Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department has taken to support the establishment of (a) fintech bridges and (b) equivalent co-operation frameworks with India.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
India is an important emerging market, and we maintain several collaboration vehicles for discussing regulatory and market access barriers in financial services. Most recently there was a UK-India Financial Markets Dialogue held in GIFT City in December 2024 and we are looking forward to the upcoming UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue in April 2025 which is jointly chaired by the Chancellor and the Indian Finance Minister. Both dialogues are an opportunity for both the UK and India’s finance ministries and regulators to table important FS issues for collaborative working.
Boosting trade abroad is essential to delivering growth at home. That is why the UK is committed to negotiating a trade deal with India – one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Officials are continuing to negotiate the UK-India FTA, which includes FS provisions that will not undermine our future relationship and support our continued cooperation. A trade deal could unlock new opportunities for businesses and consumers in all regions and nations of the UK.
Fintech is an important sector for both the UK and India, we engage closely with the Indian Finance Ministry through an annual Joint Fintech Working Group. We also welcome advice from industry through the India-UK Financial Partnership (IUKFP), including through their recent 2023 report ‘Harnessing the power of FinTech and data’.
We welcome the progress of the UK-India Infrastructure Financing Bridge (UKIIFB) led by the City of London Corporation and the National Institute for the Transformation of India (NITI Aayog) in its first year, and we look forward to supporting the second year of the UKIIFB and any new areas of focus.
The UK supported the establishment and development of the ISSB as a global standard setter for sustainability reporting at COP26. The government have also supported world-leading work on transition plan disclosures by co-chairing the Transition Plan Taskforce. We will be taking a pro-growth, pragmatic approach to sustainable finance, combining support for international and interoperable standards like ISSB with an openness to feedback about what policies we should be pursuing. The upcoming UK-India EFD will present a renewed opportunity to engage with India on our shared areas of interest in sustainable finance.
Asked by: James Asser (Labour - West Ham and Beckton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle health inequalities in (a) England, (b) London, and (c) West Ham and Beckton constituency.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The United Kingdom faces significant health inequalities, with life expectancy varying widely across and within communities. The Government is committed to building a fairer Britain by tackling the structural inequalities that contribute to poor health, particularly for disadvantaged groups.
Existing initiatives to reduce inequalities in relation to health services in England include NHS England’s ‘Core 20 Plus 5’, which focuses on improving the five clinical areas at most need of accelerated improvement in the poorest 20 percent of the population, along with other underserved population groups identified at a local level, including groups that share protected characteristics, and socially excluded groups such as people experiencing homelessness.
The Office of Health Improvement and Disparities’ London Regional Team provides system leadership for population health and reducing health inequalities across London. Partners are working together to deliver the Health and Care Vision for London, which sets out a shared ambition to make London the healthiest global city, and the best global city in which to receive health and care services. The Vision aims to tackle issues that cause poor health and health inequalities.
The Mayor of London has set out his aims and objectives for addressing health inequalities in London. This sets the direction of travel for collaborative working by the Mayor of London, partners and communities to tackle health inequalities.
Newham Local Authority received £34.2 million in Public Health Grant funding in 2024/25. This provides services such as stop smoking, drug and alcohol treatment, health visiting/school nursing, sexual health, and NHS Health Checks among others, all of which contribute to addressing health inequalities. Newham Local Authority, the National Health Service and other partners are working together to improve health equity and address the social determinants of health, including through the ‘50 Steps to a Healthier Newham’ Strategy and the Newham Centre for Health Equity.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
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 implications of reports that drug cartels in Mexico have suffered losses of 96 billion Mexican pesos in the last four years as a result of drugs seizures by Mexican authorities.
Answered by David Rutley
Reports of large drug seizures in Mexico over recent years are good news for Mexico and for global counter-narcotics. Nevertheless, the ongoing drug trade and the violence and insecurity stemming from this and other criminal activity remain a huge problem in Mexico. Officials in the British Embassy in Mexico City as well as Ministers in London regularly engage on this issue with the Mexican authorities and with civil society, including monitoring violence trends in the country and offering assistance in the field of rule of law. Most recently, in December I [Minister Rutley] discussed this with Undersecretary Toscano of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the number of companies in the UK which can carry out sourcing and forming operations for various critical metals.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The UK has a strong mining and engineering sector, world-leading R&D and pockets of mineral wealth. We have minerals expertise, including industrial clusters across the UK, and Europe’s leading mining school. The City of London is a global centre of mining finance, standards, and metals trading.
The Critical Minerals Strategy includes ambitions to maximise what the UK can produce domestically, where viable for businesses and where it works for communities and our natural environment. We are undertaking a national critical mineral resource assessment and have mechanisms to boost our capabilities, such as the Automotive Transformation Fund.
We are also seeking to support UK companies operating around the world to participate in building responsible and diversified global supply chains.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of companies in the UK which can carry out sourcing and forming operations for various critical metals.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The UK has a strong mining and engineering sector, world-leading R&D and pockets of mineral wealth. We have minerals expertise, including industrial clusters across the UK, and Europe’s leading mining school. The City of London is a global centre of mining finance, standards, and metals trading.
The Critical Minerals Strategy includes ambitions to maximise what the UK can produce domestically, where viable for businesses and where it works for communities and our natural environment. We are undertaking a national critical mineral resource assessment and have mechanisms to boost our capabilities, such as the Automotive Transformation Fund.
