Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of (a) the Chinese Government's compliance with the Sino-British Declaration and (b) the effect of that declaration under international law.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a legally binding treaty, registered with the UN, that remains in force. The UK, as a co-signatory, has an obligation to monitor its implementation closely, and we are committed to doing so. We respect China's sovereignty but we also believe it is important to speak out where we have concerns and to make sure that the Joint Declaration, recognised in international law, is upheld.
The government reports to Parliament at six monthly intervals on implementation of the Joint Declaration. The next Six Month Report will be published shortly. The government has not assessed to date that China has explicitly breached the Joint Declaration, with the exception of the involuntary removal of Mr Lee Po, a British citizen, to mainland China without any due process under Hong Kong Special Administrative Region law in 2015. That incident constituted a serious breach and undermined the principle of "One Country, Two Systems" which assures Hong Kong residents of the protection of the Hong Kong legal system.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made on (a) human rights, (b) police violence and (c) repression in Hong Kong to (i) his Chinese counterpart, (ii) the Chinese Ambassador to the UK and (iii) the Government in Hong Kong; and what response has been received to those representations.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
We are in regular contact with the Governments of Hong Kong and China on this issue. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on 9 August, where he raised our concern about the situation in Hong Kong and the police's response to the protests. He also raised Hong Kong with Chinese State Counsellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi in Bangkok on 31 July, where he underlined that the UK and China have a joint and legal commitment to the freedoms enshrined in the Joint Declaration.
The Chinese Ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on 3 July to meet the Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service, Sir Simon McDonald, where he was told the comments he made on UK policy towards Hong Kong were unacceptable and inaccurate. Since that date FCO officials have been in regular and frequent contact with senior officials at the Chinese Embassy in London to discuss the situation in Hong Kong, including on the right to peaceful protest and the use of force by police in Hong Kong.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have plans to hold meetings with the delegation from Fight for Freedom Stand With Hong Kong to discuss the recent events in Hong Kong.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Neither the Foreign Secretary nor other Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers have plans to meet this organisation, but we will consider all meeting requests on their merits when they are received.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions has she had with the Welsh Government on strategies for the eradication of bovine TB.
Answered by George Eustice
Regular meetings are held with the Welsh Government, Scottish Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Northern Ireland to discuss bovine TB eradication strategies and ways forward to tackle the disease. These meetings involve both policy officials and Chief Veterinary Officers.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish its response to the Godray Report on bovine TB.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government response to Professor Sir Charles Godfray’s 2018 review of Defra’s Bovine TB eradication strategy will be published in due course.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 290603, what support is available to people who would otherwise be eligible for benefits and who are undergoing long-term hospital care to pay for (a) mortgages, (b) rents and (c) other personal and care charges to help ensure that they do not lose their unit of accommodation while in NHS-funded care.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is a long standing principle that there should not be double provision for the same contingency out of public funds. Legislation provides that where any costs of qualifying services are borne out of public funds the disability benefits (Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment) are withdrawn after 28 days.
Certain additions are payable on top of income-related benefits, such as Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, and Universal Credit. Housing costs in legacy benefits and Universal Credit are withdrawn after an adult has been a hospital in-patient for a specified period depending on their individual circumstances.
Housing Benefit can remain in payment up to 52 weeks, for people who are hospitalised, as long as they intend to return to their normal dwelling and it has not been sublet during their absence.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will undertake an independent evaluation on what the evidential basis is for his Department's proposed test standard of BS 7176 for school noticeboards and if he will publish the results of that evaluation.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working with independent testing houses on developing and assessing the protocols for meeting the proposed British Standard for specifying noticeboards in schools. The Department will, in due course, issue a short note to responsible bodies on these new standards, which will also be included in the updated 'Building Bulletin 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools' in 2020.
The Department’s output specification is primarily for use in setting construction and design standards for centrally delivered school building projects and is not a statutory guidance document. This specification is available to other responsible bodies in support of any school building construction activities.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to notify local education authorities and other approved education providers of their duties under the ESFA Output Specification Annex 3 Section 7.1.1.5 relating to fire standards and school notice boards.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working with independent testing houses on developing and assessing the protocols for meeting the proposed British Standard for specifying noticeboards in schools. The Department will, in due course, issue a short note to responsible bodies on these new standards, which will also be included in the updated 'Building Bulletin 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools' in 2020.
The Department’s output specification is primarily for use in setting construction and design standards for centrally delivered school building projects and is not a statutory guidance document. This specification is available to other responsible bodies in support of any school building construction activities.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons there has been a change to permitted levels of gaseous tritium discharges at former Magnox Nuclear Stations as a result of the operation of the waste encapsulation plants.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has been discussing with Magnox Ltd its intention to treat intermediate level waste (ILW) at the Berkeley Site, and at Hinkley Point A, by encapsulating it in concrete boxes. This is to make the waste safe for long term storage, and enable its subsequent disposal.
The need to apply for increased tritium limits arises from the heat generated during the encapsulation process driving off some of the tritium within the waste. Magnox Ltd anticipates that this may increase discharges of gaseous tritium above the low limit specified in Berkeley’s current environmental permit. While Magnox plans to apply to the EA to change this limit, the EA has not yet received any application from Magnox to increase the limit for gaseous tritium for this purpose.
The EA will only change the permit limit if it is satisfied that this is necessary and that people and the environment remain properly protected.
The EA will continue to keep local stakeholders informed of any developments with the Berkeley Site environmental permit, through the local Stakeholder Group.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make an announcement on the updating of the NICE guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of (a) pernicious anaemia and (b) autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops clinical guidelines on topics referred to it by NHS England and NHS Improvement. NICE has been asked to develop a guideline on pernicious anaemia but this work has not yet begun and there is currently no timescale for guideline development. Once started, NICE works to produce guidelines as quickly as possible, but also has a detailed development process that includes extensive engagement with experts and stakeholders to ensure a high quality guideline. NICE has not produced any guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis, and has no current plans to do so.