Commons business papers

Contents

Published: Wednesday 7 December 2022

Early Day Motions tabled on Tuesday 6 December 2022

Early Day Motions (EDMs) are motions for which no days have been fixed.

The number of signatories includes all members who have added their names in support of the Early Day Motion (EDM), including the Member in charge of the Motion.

EDMs and added names are also published on the EDM database at www.parliament.uk/edm

[R] Indicates that a relevant interest has been declared.

New EDMs

672Free school meals

Tabled: 6/12/22 Signatories: 6

Zarah Sultana

Ian Byrne

Kim Johnson

Caroline Lucas

Munira Wilson

Apsana Begum

That this House notes that 3.9 million children are growing up in poverty and that the cost of living crisis is estimated to push another 500,000 children into poverty; recognises that free school meals ensure millions of children get a hot, healthy meal each day, but that as millions of families struggle with the cost of living crisis, more children are being forced to learn on empty stomachs, with restrictive eligibility, complicated registration and stigma built into the means-tested system; welcomes campaigning to extend free school meals, including those led by the National Education Union, the Daily Mirror and the Food Foundation; and calls on the Government to extend free school meals to all primary school children in state schools in England, as proposed by the Free School Meals for All Bill, formally known as the Free School Meals (Primary Schools) Bill.

673National Lottery funding for Drylaw Telford Community Association SCIO

Tabled: 6/12/22 Signatories: 1

Christine Jardine

That this House congratulates Drylaw Telford Community Association SCIO (known as the Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre) on their award of £94,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund; understands the grant is intended to support community activities for over 1,600 residents; welcomes the creation of 150 volunteering opportunities over the next two years made possible by the grant; recognises the impact made by the Neighbourhood Centre on people across the community through its wide range of activities from youth clubs to over-60s social groups; and wishes the Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre all the best for their future activities.

674Niamh Junner's karate career

Tabled: 6/12/22 Signatories: 1

Kirsten Oswald

That this House congratulates Niamh Junner from East Renfrewshire after the most successful year in her karate career to date; appreciates that Niamh won a bronze medal at the under-21 European championships in Prague and a further bronze medal at the under-21 World championships in Konya; notes that due to her successes in Prague and Konya, Niamh is now ranked in the World's top 5 under-21 females +68 kg category; recognises that Niamh has been a member of the Scotland national karate team for five years and trains with national team coach Gerry Fleming at the Eastbank karate club in Glasgow; further notes the difficulty that Niamh and other athletes faced during the covid-19 pandemic due to training facilities closing; understands that karate is a self-funded sport and that Niamh works as a part-time bartender to fund her karate expenses as well as studying an anatomy degree at the University of Glasgow; and wishes Niamh all the best for her upcoming competitions in Italy, Egypt and Spain next year.

675National Lottery funding for Our Community Kitchen

Tabled: 6/12/22 Signatories: 1

Kenny MacAskill

That this House congratulates Our Community Kitchen in Haddington, East Lothian, on receiving a £93,000 grant from The National Lottery Community Fund; understands that the group will use the funding to employ a development manager and chef for three years; commends the aim to reduce loneliness and isolation among the Haddington community and surrounding areas by hosting community lunches four days a week, delivering meals to vulnerable people, maintaining a community garden, and providing activities and volunteering opportunities; notes that 122 community members and 35 volunteers participate in meals and activities; and wishes everyone involved the best of luck with their project and all the best for the future.

676National Lottery funding for Black Awareness and Cultural Events

Tabled: 6/12/22 Signatories: 1

Kenny MacAskill

That this House congratulates Black Awareness and Cultural Events (BAACE) on receiving a £10,000 grant from The National Lottery Community Fund; understands that the group will use the funding to put on an event to celebrate Black History Month in Scotland; and wishes everyone involved the best of luck with the event and with all projects and events in the future.

677National Lottery funding for Keep The Heid Mental Health Café

Tabled: 6/12/22 Signatories: 1

Kenny MacAskill

That this House congratulates Keep The Heid Mental Health Café in East Lothian on receiving a £9,940 grant from The National Lottery Community Fund; understands that the group will use the funding to continue their current mental health support sessions in Haddington and start a new group in Tranent, East Lothian; commends the group's effort to support people who are struggling with their mental health, especially through the festive period; and wishes the best of luck to everyone involved and all the best for their future.

678National Lottery funding for East Lothian Foodbank

Tabled: 6/12/22 Signatories: 1

Kenny MacAskill

That this House congratulates the East Lothian Foodbank on receiving a £1,750 grant from The National Lottery Community Fund; understands that the group will use the funding to hold a social and team building event for 60 Foodbank volunteers in East Lothian; commends the selfless efforts of all of volunteers at foodbanks who are offering a great service to struggling people through these increasingly hard times; and wishes everyone involved the very best of luck with the social and team building event and all the best for their futures.

Added Names

Below are EDMs tabled in the last two weeks to which names have been added. Only the first 6 names and any new names are included.

612National eye health strategy

Tabled: 23/11/22 Signatories: 15

Marsha De Cordova

Claudia Webbe

Christine Jardine

Ian Lavery

Kim Johnson

Rachael Maskell

That this House recognises that over two million people in the UK are living with conditions which cause sight loss; notes that 250 people lose their sight every day and sight loss costs the UK economy £36 billion per year; further notes that NHS eye care services are facing significant pressures, with ophthalmology accounting for almost ten per cent of NHS waiting lists; and calls for the development of a National Eye Care Strategy which would focus on improved health outcomes, eliminate the postcode lottery of eye care treatment, address the inequities in access to, and provision of, eye care services, reduce the backlog, ensure positive patient experiences, ensure providers of care are joined up, maximise workforce capacity and skills and make better use of research and innovation.

613Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire 21st anniversary

Tabled: 23/11/22 Signatories: 9

Anne McLaughlin

Patrick Grady

Alison Thewliss

Allan Dorans

Patricia Gibson

Chris Law

That this House congratulates Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire on its twenty-first anniversary; recognises that it is one of the leading charities in family support in the community; acknowledges the impact it makes within the local communities it serves including helping to improve educational attainment, aiding the building of healthy relationships, helping to reduce isolation and loneliness, improving mental health of adults and children and supporting maternal mental health and perinatal support; further acknowledges its focus on empowerment and resilience to assist families to become self-reliant, confident and connected; praises the work of all staff and volunteers and the skills they have brought and developed; and welcomes the launch of their new book 21 stories, 21 lives as part of their 21st anniversary celebrations.

61916 Days of activism against gender-based violence campaign

Tabled: 28/11/22 Signatories: 17

David Linden

Patricia Gibson

Allan Dorans

Jim Shannon

Drew Hendry

Chris Law

That this House supports 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence which is an annual international campaign which commenced this year on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and will run until Human Rights Day on 10 December; recognises that violence against women and girls is the most pervasive breach of human rights worldwide; notes with regret that violence against women and girls is estimated to affect more than one in three women, a figure that has remained largely unchanged over the last decade; commends the objectives of the campaign which include calling for global action to increase awareness, galvanising advocacy efforts and sharing knowledge and innovations to end violence against women and girls once and for all; and advocates for all to take part in the 16 Days of Activism and amplify the important work of women’s rights activists.

627International Day of Persons with disabilities and Purple Sock Day

Tabled: 29/11/22 Signatories: 11

Dr Lisa Cameron

Wendy Chamberlain

Jim Shannon

Chris Law

Chris Stephens

Claudia Webbe

That this House recognises the United Nations International Day of Persons with disabilities (IDPD), which has taken place on 3 December every year since 1992 in order to promote the rights and well-being of disabled people across society; understands that disability exclusion from political, social, economic and cultural life is a significant social problem; acknowledges the importance of the work of Parallel Lifestyle for their organisation of Purple Sock Day, which marks IDPD by raising positive awareness of disability inclusion and helping to fund disability-owned start-up businesses and entrepreneurs; and calls on the Government to recognise the importance of promoting disability inclusion and enterprise.

