Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support mental health services in journalism.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Ministers and officials regularly meet stakeholders to discuss a range of issues which affect media organisations and journalists. Officials in my department would be pleased to meet with Media Strong.
The Government is not currently taking specific steps to support mental health services in journalism. However, we are taking steps to strengthen our national, regional and local press, which includes action aimed at supporting journalists.
I also chair the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, together with the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls. It brings together representatives from government, journalism, policing, prosecution services and civil society to make sure that journalists in the UK are able to operate free from threats and violence. Its National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists sets out how the safety of journalists in the UK can be protected.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if will meet with Media Strong.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Ministers and officials regularly meet stakeholders to discuss a range of issues which affect media organisations and journalists. Officials in my department would be pleased to meet with Media Strong.
The Government is not currently taking specific steps to support mental health services in journalism. However, we are taking steps to strengthen our national, regional and local press, which includes action aimed at supporting journalists.
I also chair the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, together with the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls. It brings together representatives from government, journalism, policing, prosecution services and civil society to make sure that journalists in the UK are able to operate free from threats and violence. Its National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists sets out how the safety of journalists in the UK can be protected.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support retail workers in reporting incidents of abuse, threats and violence to the police.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this.
This Government is committed to effectively tackling retail crime. In the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament on 25 February, we brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also repealing legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.
There were 44,048 shoplifting offences recorded by the police in the East of England region in the year ending September 2024, a 19% increase on the previous year (37,166 offences). This was a 41% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (31,154 offences).
There were 13,266 shoplifting offences recorded by Essex police in the year ending September 2024, a 20% increase on the previous year (11,101 offences). This was a 44% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (9,190 offences).
We will provide £100,000 additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics, as well as investing £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other.
I chair the Retail Crime Forum to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration between the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the treatment of LGBT+ people in Afghanistan by (a) the Taliban Government, (b) religious authorities and (c) Afghan society since August 2021.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The FCDO continues to monitor the human rights situation in Afghanistan closely, including the situation of the LGBT+ community. On 7 October 2022, we co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution to extend the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate to monitor human rights in Afghanistan. As the UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett has since reported, LGBT+ people face discrimination, threats and violence in Afghanistan. FCDO officials continue to call on the Taliban to protect all minority communities.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to secure safe passage out of Afghanistan for the nine former BBC staff and freelance journalists who have been subjected to a growing campaign of threats and violence.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
It remains a top priority to help those British nationals and those Afghans eligible to come to the UK, to leave Afghanistan, including journalists. Since the end of the military evacuation, the Government has facilitated the departure of both Afghan and British nationals from Afghanistan. Although travel within Afghanistan remains dangerous, and many border crossings have been closed during this period, we have also helped both British nationals and eligible Afghans when they have crossed into third countries, from where our diplomatic missions have been able to support their onward travel to the UK. We will continue to work to take advantage of all opportunities to help those eligible to come to the UK to leave Afghanistan.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help protect retail workers from abuse, threats and violence during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government conducted a call for evidence on violence and abuse toward shop staff to understand the extent of the issue and how we can work with retailers and police to improve the response to these crimes. The Government’s formal response was published 7 July 2020 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-and-abuse-toward-shop-staff-call-for-evidence
To address the actions raised in the call for evidence the Home Office has worked closely with retailers and trade organisations through the National Retail Crime Steering Group. We have developed resources to assist retailers to report crimes when they occur, resources for shop staff who are victims of violence and abuse, and the #Shopkind communications campaign. The downloadable resources are free to use and are available here: https://brc.org.uk/nrcsg-against-shop-worker-abuse-and-violence/
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the decision by Ofcom to uphold the Complaint by Mr Peter Humphrey about China 24 and News Hour, published in the Ofcom Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin on 6 July, what steps they are taking to protect UK journalists from serious breaches of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code by broadcasters owned by the government of China.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
We note Ofcom’s decision to uphold Mr Humphrey’s complaint. Ofcom is an independent regulator, and decisions on broadcasting regulation are a matter for Ofcom. It is important that any licenced broadcaster abides by Ofcom's Broadcasting Code and upholds the UK’s values.
The Government has taken a number of steps to support the safety of journalists and other media professionals. The Government launched a National Committee For The Safety of Journalists, bringing together representatives from government, journalism, policing, prosecution services and the civil society to make sure journalists are free from threats and violence. The Committee met this month, and will work on a National Action Plan to set out a framework through which the safety of journalists can be ensured.
To mark World Press Freedom Day 2020, the Foreign Secretary issued a statement with his German, French and Dutch colleagues, calling on governments to defend media freedom. The UK also signed a statement issued by the Media Freedom Coalition on WPFD and supported a Dutch social media campaign publicly highlighting cases of journalists around the world who have been killed or imprisoned. As part of our diplomatic engagement, our network of Embassies and High Commissions continue to raise concerns about media freedom bilaterally and with international partners.
Asked by: Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Colombian government on the harassment of the Patriotic March leader David Florez in Colombia on 7 July 2014.
Answered by Lord Swire
We are concerned about reports of threats and violence against members of opposition political movements. Our Embassy in Bogota has raised several cases with the Colombian government and continues to monitor the situation closely.
The British Embassy in Bogota continues to publicly support the work of human rights defenders. I met David Florez on 10 July. I raised the issue of their security with the Deputy Defence Ministers during my visit to Colombia in June.