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 steps she is taking to ensure that overseas farmers and workers involved in UK agricultural supply chains are receiving living incomes.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to advancing free and fair trade around the world that is inclusive, sustainable and reduces poverty. To do this, the UK supports a range of initiatives to drive inclusive growth and create more and better jobs at scale, including in agricultural supply chains.
Such initiatives include the recently concluded Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) programme, which aimed to advance women's economic empowerment in global supply chains. In Kenya, WOW supported over 300,000 tea farmers, over 80% of whom reported improved productivity and income through climate-resilient practices and diversified livelihoods.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to ensure that all commercial fish stocks have catch limits that do not exceed scientific advice.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to restoring our stocks to sustainable levels and supporting the long-term viability of the UK fishing industry. This is in line with our domestic and international obligations, including those of the Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement. We work with international partners to set annual catch limits for shared fish stocks, informed by the best available scientific advice on the state of those stocks. This is principally advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of commercial fish stocks have catch limits set (a) at and (b) below levels recommended by scientific advice.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We strive to improve the sustainability of our fisheries and publish an annual independent assessment of the outcomes of our negotiations to set catch limits with other coastal states. The Government’s independent report for 2025 found that 46% of all assessed stocks had catch limits that were set at or below the recommended scientific advice.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that North Sea cod is fished at sustainable levels.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to restoring our stocks to sustainable levels and supporting the long-term viability of the UK fishing industry. This is in line with our domestic and international obligations, including those of the Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement. We work with the EU and Norway to set annual catch limits for shared North Sea cod stocks, informed by the best available scientific advice on the state of these stocks. This is principally advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. The UK continues to lead the trilateral (UK, EU and Norway) cod management working group to further our joint understanding and collaboration on existing management measures, and to consider improvements or modifications which could provide additional protection to cod substocks.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of Extended Producer Responsibility costs on the beer and pub sector.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on a range of issues, including the potential impact of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) costs on obligated producers, local authorities and the waste management sector. The updated assessment of the pEPR scheme, published in October 2024, evaluated overall effects on packaging producers without disaggregating by sector.
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 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.