Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the funding his Department committed for the establishment of a Royal Ulster Constabulary museum in Northern Ireland is still available.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Over the Spending Review 2021 period, the Northern Ireland Executive is receiving an average of £1.6 billion per year of additional funding through the Barnett formula on top of its £13.4 billion annual baseline.
It is for the Northern Ireland Executive to decide how to allocate their funding across their devolved responsibilities, including how to provide support to the culture sector.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether residents in Northern Ireland will participate in the PANORAMIC study of antiviral and antibody treatments for covid-19 announced by his Department on 8 December 2021.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Oral antiviral treatments are available through the PANORAMIC national study, run by the University of Oxford. The study is open to individuals across the United Kingdom. General practitioner practices in Northern Ireland are expected to begin contacting patients eligible to enrol in the PANORAMIC study directly to increase recruitment.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the commitment in the New Decade New Approach Agreement to tackle health inequalities and provide sustainable funding for investment in and reform of the health and social care system through the Elective Care Framework announced by the Northern Ireland Minister of Health.
Answered by Robin Walker
The UK Government recognises the importance of ensuring proper provision of, and access to, health services right across the UK. That is why it is important we continue to see a functioning Executive delivering for all the people of Northern Ireland and tackling these crucial issues.
The Executive’s focus over the past year has been on responding to the Covid-19 pandemic but as we now recover, the Executive must ensure that they Build Back Better to deliver the public services that the people of Northern Ireland deserve.
I welcome the plan to address waiting times in Northern Ireland and reform the health and social care system through the Elective Care Framework announced by the Executive’s Health Minister and I look forward to engaging with him on it in the near future.
The UK Government is providing substantial funding to the Executive of £15.6bn in 2021/22 to enable it to deliver excellent public services. This is in addition to the £445m explicitly to support the transformation of public services from NDNA and Confidence and Supply. It is for the Executive to make the necessary decisions to ensure this funding is used effectively.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 15 April 2021 to Question 178838 on Persecution of Christians Across the Globe Independent Review, what progress has been made on implementing recommendation number 12 of the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review of the FCO’s work to support persecuted Christians which calls for the establishment of a clear framework for reporting by posts to include engagement with majority and minority religious leaders, local civil society and NGOs, plus engagement where appropriate with representatives of such diaspora communities in the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government has committed to implementing in full the recommendations in the Bishop of Truro's review, and work continues to implement them in a way that will bring real improvement to the lives of those persecuted due to their faith or belief. Of the 22 recommendations we have fully delivered ten, made good progress on a further eight, and are confident that all 22 will be delivered by the time of the independent review in 2022. At a country level, Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern, and discuss practices and laws that discriminate on the basis of religion or belief.
On recommendation 11, the FCDO is currently working with an external implementer to develop training for staff on religion for international engagement. The implementer, the Edward Cadbury Centre at the University of Birmingham, is consulting with a wide range of external stakeholders, including those that work specifically on Christian Persecution. The training will support our work on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, including amplifying the FoRB toolkit.
Posts across the FCDO network regularly report on the local human rights situation, including in relation to the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief, and reflect engagement with the host government, religious leaders, civil society and NGOs. Staff make use of the Freedom of Religion or Belief Toolkit to establish a baseline for their reporting. In line with recommendation 12 of the Bishop of Truro's review, good progress is being made on developing a framework for reporting on FoRB. It will include guidance on who to engage with, and how to form recommendations for action.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 15 April 2021 to Question 178838 on Persecution of Christians Across the Globe Independent Review, which of the 22 recommendations made by the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review of the FCO’s work to support persecuted Christians are yet to be fully delivered or significantly progressed.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government has committed to implementing in full the recommendations in the Bishop of Truro's review, and work continues to implement them in a way that will bring real improvement to the lives of those persecuted due to their faith or belief. Of the 22 recommendations we have fully delivered ten, made good progress on a further eight, and are confident that all 22 will be delivered by the time of the independent review in 2022. At a country level, Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern, and discuss practices and laws that discriminate on the basis of religion or belief.
On recommendation 11, the FCDO is currently working with an external implementer to develop training for staff on religion for international engagement. The implementer, the Edward Cadbury Centre at the University of Birmingham, is consulting with a wide range of external stakeholders, including those that work specifically on Christian Persecution. The training will support our work on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, including amplifying the FoRB toolkit.
