Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of Hamas's military capabilities.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
It is the longstanding policy of successive British Governments that we do not comment on intelligence matters.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
What steps he is taking to increase animal welfare standards.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
This Government has an ambitious programme of legislative and non-legislative measures that go further than ever to ensure the highest level of animal welfare standards. Our Action Plan for Animal Welfare provides an overview. As part of this, we have introduced the Animal Sentience and Kept Animals Bills and intend to legislate further in an Animals Abroad Bill.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with the National Farmers Union of Scotland on the free trade agreement with Australia.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our negotiating strategy is based on the results of one of the largest public consultations in UK history, and we are speaking to businesses and interest groups in every part of the UK to ensure their voice is heard.
On the 19th May I had a one-to-one conversation with NFU Scotland, and on the 26th May I held a joint roundtable with the National Farmers Union (NFU) NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland, and Ulster Farmers' Union.
On the 16th June, I held a further joint roundtable with the regional farmers unions to provide an update on negotiations of the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement, ahead of the publication of the Agreement in Principle document on the 17th June.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress her Department has made on the roll-out of the Job Entry Targeted Support scheme in the Scottish Borders.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We do not hold data confirming the number of Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) in Scotland starts for the Scottish Borders area. However, so far 6,000 people have started the programme and are being supported to find work across Scotland.
JETS in Scotland successfully went live 25 January 21, delivering a service across Scotland including the Scottish Borders, to support those unemployed more than 13 weeks, primarily impacted by COVID-19, back into employment.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress he has made on introducing carer’s leave.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to delivering the manifesto commitment to introduce a new right to an additional week of leave for unpaid carers.
The consultation on Carer’s Leave ran from March to August 2020, setting out detailed policy proposals to create a new employment right for one week’s unpaid leave.
The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course, setting out the way forward.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to offer support to Police Scotland during the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office are supporting Police Scotland in the planning and delivery of the event whilst respecting operational independence and the devolved nature of policing in Scotland, noting that Counter Terrorism policing policy remains reserved.
The Home Office and the National Police Co-ordination Centre (NPoCC) are working closely with Police Scotland around the resourcing for the event, as well as sharing knowledge and experience in relation to policing operations from other high profile major events.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to mark Armed Forces Day in Scotland.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Armed Forces Day provides the opportunity for the nation as a whole to pay tribute to our British Armed Forces and its supporting community for their hard work, dedication and efforts in assuring the UK's safety and security. Armed Forces Week 2021, including Armed Forces Day itself, is led by Local Authorities and is supported by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), across the whole of the UK. The ability to host physical events this year is again impacted by the pandemic, which is the case across all the Devolved Administrations, but the MOD continues to provide support to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in helping them pay tribute to our collectively valued Armed Forces, Reservists, Veterans and Cadets.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish an update on the UK’s covid-19 vaccine portfolio, including the number of doses secured with each manufacturer.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The UK Government has secured early access to 407 million vaccines doses through supply agreements with seven separate vaccine developers. This includes agreements with:
In addition, we announced a non-binding agreement in February 2021 with CureVac for 50 million doses and have a reservation agreement with GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur for 60 million doses.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of co-operation of (a) the Scottish Government and (b) Transport Scotland in providing technical data to the Union Connectivity Review.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Since the independent Union Connectivity Review (UCR) began in November 2020 it has published a call for evidence, which attracted 145 responses and has led sector specific roundtables with around 100 organisations. The UCR did not receive a submission from the Scottish Government or Transport Scotland. Sir Peter Hendy, who is leading the review, has spoken to Ministers in the Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made with the US Administration on making the temporary suspension of tariffs on Scotch whisky, cashmere and other products permanent.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
HM Government is focused on an ambitious programme of bilateral talks with the US during the four-month tariff suspension, and is making progress towards a settlement that works for the whole of the UK and keeps harmful tariffs off.
The Secretary of State for International Trade engages with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on this issue at every opportunity, and both are committed to finding a fair and permanent settlement to the disputes, that paves the way for an even stronger trading relationship.