Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what due diligence was carried out by his Department ahead of the award of £2.5 million to Riding Sunbeams Apollo Ltd in November 2020 to ensure that those funds will not be used directly or indirectly to support campaign groups (a) Stop Funding Hate, (b) Momentum and (c) ToppleTheRacists.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Due diligence was delegated to the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) and focused on the track record of the company in delivering public contracts and its acknowledged expertise in its field. The contract between East Sussex County Council and Riding Sunbeams does explicitly prohibit funding being used for any purpose not part of the agreed project budget.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of alleged comments by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps having significant influence over Iran’s diplomatic activities.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government has long been clear about its concerns over the continued destabilising activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This includes IRGC political, financial and military support to a number of militant and proscribed groups including Hizballah in Lebanon and Syria, militias in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen. The IRGC is sanctioned in its entirety by the UK.
We regularly raise Iran's destabilising role in the region at UN Security Council. We continue to support the security of our allies, including through our close defence partnerships across the Middle East and by working to strengthen institutions and build capacity in more vulnerable countries, including in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its effect on the UK’s goal of delivering peace and stability in the Middle East and North Africa.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government has long been clear about its concerns over the continued destabilising activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This includes IRGC political, financial and military support to a number of militant and proscribed groups including Hizballah in Lebanon and Syria, militias in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen. The IRGC is sanctioned in its entirety by the UK.
We regularly raise Iran's destabilising role in the region at UN Security Council. We continue to support the security of our allies, including through our close defence partnerships across the Middle East and by working to strengthen institutions and build capacity in more vulnerable countries, including in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will extend the automatic 12-month visa extension to (a) ST3 GP trainees and (b) other international staff working in the NHS.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government recognises the vital contribution overseas NHS, health and social care workers have and continue to make in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The introduction of the Health and Care visa last August made it quicker and cheaper for regulated health and care professionals and their dependents to secure their visa. This includes ST3 (Speciality Trainee, 3rd year) GP trainees who are eligible under the standard occupation classification code for medical practitioners.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Government has extended the visas of over 10,000 key, frontline regulated health and care professionals, and their eligible family members. The visa extension scheme was recently extended in April to cover visas which expire between 1 April 2021 until 30 September 2021. The intention of the scheme is to allow frontline medical professionals to focus on tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, rather than worrying about renewal applications.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
"To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on that country's distribution of covid-19 vaccines to neighbourhood vaccination centres and remote sites.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Department has had no specific discussions.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of designating ice rinks as leisure facilities on access to that facility for skaters outside of normal working hours during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ sets out an ambitious strategy for reducing obesity and includes ensuring the use of appropriate language when associated with unhealthy weight.
In January The Minister of State for Digital and Culture provided evidence to the Women and Equalities Select Committee concerning how media representations can contribute to poor body image. Ministers and officials in my department are committed to reviewing this issue as part of the Online Advertising Programme Review, later this year.
My department also works closely with the Advertising Standards Authority to ensure advertising presenting misleading, exaggerated and irresponsible content is taken down. In 2019 the Advertising Standards Association enhanced their standards through the inclusion of a new rule prohibiting negative gender stereotypes. Ads which pressure the audience to conform to an idealised gender-stereotypical body shape or physical features are likely to breach this rule.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with representatives of the wedding sector and its supply chain on a timeline for the re-opening of that sector as covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by Paul Scully
I meet regularly with the industry-led Weddings Taskforce, established to represent all parts of the UK Weddings sector including the supply chain, to understand the impact of COVID-19 on wedding businesses and jobs in the sector.
Discussions are continuing on how we can safely reopen the sector when restrictions are eased.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing the designation of ice rinks to sporting facilities for purposes of the application of covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. The Prime Minister announced a national lockdown on Monday 4 January meaning that indoor facilities including ice rinks must close.
Previously, ice rinks were closed in tier 3 and 4 as they are primarily used for the purpose of entertainment. This is consistent with other venues used for entertainment purposes across the economy which were also closed. To allow those who need to access ice rinks, in tier three, exemptions were made for sport for educational purposes, people with disabilities, supervised activity for under-18s and elite athletes.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What progress his Department has made on delivering new accommodation for rough sleepers.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
During the Pandemic, through Everyone In, by November we had supported around 33,000 people with nearly 10,000 in emergency accommodation and over 23,000 already moved on into longer-term accommodation.
To provide a longer-term solution, on 29 October, we announced funding of more than £150 million to deliver more than 3,300 units of long-term, supported, move-on accommodation for rough sleepers across the country. We are now working with our delivery partners at Homes England and the Greater London Authority to ensure these schemes are delivered at pace.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
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 permanent members of the UN Security Council on the report of 11 November 2020 from the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran's stockpile of uranium is over 12 times the limit agreed in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors (which includes all permanent members of the UN Security Council) discussed this report at the quarterly Board of Governors meeting that took place this week (16-20 November). The UK Government remains deeply concerned by Iran's growing uranium stockpile, and Iran's continued nuclear non-compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). This is why the UK with France and Germany, triggered the deal's Dispute Resolution Mechanism. The Foreign Secretary, along with his French and German counterparts, has called for a ministerial Joint Commission of the JCPoA at which we hope to discuss Iran's urgent return to compliance.