Posts across the FCDO network regularly report on the local human rights situation, including in relation to the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief, and reflect engagement with the host government, religious leaders, civil society and NGOs. Staff make use of the Freedom of Religion or Belief Toolkit to establish a baseline for their reporting. In line with recommendation 12 of the Bishop of Truro's review, good progress is being made on developing a framework for reporting on FoRB. It will include guidance on who to engage with, and how to form recommendations for action.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 15 April 2021 to Question 178838 on Persecution of Christians Across the Globe Independent Review, what progress his Department has made on implementing recommendation number 11 of the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review of the FCDO’s work to support persecuted Christians to ensure that training in religious literacy and belief dynamics is undertaken in all roles where that understanding is important before each deployment.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government has committed to implementing in full the recommendations in the Bishop of Truro's review, and work continues to implement them in a way that will bring real improvement to the lives of those persecuted due to their faith or belief. Of the 22 recommendations we have fully delivered ten, made good progress on a further eight, and are confident that all 22 will be delivered by the time of the independent review in 2022. At a country level, Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern, and discuss practices and laws that discriminate on the basis of religion or belief.
On recommendation 11, the FCDO is currently working with an external implementer to develop training for staff on religion for international engagement. The implementer, the Edward Cadbury Centre at the University of Birmingham, is consulting with a wide range of external stakeholders, including those that work specifically on Christian Persecution. The training will support our work on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, including amplifying the FoRB toolkit.
Posts across the FCDO network regularly report on the local human rights situation, including in relation to the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief, and reflect engagement with the host government, religious leaders, civil society and NGOs. Staff make use of the Freedom of Religion or Belief Toolkit to establish a baseline for their reporting. In line with recommendation 12 of the Bishop of Truro's review, good progress is being made on developing a framework for reporting on FoRB. It will include guidance on who to engage with, and how to form recommendations for action.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations of the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review of his Department's work to support persecuted Christians.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government has committed to implementing the Bishop of Truro's recommendations in full, and work continues to implement them in a way that will bring real improvement to the lives of those persecuted due to their faith or belief. Of the 22 recommendations we have fully delivered ten, made good progress on a further eight, and are confident that all 22 will be delivered by the time of the independent review in 2022. At a country level, Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern, and discuss practices and laws that discriminate on the basis of religion or belief.
On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his commitment to FoRB by appointing Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy for FoRB. Mrs Bruce works with the Minister of State responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, to continue work on delivering the recommendations.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to introduce sanctions against human rights violators in (a) Eritrea, (b) North Korea and (c) Myanmar.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK remains deeply concerned about the appalling human rights situation in the DPRK. Its Government must address the many reports of continued and widespread human rights violations in the country, including the arbitrary detention of its citizens. That is why, in July 2020, the UK designated two DPRK entities through the Global Human Rights sanctions regime, including the Ministry of State Security Bureau 7 and Ministry of People's Security Correctional Bureau.
The UK, in conjunction with partners including the US and Canada, have announced targeted sanctions against nine high-ranking military officials and two military conglomerates for their role in serious human rights violations in Myanmar. We are consulting with partners on further measures, including additional sanctions. There will be a cost on the Myanmar military, and we will consider all tools at our disposal to do so. These sanctions follow the 16 individuals from the Myanmar military who were previously listed by the UK for human rights violations.
We are deeply concerned by Eritrean involvement in the conflict in Tigray. The Minister for Africa has made clear to the Eritrean Ambassador the UK's concern about reports of human rights violations by all parties to the conflict, the dire humanitarian conditions in Tigray, and the need for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray. Perpetrators of human rights abuses and violations must be held to account, whoever they are.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what studies have been undertaken on the (a) side effects of Gardasil used in the HPV Vaccination programme and (b) the long term effect of Gardasil on the health of girls and young women.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, has closely evaluated the safety of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine since the vaccination programme was first introduced in the United Kingdom in 2008 and since Gardasil has been in routine use from 2012. Extensive reviews of Gardasil vaccine safety have also been undertaken by other independent health bodies/authorities worldwide, including the European Medicines Agency, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. This continuous surveillance has found no evidence of serious harm or chronic illness caused by any HPV vaccine and is supported by published epidemiological studies from health authorities, including the MHRA and other independent academic researchers.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to make changes to the composition or strength of the Northern Ireland Garrison.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The right hon. Member will be aware that the full conclusions of the Integrated Review will be published next week, and the Defence Secretary intends to set out his plans for Defence shortly afterwards. It would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt these announcements in any way however you can rest assured that the Government is absolutely committed that the UK continues to have a world class Armed Forces based across all of our Nations, and that we remain resolute in our intent to protect and promote the combined strengths of our Union.