Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has an agreement in place with the Republic of Ireland on air defence cover.
Answered by James Heappey
I am withholding any response to questions on other nation's sovereign airspace access, as these should be for the nation in question to answer; therefore any further questions on Irish airspace should be directed to the Government of Ireland.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Procedures for the approval of independent sector places for termination of pregnancy (abortion) in England, what specific implications relating to the taking of abortion medicines beyond the legal limit of 9 weeks and 6 days gestation women should be made aware of under that guidance when having an early medical abortion at home.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Women having an early medical abortion at home should be informed of the implications, health and otherwise, of taking the abortion medicine beyond the legal limit of nine weeks and six days gestation. Women would also be advised on self-management including any signs and symptoms and when to obtain healthcare support, how to dispose of or return the abortion pills if they are not used and how they can be sure that the pregnancy has ended.
The Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures, which all independent abortion providers must comply with, set out that woman seeking an abortion should be informed about their options so that they can make an informed choice about their preferred course of action within the legal framework for abortion in England.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181199 on Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of monitoring the level of funding that is allocated to (a) overseas abortion services and (b) supporting pregnant women and children overseas.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
FCDO tracks funding for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, including safe abortion services. However, as FCDO takes an integrated approach to our programming on sexual and reproductive health and rights, it is not possible to give a specific figure for our funding for the provision of safe abortion services.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make representations to her US counterpart on the potential merits of granting whiskey from Northern Ireland the same level of distinctive product protection as afforded to Scotch whisky in that country.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The UK Government fully recognises the importance of Irish Whiskey to the Northern Ireland economy, and we welcome the recent rise in exports of Irish Whiskey to the United States. We are fully supportive of attempts by the industry to strengthen the protection of Irish Whiskey in US federal law and will ask the US Government to pursue this to align with protection afforded already to Scotch Whisky.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the movement of livestock between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Answered by Steve Baker
The Windsor Framework respects that for decades the island of Ireland has been treated as a single epidemiological unit, meaning that there have been additional requirements for the movement of livestock. These include identification requirements, health certificates and the physical inspection of animals by vets.
In 2021, technical easements were agreed with the EU to simplify livestock moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Defra is working closely with the livestock sector to ensure movements can continue with as little friction as possible.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent progress her Department has made on negotiating a free trade agreement with India; whether she has had discussions with her Indian counterpart on the potential merits of including tariff reductions for Irish whiskey exporters in that agreement; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
A free trade agreement with India offers the opportunity to deepen our already strong trade relationship, worth £34 billion in the year to end Q3 2022.
We seek a forward-looking FTA which includes a solid market access offer that can boost firms like Irish whiskey exporters, as well as easing red tape for services and ensuring greater legal certainty for investment.
On 10 February 2023, the seventh round of UK-India FTA concluded. We do not discuss details of live negotiations, and will only sign a deal that is fair, reciprocal, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she plans to take steps to undertake (a) trade missions and (b) other export promotion activities to help support Irish whiskey exporters from Northern Ireland to increase sales in Australia, in the context of the UK-Australia free trade agreement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Our world-class trade agreement with Australia will bring opportunities to every part of the UK. Whiskey Distilleries from Northern Ireland will benefit from tariffs being cut to 0%, the slashing of red tape and simplified customs procedures, making it cheaper and easier to export their products to Australia.
The Department for Business and Trade works in close partnership with the Irish Whiskey Association on a range of issues. These include trade policy and export promotion activities focussing on opportunities in their target priority markets, which include Australia.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the major conditions strategy will reduce waiting times for cancer diagnoses and treatment.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at all cancer types, covering the patient pathway from prevention, through treatment, to follow-up care. The strategy will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Mental Health Bill, whether he plans to include a statutory duty to provide early intervention strategies to detect and address mental health issues for children and young people within primary and secondary schools; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The draft Mental Health Bill, published in June 2022, is intended to modernise the Mental Health Act and work better for people with serious mental illness. The draft Bill has completed its pre-legislative scrutiny and the Joint Committee published its report on 19 January 2023 on the Draft Mental Health Bill. The Department will consider the Committee’s recommendations carefully and we will introduce the Bill when parliamentary time allows.
Separate to the provisions in the draft Bill, there are currently 287 mental health support teams in place in around 4,700 schools and colleges across the country, offering support to children experiencing anxiety, depression and other common mental health issue. These
teams now cover 26% of pupils, a year earlier than originally planned and this will increase to 399 teams, covering around 35% of pupils by April 2023 with over 500 planned to be deployed by 2024.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the current status is of the outstanding (a) development proposals affecting integrated schools and (b) other Northern Ireland Department of Education development proposals.
Answered by Steve Baker
Development proposals affecting schools in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter, under the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Department of Education (NIDoE).
A full list of development proposals and their live status is available on the NIDoE website at: https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/current-development-proposals.