We are also seeking to support UK companies operating around the world to participate in building responsible and diversified global supply chains.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the unique biodiversity loss challenges facing each sector of the economy, including those which go beyond deforestation; and if he will make it his policy to issue guidance on sectoral pathways to a nature positive economy.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government has committed to leave the environment in a better state than we found it, and recognises the unique biodiversity loss challenges faced by every sector of our economy.
Through the Environment Act, the Government is introducing a statutory cycle of monitoring, planning and reporting on Environmental Improvement Plans (EIPs). The Outcome Indicator Framework provides one method of reporting on the progress of the EIP. The Framework draws together a comprehensive suite of measures which collectively describe environmental change as it relates to the ten goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan (which will become the first EIP).
The Government has introduced a significant number of policies across the economy to support sectors to recover nature, from biodiversity net gain to environmental land management schemes. In 2018 the Green Book incorporated reference to natural capital for the first time. The 2020 version of the Green Book incorporated as its supplementary guidance Defra's 'Enabling a Natural Capital Approach' (ENCA) which provides further data, guidance, and tools to support policymakers in every Government Department on how to consider natural capital in all decision-making.
In our 2019 Green Finance Strategy, the government committed to transforming the frameworks for financial decision making. This includes supporting the finance sector to develop the tools and skills to price climate and biodiversity risk into financial models. As part of the strategy, we set a clear expectation for the finance sector to implement the recommendations of the global Taskforce on Climate related Finance Disclosures, to ensure that risks are properly understood. We also committed to catalyse international action on nature-related financial disclosures.
Since the publication of the Strategy, we have increased our ambition and accelerated the pace including the Chancellor's announcement in November 2020 setting a timetable for climate disclosures to become mandatory by 2024 and through the launch of a global market-led Taskforce on Nature Related Disclosures. The Chancellor also announced plans to legislate to create a Green Taxonomy, to provide clear guidelines to investors on the sectors, technologies and activities that can be considered compatible with the transition to a nature-positive economy in line with our long-term environmental policies. As part of the Strategy, we also set up a Green Finance Institute in partnership with the City of London to support and leverage the skills in our world leading financial sector.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage tourism in London in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
My Department is taking a number of steps to encourage tourism in city destinations such as London.
The Global Travel Taskforce last year committed the Government to publish a Tourism Recovery Plan in support of the sector. The Government intends to set out proposals in the Spring, including plans for a marketing campaign to welcome visitors back to the UK as soon as it is safe to do so.
We are working with VisitBritain, VisitEngland and local partners to champion the UK’s diverse tourism offer through the Escape the Everyday campaign, which will have a focus on encouraging visitors to return to cities.
We will continue to work with industry to provide assurance regarding when people can safely visit attractions - as demonstrated through the We’re Good to Go industry standard, which has been used by over 45,000 businesses.
The March Budget included £700m of extra funding to support our world-leading arts, culture and sporting institutions - protecting the venues which make London and the UK an attractive destination to visit.
In total, over £25bn has been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Institute for Global City Policing Stop and Search in London: July to September 2020, published in November; and what discussions they have had with the Metropolitan Police about the impact of its stop and search policies.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Home Office welcomes any analysis of the effectiveness of police tactics.
The police tell us that stop and search is a vital tool which helps them tackle serious violence and protect communities. We remain clear that no one should be stopped based on protected characteristics, including race and age. Safeguards exist to ensure this, including Code A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 which sets out the statutory requirements for conducting a search, the use of body worn video to increase accountability, and HMICFRS inspections where force level disparities are examined. The Home Office also publishes extensive data on police powers, including the use of stop and search, which allows Police and Crime Commissioners and others to hold forces to account. The latest publication is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2020.
The causes of disparities in stop and search are complex. This Government has committed to tackling racial disparities and broader structural inequalities as part of the Prime Minister’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.
All operational decisions on how stop and search is carried out in London are a matter for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and City of London Police
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Institute for Global City Policing Stop and Search in London: July to September 2020, published in November, and in particular its finding that in London black men between 18 and 24 years old are on average 19 times more likely than the general population to be stopped and searched by the police; what assessment they have made of the efficacy of stop and search (1) target areas, and (2) policy; and what plans they have to review the use of stop and search.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Home Office welcomes any analysis of the effectiveness of police tactics.
The police tell us that stop and search is a vital tool which helps them tackle serious violence and protect communities. We remain clear that no one should be stopped based on protected characteristics, including race and age. Safeguards exist to ensure this, including Code A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 which sets out the statutory requirements for conducting a search, the use of body worn video to increase accountability, and HMICFRS inspections where force level disparities are examined. The Home Office also publishes extensive data on police powers, including the use of stop and search, which allows Police and Crime Commissioners and others to hold forces to account. The latest publication is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2020.
The causes of disparities in stop and search are complex. This Government has committed to tackling racial disparities and broader structural inequalities as part of the Prime Minister’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.
All operational decisions on how stop and search is carried out in London are a matter for the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what oversight his Department plans to provide for partnerships between the City of London and African partners with reference to UK aid.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
As one of the world’s largest capital markets and a global centre of financial expertise, the UK has a central role to play in channelling private capital to developing economies. We want to ensure that the City of London is a leading financial centre for the developing world, supporting economic growth, job creation and an exit from aid.
That is why at the UK-Africa Investment Summit we announced almost £400 million in UK aid support for initiatives that will improve financial systems and regulations of 45 developing nations in Africa, make it easier for global investors to invest in Africa at scale, and help African governments and companies to raise international capital in their own currencies.