Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will take diplomatic steps to help secure the release of Cardinal Joseph Zen from prison in Hong Kong.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Hong Kong authorities' decision to target leading pro-democracy figures including Cardinal Zen, Margaret Ng, Hui-Po-Keung and Denise Ho under the National Security Law is unacceptable. All four have since been released on police bail; we continue to follow their cases closely.
Freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest, which are protected in both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, are fundamental to Hong Kong's way of life.
We continue to make clear to mainland Chinese and Hong Kong authorities our strong opposition to the National Security Law, which is being used to curtail freedoms, punish dissent and shrink the space for opposition, free press and civil society.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the arrest by Hong Kong’s national security police of Margaret Ng and Cardinal Joseph Zen, along with three other trustees of the Hong Kong Humanitarian Relief Fund.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Hong Kong authorities' decision to target leading pro-democracy figures including Cardinal Zen, Margaret Ng, Hui-Po-Keung and Denise Ho under the National Security Law is unacceptable.
The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a legally binding treaty between the UK and China, and under this China committed to uphold Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and protect the rights and freedoms of its people. This explicitly includes freedom of expression, which is fundamental to Hong Kong's way of life.
We continue to make clear to mainland Chinese and Hong Kong authorities our strong opposition to the National Security Law, which is being used to curtail freedoms, punish dissent and shrink the space for opposition, free press and civil society.
Asked by: Edward Leigh (Conservative - Gainsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists takes wide-ranging evidence in open session as part of its upcoming review of its fetal pain guidelines, as recommended by the All Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group’s inquiry into fetal pain, published in 2020.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department does not set clinical practice. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists considered the issue of fetal pain and awareness in its guidelines ‘The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion’ and ‘Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice’, which are available at the following links:
https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/abortion-guideline_web_1.pdf
https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/rcogfetalawarenesswpr0610.pdf
The Royal College is currently reviewing ‘Fetal Awareness: Review and Recommendations for Practice’, independently of Government. The Department has brought Dr Stuart Derbyshire’s research to the attention of the College, which established a review group to consider the latest evidence on fetal pain and fetal awareness. The gathering of evidence for the review is a matter for this group.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish a response to Early Day Motion 36 on arrests in Hong Kong.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As Minister Cleverly set out in this House on 12 May, the Hong Kong authorities' decision to target leading pro-democracy figures including Cardinal Zen, Margaret Ng, Hui-Po-Keung and Denise Ho under the National Security Law is unacceptable.
Freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest, which are protected in both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, are fundamental to Hong Kong's way of life.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, in the context of the conviction of Hang-tung Chow in Hong Kong and with reference to the Six-monthly report on Hong Kong 1 January to 30 June 2021, published on 14 December 2021, if she will revise her assessment that British judges can continue to play a positive role in supporting this judicial independence.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Hong Kong authorities' decision to target leading pro-democracy figures for prosecution is unacceptable. Freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest, which are protected in both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, are fundamental to Hong Kong's way of life.
The National Security Law poses real questions for the rule of law in Hong Kong and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms promised by China in the Joint Declaration. Our assessment of Hong Kong's judicial independence is increasingly finely balanced. We will continue to follow developments in this area closely.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the convictions in Hong Kong of attendees of Tiananmen Square vigils.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to Hong Kong's way of life - protected in both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law - and it should be upheld. The Hong Kong authorities' decision to target leading pro-democracy figures for prosecution is unacceptable. As set out in the latest Six-Monthly Report published on the 14 December, the UK will continue to work with international partners to hold China to its legally binding obligations on Hong Kong. Upholding the promises it entered into freely is in the best interests of Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Life Sciences Sector Deal 2, what recent progress the Government has made on strengthening the UK environment for clinical trials.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have established five national Patient Recruitment Centres dedicated to the delivery of late-phase commercial research and launched the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway to support all stages of trial design development and approval, enhanced capability to deliver innovative trials and improved approvals and set-up times for studies.
In March 2021, the Government published ‘The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery’, setting out a vision to build a patient-centred, pro-innovation and digitally-enabled clinical research environment. This was followed by an implementation plan for 2021/2022.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has of the comparative effectiveness of volunteering opportunities organised through (a) local and (b) national schemes.
Answered by Matt Warman
Volunteering opportunities organised both nationally and locally have been an integral part of the community response to COVID-19.
