Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the need for longitudinal research into the impact of online gambling on children and young people.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government would welcome new longitudinal research on this topic to further build our evidence base to inform our understanding of children and young people’s gambling behaviour and harm in Great Britain.
The statutory levy on licensed gambling operators came into force on 6 April and will raise around £100 million each year. We have committed up to £20m of levy funding for quality, independent research overseen by UK Research and Innovation. This could include further work on longitudinal studies.
We continue to monitor the best available evidence to assess the impact of online gambling on children and young people.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the adequacy of the observance of the Pakistani government to article 22 of the constitution of that country on freedom of religion or belief, in the context of forced religious education in schools.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Promoting freedom of religion or belief is a key part of the UK's diplomatic engagement overseas. I underlined the importance of religious tolerance and harmony when I met Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Azam Tarar, on 19 November 2024, and raised this issue in Parliament on 28 November. I also discussed the rights of religious minorities in a meeting with Pakistan's Minister for the Interior, Talal Chaudhry, on 31 March, although we did not discuss religious education in schools specifically. The UK Government will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people, including those from religious minority communities, in accordance with international standards.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending the Financial Conduct Authority's powers to regulate claims management companies in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has no plans to extend the Financial Conduct Authority’s powers to regulate claims management activity in Northern Ireland, but continues to keep the territorial scope of the Financial Conduct Authority’s powers under review.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Motor Insurance Taskforce (a) last met and (b) is next scheduled to meet.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce met for the first time on 16 October 2024 and the Secretary of State is keen to reconvene again soon. We will provide updates on the Taskforce in due course.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of seafarers' welfare, in the context of roster patterns.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to strengthening workers’ rights at sea, which is why as part of the Employment Rights Bill we are introducing powers for Ministers to create a legally-binding Seafarers’ Charter. This will protect and improve seafarer working conditions, including by addressing seafarer fatigue.
We will continue to work with like-minded states and through international forums to raise international standards for seafarer welfare.
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 help the (a) ports and (b) shipping industries (a) cut emissions and (b) transition to clean fuels.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have recently published our Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy that sets out our plans to decarbonise the domestic maritime sector. This Strategy includes a package of policy and regulatory measures across both the port and shipping industries. Reducing emissions builds on the increased efficiency of operators, combined with a transition to cleaner zero, and near-zero greenhouse gas emission fuels and energy sources, and this Strategy considers the role of these fuels, and how we will support their uptake.
All policies laid out in the Strategy will be developed further and will be subject to formal consultation before implementation.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress she has made on developing a port strategy.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy sets out Government’s plans for decarbonising the domestic maritime sector, including goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and policies to support this. The Maritime Strategy will be published later this year. It will focus on our four priorities of people, growth, environment and safety. Ports have a crucial role to play across all of these.
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, how much his Department spent on promotion of freedom of religion or belief in the financial year 2024/25.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We are championing the right to FoRB and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora, our bilateral work, and our programme funding, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) John Bunyan Fund (JBF), a designated programme for FoRB-focused overseas projects. The JBF has a budget allocation of £460,720 in FY24/25. The FCDO works to ensure that Official Development Assistance (ODA) is allocated to those who are most vulnerable and most in need of this assistance irrespective of race, religion, or ethnicity. This includes minority religious or belief communities, who are assessed by our partners when determining those most in need of protection and assistance.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of current provisions to support people serving a custodial sentences who are experiencing gambling harms.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
HM Prison and Probation Service delivers a broad range of interventions to address individuals’ criminogenic risks and needs, including accredited offending behaviour programmes.
Support for prisoners who are experiencing gambling harms is provided by the NHS. We are working with the NHS to ensure that any gambling intervention provision it commissions is evaluated, and that people in the criminal justice system with associated harms are taken into account and have parity of access to support.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse has been of providing legal advice to immigrants seeking asylum in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Legal aid is available to fund legal advice and representation provided to individuals seeking asylum in England and Wales, subject to an assessment of merits and financial eligibility. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes information regarding legal aid expenditure as part of its official statistics on a quarterly basis, including the cost of legal aid provided in respect of asylum matters funded as Controlled Work. The information requested can be found at column G of table 5.3. Controlled Work covers the provision of legal advice regarding asylum matters and representation before the First Tier (Immigration and Asylum) Tribunal.
The LAA also publishes information about the cost of Legal Representation pertaining to immigration and asylum matters (see tables 6.5 and 6.7). However, due to the way in which this information is recorded on LAA systems, expenditure specifically in relation to asylum cases could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.