Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on family reunion pathways for separated displaced Ukrainian families of (a) closure of the Ukraine Family Scheme and (b) changes in sponsor eligibility criteria on the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship scheme.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK’s Ukraine schemes are not family reunification pathways. The schemes are designed to provide temporary sanctuary in the UK for Ukrainian’s fleeing the war.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open for new applications from those wishing to come to the UK. Ukrainian nationals who would have qualified under the Ukraine Family Scheme will still be able to apply under Homes for Ukraine. Family members wishing to join a relative who is already in the UK may make an application to the Homes for Ukraine scheme provided they have a sponsor who meets the eligibility requirements for sponsorship. Ukrainians may also apply through standard visa or family routes, if they are eligible.
From early 2025, the new Ukraine Permission Extension scheme is due to open to those who fled Ukraine because of Russia’s invasion and were granted a Ukraine scheme visa as well as those granted Leave Outside the Rules for the same reason.
We keep all of our Ukraine schemes under consistent review in line with developments in the ongoing war.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Table 2.4 of the UK strategic export controls annual report 2022, published on 19 July 2023, HC1681, for what reasons the number of (a) Standard Individual Export Licences and (b) Standard Individual Trade Control Licences revoked under Criterion 1 increased in 2022.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the Government expanded the scope and scale of its sanctions measures against Russia. This resulted in an increase in export licences needing to be revoked because they were not consistent with new sanctions. Consequently, these licences were revoked under Criterion 1.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what checks her Department carries out on oil imported from foreign (a) refineries and (b) states to ensure that it is not from Russia.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The import, acquisition, supply and delivery of Russian oil and oil products into the UK has been banned since 5 December 2022 and His Majesty’s Government continues to support the sanctions on the Russian regime following their invasion of Ukraine.
All importers of oil and oil products into the UK must provide proof of origin to enforcement authorities to demonstrate that goods are not of Russian origin.
The Department collects data on Country of origin as well as Country of last despatch to ensure oil from Russia is not being diverted through other countries.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing further funding for Researchers at Risk Fellowships to be made available to Palestinian researchers.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The current Researchers at Risk Fellowship Programme aims to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exposed Ukraine-based researchers and their dependents to direct threats. My Department is keeping the programme, which is delivered by the British Academy, under close review.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the war in Ukraine on the (a) supply and (b) price of (i) animal feed and (ii) fertiliser.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
i. The UK has a highly resilient food and animal feed supply chain which has coped well in responding to challenges in the past few years.
Cereals and oilseeds make up a significant proportion of animal feed, most of which are internationally traded commodities. Subsequently, their supply chains are dynamic and responsive to global market developments in price and availability. These developments may be influenced by the war in Ukraine or additional factors unrelated to the conflict, such as weather conditions and currency fluctuations.Our high degree of food security is built on strong domestic production and imports from diverse sources. We recognise the essential role that domestic production plays in providing food security and resilience, which is why the government is committed to broadly maintaining the current level of food we produce domestically.
We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments.
ii. In 2022, nitrogen fertiliser prices increased to two to three times their recent nominal historic levels (imported ammonium nitrate prices were £870/t), due to increased global gas prices and conflicts around the world (including but not limited to the conflict in the Ukraine) as well as strong demand driven by high crop prices.
The AHDB publishes a GB fertiliser price time-series for the most commonly used fertiliser products to increase transparency of market prices and show trends to growers. This shows a plateauing of fertiliser prices in GB from June 2023 until now. While this is a GB price series the same situation applies to the UK as a whole. This plateau in prices is partly due to global price factors, but also regional demand has been affected by poor weather and shifts in crop choices by farmers.
Defra is continuing to monitor fertiliser prices and supply chains through regular engagement with key manufacturers and wider stakeholders. We are also working with other government departments to coordinate intelligence, and understand supply and pricing issues.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
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 is taking to help ensure an adequate supply of (a) animal feed, (b) fertiliser and (c) CO2.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
a) Animal feed: The UK has a highly resilient food and animal feed supply chain which has coped well in responding to challenges in the past few years. Cereals and oilseeds make up a significant proportion of animal feed, most of which are internationally traded commodities. Subsequently, their supply chains are dynamic and responsive to global market developments in price and availability. These developments may be influenced by the war in Ukraine or additional factors unrelated to the conflict, such as weather conditions and currency fluctuations. Our high degree of food security is built on strong domestic production and imports from diverse sources. We recognise the essential role that domestic production plays in providing food security and resilience, which is why the government is committed to broadly maintaining the current level of food we produce domestically.
