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1126560

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Department for International Development: Sick Leave
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254069
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>106 DFID employees were absent due to stress, anxiety and/or depression during the period 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019. This represented 3.6% of DFID’s workforce and 21% of the overall sickness absence for the department during this period. The estimated cost to DFID due to sickness absence during the period 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019 was £217,350.</p><p> </p><p>DFID is committed to the health and wellbeing of all our staff, including helping them to manage stress in the workplace. DFID offers a range of guidance and services in place to support staff, including our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which offers telephone and face to face counselling for all staff. This service also provides a wide range of online information and advice on work/life issues. DFID’s HR teams and Occupational Health Services provide support and advice for staff and managers to ensure a successful return to work after a period of mental ill health. DFID also has a Listening Network, an informal peer staff network, to complement the help already available.</p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 21/05/2019 14:55:41 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Dame Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126883

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Dogs: Imports
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were imported (a) in total and (b) from each country of origin via the Pet Travel Scheme in 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham North
	tabling member printed	Alex Norris
	uin	254873
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">194,712</del> <ins class="ministerial">307,357 </ins>dogs were imported in total via the Pet Travel Scheme in 2018.</p><p> </p><p>The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is unable to provide a breakdown of the number of dogs travelling under the scheme by country as it does not hold that information.</p><p> </p><p>The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme is taken from APHA’s system for recording pets’ throughput based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals.</p><p> </p><p>The information that APHA has provided is a true reflection of the information that is held. APHA cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as it can only rely on the information that has been entered into the pets’ returns by a third party.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 21/05/2019 14:34:26 question first ministerially corrected 04/06/2019 10:12:59 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley previous answer version 119296 answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	4641 label Biography information for Alex Norris

1126275

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Radiation Exposure
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the EU Directive 96/29/Euratom on safety standards relating to ionizing radiation, whether all persons potentially exposed to ionizing radiation are receiving independent examination for genetic damage as defined by the number of aberrant cells shown by translocation within chromosomes.
	tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
	tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
	uin	253502
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>A classified radiation worker is a person who works with ionising radiation and who could be exposed to higher levels of ionising radiation during normal work and also under certain accident conditions. Before a person can be designated as a classified radiation worker they must be certified as fit to work with ionising radiation by an independent Appointed Doctor. The classified person must then undergo an annual medical review. Neither the pre-classification medical examination nor the annual medical review includes specific checks for genetic damage.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 21/05/2019 14:50:14 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1125515

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Financial Services
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of remarks by the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority about the impact of a post-Brexit customs union on the UK financial services sector.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL15610
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>A customs union would eliminate tariff and rules of origin barriers on trade in goods only, as they do not concern trade in services.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government’s ambition is to preserve the economic benefits of the most important financial services traded between the UK and the EU, and ensure stable institutional processes for governing the relationship in financial services. This is the best way to protect financial stability and open markets, and is in the interests of businesses and consumers on both sides. This ambition is reflected in the Political Declaration agreed by the UK and the EU in November 2018.</p><p> </p><p>We remain committed to preserving our competitive position in financial services after the UK has left the European Union. Our industry continues to innovate and to move with the times – we have world-leading positions in the markets of the future, including green and sustainable finance, FinTech, and renminbi and rupee products.</p> answering member printed Lord Young of Cookham question first answered 21/05/2019 14:01:00 answering member 57 label Biography information for Lord Young of Cookham
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1126119

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Employment and Support Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance joint claimant cases there are where both claimants have an underlying entitlement to severe disability premium.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol South
	tabling member printed	Karin Smyth
	uin	253642
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>A person would have to satisfy the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) qualifying conditions to be entitled to it.</p><p> </p><p>There are no ‘joint claims’ in income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA(IR)). Where a couple wishes to claim ESA(IR), they will need to decide which of them will be the ‘lead’ claimant, and claim on their partner’s behalf.</p><p /><p>Only the lead claimant has entitlement to a SDP. In couple cases, the SDP is not payable if the lead claimant does not meet the qualifying conditions, even if their partner does.</p><p> </p><p>The SDP is payable at the single rate where only the lead claimant meets the qualifying conditions. The couple rate is payable where both members of the couple meet the qualifying conditions – but only the lead claimant is entitled to it.</p><p /><p>In November 2018 there were 9,500 live couple cases of ESA(IR) where the lead claimant was in receipt of a SDP at the couple rate.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 21/05/2019 14:23:48 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4444 label Biography information for Karin Smyth

1126667

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Iran: Official Visits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has plans to receive Iranian government ministers in the next six months.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	254253
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>As Minister responsible for the UK's relations with Iran, I have yet to visit Tehran, though I note my predecessor did last year. I hope to be able to visit soon. The Foreign Secretary hopes that the opportunity to travel to Iran will arise in the future but he does not currently have any firm plans to visit. There are no current plans for Iranian ministers to visit the UK for bilateral discussions in this time.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 21/05/2019 14:15:23 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1125854

