Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has had discussions with representatives of the Fire Brigades Union on the Firefighters’ Manifesto published on 1 November 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not met with the FBU regarding the specific document, but continues to work with our partners, including all fire unions, to push for meaningful change for the benefit of both the sector and the public.
Minister Chris Philp has had a number of meetings with Matt Wrack and the Department meets the FBU regularly to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern.
The Government is committed to reform in the fire sector and published the response to the Fire Reform White Paper on 12 December setting out plans.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the complaint made to the Charity Commission about GambleAware by the Good Law Project.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Charity Commission is an independent, non-ministerial government department. As such, it is not appropriate for the government to comment on the Commission’s approach to handling complaints it receives in its regulatory capacity.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take legislative steps to minimise harm to the environment as a result of improper disposal of vapes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the consultation on creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, the recently published government response confirmed that the UK Government intends to bring forward legislation as soon as possible to ban the sale and supply of disposable vapes in England. Scotland and Wales also confirmed they intend to bring forward similar legislation and Northern Ireland is considering next steps following the consultation.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reform the criminal justice system to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
This Government has introduced a comprehensive legislative framework to prevent violence against women, including our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
We have pioneered the creation of new offences including coercive control, non-fatal strangulation and intimate image abuse; more than doubled the number of adult rape cases reaching court compared to when we commissioned our End-to-End Rape Review; and made sure that sentences for adult rape are almost 40% longer than they were in 2010.
And through our Sentencing Bill, we will ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders spend the entirety of their custodial sentence behind bars, without possibility of parole.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussion he has had with his El Salvadorean counterpart on implementation of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgment on Manuela v El Salvador on access to safe abortion.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As outlined in the Women and Girls Strategy, the UK supports women's comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights globally, including access to safe abortion. We continue to recommend in multilateral settings that El Salvador should review laws criminalising the use of abortion, ensure access to sexual and reproductive health services and support for all women and girls, and guarantee women are not criminally prosecuted for suffering a miscarriage.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his El Salvadorean counterpart on the 30-day state of emergency in that country; and what reports he has received on the potential impact of the state of emergency on (a) women and girls (i) in rural areas and (ii) generally and (b) other vulnerable groups.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the state of emergency was declared in March 2022, UK officials have continued to encourage the authorities in El Salvador to uphold international human rights standards and constitutional protections in respect of all groups, including women and girls. I [Minister Rutley] have discussed the security situation in El Salvador with counterparts including the Vice President and the Foreign Minister and have underlined the importance of a balance between the reduction of violent crime and the continued protection of human rights. Officials continue to engage with civil society to assess the wider impact of the state of emergency.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of people that have reported symptoms of long covid since March 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government does not currently routinely record the total number of people with long COVID, or new cases identified. However, the most recent data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows that for the four week period ending 5 March 2023: 1.9 million people, or 2.9% of the population, in private households in the United Kingdom reported experiencing long COVID symptoms; 83,000 people first had, or suspected they had, COVID-19 less than 12 weeks previously; 1.73 million people had symptoms for 12 or more weeks, 1.3 million people for at least a year and 762,000 for at least two years; and 1.5 million people reported day-to-day activities adversely affected. Of these, 381,000 people reported that their ability to undertake day-to-day activities had been limited a lot.
On 25 April 2024, the ONS will be publishing additional analysis from the fortnightly Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study, including data on trends in ongoing symptoms of COVID-19. This article will expand on the existing analysis published in the Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study’s data tables, to look more in depth at trends in self-reported symptoms of COVID-19, including ongoing symptoms and associated risk factors.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to protect television production in the UK.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has set out a clear plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and add another 1 million jobs by 2030. That includes supporting the growth of television and film production.
Since 2010, the Government has introduced a range of tax reliefs across the creative industries, including expanded relief for film and high-end television. Our screen sector tax relief alone is estimated to be worth more than £13 billion in GVA to the UK economy. The Government’s support for the independent television production sector continues to be underpinned by the hugely successful terms of trade regime. The Media Bill, currently before Parliament, therefore protects and updates the regime, as well as public service broadcasters’ independent production quotas, to reflect changes in technology and the way viewers are watching content.
We have also taken a number of additional steps to ensure that British film and television companies are able to invest in production, expand their businesses and offer opportunities for cast and crew across the UK. This is why in the Spring Budget we have announced a number of generous tax reliefs for the sector, including a 40% relief on business rates for eligible studio spaces in England until 2034 and a 5% increase in tax relief for visual effects costs, which will not be subject to the 80% cap in the High End TV Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit. This will incentivise high-end television productions to remain in the UK for both filming and their visual effects. The Government will continue our wider support for the sector by investing in studio infrastructure, supporting innovation, and promoting independent content through the UK Global Screen Fund.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps he has taken to ensure the protection of journalists in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We recognise the valuable role of journalists operating on the ground in Gaza, providing important coverage of the conflict in incredibly challenging circumstances. On 5 December, the UK supported a joint statement of the Media Freedom Coalition expressing concern over the repercussions for the safety of journalists and access to information due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. We continue to call on all parties to the conflict to comply with international law and protect civilians, including guaranteeing the protection of journalists and media workers.
There must be a reduction in civilian casualties and Israel must take greater care to limit its operations to military targets. These are points that the Prime Minister has consistently made and reinforced with Prime Minster Netanyahu when they spoke on 15 February.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to meet with representatives from the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to meet with WASPI representatives. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s investigation on State Pension age communications is ongoing. Section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.
The Department is cooperating fully with the Ombudsman in their investigation.