Out of the various ways that people stepped up to respond to the pandemic, the Talk Together report Our Chance to Reconnect (March 2020) estimates that 12.4 million people across the UK volunteered to support their communities (Talk/Together: Our Chance to Reconnect, February 2021), with up to 4.6 million volunteering for the first time. Of these first time volunteers, 75% say they wish to continue volunteering. With reference to volunteering opportunities organised nationally, it is worth noting that NHS Volunteer Responders have now completed more than 1.9 million tasks to support over 171,000 people at risk from Covid-19. (NHS Volunteer Responder Success Measures (12 June 2020 - 16 May 2021)
In addition to volunteer responses organised through formal channels locally and nationally, the pandemic saw huge growth in informal volunteering. The DCMS Community Life Recontact Survey (December 2020) found that the proportion of the population offering informal help on a regular basis (at least once a month) increased from 28% to 47% (DCMS, Community Life COVID-19 Recontact Survey, December 2020). We saw communities rapidly mobilising to help local people, who were particularly at risk or hardest hit by the effects of isolation. Pro Bono Economics’ Civil Action report (December 2020) estimated that over 2.5 million people volunteered with over 4,000 mutual aid groups (Pro Bono Economics, ‘Civil Action: Exploring Civil Societies Potential in the 2020s’, December 2020), a unique grassroots movement which has seen communities demonstrate their strength, resourcefulness and adaptability.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to disincentivise the production, sale and use of single-use plastics; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is illegal under retained EU law to export UK waste for disposal to countries outside the European Union and the European Free Trade Area. Individuals and businesses found to be exporting waste in contravention of the requirements of the UK legislation can face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine. In addition, the export of UK waste for disposal to EU/ EFTA countries is generally prohibited, save for the strictly limited exceptions which are laid out in the UK Plan for Shipments of Waste. Proposed updates to the Plan were consulted upon earlier this year and the revised UK Plan will be published next month. The UK Government is committed to banning the export of plastic waste for recycling to countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Government will consult on this measure and work is underway to make this happen.
The UK environmental regulators take a pro-active, intelligence led approach to checking compliance with the legislation on waste shipments, targeting exports which pose a high risk and intervening to stop illegal exports taking place. In 2019-20 the Environment Agency (EA) stopped 1,889 containers at ports and intervened at waste loading sites, preventing the illegal export of 463 containers comprising 22,688 tonnes of waste.
In addition, the regulators undertake rigorous checks to ensure businesses accredited as exporters of packaging waste under the Packaging Waste Regulations comply with their conditions of accreditation, this includes verifying evidence that exported waste is recycled. Conditions of accreditation have been tightened to require an exporter to provide the EA with full details of the final overseas reprocessing sites receiving packaging waste it exports and to provide access to export documentation to prove that the material reached or was accepted by these overseas reprocessing sites. In 2020 the EA cancelled the accreditation of 4 exporters and suspended 7 accreditations Government is consulting currently on reforms to the packaging producer responsibility system which includes proposals for new requirements on those exporting packaging waste for recycling.
We are also taking action to reduce the volume of waste generated in the first place. The Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS) for England, published in December 2018, sets out the Government’s plans to reduce, reuse, and recycle more plastic than we do now. Our target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the life of the 25 Year Environment Plan, but for the most problematic plastics we are going faster - which is why we have committed to work towards all plastic packaging placed on the market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. We also committed to introducing electronic waste tracking to help us understand where waste is within the system. That will help to tackle illegal movements and misdescription of waste.
We have made significant progress, by introducing one of the world’s toughest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products and have significantly reduced the use of single-use carrier bags by the main supermarket retailers by 95% with our 5p charge. The charge increased to 10p and was extended to all businesses on 21 May 2021. In October 2020, we introduced measures to restrict the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. We will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/ or materials to take a systematic approach to reducing the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products, including problematic packaging materials. Furthermore, from April 2022, plastic packaging that does not contain at least 30% recycled content will be subject to a tax of £200/tonne. Further details on the development of this tax can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-plastic-packaging-tax/plastic-packaging-tax#detailed-proposal.
Our Environment Bill will enable us to significantly change the way that we manage our waste and implement proposals from the Resources and Waste Strategy. The Bill includes powers to create extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes; introduce deposit return schemes (DRS); establish greater consistency in the recycling system; better control the export of plastic waste; and to set new charges for other single-use plastic items. Our approach is focused on encouraging greater uptake of reusable alternatives and increasing supply and demand for secondary materials to be recycled in the UK. We have set new targets for plastic packaging to be recycled (to 2023) and we are currently consulting on a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, an Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for packaging, and our proposals for greater consistency in household and business recycling.
