Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department (a) collects and (b) holds on waiting times for accessing vision rehabilitation support in England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department does not collect or hold this information.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with Secretary of State for Business and Trade on reviewing trade agreements with Israel.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Israel remains a part of the FTA programme, and negotiations continue.
The UK and Israel already have an agreement in place which guarantees tariff free trade on 99% of goods by value. Our upgraded trade agreement is an opportunity for both parties to facilitate bilateral services trade.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what his priorities are for the UN Summit of the Future on 22-23 September 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK welcomes the Summit of the Future as an opportunity to secure UN reform, so that it can meet the challenges of today and those of tomorrow. Our priorities are to: support a New Agenda for Peace which commits to conflict prevention through national prevention approaches, and localised warning mechanisms; shape shared principles for digital co-operation; accelerate the full achievement of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), based on the International Development White Paper priorities; and defend positions on human rights and gender, notably sexual health and reproductive rights and Female Genital Mutilation, and advance women's participation at all levels of decision-making.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of enrolments of international students on the finances of universities.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The government seeks to ensure that there is a fair and robust migration policy, whilst maintaining the UK’s place as a top destination for the best and brightest students from around the world. The department remains committed to the ambitions set out in the government’s International Education Strategy to host 600,000 international students per year and to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year, both by 2030.
The department expects the UK to remain a highly attractive study destination. The UK has four universities in the top ten, and 17 in the top 100, worldwide. The UK has a highly sought after higher education experience, which is respected by students across the globe. The department is hugely proud to have met its international student recruitment ambition two years running.
However, the level of legal migration remains too high. As a result, on 4 December 2023, the government announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration and curb abuse and exploitation of the country’s immigration system.
The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of the higher education sector in England, continues to work closely with the Home Office, Department for Business and Trade, and other governmental departments to assess the impact of these changes on higher education providers.
Our universities are autonomous institutions responsible for managing their own budgets. The department also works closely with the OfS to understand the evolving landscape, including on risks relating to international students.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the results of his Department's consultation on Including claimant data on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, which closed 16 January 2024.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice intends to publish a response to the consultation on including claimant names on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines (the Register) in due course. That response will set out whether the Government intends to bring forward legislation to allow for the publication of claimant names on the Register.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to publish claimant data for (a) County Court Judgements and (b) the Courts Service.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice intends to publish a response to the consultation on including claimant names on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines (the Register) in due course. That response will set out whether the Government intends to bring forward legislation to allow for the publication of claimant names on the Register.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to allow claimant data for County Court Judgements to be published.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice intends to publish a response to the consultation on including claimant names on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines (the Register) in due course. That response will set out whether the Government intends to bring forward legislation to allow for the publication of claimant names on the Register.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the BBC’s decision to cut Radio 4’s In Touch show from 20 to 15 minutes on accessibility.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ministers at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet the BBC’s leadership to discuss a range of issues.
The BBC’s Royal Charter and Framework Agreement sets out what the BBC is required to deliver. The BBC has a range of obligations to ensure its services are accessible. The BBC is obliged to provide output and services which meet the needs of the United Kingdom’s nations, regions and communities, reflects the diversity of the United Kingdom; to observe guidance within Ofcom’s TV Access Services Code in relation to the provision of access services; and in adhering to regulatory conditions set by Ofcom in the BBC’s Operating Licence, to publish in Annual Report, how it has reflected, represented and served the diverse communities of the whole of the United Kingdom, including with regards to disability.
In meeting these obligations, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent, and BBC programming decisions are a matter for the BBC, not for the Government.
As the BBC’s independent regulator, Ofcom is responsible for holding the BBC to account on these regulatory obligations.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with the BBC Board on the decision to cut Radio 4’s In Touch show from 20 to 15 minutes.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ministers at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet the BBC’s leadership to discuss a range of issues.
The BBC’s Royal Charter and Framework Agreement sets out what the BBC is required to deliver. The BBC has a range of obligations to ensure its services are accessible. The BBC is obliged to provide output and services which meet the needs of the United Kingdom’s nations, regions and communities, reflects the diversity of the United Kingdom; to observe guidance within Ofcom’s TV Access Services Code in relation to the provision of access services; and in adhering to regulatory conditions set by Ofcom in the BBC’s Operating Licence, to publish in Annual Report, how it has reflected, represented and served the diverse communities of the whole of the United Kingdom, including with regards to disability.
In meeting these obligations, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent, and BBC programming decisions are a matter for the BBC, not for the Government.
As the BBC’s independent regulator, Ofcom is responsible for holding the BBC to account on these regulatory obligations.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the correspondence of 12 March 2024 from Professor Brian Bell, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the timescales given for the Migration Advisory Committee's review of the graduate route on the quality and quantity of evidence that the Committee can use to answer the questions included in the commissioning letter.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
It is important that we provide certainty on this issue in a timely manner, which is why we asked the MAC to carry out a rapid review. We will consider the evidence put forward by the MAC very closely.