Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will hold discussions with his US counterpart on removing the 10% levy on Scottish whisky during forthcoming discussions on the UK-US trade deal.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have already secured preferential access for Scotch whisky to the US market compared with other major economies and continue to have discussions on getting the best possible deal for all UK businesses and sectors.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to help prevent the exploitation of workers on the Seasonal Worker Visa in food supply chains.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Protecting workers from exploitation is paramount in the design and operation of the Seasonal Worker route. The Home Office undertakes extensive assurance action across the route, including significant numbers of boots on the ground visits, including interviews with randomly selected workers. Since March 2023, we have visited 387 farms and conducted 2560 interviews of both farm managers and workers.
Defra’s Annual Seasonal Worker survey showed that the vast majority of respondents (94.2%) reported a positive experience from their time in the UK and 96.9% expressed a desire to return.
Scheme Operators are required to have a clear employer transfer pathway in place as a condition of holding their sponsor licence, including transparent criteria for making a transfer request and a process for considering such requests. This is set out in published Home Office guidance, available at: Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a seasonal worker - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We currently have five scheme operators for horticulture and poultry workers who are responsible for 43,000 employees. We carefully manage the allocation each operator receives to ensure that it is commensurate with their scale, capabilities and experience as a scheme operator. Allowing workers to move freely between operators is incompatible with this important safeguard as it could place individuals at greater risk of exploitation.
If a significant issue was identified with an individual employer, a Scheme Operator will promptly relocate any workers placed with that employer to a more appropriate farm. This can be done immediately with no need to for further visa applications or any interruption to the workers immigration status. The gives workers a safety net which explicitly ensures that they are not tied to their employer.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who were detained in illegal working raids were entered into the National Referral Mechanism in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Immigration Enforcement made 2,809 referrals to the National Referral Mechanism and 429 Duty to Notify reports in 2024. Modern slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify statistics UK, end of year summary 2024 - GOV.UK. We are unable to provide data on how many of these referrals followed an illegal working visit.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing an employer pays principle to help tackle (a) debt bondage and (b) labour exploitation of workers on the Seasonal Worker visa.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Together with the Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce, Defra jointly funded an independent investigation into the feasibility of applying the ‘employer pays principle’ to the horticulture sector, to understand how financial risks faced by workers can be mitigated.
The Government has considered the findings of the report but has no plans to mandate implementation of the employer pays principle in the horticulture sector. Welfare protections are already in place through the licensing and inspection processes provided by the Home Office and its agencies: the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and UK Visas and Immigration.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the US Government on closing the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
That is a matter for the US and the nations of those detained at the facility, which does not include the UK.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what her policy is on the closure of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
That is a matter for the US and the nations of those detained at the facility, which does not include the UK.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps her Department is taking to support doctors from IDEALS Charity who have been denied entry to Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains deeply concerned by the denial of entry to Gaza for UK medical personnel. We have raised these cases with Israeli counterparts and continue to press for unrestricted humanitarian access and for aid workers.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the level of humanitarian medical access in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains deeply concerned by the denial of entry to Gaza for UK medical personnel. We have raised these cases with Israeli counterparts and continue to press for unrestricted humanitarian access and for aid workers.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterparts on the denial of entry of UK doctors to Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains deeply concerned by the denial of entry to Gaza for UK medical personnel. We have raised these cases with Israeli counterparts and continue to press for unrestricted humanitarian access and for aid workers.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an estimate of the number of Palestinian institutions in (a) the West Bank and (b) East Jerusalem that are no longer able to provide services due to (i) Israeli demolitions, (ii) closures and (iii) funding restrictions.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government does not hold the requested estimates, but we work closely with civil society, international organisations, and the Palestinian Authority to assess the situation facing Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.