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Bahrain: Human Rights
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will include Bahrain as a Human Rights Priority Country in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights and Democracy Report 2018; and if so, on what basis.
	tabling member printed	Lord Scriven
	uin	HL15644
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>Bahrain currently remains a Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights priority country on the basis outlined in the last published report of 2017.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 21/05/2019 13:39:42 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	4333 label Biography information for Lord Scriven

1126606

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Farmers: Suicide
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to suicides in the farming sector, what steps he is taking to monitor levels of distress in that sector.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	254107
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>Defra takes the issue of farmers and agricultural workers’ wellbeing very seriously. I am aware that rates of suicide are higher across the agricultural sector generally than they are for the general population. I know that they often have a solitary lifestyle, it is hard work and their businesses are subject to unpredictable factors such as the weather. As part of the Future Farming programme we are looking at the impact of policies on wellbeing, and we are also working with partners to foster personal and business resilience.</p><p> </p><p>As part of our on-going work using data on the farming sector, we monitor the published ONS statistics on suicides by employment group. As well as headline mortality numbers, we keep under review the issues that may affect broader experiences of positive and negative wellbeing.</p><p> </p><p>Officials meet regularly with farming and rural charities to hear first-hand about resilience in the farming sector. This provides an indication of how farmers and farm workers are responding to any pressures affecting the sector.</p><p> </p><p>Government launched its first ever Loneliness Strategy in October 2018. One of Defra’s commitments is to hold regular stakeholder roundtables to tackle the issues of loneliness and isolation in rural areas. The next roundtable, to be chaired by Lord Gardiner, is being held on 11 June 2019. Defra also provides financial support through an annual grant of £1.7 million to Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), whose network of 38 rural community councils work on housing and transport issues that we know can affect farming communities.</p><p> </p><p>Defra works closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on this issue. The National Suicide Prevention Strategy highlights the higher risk of suicide experienced by certain occupational groups, and this includes agricultural occupations. Through the Strategy, DHSC has ensured that every local authority has a suicide prevention plan in place to implement tailored approaches to reducing suicides based on the needs and demographics of local communities.</p><p> </p><p>In October 2018, the Prime Minister announced the first Minister for Suicide Prevention, and she recently met the Farming Community Network to understand better the issues facing farmers.</p><p> </p><p>It is important that farmers are aware of the people they can turn to if they are going through difficult times. In particular, the farming charities – the Farming Community Network, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution and the Addington Fund – all do a brilliant job in supporting farmers and their families. The National Farmers Union also has a regional network of advisers who can provide support.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 21/05/2019 14:49:38 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1126124

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in his Department who were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU, have since returned to his Department.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	253454
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>EU departure is an all-of-Government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is responsible for overseeing negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU. The Department for International Trade works to secure UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment, and championing free trade.<strong><br></strong></p><p>Departments continually review workforce plans and reprioritise and assess changing needs, which includes identification and cessation of non-priority work where appropriate. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that exit implementation is carried out to a high standard without impacting public service delivery across the whole of Government.</p><p>For Defra, information relating to all staff who have been transferred or loaned to another department since June 2016 is provided below. We are not able to confirm how many of these were related to exit roles as this information is not held.</p><p>We have interpreted the second part of the question relating to ‘other departmental briefs’ as those working on projects with or in other departments through any informal arrangement that is not a formal loan or secondment. Based on this interpretation, Defra does not hold this data and is unable to provide this information.</p><p>The information is from June 2016 – present.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Total number of staff transferred to another Government department (OGD) between June 16 – March 19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>445</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of staff transferred to an OGD who have since returned to Defra</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>0</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total number of staff loaned to an OGD between June 19 – March 19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>118*</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of staff loaned to an OGD who have since returned to Defra</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>14</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>*This figure includes 30 loans where the end dates are between May 2019 and January 2022, and therefore we would not expect staff to have returned to Defra. All loans are generally for a period of two years.</p><p> </p><p>We do not use the term ‘secondment’ to refer to Civil Servants moving between departments, instead we use the term ‘loan’. Therefore we have interpreted this question to refer to those who have moved to other departments on loans.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 21/05/2019 14:09:10 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126811

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Railways: Fares
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the cost of rail fares to the EU from the UK will be affected by the UK leaving the EU.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	254788
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>Fares for international passenger services between the UK and the EU are set by the relevant train operator on a commercial basis. Any potential change in fares is therefore a commercial matter for the operators concerned.</p> answering member constituency Epsom and Ewell answering member printed Chris Grayling question first answered 21/05/2019 14:35:53 answering member 1413 label Biography information for Chris Grayling
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson