Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
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 potential bias against Israel at the UN Human Rights Council.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK has stood up for Israel when it faces bias and unreasonable criticism, and has been clear that the existence of a dedicated agenda item ('Item 7') damages the prospect for a two-state solution and does little to advance dialogue, stability or mutual understanding. As such, at the 40th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2019 we moved to voting against all resolutions under Item 7. However, the UN and its member states have every right to address issues of concern in a measured, balanced and proportionate way. We will continue to support scrutiny of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the Human Rights Council, so long as it is justified, proportionate, and not proposed under Item 7.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy that resolutions disproportionately focusing on Israel at the UN are damaging to the prospects for peace; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK has stood up for Israel when it faces bias and unreasonable criticism, and has been clear that the existence of a dedicated agenda item ('Item 7') damages the prospect for a two-state solution and does little to advance dialogue, stability or mutual understanding. As such, at the 40th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2019 we moved to voting against all resolutions under Item 7. However, the UN and its member states have every right to address issues of concern in a measured, balanced and proportionate way. We will continue to support scrutiny of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the Human Rights Council, so long as it is justified, proportionate, and not proposed under Item 7.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support Staffordshire County Council to tackle the rapid rise in demand for local testing for covid-19 in Staffordshire Moorlands.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Test and Trace system has built a testing capacity of more than 700,000 tests a day, from a starting point of 2,000 a day in March. Community asymptomatic testing is a major new tool to help identify and isolate individuals who have COVID-19 but do not have symptoms and may inadvertently be spreading the virus.
We are already working intensively with local authorities, including Staffordshire Moorlands, to ensure their community testing programmes are appropriately targeted during lockdown to continue to identify more positive cases and get them to isolate in order to break chains of transmission
On 10 January, it was confirmed that regular testing for people without symptoms of COVID-19 will be made available across the country from that week, with the eligibility of the community testing programme expanded to cover all 317 local authorities.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of public charging points in Staffordshire Moorlands for electric vehicles; and if he will ensure that there are adequate public charging points for such vehicles in the Staffordshire Moorlands ahead of the phasing out of non-electric vehicles.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Our vision is to have one of the best infrastructure networks in the world for electric vehicles (EVs), and we want chargepoints to be accessible, affordable and secure. The transition to zero emission vehicles is supported by a £2.8 billion package of measures. Of this £1.3 billion is being targeted to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure across the UK. Local authorities are able to take advantage of the £20 million On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), which assists them with the cost of installing chargepoints on residential streets. In addition, in the recent Spending Review Government committed £90 million to fund local EV charging infrastructure, which will support the roll out of larger charging schemes and rapid hubs. Government has recognised that cost is not the only barrier facing local authorities in the provision of public charging points and will publish an electric vehicle infrastructure strategy this year to address the remaining barriers in infrastructure delivery. We are determined to work with industry to ensure that all rural areas like the Staffordshire Moorlands have a joined up and reliable public electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The Government does not keep a record of public chargepoints as many of these are installed and operated privately. Nationally, Government and industry have supported the installation of over 19,000 publicly available charging devices. This includes over 3,500 rapid devices – one of the largest networks in Europe.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the scope of support bubbles to allow elderly couples to form a support bubble with their family.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The eligibility criteria for support bubbles were extended when the local restriction tiers were re-introduced on 2 December include households with a child under one year old; households with a disabled child under five years old who requires continuous care; or a household with a single adult carer or a child carer looking after someone who requires continuous care. As such, unless a member of an elderly couple is the only adult in their household who does not need continuous care as a result of a disability, they are currently unable to form a support bubble.
We recognise that not everyone who would like to form a support bubble is able to do so. These difficult decisions must be taken because the formation of a support bubble and therefore the ability to have close contact with those you do not live with carries transmission risks. As a result, the eligibility criteria has necessarily been limited to smaller households most in need of support that cannot be facilitated through other means.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional support he will provide to BTEC students (a) sitting examinations over winter 2020-21 and (b) more generally during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Ofqual’s Extended Extraordinary Regulatory Framework (EERF) has been in operation since October for vocational and technical qualifications. This covers all vocational and technical qualifications, including BTECs which are owned by the awarding organisation Pearson. The EERF allows awarding organisations, including Pearson, to adapt qualifications to free up teaching time and respond to public health measures. Given the large numbers of vocational and technical qualifications taken by students and their varying sizes and natures there is not a one-size-fits-all approach that can be applied, and the adaptations will vary by qualification.
Overseen by Ofqual, all awarding organisations have been working with centres over the past few months to make permitted adaptations to qualifications, and students should now be aware of how these adaptations affect their courses, assessments, and exams. For example, some BTEC students will benefit from additional windows in which to complete their assessments to recognise that adhering to social distancing requirements can increase the time needed to complete some assessments.
The Department has also confirmed that all awarding organisations can reduce the number of optional units that are assessed for vocational and technical qualifications included on performance tables. Internal assessments can take up to 30 hours of teaching time, so this means that for students, including BTEC students, the remaining time available can focus on teaching students the knowledge and skills they need to progress.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will permit hospitality businesses in areas with tier 3 covid-19 restrictions to operate with the same restrictions as those in tier 2 areas.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government is keeping the restriction measures under continual review and will only make changes if the data and science supports it.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional resources she will provide to the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority for inspection and enforcement activities from 1 January 2021 to help tackle abuses of the new points-based immigration system.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As we replace freedom of movement with the Points-Based System, we remain committed to preventing any abuse of the system, including by protecting individuals from modern slavery and exploitation by criminal traffickers and unscrupulous employers.
The Government spends £33m a year on state enforcement of employment rights to support the work of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Team and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. GLAA resources for 2021/2022 have not yet been agreed.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the VAT reduction for hospitality and tourism to alcohol to help support pubs during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors, and will run until 31 March 2021.
While the Government keeps all taxes under review, this relief comes at a significant cost to the Exchequer, and there are currently no plans to extend the scope of the reduced rate. Pubs that sell food will be able to apply the reduced rate to meals and non-alcoholic beverages consumed on the premises. They are also able to sell hot food and non-alcoholic drinks for take away at the reduced rate.
Alcohol duty was frozen at Budget 2020 in order to help pubs and the alcoholic drinks sector.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing additional financial support for the hospitality sector in areas under tier 3 covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Paul Scully
We are providing hospitality sector in Tier 3 with a wide package of support. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants and additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses. On 1 December, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3.