Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made representations to his counterpart in Sudan on human rights issues.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Our senior diplomats have used meetings with senior decision-makers in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to raise concerns about credible reports of human rights violations. The UK has consistently denounced mounting reports of serious atrocities that have taken place in Sudan since 15 April 2023 and secured a UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2023 to establish a fact-finding mission for Sudan. We continue to support the essential work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR) and the International Criminal Court in investigating and documenting reports of human rights violations.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of landfill sites in England.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The vast majority of landfill sites do not cause problems and the regulatory framework serves them and their local communities well. Where poor performance does occur the Environment Agency has a range of powers to bring sites back into compliance and, where necessary, to take enforcement action against operators.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
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 implications for his policies of the new legislative package in Turkey entitled Amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure and Various Laws and Decree-Law No. 659.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
As a close partner, we consistently encourage Turkey to uphold the rule of law and to live up to its international obligations as a founding member state of the Council of Europe. We remind Turkey to act in line with the European Convention on Human Rights, other Council of Europe conventions, and broader democratic norms.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of hydrogen sulphide on the health and wellbeing of (a) under 18s and (b) over 65s.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency has not made an assessment of the potential impact of hydrogen sulphide on the health and wellbeing of under 18-year-olds and over 65-year-olds.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps she has taken to help increase (a) Welsh and (b) British exports to European countries.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to growing exports to Europe. The Department for Business and Trade continues to provide businesses with a wealth of support options on great.gov.uk, including the Export Academy, Export Champions, our International Markets network and UK Export Finance. The department is rolling out the Trade Advisory service across the UK, giving consistent support to all UK Exporters.
The department’s Nation Teams bring support closer to businesses in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; they work closely with the Devolved Administrations (DAs), businesses and other key partners to improve the availability of support to businesses and ensure that the department’s support is available to all UK companies.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2024 to Question 10315 on Deposit Return Schemes: Drinks, if he will provide a timeline for the publication of the Statutory Instrument for the proposed deposit return scheme.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working closely with the devolved administrations on the next steps to deliver interoperable schemes that work together across the UK so that there is clarity for businesses and consumers. We are aiming to publish a joint update in due course.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with HMRC on the potential merits of allowing British citizens overseas to file tax returns online.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC provides free software that allows the vast majority of Self Assessment customers to file their returns online. Certain small groups, including UK citizens living overseas, cannot use this software. They need either to file on paper or to purchase and use commercial software in order to file their returns online. HMRC aims to make its free software available to this group in future but has no immediate plans to do so.
HMRC offers support and guidance to non-UK resident customers through its dedicated Self Assessment telephone helpline on +44 161 931 9070. More information can be found here - Self Assessment: general enquiries - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Government on the adequacy of speech and language therapy training places in the context of demand for those services within the criminal justice system.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This department recognises that speech and language therapy is essential to enable the rehabilitation of many in the criminal justice system. It helps to improve communication skills, provide tools for conflict resolution and enable patients to eat and drink safely.
Responsibility for commissioning these services in Welsh prisons sits with the Local Health Boards, as healthcare is devolved to the Welsh Government. Our officials meet regularly with the Local Health Boards and Welsh Government to support and enable the delivery of health and social care in Welsh prisons.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to support local councils to implement the Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will engage with relevant stakeholders to develop guidance to accompany the standards. This guidance will be provided to local authorities on how licence holders can demonstrate compliance with these standards and to supply additional information around conducting inspections.
Local authorities will be able to set and charge fees in respect of any application and inspection relating to a private primate keeper licence. These fees will enable local authorities to recover any costs they incur as a result of carrying out these activities and should not therefore present any additional financial burden on local authorities.
We will be working with local authorities and other relevant stakeholders during the implementation phase to understand how to effectively support them to meet potential future demand for their services.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons provisions to allow breeding are included in the Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government opted to prioritise primate welfare by using secondary legislation. This approach means that these regulations will be in place earlier than would have been possible under primary legislation.
Over 98% of respondents to our 2020 consultation and 97% of respondents to our 2023 consultation expressed support for the introduction of a new prohibition on keeping primates privately in England without a relevant licence.
The regulations ban the keeping of primates without a relevant licence, ensuring that only those keeping primates to the highest welfare standards can do so.
We have thoroughly considered our 2019 call for evidence, consultations and wider stakeholder engagement to ensure the introduction of robust and proportionate measures. This includes activities on breeding, where primate keepers will be required to meet minimum welfare and licencing standards and subject to veterinary control and oversight.