Statistics on Plastic Packaging Data (tonnes)
| Total placed on the market (PoM) | Total recycling | UK recycling | Export | % Exported |
2019 | 2,472,317 | 1,141,316 | 447,078 | 690,631 | 61% |
2018 | 2,361,000 | 1,034,410 | 384,848 | 649,562 | 63% |
2017 | 2,260,000 | 1,044,363 | 358,467 | 685,896 | 66% |
2016 | 2,260,000 | 1,015,226 | 330,731 | 684,495 | 67% |
2015 | 2,260,000 | 891,141 | 327,591 | 563,550 | 63% |
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the amount of UK plastic waste that is exported for disposal; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is illegal under retained EU law to export UK waste for disposal to countries outside the European Union and the European Free Trade Area. Individuals and businesses found to be exporting waste in contravention of the requirements of the UK legislation can face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine. In addition, the export of UK waste for disposal to EU/ EFTA countries is generally prohibited, save for the strictly limited exceptions which are laid out in the UK Plan for Shipments of Waste. Proposed updates to the Plan were consulted upon earlier this year and the revised UK Plan will be published next month. The UK Government is committed to banning the export of plastic waste for recycling to countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Government will consult on this measure and work is underway to make this happen.
The UK environmental regulators take a pro-active, intelligence led approach to checking compliance with the legislation on waste shipments, targeting exports which pose a high risk and intervening to stop illegal exports taking place. In 2019-20 the Environment Agency (EA) stopped 1,889 containers at ports and intervened at waste loading sites, preventing the illegal export of 463 containers comprising 22,688 tonnes of waste.
In addition, the regulators undertake rigorous checks to ensure businesses accredited as exporters of packaging waste under the Packaging Waste Regulations comply with their conditions of accreditation, this includes verifying evidence that exported waste is recycled. Conditions of accreditation have been tightened to require an exporter to provide the EA with full details of the final overseas reprocessing sites receiving packaging waste it exports and to provide access to export documentation to prove that the material reached or was accepted by these overseas reprocessing sites. In 2020 the EA cancelled the accreditation of 4 exporters and suspended 7 accreditations Government is consulting currently on reforms to the packaging producer responsibility system which includes proposals for new requirements on those exporting packaging waste for recycling.
We are also taking action to reduce the volume of waste generated in the first place. The Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS) for England, published in December 2018, sets out the Government’s plans to reduce, reuse, and recycle more plastic than we do now. Our target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the life of the 25 Year Environment Plan, but for the most problematic plastics we are going faster - which is why we have committed to work towards all plastic packaging placed on the market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. We also committed to introducing electronic waste tracking to help us understand where waste is within the system. That will help to tackle illegal movements and misdescription of waste.
We have made significant progress, by introducing one of the world’s toughest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products and have significantly reduced the use of single-use carrier bags by the main supermarket retailers by 95% with our 5p charge. The charge increased to 10p and was extended to all businesses on 21 May 2021. In October 2020, we introduced measures to restrict the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. We will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/ or materials to take a systematic approach to reducing the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products, including problematic packaging materials. Furthermore, from April 2022, plastic packaging that does not contain at least 30% recycled content will be subject to a tax of £200/tonne. Further details on the development of this tax can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-plastic-packaging-tax/plastic-packaging-tax#detailed-proposal.
Our Environment Bill will enable us to significantly change the way that we manage our waste and implement proposals from the Resources and Waste Strategy. The Bill includes powers to create extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes; introduce deposit return schemes (DRS); establish greater consistency in the recycling system; better control the export of plastic waste; and to set new charges for other single-use plastic items. Our approach is focused on encouraging greater uptake of reusable alternatives and increasing supply and demand for secondary materials to be recycled in the UK. We have set new targets for plastic packaging to be recycled (to 2023) and we are currently consulting on a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, an Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for packaging, and our proposals for greater consistency in household and business recycling.
Statistics on Plastic Packaging Data (tonnes)
| Total placed on the market (PoM) | Total recycling | UK recycling | Export | % Exported |
2019 | 2,472,317 | 1,141,316 | 447,078 | 690,631 | 61% |
2018 | 2,361,000 | 1,034,410 | 384,848 | 649,562 | 63% |
2017 | 2,260,000 | 1,044,363 | 358,467 | 685,896 | 66% |
2016 | 2,260,000 | 1,015,226 | 330,731 | 684,495 | 67% |
2015 | 2,260,000 | 891,141 | 327,591 | 563,550 | 63% |