Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the Cuban authorities on the detention of religious leaders; and what steps she is taking to ensure the promotion of religious freedom in the country.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to championing freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all. No one should live in fear because of their faith. Our relationship with Cuba allows for frank dialogue, including on matters on which we do not agree. We continue to raise concerns where we have them, as we did through an open letter from the former Foreign Secretary in December 2024 to Pastor Lorenzo, expressing solidarity and calling on the Cuban authorities to release him. We were delighted to hear of his release in January.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to prevent off-road motorcycles being declared as (a) used vehicles and (b) components of vehicles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There is no legal requirement for vehicles to be registered and licensed if they are used exclusively off the public roads. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does operate a voluntary registration scheme for off-road vehicles, which can assist in the identification of complete, stolen off-road motorcycles.
To qualify to register an off-road vehicle, the vehicle can be new or used but it must be complete. It is not possible to register component parts. A declaration that the vehicle will only be used off road is also required.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle unsustainable (a) purchasing practices, (b) pricing structures and (c) business models by UK businesses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government expects all UK companies to respect human rights, workers’ rights and the environment throughout their operations and supply chains in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC). If there are concerns related to a multinational enterprise contravening the OECD Guidelines, a case can be raised with the Office for Responsible Business Conduct.
In the Trade Strategy, the Government also launched a review into the UK’s approach to RBC, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he expects the review of responsible business conduct to (a) conclude and (b) report any policy recommendations.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The Government is progressing the review at pace while ensuring that we harness the insight of a range of stakeholders. We will continue to provide regular updates as we progress the review.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation on (a) human rights and (b) environmental due diligence for businesses; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of this on (i) the resilience of UK supply chains and (ii) the livelihoods of global producers.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative measures to support responsible business practices, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence. It will have due regard to the effectiveness of any measures on supply chain resilience and the livelihoods of global producers.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to make (a) human rights and (b) environmental due diligence mandatory for businesses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative measures to support responsible business practices, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence. It will have due regard to the effectiveness of any measures on supply chain resilience and the livelihoods of global producers.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure the views of producers in the Global South involved in UK supply chains are factored into (a) his Department's review of responsible business conduct and (b) any policy recommendations it makes.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains.
Throughout the review, we will harness the insights and expertise of civil society and our international trading partners, as well as businesses, investors, trade unions and academia. Stakeholders will also be given the opportunity to feed into the National Baseline Assessment on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which will run in parallel and inform the review.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he plans to take to ensure that companies are held to account when they fail to prevent (a) human rights abuses and (b) environmental harms in their supply chains.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative measures to support responsible business practices, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all companies are legally obliged to prevent (a) human rights abuses and (b) environmental harms in their supply chains.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative measures to support responsible business practices, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the existing legislative framework for dealing with (a) human rights and (b) environmental harms in UK businesses supply chains.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct across the economy. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK's approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms.
The review will focus on the global supply chains of businesses operating in the UK. It will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK's current regime and the merits of alternative measures to support responsible business practices.