Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph 5.141 of the Spring Budget 2024, HC 560, when the Platinum Jubilee Village Hall Fund will open to new applicants.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are aiming to open the Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund to new applications before the summer 2024. Further detail and guidance will be made available shortly on the delivery organisation’s website (Action with Communities in Rural England).
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of religious freedom in Mozambique; and if he will hold discussions with his counterparts in that country on religious freedom.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Article 54 of the Constitution of Mozambique provides for the right to practice religion freely and prohibits discrimination based on religion. This is generally upheld in practice but there have been some reports of Mozambican authorities not upholding the constitution. In May 2023, President Nyusi of Mozambique and I discussed UK support for the Government of Mozambique's response to IS-affiliated attacks carried out on civilians in Northern Mozambique. The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) around the world. We work multilaterally and bilaterally to promote FoRB, and it remains an important priority for our work in Africa.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure Nnamdi Kanu is not subject to capital punishment.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Court proceedings are ongoing in Nigeria regarding Mr Kanu's continued detention, and we are following these closely. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to provide Mr Kanu with consular support. The UK Government is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle in every country, including Nigeria. In individual consular cases we raise our oppositions to the death penalty at whichever stages we judge will be the most effective.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the legality of the continued incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Court proceedings are ongoing in Nigeria regarding Mr Kanu's continued detention, and we are following these closely. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to provide Mr Kanu with consular support. The UK Government is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle in every country, including Nigeria. In individual consular cases we raise our oppositions to the death penalty at whichever stages we judge will be the most effective.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to use Alexandra Business Park in St Helens to house asylum seekers.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We are unable to disclose publicly the specific location of any of our asylum accommodation in order to maintain the privacy and security of those accommodated and of staff who support destitute asylum seekers.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many offences under section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022 have been recorded.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No offences under section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022 have been recorded.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has not issued guidance or advice on the potential impact of Section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022 on clinical practice. On 15 July 2022, NHS Blood and Transplant wrote to NHS Trust Chief Executives, Medical Directors, Advisory Group Chairs, Clinicians and Recipient and Living Donor Co-ordinators to inform them of the commencement of Section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
We continue to engage with colleagues across the public sector, including from NHS Blood and Transplant, the Human Tissue Authority, UK Visas and Immigration, National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service, to raise awareness of the change in the law and build the United Kingdom’s capacity to identify, investigate and prosecute transplant tourism.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued (a) guidance and (b) other advice to (i) medical professionals, (ii) health and care partnerships and (iii) other health-related bodies on the potential impact of section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022 on clinical practice.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has not issued guidance or advice on the potential impact of Section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022 on clinical practice. On 15 July 2022, NHS Blood and Transplant wrote to NHS Trust Chief Executives, Medical Directors, Advisory Group Chairs, Clinicians and Recipient and Living Donor Co-ordinators to inform them of the commencement of Section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
We continue to engage with colleagues across the public sector, including from NHS Blood and Transplant, the Human Tissue Authority, UK Visas and Immigration, National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service, to raise awareness of the change in the law and build the United Kingdom’s capacity to identify, investigate and prosecute transplant tourism.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he will respond to the correspondence of 12 December 2022 from the hon. Member for St Helens South and Whiston on energy intensive businesses that purchased oil before the natural gas price cap was introduced.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
I wrote to the hon. Member on 19 January about energy intensive businesses that purchased oil before the natural gas price cap was introduced.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that those living on Caravan and Mobile Home parks are included within the Energy Bill Support Scheme where their electricity bills are paid directly to their landlord.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As announced on 29 July, the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) Alternative Funding will be available to provide equivalent support of £400 for energy bills for the households who will not be reached through the EBSS. This includes those who do not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an energy supplier, such as park home residents.
The Government is working quickly with a range of organisations, such as local authorities, as well as Devolved Administrations and across UK Government, to finalise the details of the Alternative Funding and have the process up and running for applications this winter.