Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 potential relationship between the government of Rwanda and the M23 militia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK government is alarmed by the further escalation of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and we continue to raise our concerns with the governments of DRC and Rwanda at every appropriate moment. I [Minister Mitchell] met with President Kagame and Foreign Minister Biruta during my visit to Rwanda in late August, where I encouraged de-escalation and emphasised the need for a peaceful political solution. I anticipate engaging with the Government of Rwanda on this issue in my upcoming visit this April. The UK Special Envoy has recently returned from a UN-led trip to the region, where she encouraged de-escalation and a return to regional peace processes. We continue to work with members of the international community to bring an end to the violence, human rights abuses and the violations of international humanitarian law documented by armed groups including M23.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the level of risk to bird life in the British Antarctic Territory following the discovery of Avian Influenza on the continent; and whether the Government plans to take steps to mitigate that risk.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We receive regular reports from the British Antarctic Territory on the status of suspected avian influenza cases.
We provide support to the region and other British Overseas Territories proactively, to rapidly test for, track and monitor progression of disease spread and impact in Southern Oceans/Antarctica. This includes working with others to define risk.
National Antarctic programmes have protocols in place to manage and mitigate the spread of outbreaks and best practice on reporting and biosecurity standards is also shared through International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and the Commission for the Conservation Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the treatment of (a) babies, (b) children and (c) young people by integrated care systems.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Organisations within integrated care systems (ICSs) that hold the commissioning responsibility for children and young people’s services, provide treatment to the whole population, including babies, children, and young people. There are various mechanisms for monitoring the treatment provided by different organisations, for example general practice services, including immunisations, are monitored via General Practice Indicators.
Statutory guidance sets out that all integrated care boards (ICBs) have an Executive Lead for children and young people, and that all ICB Joint Forward Plans include a section on babies, children and young people.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is due to begin assessing ICSs. The Department has asked the CQC, as part of its new scrutiny, to assess whether each ICS is adequately considering health and wellbeing outcomes for babies, children, and young people.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Defending Democracy Taskforce has made of the implications for its work of the use of AI in election campaigns in (a) Pakistan and (b) Indonesia.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce (DDTF) is committed to working with international partners to build collective democratic resilience and share best practice to tackle shared challenges including from dis/misinformation and AI.
In Indonesia, the UK is working with the government and civil society to strengthen their democratic processes against threats. We are also working with Indonesia to progress work on AI safety, following the AI Safety Summit in November 2023.
In Pakistan, the FCDO supported efforts to counter the influence of disinformation in the electoral process through the CSSF Hate Speech and Disinformation Programme, which supported the development of a fact-checking tool called iVerify.
The UK will continue to work with international partners holding elections this year to exchange best practice on shared threats to our election systems, including from AI. We will continue to monitor international electoral events to inform our work to protect the UK from interference in our democratic process, including elections.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the withdrawal of CPLA-linked funding in British universities on local economies.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous and therefore responsible for ensuring they have adequate governance and risk management procedures in place. The department expects the HE sector to be alert to risks when collaborating with any international partners.
The government’s International Education Strategy makes clear that the internationalisation of the HE sector cannot come at any cost. A key element of that strategy is diversification. Universities must ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding, whether that is from a single organisation or a single country.
The Office for Students (OfS), the regulator of HE in England, monitors the risk of over-reliance on overseas income at a sector level. The role of the OfS is not to direct how HE providers manage themselves or to limit their recruitment from a particular country of origin, but to ensure they understand where there is greater reliance and how any risks are being managed, and to take action to protect students from the consequences of unmanaged financial risk, if necessary.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of sentences for domestic homicides were calculated from the starting point of (a) 15 years, (b) 25 years, (c) 30 years and (d) a whole life tariff in each of the last three years.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
All murder convictions must result in a life sentence. When a life sentence is imposed, the Judge will calculate the minimum term by selecting the appropriate starting point as set out in legislation – namely Schedule 21 of the Sentencing Act 2020. When sentencing adult offenders, the starting points are 15, 25, 30 years or a whole life order.
