Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of vaping on fertility.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has not yet assessed in detail the potential impact of vaping on fertility. A recent study reported in the media analysed blood samples from more than 8,000 women but this was not published in a medical journal and no other details of the research have been shared.
Our health advice will continue to advise all women planning to get pregnant, or who are pregnant, to stop smoking for their general health.
Overall, studies on the effects of vaping have so far shown that vapes are less harmful than smoking and can help people quit, although the long-term risks are unknown. We are exploring future opportunities with the United Kingdom research councils to examine the potential long-term harms from vaping.
To help pregnant smokers quit smoking, the Government is providing up to £10 million of investment over 2023/24 and 2024/25 via a financial incentives scheme. This evidence-based intervention, supported by behavioural support, will encourage pregnant women and their partners to quit smoking, and remain smokefree throughout pregnancy and beyond, helping to improve the health and wellbeing of both mother and baby.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer on 25 April 2024 to Question 22900 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, whether the Ukrainian authorities have accepted liability for any UK seacraft in the last twelve months.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence have provided 24 offshore and inflatable raiding craft to Ukraine. In addition, we recently announced our largest-ever military aid package for Ukraine, which will include 60 more military-grade boats, including offshore raiding craft, rigid raiding craft and dive boats.
On 30 September 2022, the Royal Navy transferred two Mine Countermeasures Vessels to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of gold purchased by the Chinese government on the risk of a conflict in Taiwan.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not comment on speculation. More generally, our position on the Taiwan Strait has not changed - the UK has a clear interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We consider the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion. We do not support any unilateral attempts to change the status quo.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he expects the pilot No Interest Loan Scheme run by Fair4AllFinance to be launched in Northern Ireland before the end of the calendar year.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government funded No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) is being run by Fair4AllFinance, in conjunction with their partners. The pilot is designed to test the impact that NILS could have on addressing the needs of vulnerable consumers across the UK.
Fair4AllFinance have now rolled out the pilot in England, Scotland and Wales. Fair4AllFinance will continue to engage closely with stakeholders, including the Northern Ireland Executive, in an effort to deliver our shared ambition to launch a pilot site in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will have discussions with the UN on steps that were taken to ensure (a) the independence of the processes for and (b) the accuracy of the findings of the Colonna report.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the events that took place on 7 October in Israel are appalling, which is why we took decisive action to pause future funding to the organisation.
The Prime Minister has been clear that the UK will set out its position on future funding to UNRWA following careful consideration of Catherine Colonna's final report, UNRWA's response and the ongoing UN Office for Internal Oversight Services investigation into these allegations.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2024 to Question 11269 on Electric Scooters: Hire Services, whether he plans to announce a decision on extending e-scooter rental trials before the Summer recess.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
E-scooter trials have been extended to 31 May 2026. Extending the trials beyond May 2024 will enable us to build on current learning across areas including usage, safety, and environmental impacts, and to explore changing travel patterns since the coronavirus pandemic and as e-scooters become more embedded in public life.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels are in use as temporary accommodation for people seeking asylum in Northern Ireland; and what recent estimate he has made of the number that will be required by the end of 2024.
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 short-term measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers. We have already made significant progress by ending the use of 100 hotels across the UK by 31 March 2024, including 6 in Northern Ireland. A total of 150 hotels will no longer be used for accommodating asylum seekers by the beginning of May, reducing the strain on local communities.
Our statutory accommodation needs are kept under continuous review, and we will write to MPs and local authorities as further decisions on hotels are made.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis. The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of hotels used to house asylum seekers by region.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will have discussions with his Irish counterpart on the number of asylum seekers who arrived in Northern Ireland who have subsequently relocated to the Republic of Ireland in 2022-23.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There is a high level of cooperation on migration and border security between the UK and Irish governments. In particular, the Home Office regularly discuss asylum trends and work to respond to these trends with our counterparts in the Department of Justice. The Home Secretary will hold discussions with his Irish counterpart in due course.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with the World Bank Group on its commitment to fully align its non-sovereign operations since 1 January 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
At the recent World Bank Spring Meetings on 17-19 April, the Deputy Foreign Secretary discussed the World Bank commitment to scale up financing for climate change with Bank management. For its non-sovereign operations, the World Bank is on track to achieve its commitment to ensure all new financial flows are aligned with the Paris Agreement by July 2025. At the end of 2023, this figure stood at 95 per cent, well ahead of the 85 per cent target.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of expected liver cancer mortality rates by the end of 2025.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No estimate has been made of expected liver cancer mortality rates by the end of 2025. The care of and treatment for patients with cancer, including liver cancer, is a priority for the Government. Early diagnosis of liver cancer is critical to improving rates of survival. NHS England’s Early Diagnosis of Liver Cancer Programme is contributing to the NHS Long Term Plan’s commitment to diagnose 75% of all cancers at stage one or two by 2028. This programme includes three workstreams: improving liver surveillance programmes; community liver health checks pilots; and primary care pilots. Identifying those at risk and ensuring patients are tested and referred to a surveillance programme, where necessary, will lead to improved patient outcomes.