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1224489

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2020
	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	Ukraine: Radicalism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of white-supremacist violent extremism in Ukraine.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	73833
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2020 answer text <p>There are several peripheral groups with neo-Nazi sympathies in Ukraine, some of which have made statements in support of white supremacism. We take seriously any reports of violent extremism and hate crime in Ukraine.</p><p>The UK is committed to pursuing a comprehensive human rights agenda in Ukraine, including taking action against racially-motivated hate crime. Since 2014, the UK has co-sponsored a UN resolution supporting quarterly debates of reports on Ukraine by the Monitoring Mission of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The UK Government provides financial support to the Monitoring Mission, which works to report and reduce human rights violations and abuses in Ukraine.</p><p>Whilst Ukraine has cooperated fully with the Monitoring Mission, we remain extremely concerned by the restrictions of access for human rights bodies to the non-government controlled areas of eastern Ukraine and illegally annexed Crimea, and the resulting limited reporting on those areas. It is essential that independent investigations take place to deliver accountability for serious allegations of hate crime in all of Ukraine. We will continue to work closely with the Ukrainian government, our international partners and local agencies to support efforts to report, investigate and reduce incidences of hate crime in Ukraine.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton grouped question UIN 73834 question first answered 21/07/2020 08:04:38 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton previous answer version 38745 answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1224496

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2020
	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	Ukraine: Radicalism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	73834
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2020 answer text <p>There are several peripheral groups with neo-Nazi sympathies in Ukraine, some of which have made statements in support of white supremacism. We take seriously any reports of violent extremism and hate crime in Ukraine.</p><p>The UK is committed to pursuing a comprehensive human rights agenda in Ukraine, including taking action against racially-motivated hate crime. Since 2014, the UK has co-sponsored a UN resolution supporting quarterly debates of reports on Ukraine by the Monitoring Mission of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The UK Government provides financial support to the Monitoring Mission, which works to report and reduce human rights violations and abuses in Ukraine.</p><p>Whilst Ukraine has cooperated fully with the Monitoring Mission, we remain extremely concerned by the restrictions of access for human rights bodies to the non-government controlled areas of eastern Ukraine and illegally annexed Crimea, and the resulting limited reporting on those areas. It is essential that independent investigations take place to deliver accountability for serious allegations of hate crime in all of Ukraine. We will continue to work closely with the Ukrainian government, our international partners and local agencies to support efforts to report, investigate and reduce incidences of hate crime in Ukraine.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton grouped question UIN 73833 question first answered 21/07/2020 08:04:38 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton previous answer version 38747 answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1299235

	registered interest
	date	03/03/2021
	answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
	answering dept id	208
	answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
	hansard heading	Developing Countries: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether the TRIPS waiver proposal at the WTO that would suspend global patent rules during the covid-19 pandemic will enable the scale-up of manufacturing required to make enough doses to vaccinate the world.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	162614
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2021 answer text <p>The UK does not consider waiving intellectual property (IP) rights to be an appropriate action to boost the manufacturing of safe, effective, and quality vaccines. The existing intellectual property framework has mobilised research and development to deliver a host of new medicines and technologies to detect, treat, and defend against COVID-19. We have not yet seen evidence of how such a waiver of IP rights would improve the current situation. The UK continues to engage in constructive and evidence-based discussions at the TRIPS Council on the waiver proposal, and to address the multiple factors outside of IP on which access to medicines depends.</p><p>The UK is among the biggest global donors on COVID-19, and committed to supporting rapid, equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. We have pledged over £1 billion of UK aid to counter the health, humanitarian, and economic risks. To support global vaccine access, we have funded a range of international organisations with the expertise to deliver an 'end to end' approach from research, development, and clinical trials, through to supporting manufacturing scale-up and delivery.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 08/03/2021 13:23:43 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1219854

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2020
	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	Pest Control: Crime
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the laying of illegal poison baits.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	67654
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2020 answer text <p>Biocidal products, including rodenticides and insecticides, have to be authorised under the Biocidal Products Regulation. The use of biocides must comply with specific terms and conditions, including on the placing of baits. Where the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has enforcement responsibility, it seeks to ensure that high standards of compliance with biocides are achieved and maintained. The Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS), operated by HSE on behalf of Defra, investigates the deaths, not just of wildlife, but also of livestock and some pets, where there is evidence that biocide poisoning may be involved. Where poison baits are used illegally to harm wildlife, such as raptors, responsibility for enforcement lies with the police.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 08/07/2020 12:44:50 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1679345

