Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to help pursue a resolution to the conflict in Yemen.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen. We fully support the peace process led by the UN Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, and urge the parties to engage constructively with this process. On 26 September, the UK co-hosted a political event at the UN General Assembly to coordinate the international community’s support for the UN-led peace process and endorse the Special Envoy’s plan to begin wider political discussion. On 17 October, the UK Permanent Representative to the UN made a statement to the Security Council regarding the situation in Yemen, where she welcomed the reduction in violations of the Stockholm Agreement and called on all parties to immediately comply with Security Council Resolution 2451.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture Media and Sport, what recent representations she has made to social media companies on the dissemination of misinformation from fraudulent accounts during elections.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government is working closely with industry, civil society and international partners to do what is necessary to prevent the use of online disinformation to undermine our democratic values and processes. Ministers and officials have regular meetings with social media companies on countering disinformation, including during elections. We welcome the measures taken by these companies to tackle the spread of disinformation and harmful content on their platforms but recognise that more needs to be done.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to protect English heritage sites from decay and neglect.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Historic England, government’s statutory advisor on historic environment, compiles an annual Heritage at Risk Register. This indicates what steps the Government is taking to protect sites from decay and neglect, including those in the guardianship of English Heritage.
The 2019 Register, which was published on 17th October 2019, gives an annual snapshot of the critical condition of some of the country’s most important historic buildings, sites, monuments and places. In total there are 5,073 entries on the 2019 Register, 87 fewer than in 2018.
Throughout England, 310 sites have been removed from the Register because their future has been secured, often by community intervention and a partnership approach. Over the past year, Historic England has spent nearly £8.5m in grants on helping some of the country’s best loved and most important historic sites. This work continues, and we see many examples where bringing endangered historic sites and structures back to beneficial use has demonstrable economic and community benefits, and thus public value.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to encourage more people to vote in elections.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Individual Electoral Registration (IER) and online registration have transformed electoral registration, making it easier than ever before to register to vote. The register for the 2017 General Election was, at 46.8 million, the largest ever.
The Government is working hard to ensure that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have the tools to ensure that electoral registers are complete and accurate. We have developed a range of resources which we have made available to the electoral community and we are convening partners to transfer our knowledge, evidence and resources so they are equipped to tackle barriers to registration for under-registered groups and deliver democratic engagement activities.
The Government also continues to work with the Cabinet Office-chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group to make elections more accessible to disabled people. We are also starting to bring forward measures that respond to issues raised in the Government’s response to the 2018 Call for Evidence on Access to Elections, with the proposals announced as part of the package around the Queen’s Speech.
It is for candidates and political parties to encourage people to vote in elections.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that disabled people are able to vote in elections (a) confidentially and (b) easily.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government continues to work with the Cabinet Office chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group to make elections more accessible to disabled people. Work has already been undertaken with Mencap and the Electoral Commission to produce Easy Read guides for registration and voting at recent polls, and we have worked with the Electoral Commission to update its guidance for Returning Officers and polling station staff.
We are also starting to bring forward measures which respond to issues raised in the Government’s response to the 2018 Call for Evidence on Access to Elections, with the proposals announced as part of the package around the Queen’s Speech. These will include increasing the range of support available to voters with disabilities in polling stations and allowing a wider range of people (such as carers) to assist disabled voters in polling stations if needed.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to use technology to improve attendance at NHS cancer screenings.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department, NHS England and Public Health England (PHE) are committed to increasing the proportion of invites for National Health Service cancer screening appointments that are accepted, through increasing uptake and making appointments more accessible. NHS cancer screening programmes cover breast, bowel and cervical cancer.
PHE’s ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ and ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’ campaigns use social media and online platforms to increase awareness of cancer symptoms and the importance of screening and thereby improve attendance at cancer screening appointments. The ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’ campaign encouraged women to respond to their cervical screening invitation letter, and if they missed their last screening, to book an appointment at their general practitioner practice. The campaign also provided practical information about how to make the test more comfortable, which could also improve attendance.
In addition to this, Professor Richards’ review of national adult screening programmes, published on 16 October, made a number of recommendations on using technology to improve attendance. These recommendations included rolling-out text reminders nationally that have been successfully piloted at a local level and improving functionality of the screening IT systems to support improvements in uptake and coverage. The Department, NHS England and PHE will carefully consider the recommendations in Professor Richards’ report and publish an implementation plan in due course.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart on the status of Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The UK has called on the Government of Sri Lanka to make progress on human rights issues for all communities in Sri Lanka. The UK continues to encourage and support Sri Lanka to deliver the commitments it made to the UN Human Rights Council through Resolutions (UNHRC) 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1. A national process initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka and supported by all communities offers the best route to achieve these goals. We continue to look to Sri Lanka to deliver in full the commitments it has made to the UNHRC.
We continue to raise human rights issues in our engagement with the Government of Sri Lanka. During his recent visit to Sri Lanka on 2-3 October, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, UN and South Asia Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon met with faith and political leaders including the leader of the Tamil National Alliance R Sampanthan. He reinforced to Foreign Minister Marapana the importance of Sri Lanka delivering fully on its commitments to the UNHRC.
The UK remains committed to supporting peacebuilding, human rights and development in Sri Lanka for all its communities. We are providing funding through the Conflict, Stability and Security fund to support police reform and training, reconciliation, peace building and demining in the north of the country.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the loyalty penalty in the mortgage market.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are comparatively high levels of customer engagement in the UK mortgage market, with 75% of customers taking out a new product within 6 months of being on the reversion rate.
Whilst the levels of customer engagement are comparatively high in the mortgage market, the Government is not complacent. That is why HM Treasury (HMT) has worked closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on changes to their lending rules, which will remove the regulatory barrier which currently prevents some borrowers from switching to a new deal. These changes will be in place before the end of the year.
HMT also supports the current FCA research into customers who could switch at the end of the fixed introductory period but who choose to stay on the reversion rate.
No recent representations have been made to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the loyalty penalty in the mortgage market.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the loyalty penalty in the mortgage market.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are comparatively high levels of customer engagement in the UK mortgage market, with 75% of customers taking out a new product within 6 months of being on the reversion rate.
Whilst the levels of customer engagement are comparatively high in the mortgage market, the Government is not complacent. That is why HM Treasury (HMT) has worked closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on changes to their lending rules, which will remove the regulatory barrier which currently prevents some borrowers from switching to a new deal. These changes will be in place before the end of the year.
HMT also supports the current FCA research into customers who could switch at the end of the fixed introductory period but who choose to stay on the reversion rate.
No recent representations have been made to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the loyalty penalty in the mortgage market.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the UK Government is taking to support the protection of human rights of Tamil communities in Sri Lanka.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The UK has called on the Government of Sri Lanka to make progress on human rights issues for all communities in Sri Lanka. The UK continues to encourage and support Sri Lanka to deliver the commitments it made to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) through Resolutions 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1. A national process initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka and supported by all communities offers the best route to achieve these goals. We continue to look to Sri Lanka to deliver in full the commitments it has made to the UNHRC.
We continue to raise human rights issues in our engagement with the Government of Sri Lanka. During his recent visit to Sri Lanka on 2-3 October, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, UN and South Asia Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon met with faith and political leaders including the leader of the Tamil National Alliance R Sampanthan. He reinforced to Foreign Minister Marapana the importance of Sri Lanka delivering fully on its commitments to the UNHRC.
The UK remains committed to supporting peacebuilding, human rights and development in Sri Lanka for all its communities. We are providing funding through the Conflict, Stability and Security fund to support police reform and training, reconciliation, peace building and demining in the north of the country.