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Written Question
Mexico: Drug Seizures
Tuesday 24th January 2023

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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

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.


Written Question
Metals
Wednesday 9th November 2022

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 - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

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.


Written Question
Metals
Wednesday 9th November 2022

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 - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

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.


Written Question
Biodiversity
Thursday 28th April 2022

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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

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.


Written Question
Tourism: Greater London
Tuesday 20th April 2021

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - 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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

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.


Written Question
Stop and Search: Greater London
Thursday 17th December 2020

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 - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of 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


Written Question
Stop and Search: Ethnic Groups
Thursday 17th December 2020

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 - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of 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.


Written Question
Africa: Overseas Aid
Monday 3rd February 2020

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 - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

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.


Written Question
Economic Situation
Tuesday 28th January 2020

Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of the decision to spend official development assistance on a collaboration with the City of London on efforts to rebalance the UK economy, particularly in the field of international investment services.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government has recently announced a number of initiatives which will support billions of pounds of private sector investment in Africa – essential to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Initiatives announced include a collaboration with the City of London on a competition for fund managers to identify new investment products for Africa, making it easier and more appealing for global investors to put money into African projects at scale. This and other initiatives build on the City’s role as a global hub for development finance, supporting jobs and growth abroad, as well as in the UK.


Written Question
UK-Africa Investment Summit
Monday 27th January 2020

Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the outcomes of the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020 were; and what plans he has to support to grassroots partnerships developed as a result of that summit.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Summit laid the foundations for new partnerships between the UK and African nations based on trade, investment, shared values and mutual interest. Billions of pounds of new commercial deals were announced highlighting the strength of the UK’s offer and existing relationship with Africa.

The UK also announced new initiatives and funding which will: strengthen the joint trading relationship, support African countries in their ambition to transform their economies, launch a major new partnership with the city of London, turbo-charge infrastructure financing, and enable Africa’s clean energy potential. For example, the Government announced it will be scaling up its Financial Sector Deepening Network programme by a further £320mn. This programme is aimed at strengthening financial systems across Africa to make them more attractive to international investors by providing support to countries to meet global standards and by deepening and driving cross-border banking across the continent.

I have placed a copy of the UK Government’s statement on the Summit in the Library of the House. The statement is also available on gov.uk.