Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Mayor of London concerning the location of the memorial for victims of the transatlantic slave trade.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government has had no discussions with the Mayor of London concerning this matter. At the recent Budget, HM Government provided £10 million to National Museums Liverpool, to help in part with its planned expansion of the International Slavery Museum.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of the United States about the promises of investment made by the US President in his 12 April 2023 address at Ulster University.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Government and Invest Northern Ireland hosted the NI Investment Summit in September, which was a great success in showcasing Northern Ireland’s innovation and technological strengths to around 200 global investors. A US trade delegation visited Norther Ireland in October, during which the New York State Common Retirement Fund announced a new $50m investment into companies based in Northern Ireland
Our network in the US continues to promote Northern Ireland as a prime investment destination. UK Government ministers are participating in a series of engagements around St Patrick's Day to strengthen the vital transatlantic partnership between the US and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that black history is taught in schools and becomes part of the broader curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of a broad and balanced curriculum, pupils should be taught about different societies, and how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain, and this can include the voices and experience of black people. The flexibility in the history curriculum means that teachers can include black history as a natural part of the themes and eras in the curriculum both in terms of British and world history, and their interconnection. For example, at key stage 1, schools can teach about the lives of key black historical figures, and at key stage 2, schools can embed teaching about black history appropriately when teaching these historical periods. Additionally there is a requirement to teach a study of a non-European society. The example provided by the department is Benin, West Africa, c. AD 900-1300. At key stage 3, schools can cover the development and end of the British Empire and Britain’s transatlantic slave trade, its effects and eventual abolition.
We are also developing a Model History Curriculum to support teaching a knowledge-rich, well-sequenced history curriculum which reflects diversity in history.
The teaching of black history need not be limited to these examples. There is scope to include black history and experience in other national curriculum subjects such as English and citizenship, and in the non-statutory subject personal, social, health and economics (PSHE) education.
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, whether she has had discussions with her Jamaican counterpart on the open letter put together by a coalition of Jamaican politicians, business leaders, doctors and musicians on colonialism and the payment of slavery reparations.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Slavery was and still is abhorrent. The British Government renews its expressions of deep sorrow that the transatlantic slave trade could ever have happened, and recognises the deep sense of injustice felt in Jamaica and the other most affected parts of the world.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent progress her Department has made on securing a free trade agreement with the United States.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
We have had five productive rounds of negotiations to date and agreed a significant proportion of legal text across multiple chapters.
In September 2021, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the President of the United State agreed to continue working towards a future Free Trade Agreement.
In December 2021, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade travelled to the US to bolster UK-US trade ties, support increased transatlantic trade and investment, and build on our shared interests and priorities with the US.
During my visit in December, I held productive meetings with Governors, Mayors, Commissioners, and business leaders. These stakeholders had great interest in doing more trade with the UK, including Memoranda of Understanding agreement, which we are following up.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps her Department have taken to secure a free trade agreement with the United States.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
We have had five productive rounds of negotiations to date and agreed a significant proportion of legal text across multiple chapters.
In September 2021, my Rt.Hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the President of the United States agreed to continue working towards a future Free Trade Agreement.
In December 2021, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade travelled to the US to bolster UK-US trade ties, support increased transatlantic trade and investment, and build on our shared interests and priorities with the US.
During my visit in December, I held productive meetings with Governors, Mayors, Commissioners, and business leaders. These stakeholders had great interest in doing more trade with the UK, including Memoranda of Understanding agreement, which we are following up.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Black history is a mandatory part of the curriculum in all schools, including those which are not required to teach the National Curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to an inclusive education system which recognises and embraces diversity. We support all pupils and students in tackling racism and to have the knowledge and tools to do so.
The government believes that all children and young people should acquire a firm grasp of history, including how different events and periods relate to each other. That is why it is compulsory for maintained schools from key stages 1 to 3, and why academies are expected to teach a curriculum which is as broad and ambitious as the national curriculum. This expectation is set out in the Ofsted school inspection handbook, as part of their education inspection framework introduced in September 2019.
The national curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the department expects schools to cover in each subject. The curriculum does not set out how curriculum subjects, or topics within the subjects, should be taught. The department believes teachers should be able to use their own knowledge and expertise to determine how they teach their pupils, and to make choices about what they teach.
As part of a broad and balanced curriculum, pupils should be taught about different societies, and how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain, and this can include the voices and experience of Black people. The flexibility within the history curriculum means that there is the opportunity for teachers to teach about Black history across the spectrum of themes and eras set out in the curriculum. For example, at key stage 1, schools can teach about the lives of key Black historical figures such as Mary Seacole, Rosa Parks, or others. At key stage 3, schools can cover the development and end of the British Empire and Britain’s transatlantic slave trade, its effects and eventual abolition. The teaching of Black history need not be limited to these examples. There is scope to include Black history and experience in other national curriculum subjects such as English and citizenship, and in the non-statutory subject personal, social, health and economics (PSHE) education.
It is positive that teachers and schools are responding directly to the renewed attention on history teaching to ensure knowledge-based subject teaching. More history teachers reflected commitments in the most recent survey of history teachers by the Historical Association to develop more content in their teaching on Black and diverse histories. This change will provide pupils with more breadth and depth in their understanding of history.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made towards a free trade agreement with the US.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has had five rounds of negotiations so far. Almost all chapter areas are now in the advanced stages of talks, and a significant proportion of legal text has been agreed across multiple chapters.
The US is currently reviewing the progress made in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), so far, following the appointment of the United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai. The Government has been engaging constructively on the way the FTA can align with both countries’ commitments to Building Back Better.
An ambitious UK-US FTA can support transatlantic collaboration rebuilding from Covid-19, promoting sustainable and clean growth and women’s economic empowerment, while setting global standards in digital trade and protecting intellectual property.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to support the erection of a memorial to remember the victims of the Transatlantic slave trade and slavery.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is not normal practice for central Government to fund new memorials and it has no current plans to establish a national memorial to the victims of the slave trade. Many organisations – public and private – are rightly able (subject to the relevant permissions) to freely propose, fund and deliver memorials marking a variety of incidents and historical moments in a way that they are best-placed to deem appropriate and sensitive.
Many successful memorials are created by a wide-range of authorities and organisations, allowing each one to respond sensitively to the particular circumstances that it seeks to commemorate.
Given the wide range of people and organisations interested in establishing memorials, it is as a general rule, for them to work with the relevant local planning authority to identify a suitable site and obtain the necessary planning permissions
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the erection of a memorial to the victims of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
May I apologise for the delay in answering this question. The UK deplores the human suffering caused by slavery and the slave trade. They are among the most dishonourable and abhorrent chapters in the history of humanity.
Public and private organisations are able to propose, fund, develop and deliver memorials marking incidents and historical moments.