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of prosecutions, convictions, and sentences across various offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool. Please filter by the offence ‘murder’ in the sentence outcomes tab for details on the number of offenders sentenced for murder.
Statistical data on starting points for murder sentences, including domestic homicides, is not collected. The information may be held on individual court records, however interrogating these would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of sentences for murder were calculated from the starting point of (a) 15 years, (b) 25 years, (c) 30 years and (d) a whole life tariff in each of the last three years.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
All murder convictions must result in a life sentence. When a life sentence is imposed, the Judge will calculate the minimum term by selecting the appropriate starting point as set out in legislation – namely Schedule 21 of the Sentencing Act 2020. When sentencing adult offenders, the starting points are 15, 25, 30 years or a whole life order.
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of prosecutions, convictions, and sentences across various offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool. Please filter by the offence ‘murder’ in the sentence outcomes tab for details on the number of offenders sentenced for murder.
Statistical data on starting points for murder sentences, including domestic homicides, is not collected. The information may be held on individual court records, however interrogating these would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle digital astroturfing on social media.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the range of tactics which could be employed to spread mis- and disinformation and the threat that these can pose. DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) analyses coordinated attempts to artificially manipulate the online information environment, working with a range of partners, including social media platforms, civil society groups, academia, and international partners, to tackle it.
Digital astroturfing, amongst other techniques sometimes used by state actors to interfere with UK society, will be captured by the Foreign Interference Offence. This has been added as a priority offence in the Online Safety Act and will capture a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and state-backed operations. Companies will have a legal duty to take proactive action to prevent users from encountering material that amounts to an offence of Foreign Interference, which could include content linked to digital astroturfing, and minimise how long any such content is present on their services.
Under the Act, Ofcom’s Disinformation Advisory Committee is empowered to conduct research and build understanding on mis- and disinformation related issues, which may include the threats posed by digital astroturfing. In addition, Ofcom’s updated statutory duty to promote media literacy includes specific duties to raise the public’s awareness of how to keep themselves and others safe online, including by understanding the nature and impact of mis- and disinformation. This could include initiatives related to specific malicious tactics.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of universities sharing academic research with Chinese investors on UK security.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
China poses an epoch-defining and systemic challenge under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) across almost every aspect of national life and government policy. We continually assess potential threats to UK security, and the Integrated Review and Integrated Review Refresh committed to strengthening the UK’s domestic resilience and international partnerships.
The Integrated Review Refresh 2023 also committed to launching a new and comprehensive review of legislative and other protections designed to protect our academic sector, to identify what more we could or should be doing, led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). This review will conclude in the spring and will include an understanding of potential vulnerabilities relating to foreign access to academic research.
We have also introduced measures in recent years to protect our science and innovation base from state threats and misuse. This includes the establishment of the Research Collaboration Advice Team (RCAT) within DSIT, which supports the academic sector to recognise, manage and mitigate national security risks in international collaborations. RCAT has been positively received by the sector and is part of advice and guidance from Government helping to move research institutions beyond basic legal compliance to a more robust understanding of research security risks.
The National Security Act 2023 will make the UK an even harder target for states who seek to conduct hostile acts against the UK, steal our information for commercial advantage, or interfere in our society covertly. The Act creates a whole suite of measures designed to enable our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to deter, detect and disrupt the full range of modern-day state threats, including those related to academia.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help prevent the escalation of violence on the Pakistani-Iranian border.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary made clear to the Iranian Foreign Minister, who he met on 17 January, that Iran must stop using the regional situation as cover to act recklessly. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister of State for South Asia, spoke to the Pakistani Foreign Minister on 19 January and underlined the importance of avoiding further escalation. This complements high-level diplomatic discussions led by UK officials in Pakistan.