Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 help (a) halt and (b) reverse species decline in the UK.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to restoring nature and achieving our legally binding species targets. These include targets to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, reverse these declines by at least 10% by 2042 when compared with 2030, and to reduce the risk of species extinction by 2042.
To achieve these targets, we have ramped up action to support nature recovery. We are investing £60 million over the next three years into the Species Recovery Programme, marking the largest ever Government investment in directly supporting threatened species. A further £30 million will be dedicated to fund species recovery on the national forest estate. Earlier this year beavers were released in Somerset and Cornwall following the Government’s landmark decision last year to allow the legal reintroduction of beavers into the wild in England since they were hunted to extinction around 400 years ago and we recently approved £1m of additional funding to explore a reintroduction programme for golden eagles in England. The Government has also announced the largest nature friendly farming budget in history, with £11.8 billion to be spent across this Parliament.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the financial contribution from Ireland is towards the deployment of a Royal Navy vessel for security at an event in Ireland.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Matters relating to Ireland's defence posture and expenditure rest with the Irish authorities, and any enquiries on those issues should be directed to them.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the time was between his Department receiving an initial request to obtain location data from Apple for UK nationals missing in Nepal and a request being made.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office staff and our embassy teams have been working around the clock to support British nationals and their families, and to lead the humanitarian response to the devastating floods, including over the weekend and bank holiday. The UK is working with the Nepalese and Chinese authorities to support their crisis response efforts on the ground. The UK acted on information provided in relation to missing individuals as soon as practicable and shared relevant details with the appropriate authorities. Police Family Liaison Officers have been deployed to support individual families, including on any information that could help efforts to locate the missing. Family Liaison Officers are available to discuss the utility or otherwise of mobile phones given the impact on the physical infrastructure and communications in the area. The information picture is changing continuously as Nepalese search and rescue teams work in the affected areas, and UK staff are in close contact with the authorities to understand the latest situation.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the British Embassy in Nepal was closed (a) during the August bank holiday weekend and (b) on bank holiday Monday.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office staff and our embassy teams have been working around the clock to support British nationals and their families, and to lead the humanitarian response to the devastating floods, including over the weekend and bank holiday. The UK is working with the Nepalese and Chinese authorities to support their crisis response efforts on the ground. The UK acted on information provided in relation to missing individuals as soon as practicable and shared relevant details with the appropriate authorities. Police Family Liaison Officers have been deployed to support individual families, including on any information that could help efforts to locate the missing. Family Liaison Officers are available to discuss the utility or otherwise of mobile phones given the impact on the physical infrastructure and communications in the area. The information picture is changing continuously as Nepalese search and rescue teams work in the affected areas, and UK staff are in close contact with the authorities to understand the latest situation.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information her Department holds on cases of British nationals in Mongolia a) subject to arbitrary detention and b) prohibited from leaving that country.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provides consular assistance to British nationals abroad 24/7. In Mongolia, consular officials aim to visit detained British nationals every six weeks initially and every three months following sentencing, although this is kept under review according to individual circumstances. We are not aware of any British nationals currently detained in Mongolia. If the Honourable Member wishes to raise a specific case, he is welcome to write to me separately.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the welfare of British nationals detained in Mongolia, including access to legal representation.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provides consular assistance to British nationals abroad 24/7. In Mongolia, consular officials aim to visit detained British nationals every six weeks initially and every three months following sentencing, although this is kept under review according to individual circumstances. We are not aware of any British nationals currently detained in Mongolia. If the Honourable Member wishes to raise a specific case, he is welcome to write to me separately.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many British nationals are detained in Mongolia.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provides consular assistance to British nationals abroad 24/7. In Mongolia, consular officials aim to visit detained British nationals every six weeks initially and every three months following sentencing, although this is kept under review according to individual circumstances. We are not aware of any British nationals currently detained in Mongolia. If the Honourable Member wishes to raise a specific case, he is welcome to write to me separately.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason PhD stipends do not count towards the work requirement for free hours of childcare; what information does her Department hold on the number of PhD researchers who are having to withdraw from their PhDs or are unable to start PhD courses due to childcare costs: and whether she has made an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of permitting PhD stipends to count towards the work requirement for free childcare hours.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Students who work alongside their studies may be eligible for 30 hours free childcare if they meet the income requirements. PhD stipends are non-taxable income and therefore do not count towards the income requirements of the 30 hours childcare entitlement.
The department does not hold information on the number of PhD researchers who have withdrawn from, or have been unable to commence, PhD study as a result of childcare costs. The department has not estimated the potential cost to the public purse of allowing PhD stipends to count towards the work and income requirements for the 30 hours free childcare entitlement.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the safety and resilience of the rail network to a) flash flooding, b) prolonged drought and c) other environmental and weather impacts associated with a warming climate.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The rail industry is taking a range of measures to improve the safety and resilience of the railway to the effects of climate change.
Flash flooding: Network Rail is investing in improved drainage systems, flood resilience schemes, remote monitoring technologies and enhanced weather forecasting to identify and manage flood risks.
Prolonged drought: The rail industry is assessing and managing risks associated with hotter, drier conditions, including embankment and earthwork stability, subsidence, and vegetation-related impacts.
Other environmental and weather impacts: Network Rail and Train Operating companies have developed Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation Plans. These plans incorporate future climate projections into asset management, maintenance and renewal decisions. This includes measures to address extreme rainfall, higher temperatures, coastal change, storms, high winds, overheating of infrastructure and vegetation management.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Defence Business Services record data relating to (a) the number of complaints received, (b) complaint resolution times and (c) complaint trends.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
Yes. Defence Business Services collects different sets of monthly complaints data in relation to the complaints processes which are specific to different sets of service lines. These include complaint resolution times and, for the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pensions Schemes, rolling 12-month trend data.