	registered interest
	date	05/01/2024
	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	Health and Safety Executive: Inspections
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many inspections have the Health and Safety Executive conducted by sector in each year since 2008.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	7924
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>The table below shows the number of inspections, by year and by sector, carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for each financial year since 2017. HSE’s data deletion policy only allows for retention of detailed inspection data for up to 7 years, therefore data before 2017 can be found on <a href="https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?parent=health-and-safety-executive&amp;organisations%5B%5D=health-and-safety-executive&amp;order=updated-oldest" target="_blank">Gov.uk</a> website.</p><p> </p><p>The figures below are based on raw live data and can be subject to change due to updates to historical cases. Therefore these figures may differ to the figures published in the Annual Reports.</p><p> </p><p>‘Sector’ as used in this table is a term used by HSE internally and is a categorisation of the main economic activity of a workplace. The figures below include inspections to major hazard sites. A breakdown by sector is not always published in the Annual Reports as the focus will be on the respective priorities of business plan for that work year.</p><p><br></p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="6"><p><strong>Year Inspected</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Sector</strong></p></td><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>2022/23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Agriculture</p></td><td><p>574</p></td><td><p>773</p></td><td><p>708</p></td><td><p>229</p></td><td><p>405</p></td><td><p>868</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Construction</p></td><td><p>7,872</p></td><td><p>7,472</p></td><td><p>5,004</p></td><td><p>4,582</p></td><td><p>6,134</p></td><td><p>6,146</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Extractive Utilities</p></td><td><p>135</p></td><td><p>42</p></td><td><p>40</p></td><td><p>148</p></td><td><p>44</p></td><td><p>86</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Manufacturing</p></td><td><p>6,068</p></td><td><p>5,289</p></td><td><p>4,322</p></td><td><p>6,080</p></td><td><p>5,729</p></td><td><p>5,417</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Services</p></td><td><p>3,304</p></td><td><p>3,195</p></td><td><p>2,291</p></td><td><p>3,717</p></td><td><p>3,426</p></td><td><p>2,959</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Unknown</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Water/Waste Management</p></td><td><p>1,626</p></td><td><p>1,418</p></td><td><p>1,148</p></td><td><p>2,225</p></td><td><p>1,258</p></td><td><p>1,434</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>19,586</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>18,194</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>13,514</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>16,985</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>17,000</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>16,912</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 15/01/2024 14:21:37 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1694643

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2024
	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	Social Security Benefits: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the (a) Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service, (b) Enhanced Checking Service, (c) Risk Review Team, (d) Enhanced Review Teams, (e) Universal Credit advances claims decision risk model, (f) Common Risk Engine, (g) General Matching Service, (h) Fraud Referral and Intervention Management System (i) Targeted Case Review and (j) any other systems have been used as part of fraud surveillance in the benefits system in the last year.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	17601
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2024 answer text <p>None of the teams or systems referenced carry out surveillance in the benefits system.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 14/03/2024 12:53:53 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1694644

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2024
	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	Artificial Intelligence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential for bias in the automated machine learning and decision-making systems used to audit.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	17602
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2024 answer text <p>Please be assured that assessments of bias have been conducted for all IRIS machine learning models and the screening to date has not identified any areas of concern. The outcomes will be published in summer 2024 within DWP’s Annual Report and Accounts.</p><p> </p><p>The department always ensures appropriate safeguards are in place. There are detailed Data Protection Impact Assessments and Equality Analysis that accompany our machine learning models, and these are live documents that are kept updated. We also work closely with legal colleagues to ensure our use of machine learning is legal and proportionate. As an additional safeguard, all decisions on claims are made by DWP case workers based on all the facts and individual circumstances of the claim.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 17605 question first answered 14/03/2024 12:14:08 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1694645

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2024
	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	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants referred by a DWP algorithm for case review as potentially containing fraud or error were (a) in receipt of disability benefit and (b) registered as disabled; and of these claims how many experienced benefits (i) stoppages and (ii) suspensions in the latest period for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	17603
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2024 answer text <p>The department does not hold the information requested.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 14/03/2024 12:32:50 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1694646

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2024
	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	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of cases in the targeted case review system were (a) discontinued and (b) endorsed on the grounds that they were likely to contain (i) fraud and (ii) error after being checked by a human reviewer in the most recent period for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	17604
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/03/2024 answer text <p>The TCR process is led by specialised agents to find incorrectness on claims and put it right. Prior to starting a claim review, agents will preview the claim to make sure it meets the criteria for selection. Claims selected for review are not endorsed on the grounds they are likely to contain fraud or error. It is only once a claim review is complete that an agent can determine the outcome. Performance for the financial year 22/23 is included in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023" target="_blank">DWP Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) Report</a>, available on GOV.UK. The ARA report for financial year 23/24 is expected to be published Summer 2024.</p><p> </p><p>We do not categorise claims as discontinued. A claim may be deselected for review if it does not meet the criteria.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 13/03/2024 15:01:46 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

1694647

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2024
	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	Social Security Benefits: Fraud
	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 Q27 of the oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 10 January 2024, HC 417, what biases there are in the (a) AI and (b) machine learning systems used by his Department to detect and prevent fraud in the benefit system; and how these biases have been used to identify fraud.
	tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
	tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
	uin	17605
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2024 answer text <p>Please be assured that assessments of bias have been conducted for all IRIS machine learning models and the screening to date has not identified any areas of concern. The outcomes will be published in summer 2024 within DWP’s Annual Report and Accounts.</p><p> </p><p>The department always ensures appropriate safeguards are in place. There are detailed Data Protection Impact Assessments and Equality Analysis that accompany our machine learning models, and these are live documents that are kept updated. We also work closely with legal colleagues to ensure our use of machine learning is legal and proportionate. As an additional safeguard, all decisions on claims are made by DWP case workers based on all the facts and individual circumstances of the claim.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 17602 question first answered 14/03/2024 12:14:08 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams