing of (i) blood, (ii) plasma, (iii) cells and (iv) tissues.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether barracks sites used to house people seeking asylum will be run by private contractors.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have committed to close all asylum hotels and to achieve this, we will look at a range of more appropriate sites like disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so that we can reduce the impact on communities.
We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across-government so that we can accelerate delivery and more detail will be set out in due course. This will include available routes to market for Onsite Support Services.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 invite (a) Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency, (b) textile traders, (c) recycling operators and (d) designers to participate in a (i) collaborative pilot and (ii) formal working group on international textile value chains.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy domestically, and support this transition globally, to deliver growth, green jobs, and promote efficient and productive use of resources including in the textiles sector. The UK is modernising its approach to international development, moving from an aid donor to an investor. We want to partner with countries like Ghana to create economic growth and trading opportunities for both our countries.
The UK and Ghana share a long-standing mutual relationship built on trust, openness and partnership, and this is something we will continue to strengthen together.
While the department does not currently have any specific plans to support and co-finance textile recycling and waste infrastructure in Ghana, the UK Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) programme has mobilised over £125 million in investment across key sectors like garments, automotive, and pharmaceuticals, creating 5,000+ jobs and enabling exports of textiles across Africa and to the UK. Through the JET programme, the UK is supporting Ghana to deliver a Textiles and Garment Policy. The draft policy is currently under public consultation before submission to the Ghanaian cabinet. The policy includes prescriptions for regulatory and other policy incentives to encourage private investment into recycling plants or other investment in support of a circular economy. This aims to enhance public-private partnerships.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the implementation of the Automatic-sorting for Circularity in Textiles UK pilot; what funding he has provided to that pilot; and what safeguards are in place to ensure that materials processed through that scheme are retained for domestic reprocessing.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The total cost of the Autosort for Circular Textiles Innovation Demonstrator was £4,128,228, with nearly £1.5 million of funding provided by industry and private investors.
One of the project’s aims was to ensure that the processed material was retained through domestic reprocessing. UK Fashion and Textile served as the lead partner, with supporting the UK textile manufacturing sector as one of their key objectives.
In addition, Innovate UK provided robust monitoring throughout the project to ensure it remained within its original scope, which we can confirm it did.
Although the funding phase has concluded, we continue to support this project and its partners to generate economic value that can be retained within the UK.
This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. The Government has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn. The Circular Economy Taskforce will initially focus on six sectors that have the greatest potential to grow the economy: textiles; agri-food; built environment; chemicals and plastics; electrical and electronic equipment; and transport. The Circular Economy Taskforce will assess what interventions may be needed across the textiles sector.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to (a) support and (b) co-finance (i) textile recycling and (ii) waste infrastructure in Ghana through (A) UK aid, (B) public–private partnerships and (C) other bilateral arrangements.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy domestically, and support this transition globally, to deliver growth, green jobs, and promote efficient and productive use of resources including in the textiles sector. The UK is modernising its approach to international development, moving from an aid donor to an investor. We want to partner with countries like Ghana to create economic growth and trading opportunities for both our countries.
The UK and Ghana share a long-standing mutual relationship built on trust, openness and partnership, and this is something we will continue to strengthen together.
While the department does not currently have any specific plans to support and co-finance textile recycling and waste infrastructure in Ghana, the UK Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) programme has mobilised over £125 million in investment across key sectors like garments, automotive, and pharmaceuticals, creating 5,000+ jobs and enabling exports of textiles across Africa and to the UK. Through the JET programme, the UK is supporting Ghana to deliver a Textiles and Garment Policy. The draft policy is currently under public consultation before submission to the Ghanaian cabinet. The policy includes prescriptions for regulatory and other policy incentives to encourage private investment into recycling plants or other investment in support of a circular economy. This aims to enhance public-private partnerships.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of barracks sites on the health of people seeking asylum.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office remains firmly committed to ensuring that destitute asylum seekers are provided with safe, secure, and appropriate accommodation, and that they are treated with dignity throughout the asylum process.
To support this commitment, mechanisms are in place—managed by Migrant Help—to enable asylum seekers to request assistance or report any issues. This support is available 24/7 via telephone, webchat, or email.
Migrant Help actively seeks feedback from service users to help identify areas for improvement.