Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) establish and (b) help ensure the safety of UK nationals in Israel.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The safety of all British nationals continues to be our utmost priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our travel advice which is kept under continual review. We are working around the clock to support British Nationals wishing to leave and remain committed to assisting their safe passage out of the country. The government has facilitated a number of commercial flights from Tel Aviv to the UK to help British nationals wanting to leave Israel. The Royal Air Force was also instrumental in evacuating British nationals from Israel. British nationals who want to leave Gaza and can do so safely are advised to check the status of the Rafah crossing into Egypt. We are advising all British nationals currently in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including Gaza, to register your presence with the FCDO.
https://www.register.service.csd.fcdo.gov.uk/israel-20231009/tell-the-uk-government-youre-in-israel-or-the-occupied-palestinian-territories
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been prosecuted for belonging and professing to belong to Hamas since that group was proscribed.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Government takes proscription offences seriously. Investigations into the activities of proscribed organisations or individuals who may be members of proscribed organisations are an operational matter for the police and intelligence agencies.
The Government publishes quarterly national statistics on the use of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent relevant legislation in Great Britain. This includes information on arrests, charges and convictions for proscription offences. The most recent publication up to year ending March 2023, was published on 08 June on GOV.UK: Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation: Arrests, outcomes, and stop and search, Great Britain, quarterly update to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the environmental horticulture, landscaping and arboriculture sector on net zero targets.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Net Zero Strategy sets out the UK's ambition to reduce emissions from Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs sectors as part of an overall reduction across the economy of 77% by Carbon Budget 6. Nature-based solutions, like restoring peat and planting trees, are key to tackling climate change and averting its impacts. They deliver multiple benefits for climate, biodiversity and people, and can therefore play an important role in reaching net zero.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to review the levels of (a) Marriage and (b) Married Couple's Allowance ahead of the Autumn Statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government introduced the Marriage Allowance (MA) in April 2015 to recognise marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system. It allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer 10 per cent of their Personal Allowance (PA) if their partner is a basic rate taxpayer.
At Autumn Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced that the PA would be maintained at 2021-22 levels up to and including 2027-28. The transferable tax allowance of £1,260 provided through the MA is therefore due to remain at its current level until 2027-28.
The Married Couple’s Allowance, which is available to those born before 6 April 1935, was uprated to be valued between £4,010 and £10,375 in 2023-24.
As with all elements of income tax, the Government keeps this under review.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to help increase transatlantic quantum technology cooperation.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has a range of specific bilateral and multilateral collaborations ongoing that cover quantum technologies, including through NATO (both the US and Canada) and AUKUS Pillar Two (advanced capabilities) with the US. We also support the development of HMG wide international cooperation on quantum technologies, such as the National Quantum Strategy led by the Secretary of State for DSIT, which has included supporting the signature of a UK/US letter of intent on quantum cooperation.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to progress Israel-Saudi Arabia normalisation talks.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to support diplomatic efforts to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The UK is a firm supporter of Israel's normalisation agreements, including the Abraham Accords. We continue to encourage close regional cooperation in order to tackle regional challenges and we encourage those countries with whom Israel does not yet have diplomatic relations to recognise the economic, cultural and security benefits of cooperation with Israel.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to increase the number of public electric vehicle charge points in Bolton.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is supporting local authorities in England through its £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has been allocated £16,158,000 of capital funding and £1,440,000 of capability funding through the LEVI Fund, to transform the availability of charging infrastructure across the area, including Bolton.
Since 2017, local authorities across the UK have also been able to apply to the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS). Over 190 local authorities have been awarded grants through ORCS, which will see more than 18,000 chargepoints installed. To date, GMCA and Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council have not applied for ORCS funding.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) French and (b) German counterparts on Iran’s decision to withdraw the designation of several IAEA inspectors.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As stated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Iran's decision to withdraw accreditation from several experienced IAEA inspectors, including experts with unique knowledge of uranium enrichment technology, affects in a direct and severe way the ability of the IAEA to effectively conduct its inspections in Iran. This action highlights Iran's increasing lack of cooperation with the IAEA - this cooperation is vital to provide assurances that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful. France, Germany and the United Kingdom continue to stand in strong support of the IAEA and the international safeguards verification regime. In a joint statement published on 18 September 2023 by the UK, France, Germany and the United States we set out that Iran must immediately reverse these inspector de-designations and fully cooperate with the IAEA to enable them to provide assurances that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
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 tackle youth vaping.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have regulations in place to discourage underage vaping. The law protects children through restricting sales of vapes to people aged 18 years old and over, limiting nicotine content, refill bottle and tank sizes, labelling requirements and through advertising restrictions.
In October 2022, we published new content on the potential risks of vaping for young people on the FRANK and Better Health websites and we have provided input to educational resources produced by partners including the PSHE Association. We have recently added new resources for schools on the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ (OHID) Schools Zone online platform to support schools in educating children about vapes.
Earlier this year, OHID launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vape products. The call for evidence has now closed and we will respond shortly.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held recent discussions with his Japanese counterpart on the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear site.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 18 September, the Foreign Secretary discussed the treated water discharge with Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Yoko Kamikawa, at the UN General Assembly in New York. The Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK's full support for Japan's actions, confirmed the UK's confidence in the science underpinning the treated water discharge and the UK's full satisfaction with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) judgements regarding monitoring and safety of the discharge.