Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to (a) assess instances of and (b) help tackle transnational repression.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The UK will not tolerate transnational repression and will stand up for the rights of all people to live here safely and freely. The National Security Act 2023 represents a step change in our ability to counter foreign interference, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats.
We do everything we can to keep citizens safe and the country secure. This involves taking a proactive approach to countering the most acute forms of state-directed threats to individuals. Anyone who thinks they might be a victim should report incidents or suspicious activity to the Police.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce, working across Government, is reviewing the UK’s response to transnational repression to ensure we have a robust and joined up response across government and law enforcement.
I recently announced new training for frontline officers to increase their understanding of threats that foreign powers present, and enhance their ability to combat these.
We will also be reforming our systems and processes within government to more effectively deal with transnational repression.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of climate change on UK food security.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
We recognise the impact of climate change on the food system which is why we are investing in the sustainability and resilience of the domestic sector and are undertaking work to the improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change on the wider food system and the resilience of the wider UK food supply chain. The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published in July 2023, and addresses the 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. NAP3 includes dedicated responses to risks to domestic agricultural productivity and UK food availability, safety, and quality from climate change overseas.
The Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.
The UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) sets out an analysis of statistical data relating to food security, fulfilling the duty in the Agriculture Act 2020 to present a report on food security to Parliament at least once every three years. It examines trends relevant to food security to present the best available understanding. The report was last published in December 2021 and will next be published by December 2024.
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister announced that we will introduce an annual Food Security Index to underpin the three-yearly UK Food Security report. This will present the key data and analysis needed to monitor how we are maintaining our current levels of self-sufficiency and overall food security. We will publish the first draft of the Food Security Index during the second UK Farm to Fork Summit on 14 May 2024.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his international partners on transnational repression.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The UK Government is committed to working with international partners to build our collective resilience to all forms of foreign interference including transnational repression (TNR). The Foreign Secretary attended the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting in April in Capri. The resulting communiqué included language which condemned the targeting of activists, critics, and journalists through TNR activity. Officials regularly engage with like-minded international partners bilaterally and in multilateral fora, such as the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism, to share knowledge and identify opportunities to collaborate to effectively counter TNR activity. The UK will continue to engage with international partners through bilateral and multilateral channels to address this issue.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives of Unicef on (a) its Baby Friendly initiative and (b) trends in breastfeeding rates in the UK.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I met with representatives from UNICEF in March 2024 to discuss the Start for Life agenda. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, we are investing £50 million into infant feeding services. This is enabling participating local authorities to design and deliver a blended offer to ensure all mothers can meet their breastfeeding goals. The investment is being used to increase the range of advice and support available, including peer support.
We are also investing to increase the capacity of the National Breastfeeding Helpline. In March 2024, we launched a trial of extended helpline opening hours, so that support and advice is available at any time of the day or night, every day of the year.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with Novartis on the adequacy of supply of the epilepsy medication Tegretol.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working intensively to address issues with the supply of some epilepsy medications, and as a result we have helped to resolve issues with Tegretol 200 milligram and 400 milligram prolonged release tablets, and Tegretol 100 milligram immediate release tablets. We are aware of a shortage of Tegretol 100 milligram/5 millilitre liquid, but have been advised that resupplies are expected this month. We are continuing to work closely with manufacturers, including Novartis, to help ensure the continued supply of these medicines for patients in the United Kingdom, for example by asking suppliers to expedite deliveries.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle shortages of medicines in pharmacies.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has a responsibility to work with United Kingdom medicine license holders, to help ensure continuity of supply. We monitor and manage medicine supply at a national level, so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. There are approximately 14,000 medicines licensed for supply in the UK, and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. The medicine supply chain is complex, global, and highly regulated, and supply issues can be caused by a range of factors. For example, suppliers can encounter manufacturing problems, difficulty accessing raw materials, and surges in demand. These are commonly cited as the drivers of recent supply issues, which have affected many countries, not just the UK.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients at a national level. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals including pharmacists, so they can advise and support their patients.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels that were previously used to provide accommodation for asylum seekers and subsequently closed by his Department have subsequently been reopened for that purpose.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has been clear that the use of hotels is a temporary and necessary measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers.
Since October 2023, none of the 150 hotels that have ceased to be used for accommodating asylum seekers have been re-contracted or re-used by the Home Office for this purpose.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that people with indefinite leave to remain that was granted before the digitisation of his Department's records are able to prove their immigration status when travelling.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As part of our move to a ‘digital by default’ border and immigration system, physical immigration documents are being replaced by fully digital eVisas (an online record of the person’s immigration status).
Customers with indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain (also known as settlement) who currently prove their rights using a physical document such as a wet-ink stamp in their passport or a vignette sticker, are encouraged to make a ‘No Time Limit’ (NTL) application.
If their NTL application is successful, they will get a BRP to prove their rights. They should carry their BRP, along with their passport, when travelling internationally. Once they have a BRP, they will be able to create a UKVI account to access their eVisa later this year. By the end of 2024, ‘No Time Limit’ applicants will receive an eVisa, rather than a BRP. Further updates on this change will be available in due course.
Customers who do not create a UKVI account will be able to use their legacy physical document such as a wet-ink stamp in their passport or a vignette sticker during 2025 when travelling. However, creating a UKVI account will bring a range of benefits to customers. This includes the fact that an eVisa cannot be lost or damaged, like a vignette, and there is no need for a potentially costly replacement. Customers who replace their legacy document with an eVisa will benefit from the automated access that public bodies, including the Department for Work & Pensions and the National Health Service will securely have to their immigration status, which will streamline access to key services. We are also developing technology to enable carriers to check immigration status automatically via systems checks for those with eVisas, reducing the need for carriers to make physical documentation checks and improving the passenger experience.
Further information about eVisas and future updates will be available at www.gov.uk/evisa.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to support the Philippines in their enforcement of territorial waters.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes no sides in the sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea but we oppose actions which raise tensions and increase the risk of miscalculation. The UK's commitment is to international law, the primacy of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to freedom of navigation and overflight. The UK has continued to condemn unsafe, escalatory and dangerous actions by Chinese vessels against Philippine vessels in the South China Sea via our Ambassador in Manila, and in an FCDO Spokesperson statement. The UK continues to support regional partners through an enhanced programme of maritime capacity building in Southeast Asia which provides training and funding to strengthen regional capacity on maritime law and security.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to support freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes no sides in the sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea but we oppose actions which raise tensions and increase the risk of miscalculation. The UK's commitment is to international law, the primacy of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to freedom of navigation and overflight. The UK has continued to condemn unsafe, escalatory and dangerous actions by Chinese vessels against Philippine vessels in the South China Sea via our Ambassador in Manila, and in an FCDO Spokesperson statement. The UK continues to support regional partners through an enhanced programme of maritime capacity building in Southeast Asia which provides training and funding to strengthen regional capacity on maritime law and security.