Alicia Kearns MP: written questions 2025
252 published records · newest first.
Written questions
China DailyHouse of Commons CommissionTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26084More
Question: To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will ban the China Daily publication from delivery to the offices of hon. Members.
Answer: China Daily has been delivered to our mail screening centre in bulk, addressed to all Members since 2016. There is an unsubscribing email address that is passed to Members who no longer wish to receive it.The bulk delivery has never been requested by the ...
Answered 28 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: ReorganisationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26083More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, what plans her Department has to consult with the public on proposals for local government re
Answer: For local government reorganisation, it will be essential for councils to work with local partners, stakeholders, and MPs, to develop plans for sustainable unitary structures capable of delivering the high-quality public services that residents need and d...
Answered 28 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordConfucius Institutes: Higher EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 22 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 25751More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 on Confucius Institutes.
Answer: This government is committed to ensuring our world leading universities remain free from foreign interference.Any international arrangements English higher education (HE) providers who are registered with the Office for Students (OfS) make, including Conf...
Answered 6 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordConfucius Institutes: Academic FreedomDepartment for EducationTabled 22 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 25750More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the work of Confucius Institutes on freedom of speech in the higher education sector.
Answer: This government is committed to ensuring our world leading universities remain free from foreign interference.Any international arrangements English higher education (HE) providers who are registered with the Office for Students (OfS) make, including Conf...
Answered 6 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordConfucius Institutes: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 22 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 25749More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has given any funding to Confucius institutes since July 2024.
Answer: The department has not provided any funding to Confucius Institutes under this government.
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordVisas: British National (Overseas)Home OfficeTabled 21 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 25335More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has rejected any applications for UK visas by British National (Overseas) Hong Kong citizens due to confessions given in criminal trials in Hong Kong.
Answer: The Home Office considers all applications for UK visas on their individual merits. Suitability requirements apply to all routes and must be met in addition to validity and eligibility requirements. The Immigration Rules part 9: grounds for refusal (Immig...
Answered 24 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordCommunity Development: Hong KongMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 25334More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what checks her Department undertakes before providing funding to community organisations for Hong Kongers in the UK.
Answer: The Government takes the protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously and my department works closely with the Home Office and the FCDO, as well as other government departments, to ensure that the UK is a safe and welco...
Answered 29 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: ChinaMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 25333More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has allocated funding to organisations controlled by (a) the Hong Kong Trade Office, (b) the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and (c) Confucius In
Answer: Checks are conducted on all organisations that receive money from the Department to be satisfied insofar as is possible with the information available, that the organisation is suitable to receive Government funding.
Answered 24 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordVisas: Hong KongHome OfficeTabled 21 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 25332More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether criminal convictions given to Hong Kongers in Hong Kong courts under the National Security Act can be used to deny UK visas.
Answer: The Home Office considers all applications for UK visas on their individual merits. Suitability requirements apply to all routes and must be met in addition to validity and eligibility requirements. The Immigration Rules part 9: grounds for refusal (Immig...
Answered 24 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordRyan CorneliusForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 21 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 25331More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publicly call for the release of Ryan Cornelius.
Answer: I appreciate and acknowledge the significant distress caused to Mr Cornelius and his family by his continued detention. This Government remains committed to supporting Mr Cornelius' clemency application on compassionate grounds. We will ensure Mr Corneliu...
Answered 27 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordRyan CorneliusForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 21 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 25330More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its 93rd session, 30 March-8 April 2022 : Opinion No. 19/2022 concerning Ryan Cornelius
Answer: The FCDO is not an investigatory body and does not have the specific expertise or the jurisdiction to conduct local investigations into any allegations of human rights violations. However, the FCDO takes the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's opini...
Answered 27 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: MembersMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24944More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department issues guidance to the armed forces on the use of barracks to host MP constituency surgeries for serving personnel.
Answer: Guidance on the use of Ministry of Defence sites to host MP constituency surgeries is set out in Joint Service Publication 850, entitled Infrastructure and Estate Policy, Standards and Guidance.
Answered 23 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordSolar Power: Forced LabourDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 20 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24943More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Solar Stewardship Initiative Traceability Standard on helping to tackle forced labour in solar supply chains.