We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments.
b) Fertiliser: In 2022, nitrogen fertiliser prices increased to two to three times their recent nominal historic levels (imported ammonium nitrate prices were £870/t), due to increased global gas prices and conflicts around the world (including but not limited to the conflict in the Ukraine) as well as strong demand driven by high crop prices.
Defra is continuing to monitor fertiliser prices and supply chains through regular engagement with key manufacturers and wider stakeholders. We are also working with other government departments to coordinate intelligence and understand supply and pricing issues.
CO2: Defra works closely with stakeholders across the food industry, to encourage CO2 contingency planning and resilience. The tightness in supply of CO2 has eased and shown more stability recently and the industry has taken steps to make efficiencies and use alternative CO2 sources where possible. The stable supply of CO2 is vital to several CNI sectors including food and water. We recognise the importance of CO2 supply for our key sectors.
Over the past few years we have completed extensive work to build resilience into the sector including: monitoring and encouraging further diversification of production and supply in the UK; providing clarity on various regulatory questions, including through the Environment Agency’s publication of a Regulatory Position Statement on the capture, treatment, storage and use of carbon dioxide (CO2) from anaerobic digestion (AD) of waste; and working with industry on this supply chain through various forums. The diversification of this supply chain is being demonstrated through a series of recent industry announcements, such as British Sugar’s recent reopening of the CO2 capture plant at their Wissington site.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of including titanium on the list of metals that are sanctioned when originating from Russia.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Metals are Russia’s biggest export after oil and gas. The UK Government is leading on efforts to restrict imports to the UK of Russian metals, delivering on G7 commitments.
In December last year, we introduced further restrictions on several base metals, including copper, aluminium, and nickel. These added to existing sanctions on products including iron and steel.
The UK Government does not comment on future sanctions policy as to do so could reduce its impact. We will continue to apply pressure against Putin and his regime, until Ukraine prevails or Putin ends his war of choice.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the release of data showing that the number of children living in absolute poverty has risen by the highest rate in 30 years, what steps they are taking to address the increase in child poverty rates.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
These statistics cover 2022/23, a year when war in Ukraine and global supply chain challenges led to unexpected and high rates on inflation, averaging 10% over the year. These factors are reflected in the statistics. In response to these pressures, the Government provided an unprecedented cost of living support package which helped to shield households from the impact of inflation. Analysis shows that the Government’s cost of living support prevented 1.3 million people from falling into absolute poverty after housing costs in 2022/23. That includes 300,000 children, 600,000 working-age adults and 400,000 pensioners.
Since the period covered by these statistics, the Government has taken firm action to support families on the lowest incomes. The Government has spent around £276bn through the welfare system in 2023/24, including around £125bn on people of working age and children. We took action to support those on the lowest incomes by uprating benefits and State Pensions by 10.1% from April 2023. We are continuing to support people in 2024/25 by uprating working age benefits by 6.7% and raising the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households.
With over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risk of child poverty. The latest statistics show that in 2022/23, children living in workless households were over 6 times more likely to be in absolute poverty (after housing costs) than those where all adults work.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Secretary of State for Defence or the Minister for Armed Forces attended the meeting between the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Micheál Martin, the Republic of Ireland’s Minister for Defence, in London on 13 December 2023; and what defence-related matters were discussed.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Neither the Secretary of State for Defence nor the Minister for Armed Forces attended the meeting in question. The Foreign Secretary and the Tánaiste discussed a wide range of foreign policy, defence and security matters, including international development, peacekeeping, the Israel-Gaza conflict, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the shared threat we face from malign state actors.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to impose sanctions on (a) officials and (b) entities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for supplying weapons to Russia.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly condemns the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) export and Russia's procurement of DPRK ballistic missiles and Russia's decision to use DPRK-supplied missiles in recent attacks against Ukraine, as fifty Foreign Ministers made clear in their 9 January joint statement. The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia's war of aggression, and undermines the global non-proliferation regime. It also violates multiple UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) - which Russia itself voted for. On 22 February the UK designated a number of targets including Azia Shipping Company and Ibex Shipping INC, involved in the transfer of weapons from the DPRK to Russia. The UK will continue to work with our partners to hold the DPRK to account for supporting Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. We keep all evidence and potential designations under close review. It would not be appropriate to speculate about future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact.