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 his Department's timescales are for the publication of the results of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations consultation; and what plans his Department has to introduce changes to the Veterinary Medicines Regulation 2013.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government response to the consultation on the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 was published on 2 February. We intend to lay the Statutory Instrument, which will amend the Regulations, before Parliament by the end of February.
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 his Department has made of the extent of police abuses in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to improving the security of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. We engage regularly with the UN, NGOs and the Government of Bangladesh on protection issues, and we spoke with the government about security issues last month. UK funding (over £373 million to the Rohingya response since 2017) includes ongoing support to protection services in the camps. We will continue to monitor the security situation in the camps.
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 progress his Department has made on the agreements made at CBD COP15 in Montreal.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK played a leading role at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in securing agreement to a historic package of measures to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Our priority for COP16 and beyond is to drive global delivery of these agreements both at home and abroad, by working closely with our international partners.
We have a number of priorities for COP16. These include supporting a global review of those National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans which will have been published by the time of the COP, in order to assess the extent to which the world is on track to meet the commitments made at COP15; finalising the details of the global mechanism for the sharing of benefits arising from the use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) on genetic resources; and increasing the mobilisation of resources from all sources to halt and reverse biodiversity loss globally, including through the newly-established Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, to which the UK has already made an initial contribution of £10million.
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 his priorities for COP16 are.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK played a leading role at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in securing agreement to a historic package of measures to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Our priority for COP16 and beyond is to drive global delivery of these agreements both at home and abroad, by working closely with our international partners.
We have a number of priorities for COP16. These include supporting a global review of those National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans which will have been published by the time of the COP, in order to assess the extent to which the world is on track to meet the commitments made at COP15; finalising the details of the global mechanism for the sharing of benefits arising from the use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) on genetic resources; and increasing the mobilisation of resources from all sources to halt and reverse biodiversity loss globally, including through the newly-established Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, to which the UK has already made an initial contribution of £10million.
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, which members of His Majesty's Government will attend COP16.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK’s delegation to COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity was led by the Environment Secretary, who attended along with Ministers from two other Departments. The details of the delegation for COP16, including Ministerial representation, will be determined closer to the time but will be led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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, for what reason the UK-African Investment Summit has been postponed.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK-African Investment Summit (UK-AIS), due to take place in April 2024, will now be postponed to a later date owing to scheduling issues in the international calendar. New summit dates will be announced in due course.
The UK government is committed to building on the success of the 2020 UK-Africa Investment Summit, which laid the foundations for new partnerships between the UK and African nations based on trade, investment, shared values and mutual interest. This includes by ensuring attendance from governments across the continent, as well as British and African businesses eager to harness the benefits of our trading relationship.
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 recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the Chinese government's treatment of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang; and what diplomatic steps he has taken in response.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has led international efforts to hold China to account for its human rights violations in Xinjiang. We were the first country to lead a joint statement on China's human rights record in Xinjiang at the UN, and our leadership has sustained pressure on China to change its behaviour. In October 2023, the UK led another joint statement with a record number of 50 signatories on Xinjiang at the UN, demonstrating a significant number of countries are prepared to call China out for its human rights violations. We have also imposed sanctions, provided guidance to businesses, and taken action to tackle forced labour in supply chains. Bilaterally, we consistently raise human rights issues at senior levels with the Chinese authorities; the Foreign Secretary did so in his introductory call with China's Foreign Minister on 5 December.
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 steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reduce the potential impact of increased antimicrobial resistance caused by the overuse of antibiotics on industrial farms on human health.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government takes a cross-governmental, One-Health approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the UK 5-year National Action Plan for antimicrobial resistance. Through the National Action Plan, activity is delivered across the four nations of the United Kingdom on human health, animal health, food, environment, research, and surveillance. The plan is available at the following link:
The UK is committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals to reduce the risk of the development and spread of AMR in animals and humans. The recently published UK Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance report shows that sales of antibiotics in food producing animals are at their lowest ever level, with a 59% reduction since 2014. The report is available at the following link:
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 discussions he has had with his international counterparts on preparation for COP16.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers and senior officials across Government, led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, are in close and ongoing contact with their global counterparts about preparation for COP16. In addition, the Environment Secretary and Lord Benyon spoke to a number of their international opposites at the COP28 meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
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 implication for his policies of expulsion threats against Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan; and whether his Department has taken steps to tackle those threats.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government condemns all instances of hate and discrimination directed towards minority religious communities, including Ahmadi Muslims. We continue to urge the government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in Pakistan as laid down in the Constitution of Pakistan and in accordance with international standards. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, raised the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims with Pakistan's caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on 13 September and in a letter of 5 October. The UK government continues to fund projects with local Pakistani organisations to empower minority religious communities and to tackle online hate-speech.