Answer: The Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI), developed by Solar Energy UK in partnership with Solar Power Europe, works across the global value chain to ensure responsible production and sourcing of materials. Members of the SSI have committed to applying its ...
Answered 23 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordGambling: CompensationDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 20 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24942More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of authorising the Gambling Commission to offer redress for losses following the collapse of a gambling operator.
Answer: The Government strongly sympathises with all customers who are impacted by the collapse of a gambling operator and appreciates the difficulties caused where significant sums of money are lost in such a scenario. However, there is no compensation scheme fo...
Answered 27 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordFire and Rescue Services: Business RatesTreasuryTabled 17 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24697More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting fire services from business rates at the next fiscal event.
Answer: Certain properties are exempt from business rates. Details on exemptions can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief/exempt-properties. Any decisions on future tax policy will be announced by the Chancellor at a fiscal event.
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordRepublika Srpska and Serbia: Politics and GovernmentForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 16 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24486More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government considers joint committees between the legislatures of the Republic of Serbia and Republika Srpska as being compatible with the Dayton Agreement.
Answer: The UK remains committed to the Dayton Peace Agreement. I raised the importance of maintaining peace and stability in BiH on my visit to Serbia with senior government figures this week, alongside the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for the Western Balkans,...
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordT-levels: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 15 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24240More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department plans to provide for T-Level qualifications in each of the next three financial years.
Answer: This government is committed to driving economic growth and supporting opportunity for all. To help achieve these missions, we announced an additional £300 million of funding in the 2025/26 financial year for further education at the Autumn Budget 2024.T ...
Answered 28 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: ConstituenciesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 15 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24239More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposals within the English Devolution White Paper on the (a) borders and (b) status of ceremonial counties.
Answer: The proposals within the English Devolution White Paper will not directly impact the borders or status of ceremonial counties which do not exist for the purposes of local government administration. Where areas develop proposals for local government reorga...
Answered 20 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: ReorganisationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 14 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24126More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2025 to Question 22092 on Local Government: Reform, whether local council mergers will be required under the English Devolution White Paper.
Answer: On 16 December, I wrote to all councils in two-tier areas and to neighbouring small unitaries alongside the English Devolution White Paper, to set out our plans. I intend to formally invite unitary proposals in January 2025 from all these councils and I w...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordOffences against ChildrenHome OfficeTabled 14 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23881More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department will publish the ethnicity data on grooming gangs collected by the police.
Answer: I refer the Rt Hon Member to the Home Secretary's statement made on 16 January 2025, in which she announced the appointment of Baroness Louise Casey to lead a rapid three-month audit into these issues. The audit will examine all the currently available da...
Answered 17 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordOffences against ChildrenHome OfficeTabled 14 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23880More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21677 on Offences Against Children, whether her Department plans to reform the collection of data on grooming gangs.
Answer: I refer the Rt Hon Member to the Home Secretary's statement made on 16 January 2025, in which she announced the appointment of Baroness Louise Casey to lead a rapid three-month audit into these issues. The audit will examine all the currently available da...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordPolice: Workplace PensionsHome OfficeTabled 14 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23879More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether all immediate choice officer pensions will be remedied by 1 April 2025.
Answer: While the Home Office has responsibility for overarching policy and legislative changes to the police pension regulations, the police pension scheme is locally administered by individual police forces.It is for each Chief Constable, in their role as schem...
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordOffences against Children: Prisoners' ReleaseMinistry of JusticeTabled 14 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23878More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any offenders who were convicted of child sexual abuse have been released early from prison since 5 July 2024.
Answer: Sex offences were automatically excluded from both the End of Custody Supervised Licence Scheme which ceased on 9 September 2024 and from the current SDS40 scheme.
Answered 17 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Experiments: PrimatesHome OfficeTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23465More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent neglect of monkeys used for medical research.
Answer: The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides protections for animals in the UK used in scientific procedures. All establishments licensed to breed or supply animals, or to carry out regulated procedures on animals, in Great Britain under A...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordMuslim BrotherhoodHome OfficeTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23464More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department considers the Muslim Brotherhood and its international offshoots to be extremist entities.
Answer: The Government does not routinely comment on individual groups or cases and Home Office officials continually seek to build and refresh their knowledge of the threat from extremism, as the landscape is constantly evolving. This includes disrupting the act...
Answered 16 Jan 2025
Original Parliament record
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