Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
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 democratic standards at the June 2023 elections in Sierra Leone; and what representations the Government made on democratic standards to (a) President Bio and (b) electoral authorities in Sierra Leone (i) before and (ii) after those elections.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We noted a number of discrepancies in the election process. These have been communicated to the Government of Sierra Leone and elections management bodies. It remains vital that political leaders engage with efforts to support Sierra Leone's democratic process.
We have engaged stakeholders including the government, opposition, election bodies and the international community, in the months leading up to, during and after the elections. We have given consistent messaging on good governance, the rule of law and the importance of free, fair and peaceful elections. The Foreign Secretary raised these issues during his visit to Sierra Leone in March and in a telephone call with President Bio on 7 August.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to safeguard public health in connection with the supply of antibiotic-dosed meat to supermarkets.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Responsible use of antibiotics is an essential part of veterinary medicine: these medicines are needed to treat bacterial disease in animals. The UK Government is committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals whilst safeguarding animal health and welfare and antibiotic use in animals has reduced by 55% since 2014.
In the UK, antibiotics for animal use must be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon and we have strict maximum residue limits for food-producing animals. There is a comprehensive programme of statutory sampling and testing in place in the UK to look for residues of veterinary medicines, prohibited substances and contaminants in foodstuffs – this programme includes testing for a range of antibiotics, ensuring that they are being used in UK livestock in accordance with their authorisation. This activity is coordinated by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) in GB, and the results of testing and investigations are published on GOV.UK (link) on a quarterly and annual basis.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on the current round of the Community Ownership Fund; and when he plans to announce the successful applications.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The £150 million Community Ownership Fund helps communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to take ownership of assets at risk of closure.
Announcements will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to make sexual and reproductive health and rights a priority in the upcoming White Paper on international development.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government will publish an International Development White Paper later this year. It will set out how the UK will lead the charge against extreme poverty and climate change in a changing world. The FCDO global health directorate will engage with this process.
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are central to the UK's international development agenda. SRHR features strongly in our approach to end the preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children (EPD), the international development strategy, and our recently published international women and girls' strategy.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle (a) the charging of illegal fees in the recruitment process and (b) exploitative working conditions for care workers recruited from overseas.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office’s sponsor licence system places clear and binding requirements and obligations on employers looking to recruit and manage overseas employees. Should an employer be found to be in breach of these requirements we will take action and can remove their ability to recruit from overseas.
The Department of Health and Social Care has published guidance on applying for jobs from abroad as part of wider efforts to address concerns about exploitative recruitment and employment practices. It aims to help prospective overseas candidates make informed decisions when seeking health or social care jobs in the UK and includes information on how to avoid exploitation and where to report concerns and/or access wider support or help in the UK. The guidance can be found here (www.gov.uk/government/publications/applying-for-health-and-social-care-jobs-in-the-uk-from-abroad/applying-for-health-and-social-care-jobs-in-the-uk-from-abroad
The recently updated Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel also sets stronger ethical standards which providers and recruiters should ensure they meet when recruiting internationally. The Code of Practice can be found here (www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-international-recruitment-of-health-and-social-care-personnel/code-of-practice-for-the-international-recruitment-of-health-and-social-care-personnel-in-england
Providers should only engage with agencies and other recruiting organisations that are on the Code of Practice Ethical Recruiters List organisations on this list have committed to adhering to the Code of Practice. The list can be found here ((www.nhsemployers.org/articles/ethical-recruiters-list)
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) current and (b) former workers on the horticultural seasonal worker visa were given the opportunity to inform the independent review into labour shortages in the food supply chain, published on 30 June 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Independent Review of Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain was published on June 30th, 2023. Since it was an independent review Defra is not responsible for commenting on the specific evidence used to shape the final report, but notes that the Review does contain a Methodology section with more information that may be of interest. However, Defra does undertake an annual survey of workers involved in the Seasonal Worker visa route and this information was made available to the review team.
The Government will consider the Review’s recommendations and publish a Government response in the autumn.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Colombian government on the reforms to the National Police proposed by the Colombian President; and what steps he has taken to raise concerns of human rights organisations over these reforms.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since 2015, the UK has committed £80 million through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) to support the peace process and improve stability and security in Colombia. As part of the CSSF funding in Colombia, the UK launched a three-year, £2.1 million Police Innovations for Stabilisation in Colombia Programme (SCIP) in 2020, which is helping support the transformation of the Colombian National Police.
The UK's Global Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, met with civil society organisations and the Colombian Government to discuss the importance of civil society participation in peace and security issues during her visit to Colombia in April.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking in its role as penholder for the Colombian peace process in the UN Security Council to maintain the international community’s support for implementation of that country’s peace accords.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has been a leading international advocate of Colombia's peace process. Supporting the Colombian Government's commitment to implement the 2016 Peace Accords remains an important priority. We are the second largest UN Trust Fund donor, and work with fellow UN Security Council members to support the peace process in Colombia. During the most recent Security Council meeting on Colombia in April, Security Council members reiterated their unanimous and full support for the peace process in Colombia.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the level of compliance with the legal requirement for fishing vessels to report marine mammal bycatch.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that accidental bycatch in fisheries is one of the greatest threats faced by sensitive marine species such as cetaceans, and we remain fully committed to tackling this issue.
The UK introduced new rules in 2021 making it a mandatory requirement under fishing vessel licence conditions for fishers to report any marine mammal bycatch to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). On the introduction of this requirement, communications were sent out by Defra, the Devolved Administrations and the MMO to ensure that industry understood the new obligations. MMO is planning to communicate again with fishers this summer in order to ensure that rules are clear, and skippers comply with requirements. Responsibility for enforcing licence conditions in Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for the Devolved Administrations.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2023 to Question 186612 on Police: Workplace Pensions, if she will make it her policy to seek information on the number of serving police officers who opted out of the police pension scheme within the last ten years in each force.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Each Chief Constable is responsible for the administration of the police pension scheme for their force. This includes collecting and holding any data relevant to the running of the scheme.
The Home Office works with the Police Pension Scheme Advisory Board and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to understand how forces are managing their pension scheme and how members and officers are using the scheme.