Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children of which biological sex were prescribed puberty blockers in each year since 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists or ‘puberty blockers’ are used to treat several medical conditions in children and young people. These include precocious puberty, some forms of cancer, endometriosis and gender dysphoria. Information on biological sex is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of time taken for the Building Safety Regulator to process building assessment certificate applications; and what steps his Department is taking to improve those times.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As yet, no building assessment certification applications have been submitted or assessed. From April, the Building Safety Regulator will begin the process of requesting building assessment certificate applications to be submitted.
The department has been working closely with the Regulator to ensure the processes are in place so that building assessment certificate applications can be processed in a timely manner.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the three properties threshold for qualifying lease status outlined in the Building Safety Act 2022 on the private rented sector.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Building Safety Act introduced leaseholder protections to ensure leaseholders are safe in their buildings. A threshold which set a balance between those purchasing properties primarily to live in and those who have made commercial or investment decisions, whether freeholders or leaseholders, was therefore needed.
There are protections in place for leaseholders who do not qualify. Building owners and landlords who built defective buildings of at least 11m or at least five storeys, or are associated with those responsible, must pay to remedy historical safety defects for both cladding and non-cladding defects. The principal residence of all leaseholders in relevant buildings will qualify for the protections. In addition, remediation contribution orders and the Defective Premises Act provide routes for leaseholders in relevant buildings to recover remediation costs from those responsible, whatever their qualifying status.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of leaseholders that do not meet the criteria for qualifying lease threshold because they own more than three properties.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Building Safety Act introduced leaseholder protections to ensure leaseholders are safe in their buildings. A threshold which set a balance between those purchasing properties primarily to live in and those who have made commercial or investment decisions, whether freeholders or leaseholders, was therefore needed.
There are protections in place for leaseholders who do not qualify. Building owners and landlords who built defective buildings of at least 11m or at least five storeys, or are associated with those responsible, must pay to remedy historical safety defects for both cladding and non-cladding defects. The principal residence of all leaseholders in relevant buildings will qualify for the protections. In addition, remediation contribution orders and the Defective Premises Act provide routes for leaseholders in relevant buildings to recover remediation costs from those responsible, whatever their qualifying status.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what guidance her Department issues to (a) private companies and (b) UK-based investors on (i) engaging and (ii) investing in Ukraine.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Providing guidance to supporting businesses to play a key role in supporting Ukraine’s economic recovery is a high Government priority.
This year we launched a Guide to Doing Business with Ukraine, to support UK business and investors working in Ukraine and encourage greater trade flows.
We support businesses to engage in Ukraine via multiple fora including the UK-Ukraine Infrastructure Taskforce.
We are supporting investors through addressing a lack of available insurance, contributing £20m to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and on 31 October signing a Statement of Intent on a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development war-risk insurance scheme for Ukraine.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 help support the Ukrainian government on matters of (a) governance and (b) rule of law.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Rule of law and governance reform are UK priorities, alongside anti-corruption, security sector reform and economic and business environment reform. The Good Governance Fund Ukraine, a £38 million three-year technical assistance programme, is supporting Ukraine's good governance, economic resilience and growth. UK-funded expertise is helping to relaunch the High Council of Justice and High Qualification Commission of Judges, institutions critical to a judiciary free from unlawful interference. Such reforms increase private sector confidence, which will be critical to Ukraine's post-war reconstruction. The UK has driven progress on this agenda internationally, including at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart on the principle of the rule of law in Ukraine in the context of postwar reconstruction.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK regularly discusses rule of law with the Government of Ukraine in the context of postwar reconstruction. Ukraine recognises that robust governance and respect for the rule of law is critical to attracting private sector investment and supporting Ukraine's postwar reconstruction. Further, the UK's Good Governance Fund Ukraine, a £38 million three-year technical assistance programme, has been supporting Ukraine's good governance, economic resilience and growth. UK-funded expertise is also helping to relaunch the High Council of Justice and High Qualification Commission of Judges to support a judiciary free from unlawful interference.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the rule of law in Ukraine and the potential impact of this on the appetite of private investors to fund any post-war reconstruction.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
At the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 in London, the UK and international partners reiterated the need for Ukraine to continue with reform, including on rule of law, to underpin recovery and reconstruction and attract private investment into Ukraine. The UK's Good Governance Fund Ukraine, a £38 million three-year technical assistance programme, has been supporting anti-corruption and judicial reforms in Ukraine, including the relaunch of the High Council of Justice and High Qualification Commission of Judges. Both these institutions are critical to a judiciary that is free from unlawful interference.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of Royal Air Force personnel identify as transgender.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The requested information is not held by the Ministry of Defence. The Joint Personnel Administration System (JPA) records a Service Person’s sex and sexual orientation; there is no option to record gender identity. For those who transition their gender (gender reassignment), the record for sex in JPA will be changed accordingly. That a person has transitioned their gender is not recorded.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of Army personnel identify as non-binary.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The requested information is not held by the Ministry of Defence. The Joint Personnel Administration System (JPA) records a Service Person’s sex and sexual orientation; there is no option to record gender identity. For those who transition their gender (gender reassignment), the record for sex in JPA will be changed accordingly. That a person has transitioned their gender is not recorded.