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Written Question
National Insurance Contributions: Personal Income
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department conducted distributional analysis of the impact of the reduction to National Insurance contributions announced in the Spring Budget 2024 on people in different income brackets.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

HM Treasury published distributional analysis at Spring Budget 2024, which can be found here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65e83ed008eef600115a5660/Impact_on_households_-_SB24_FINAL.pdf


Written Question
Israel: West Bank
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help de-escalate tensions in the West Bank; and whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in Israel on their (a) withholding of work permits and (b) blocking of travel by Palestinians from the West Bank.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Government maintains a regular dialogue with Israeli counterparts and partners on a range of issues relating to the conflict, including steps Israel must take to deescalate tensions in the West Bank. This includes halting settlement expansion, holding to account those responsible for extremist settler violence and releasing frozen funds.

On 12 February, the UK announced new sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers who have violently attacked Palestinians in the West Bank. These sanctions follow the announcement by the Foreign Secretary in December that the UK plans to ban those responsible for settler violence from entering the UK.


Written Question
Gaza: Humanitarian Pauses
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the prospect of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We engage closely with the US on both this and wider aspects of the conflict. On 13 March, the UK, US, and regional partners took part in ministerial consultations to advance a maritime corridor to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza. On 7 March the Foreign Secretary spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock about the situation in Gaza. The Foreign Secretary also met and raised this with Foreign Ministers of international partner countries, including the US, at the Munich Security Conference in February.


Written Question
Theft: Retail Trade
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle retail theft.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting has on businesses, communities, and consumers. The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows neighbourhood crime is down 51% compared to findings from the year ending March 2010.

However, Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 32% in the 12 months to September 2023. Statistics also show the number of people charged with shoplifting offences has risen by 34% in the year ending September 2023, showing that police are taking action.

We have recently taken significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime, including shoplifting.

In October 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.

This builds on the NPCC commitment that police forces across England and Wales will follow up all crimes where there is actionable evidence and the chance of identifying an offender, including shoplifting.

October also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.

We are continuing to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which meets on a quarterly basis, to ensure the response to retail crime, including shoplifting, is as robust as it can be.


Written Question
Middle East: Humanitarian Aid
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to increase the number of aid shipments to the Middle East.

Answered by James Heappey

Defence works very closely with and to support the FCDO, who lead on humanitarian support, to make sure that aid shipments are delivered as rapidly, efficiently and safely as possible. We have supported the delivery of hundreds of tonnes of life-saving aid for Gaza, including by air, land and maritime routes. We are doing everything we can to get far more aid in, exploring new routes and pressing Israel to open more crossings and lift restrictions. The Secretaries of State regularly engage on this matter.


Written Question
Ukraine: Military Aid
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to increase military support to Ukraine.

Answered by James Heappey

The UK continues to be at the forefront of international efforts to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. We will be providing £2.5 billion of military support to Ukraine in financial year 2024-25. This includes a £325 million package of cutting-edge drones and £245 million to procure and invigorate supply chains, to produce artillery shells to help fight Putin's illegal invasion.

We will train an additional 10,000 Ukrainians in the first half of this year as well as co-leading new maritime and drone capability coalitions alongside Norway and Latvia respectively.


Written Question
Gibraltar: Economic Situation and Overseas Trade
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help (a) support the economy of and (b) increase trade between the UK and Gibraltar.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The UK is committed to supporting Gibraltar, its people and its economy. We are working side-by-side with the Government of Gibraltar to conclude a UK-EU treaty which can secure the future prosperity of Gibraltar and the region. We continue to collaborate on shared prosperity goals. For example, the UK's £500 million Loan Guarantee to support Gibraltar's economy was extended in 2023 for a further three years and the implementation of the Gibraltar Authorisation Regime will facilitate financial services business between the two jurisdictions on a permanent basis.


Written Question
Gibraltar: Spain
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is continued mobility across the border between Spain and Gibraltar during negotiations with the EU in respect of Gibraltar.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The UK, working side-by-side with the Government of Gibraltar, is committed to concluding a UK-EU treaty as soon as possible. A key objective is to ensure that people and goods can move easily between Gibraltar and the surrounding communities. Together with the Government of Gibraltar we continue to monitor the functioning of the border and raise issues with the Spanish authorities, including at Ministerial level, when required.


Written Question
Transport: Planning
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the Create Streets and Sustrans study entitled Stepping off the Road to Nowhere, published on 10 March 2024.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Government is aware of the report produced by Create Streets and Sustrans and will review its findings in due course.


Written Question
Defence: Procurement
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the defence procurement system.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Department uses a range of measures to assess the effectiveness of defence acquisition. We have reduced the average time taken to deliver our projects and programmes. But we must go further to drive pace. I therefore announced plans for a new Integrated Procurement Model in my oral statement of 28 February 2024 on Defence Acquisition Reform.

A guidance note setting out the key features of the new model was placed in the Library and is available at Integrated Procurement Model: driving pace in the delivery of military capability - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).