Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of police pay.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 13 July 2023, the Government announced that it had accepted the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) to award a consolidated increase of 7% to all ranks up to and including assistant chief constable and commander with effect from 1 September 2023. The Government also awarded the same increase to chief constables, deputy chief constables and ranks above commander in the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police. The PRRB’s recommendation to remove the lowest pay point for constables was also accepted, bringing starting salaries up to £28,551.
The independent PRRB and Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) consider and make recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers. The Review Bodies gather and invite parties to submit evidence to inform their decisions. This includes both written and oral evidence from the Government, police employers and police staff associations.
The Home Secretary’s remit letters to the PRRB and SSRB, published on 20 December 2023, ask for recommendations on how to apply the pay award for 2024/25. The Government will give very careful consideration to their recommendations when they submit their reports in May.
The Government has no statutory role in determining the pay and conditions for police staff, including police community support officers, which are agreed locally by Chief Constables in consultation with trade unions.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether the Government is taking steps to assess the level of compliance with international humanitarian law of Israel’s recent actions in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Israel has endured the worst terrorist attack in its history at the hands of Hamas. We support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, but it must comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We keep under continuous review whether they are abiding by their obligations. We continue to call for IHL to be respected and civilians to be protected.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to publish a consultation on his proposed increase to the income requirement for spousal visas for (a) people earning the National Living Wage and (b) other people.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are no plans to consult on the Government’s plans to increase the Minimum Income Requirement for those sponsoring family members on the partner or child family immigration routes.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made a recent comparative assessment of the income requirements for spousal visas in (a) other countries and (b) the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We keep the family Immigration Rules under regular review and part of that includes considering international comparisons.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his oral statement of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, columns 41-43, whether his Department considered regional differences in per capita income when setting the new income requirements for spousal visas.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Permission under the family route is not tied to a specific geographic area.
A requirement which varies by region could lead to inequalities within regions and make applications more complicated as people would be required to provide more evidence about their location.
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, when his Department plans to publish a response to the consultation on Licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are currently analysing the responses to our consultation and will publish our response in the new year.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Equality Ministers work closely with colleagues across Government to tackle violence against women and girls.
The Minister for Women sits on the Ministerial Steering Group overseeing the delivery of the Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy and the Domestic Abuse Action Plan. This group met most recently on 18 October 2023 to assess progress, which includes;
Adding the issue of violence against women and girls to the revised Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR), meaning it is now set out as a national threat for forces to respond to alongside other threats such as terrorism, serious and organised crime, and child sexual abuse;
Investing £168 million through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night funds to make our streets safer;
Launching a fund for VAWG ‘by and for’ services over two years to a total of up to £6 million, from 2023/24 – 2024/25. The fund is for services across England and Wales, supporting LGBT people, people with a disability, or ethnic minorities affected by VAWG;
Launching the ‘Enough’ behaviour change campaign in March 2022, which has reached millions of individuals across England and Wales.
As part of that cross government work the Equality Hub is supporting the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill. Parliament agreed the final version of the Bill on Friday 20 October and it will now receive Royal Assent, strengthing protections for employees against workplace sexual harassment.
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 assessment his Department has made of the level of uranium enrichment achieved by Iran.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 4 September 2023, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran continues to accumulate enriched uranium at 5%, 20% and 60%. Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), Iran is permitted to enrich uranium up to 3.67%. Iran possesses almost three IAEA 'significant quantities' of high enriched uranium (HEU), which is almost three times the amount of HEU from which the IAEA cannot exclude the possibility of a nuclear device being manufactured. There is no credible civilian justification for Iran producing HEU. Iran's nuclear activities threaten international peace and security and undermine the global non-proliferation system. We remain determined that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon.
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 support BBC World Service broadcasts into North Korea.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO strongly values the BBC World Service's role in bringing high-quality and impartial broadcasting to audiences in need, particularly where free speech is limited.
The BBC has provided assurance that it will continue to serve audiences in countries lacking media freedom and a free press, such as North Korea. Through the World2020 programme, the FCDO provides support to the BBC Korean service which is aimed at audiences across the Korean Peninsula, including inside North Korea where access to international media sources is extremely limited.
The UK is committed to media freedom, and to championing democracy and human rights around the world.
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 progress commitments made under The Tallinn Pledge.
Answered by James Heappey
Following the announcement of The Tallin Pledge, the UK delivered a major package of equipment to Ukraine which met our donations commitment in full. The training commitment will be met by the end of 2023. Along with allies and partners, we continue to provide Ukraine with equipment needed to protect critical national infrastructure and expel Russian forces from Ukraine's sovereign territory.