Ruth Jones MP: written questions
342 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Furs: TradeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 81355More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress her Department has made on building the evidence base on the fur sector.
Answer: Defra is continuing to build the evidence base on the fur sector. This includes commissioning our expert Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to produce a report on what constitutes responsible sourcing of fur. This is due to be completed in 2025 and will be pu...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPancreatic Cancer: DiagnosisDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78507More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to collaborate with (a) academic institutions, (b) industry, and (c) research charities in rolling out new diagnostic tools for pancreatic cancer across primary
Answer: While cancer, including pancreatic cancer, is not diagnosed in primary care, there are initiatives to improve the identification of cancer symptoms in primary care. This includes ‘Jess’s Rule’, which supports clinicians to rethink their assessments when p...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPancreatic Cancer: DiagnosisDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78506More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to prioritise research into the early detection of pancreatic cancer.
Answer: Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is one of the largest areas of spend at ov...
Answered 10 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: InspectionsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78505More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help support local authority animal welfare inspectors.
Answer: Defra officials meet regularly with the National Animal Health and Welfare Panel which represents local authority inspectors to support inspectors to deliver their duties in relation to the health and welfare of farmed animals. Defra has also completed a ...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: CrimeHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78504More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with police forces on improving the harmonisation of record-keeping on animal-related crime between forces.
Answer: Wildlife crime can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife should face the full fo...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordCoal: WalesTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78503More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on encouraging inclusive growth in coalfield communities in Wales.
Answer: HM Treasury ministers regularly engage with Welsh Government counterparts, including through forums such as the Finance: Interministerial Standing Committee (F:ISC), to discuss a range of issues affecting Wales, including economic growth. The most recent ...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordCoal: WalesTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78502More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help support economic growth in coalfield communities in Wales.
Answer: HM Treasury ministers regularly engage with Welsh Government counterparts, including through forums such as the Finance: Interministerial Standing Committee (F:ISC), to discuss a range of issues affecting Wales, including economic growth. The most recent ...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordNature Conservation: CrimeHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78501More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the poly-criminality of wildlife crime offenders.
Answer: Wildlife crime can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife should face the full fo...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordNature Conservation: CrimeHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78500More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase support for police working on wildlife crime.
Answer: Wildlife crime can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife should face the full fo...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordNature Conservation: CrimeHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78499More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the police on the potential merits of providing training to police officers on wildlife legislation.
Answer: Wildlife crime can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife should face the full fo...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordNature Conservation: CrimeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78498More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to consolidate wildlife legislation into a single statute that would provide equal prot
Answer: Defra recognises the view of many stakeholders that the complexity and disparate nature of wildlife legislation is a factor in the challenges experienced in successfully prosecuting wildlife offences. The overriding recommendation of the 2015 Law Commissi...
Answered 17 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordNature Conservation: CrimeHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78497More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to give wildlife crime notifiable status.
Answer: Wildlife crime can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife should face the full fo...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordNature Conservation: CrimeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78496More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of wildlife legislation for (a) enforcing and (b) prosecuting wildlife crime.
Answer: Defra has no current plans to review wildlife legislation for (a) enforcing or (b) prosecuting wildlife crime while recognising there are obvious challenges for enforcement of such activity and successfully bringing prosecutions. For example, the crimes o...
Answered 17 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPhotonicsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78495More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the establishment of a National Centre for Photonics on technological development in the photonics industry.
Answer: Photonics is a major UK industry, generating £18.5 billion annually and employing over 84,800 people. It underpins quantum technologies, semiconductors, and telecoms, with government support through programmes like the National Quantum Technologies Progra...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPhotonicsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78494More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of facilitating the creation of a silicon photonics pilot line.
Answer: The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy recognises the opportunity to capitalise on our strength in photonics, chip design, and advanced technologies. To deliver this, DSIT is considering infrastructure needs as recommended by the Royal Academy of Engineering...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPhotonicsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78493More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has considered creating a dedicated photonics group within her Department.
Answer: Photonics is a major UK industry, generating £18.5 billion annually and employing over 84,800 people. It underpins quantum technologies, semiconductors, and telecoms, with government support through programmes like the National Quantum Technologies Progra...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPhotonicsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78492More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to support the development of a roadmap for the application of photonics to emerging technologies beyond telecommunications.
Answer: Photonics is a major UK industry, generating £18.5 billion annually and employing over 84,800 people. It underpins quantum technologies, semiconductors, and telecoms, with government support through programmes like the National Quantum Technologies Progra...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPhotonicsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78491More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help incentivise investment by venture capital into the photonics industry.
Answer: DBT's Strategic Technologies Team and OfI's Venture Capital Unit introduce UK photonics firms to major international venture capital investors at leading global photonics events every year. These demonstrations of the scale, breadth and quality of the UK ...
Answered 15 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPhotonicsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78490More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support the creation of new pilot lines for photonics.
Answer: The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy recognises the opportunity to capitalise on our strength in photonics, chip design, and advanced technologies. To deliver this, DSIT is considering infrastructure needs as recommended by the Royal Academy of Engineering...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordSemiconductors: FinanceDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78489More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for the national semiconductor strategy.
Answer: Semiconductors have been confirmed by the UK government as one of six priority frontier technologies in the recently published Industrial Strategy Digital and Technologies sector plan. During the development of the Industrial Strategy, the Department met ...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPhotonicsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78488More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the potential contribution of the photonics industry to economic (a) strategy and (b) growth.
Answer: Photonics is a major UK industry, generating £18.5 billion annually and employing over 84,800 people. It underpins quantum technologies, semiconductors, and telecoms, with government support through programmes like the National Quantum Technologies Progra...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordSombath SomphoneForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 16 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77599More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in Laos on the disappearance of Sombath Somphone.
Answer: The UK continues to raise the case of Sombath Somphone's disappearance with the Lao authorities, both bilaterally and through multilateral fora such as the UN Human Rights Council. Most recently, on 3 September 2025, the previous Minister for the Indo-Pac...
Answered 15 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: ExportsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77129More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the EU-UK SPS agreement on (a) the Government's commitment to improve animal welfare and (b) the Government's forthcoming animal
Answer: The agreement will cover SPS standards and controls and also wider agrifood rules related to food labelling, organics, and key marketing standards and compositional standards. The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to re...
Answered 15 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: ExportsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77128More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will request that the UK is able to diverge from the EU in relation to animal welfare standards in the dynamic alignment requirement of the EU-UK Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agre
Answer: The agreement will cover SPS standards and controls and also wider agrifood rules related to food labelling, organics, and key marketing standards and compositional standards. The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to re...
Answered 15 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: ExportsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77127More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement with the EU on enforcement of the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024.
Answer: The agreement will cover SPS standards and controls and also wider agrifood rules related to food labelling, organics, and key marketing standards and compositional standards. The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to re...
Answered 15 Oct 2025
Original Parliament record
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