Every parliamentary written question tabled by Carla Lockhart this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 341–360 of 366 · this parliament
Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department has provided to help tackle bovine TB outbreaks in areas of high incidence in each of the last five years.
Policy on bovine TB is devolved to governments in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In England, in the last five years, my department has spent approximately £100 million per year on disease control measures tackling bovine TB. It is not possible to break down the amount spent, by individual TB risk area.
Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department is providing to (a) poultry farmers and (b) wildlife conservation groups to help contain the spread of avian influenza.
Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency have stood up their well-established outbreak structures to control and eradicate highly pathogenic avian influenza, restore normal trade, and assist local communities’ recovery as set out in the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain and the Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales. All registered bird keepers receive regular updates and guidance to help protect their birds from avian influenza. Biosecurity guidance and self-assessment checklists are available on each of the UK administration’s websites to assist bird keepers in maintaining good biosecurity and complying with the requirements of disease control and preventions zones. The Mitigation Strategy provides guidance to wildlife trusts, conservation charities and other organisations on how to respond to findings of avian influenza in wild birds. It sets out how these groups, together with the government and its delivery partners, can mitigate the impact of avian influenza on wild bird populations whilst protecting public health, the wider environment and the rural economy. Whilst disease control is a devolved matter, Defra and the Devolved Governments work closely together with the aim of providing, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response to disease threats.
What discussions she has had with her counterpart in Northern Ireland on ensuring that businesses in Northern Ireland that pay into the Apprenticeship Levy receive direct funding from the levy.
HMT ministers engage regularly with the Northern Ireland Finance Minister through the Finance Inter-Ministerial Committee. While the Apprenticeship Levy is UK wide, apprenticeship policy and spending is devolved. This means that the devolved governments r...
If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Fireworks Regulations 2004 in protecting (a) people and (b) animals from negative impacts of fireworks.
The current regulatory framework is designed to support people to enjoy fireworks whilst lowering the risk of dangers and disruption to people, pets, and property. The Government recently launched an awareness campaign on the Gov.uk website to provide gui...
Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) resources and (b) training his Department provides to the Animal and Plant Health Agency to assist in the detection of puppies being smuggled through UK ports.
The Government takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals. We work closely with UK enforcement bodies including the Animal and Plant Health Agency to develop guidance and ensure they have th...
Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a right of tenants in social housing to keep a pet.
Many social landlords set out their pet policies in their tenancy agreements and will allow tenants to keep pets where it is appropriate to do so. Consideration is given to whether the pets can be well looked after and any adverse effects on the lives of ...
What steps he is taking to ensure that Northern Ireland is integrated into the national defence strategy for (a) cyber defence and (b) hybrid threats.
Cyber defence and hybrid threats are crucial considerations as part of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which will establish the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-fir...
What steps he is taking to ensure that former Armed Forces personnel based in Northern Ireland are adequately supported through veterans' services.
The Government is committed to ensuring that veterans are able to access the appropriate support they require wherever they live in the UK and will be seeking to more effectively coordinate and cohere the support that is available. Specialist statutory su...
What the total cost to the public purse was of cancer care in each of the last five years.
The information is not available in the requested format for cancer care in England. The Department allocated £14 billion to NHS England from 2022/23 to 2024/25 specifically for the National Health Service in England to recover elective and cancer care. T...
What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on steps to improve Northern Ireland’s transport connectivity with the rest of the UK.
The Government is committed to ensuring greater connectivity and economic integration between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The Secretary of State for Transport has already met with John O’Dowd MLA, Minister for Infrastructure, to d...
What the cost to the public purse was of NHS spending on cancer (a) research and (b) treatment in each of the last five years.
The information is not available in the requested format for cancer care in England. The Department allocated £14 billion to NHS England from 2022/23 to 2024/25 specifically for the National Health Service in England to recover elective and cancer care. T...
What assessment she has made of the long-term sustainability of the financial settlement provided to Northern Ireland under the Barnett formula.
The independent Northern Ireland Fiscal Council calculated that the relative need in Northern Ireland is 24% more per head than the rest of the UK for equivalent spending. As part of the 2024 restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) the UK Gove...
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Chinese government on the treatment of Uighur peoples in Xinjiang.
This Government stands firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. These concerns were raised directly by the Foreign Secretary on his recent vis...
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the treatment of Uighur peoples in Xinjiang, China.
This Government stands firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. These concerns were raised directly by the Foreign Secretary on his recent vis...
Innovation and Technology, what steps the Government is taking to increase the resilience of telecommunications infrastructure in Northern Ireland, in the context of recent ransomware attacks in the last 12 month
The Government is committed to ensuring the security and resilience of the UK's telecommunications infrastructure. The Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 introduced a robust security framework throughout the United Kingdom and requires public telecoms...
What guidance she has issued to police forces on ensuring that their methods of assessing silent prayer respect individuals' rights to freedom of (a) thought, (b) conscience and (c) religion.
The Home Office has not issued any guidance to police forces on the topic of silent prayer.The College of Policing have primary responsibility for publishing police guidance and are operationally independent from Government.
What guidance her Department has issued to police forces on assessing whether silent prayer is taking place during public protests or gatherings whereby that action may constitute a breach of the law.
The Home Office has not issued any guidance to police forces on the topic of silent prayer.The College of Policing have primary responsibility for publishing police guidance and are operationally independent from Government.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) scale and (b) nature of the persecution and murder of Christians in Nigeria.
Terrorist groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa have sought to undermine the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) by attacking those who do not subscribe to their extremist views, including both Christians and Muslims. These incide...
What assessment his Department has made of the impact of the change to the Winter Fuel Allowance entitlement on terminally ill patients.
Pensioners with a terminal illness who meet the Winter Fuel Payment eligibility criteria will receive a payment in winter 2024/25. Winter Fuel Payments are payable to pensioner households entitled to Pension Credit, or the other qualifying benefits: Unive...
What discussions he has had with the PSNI on the Provisional IRA Army Council.
The PSNI and UK security agencies continually assess the threat, risk and harm posed by paramilitary, terrorist and organised crime groups to inform the most appropriate operational response.Although it is acknowledged that some individuals engaged in ser...