Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking with regulators to increase adoption of non-animal New Approach Methodologies.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.
The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods in basic, applied, translational and regulatory research and testing later this year. As part of this we are engaging with regulators including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and international medicines regulators such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) as to how we will take this commitment forward.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he will publish the outcome of the 2024 Fairer Food Labelling Consultation.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central, Gareth Snell on 23 December 2024, PQ UIN 20692.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 42455, what steps his Department is taking to ensure adherence to (a) decent work and (b) human rights throughout the UK and global supply chains used to deliver public services and goods contracts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office has published extensive risk-based policy and guidance for commercial teams to tackle labour rights abuses in UK and global supply chains. A Procurement Policy Note (PPN), which was recently updated in line with the Procurement Act, sets out instructions to departments on how to tackle modern slavery in supply chains at each stage of the commercial life-cycle. The government has also developed risk assessment tools and promotes e-learning for procurement officials.
The Act provides contracting authorities with stronger powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where there is compelling evidence of modern slavery within their supply chains.
The Social Value Model has recently been updated to align to the missions, and where relevant and proportionate to do so, authorities can reward suppliers who provide good working conditions for staff working on public contracts
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training is available for family court judges on child sexual abuse.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Lady Chief Justice has statutory responsibility for the training of the courts judiciary in England and Wales, which is exercised through the Judicial College. The judiciary and professional staff in the College are responsible for the design, content and delivery of judicial training.
All judicial office holders receive induction training on appointment and before sitting in a new jurisdiction and complete regular continuation training thereafter. Training on child sexual abuse is integral to judicial training in public and private family law, including dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse and how best to receive evidence from children and young people in a way which seeks to minimise distress whilst protecting the integrity of the court process.
Family magistrates and their legal advisers also complete training in child sexual abuse and other forms of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the planned reduction of Official Development Assistance on the number of women at risk of preventable death in pregnancy and childbirth.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations and the impact on programmes are being worked through, following the decision to reduce UK ODA from 0.5 per cent or gross national income to 0.3 per cent in 2027. We will be taking a rigorous approach to ensure that all ODA delivers value for money, including by considering the impact on women and girls in accordance with the public sector equality duty.
The UK remains unequivocally committed to supporting global efforts to end preventable maternal, child, and newborn deaths in line with Sustainable Development Goal targets. This month the UK delegation to the UN Commission on Population and Development committed to protect and progress sexual and reproductive health and rights, including maternal and newborn health by cosponsoring the launch of the Global Midwifery Accelerator. The UK continues to work closely with partners and provides strong political leadership on maternal health, to end preventable deaths.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question 29899 on Gaza: Energy and Water Supply, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of prioritising Gazan contractors in the rebuilding of Gaza on the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Civil society will be best placed to rebuild their communities, and we must ensure they have the right support. We will be guided by our trusted partners in supporting private sector investment in Gaza's recovery and reconstruction, including considering how to work with Gazan construction agencies. We are exploring ways to support private sector recovery in Gaza and continue to provide ongoing support to monitor, protect and grow the private sector in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and improve the Palestinian trade performance.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his US counterpart on the Guttmacher Institute's publication entitled Family planning impact of the Trump foreign assistance freeze, published on 29 January 2025.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary has not had direct discussions with his US counterpart specifically regarding the Guttmacher Institute's publication on the impact of cuts to US foreign assistance funding on Family Planning initiatives. However, the UK is actively assessing the broader implications of the US funding cuts across various development sectors.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to improve data capture on the (a) number of private law proceedings that involve allegations of child sexual abuse and (b) outcomes of these cases.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service will be introducing a new case management system for private law children‘s cases, Manage Cases. This system will identify each type of abuse or harm allegation made by an applicant, including child sexual abuse. This will support data capture of the number of proceedings in which child sexual abuse is a factor and the outcome of these cases. The national roll out of the new digital system is expected to begin later this year.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed reduction in Official Development Assistance from 2027 on people with disabilities; and what steps he is taking to (a) fund and (b) otherwise resource the FCDO Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy to 2030.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations and the impact on programmes are being worked through following the decision to reduce UK ODA from 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent in 2027. Equality Impact Assessments - which consider impacts on people with disabilities - are an essential part of how we make decisions, including on ODA allocations. We will set out our spending plans following the completion of the spending review.
At 16 per cent of the global population, people with disabilities are among the world's most vulnerable, particularly at times of crisis. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office is committed to mainstreaming a disability inclusion and rights approach across our work and we will also drive stronger international coordination to advance global disability inclusion progress.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the the European Commission announcement entitled Vision for Agriculture and Food, published on 19 February 2025, if he will hold discussions with animal welfare organisations on the potential merits of implementing the same regulations as proposed in the EU on (a) phasing out the use of cages for farmed animals and (b) introducing animal welfare labelling.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Department is engaging with key animal welfare stakeholders as part of the development of our overarching approach to animal welfare.
The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are considering very carefully.
A public consultation on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government. We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course.
We await the EU Commission proposals on phasing out the use of cages for farmed animals and animal welfare labelling with interest.