635Members' attendance in the House

Tabled: 29/11/22 Signatories: 12

Christine Jardine

Wendy Chamberlain

Jamie Stone

Chris Law

Wera Hobhouse

Munira Wilson

That this House believes that there should be a change to the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament to set a limit to the number of days Members can spend being paid to take part in the recording of entertainment television programmes abroad while the House is sitting.

642Hearing Diagnostics and detection of hearing loss

Tabled: 1/12/22 Signatories: 6

Douglas Chapman

Jonathan Edwards

Chris Law

Allan Dorans

Chris Stephens

Stewart Hosie

That this House welcomes the development by Scottish based enterprise Hearing Diagnostics of their innovative product, Audimetroid, which gives a more accurate and cost effective solution to the early detection of hearing loss; further welcomes the additional support and financing to the company by investment syndicate Archangels and Scottish Enterprise; and wishes them well in developing their product and reaching new global export markets.

645Industrial Dispute at Shelter

Tabled: 1/12/22 Signatories: 13

John McDonnell

Richard Burgon

Charlotte Nichols

Kate Osborne

Ian Lavery

Jon Trickett

That this House supports Unite members taking industrial action at Shelter; stands with these workers based at offices across the country in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Blackburn, Merseyside, Manchester, Sheffield Hub and North Bank, Birmingham, Bristol, Plymouth, Bournemouth, Norwich, Hackney and London Old Street; is concerned by Shelter’s imposition of a 3 per cent pay deal without proper consultation in the middle of a cost of living crisis despite the organisation’s healthy finances; notes that Shelter’s own claims show they have reserves of £17 million; further notes that this is substantially in excess of the organisation’s target reserves of £8.9 million; understands that the Retail Price Index is at its highest level since 1980; is alarmed that this means RPI is currently over 10 per cent higher than Shelter’s imposed 3 per cent pay deal; is disappointed to see an organisation with the reputation and mission statement of Shelter treating its workers with such disrespect; is clear that those working for a housing charity should not be experiencing housing insecurity as a result of low pay meaning they are unable to afford their rent; is encouraged by the large growth in union membership amongst Shelter’s workers during this dispute; and urges Shelter to rethink and fully commit to meaningful negotiations with representatives from its workers’ trade union, Unite.

659British Transport Police's Railway Guardian app

Tabled: 2/12/22 Signatories: 9

Christine Jardine

Liz Saville Roberts

Wendy Chamberlain

Jamie Stone

Hywel Williams

John McDonnell

That this House believes that all people should be able to travel on public transport without fear of harassment or violence; recognises that transport users still face unacceptable behaviour from fellow passengers and that more can be done to prevent this; and supports British Transport Police, and its partners, including Transport for London, Transport for Wales and Transport for Scotland, police forces, train operating companies and other organisations, in their effort to tackle violence and harassment on the rail network through their Railway Guardian reporting and bystander intervention advice app.

66510th anniversary of the death of Tony Heron

Tabled: 5/12/22 Signatories: 2

Stewart Malcolm McDonald

Douglas Chapman

That this House recognises that 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Tony Heron, a Wigtownshire man devoted to both his family and country; commends him for his service as a young man during the Second World War as part of the Royal Army Service Corps; and thanks Marie Curie for the support they provide to those suffering terminal illness, alongside that which they provide to families of those with illness.

668National Tree Week

Tabled: 5/12/22 Signatories: 2

Jim Shannon

Sir Mike Penning

That this House notes the end of National Tree Week 2022 that lasted from 26 November to 4 December 2022; underlines that National Tree Week is the largest annual tree celebration, marking the start of the tree planting season when millions of trees are planted every year; further notes the initiative by IndiWoods to plant exciting native woodlands throughout Northern Ireland this Winter, all of which consist of native oaks, downy and silver birch, alder, rowan, wild cherry and apple; further underlines the assistance trees offer to our environment, by locking up carbon, reducing surface run-off to help prevent flooding and filter harmful air pollution; and highlights the beautiful scenery trees give us in the countryside and that they improve our mental and physical health.

669BP dividends

Tabled: 5/12/22 Signatories: 5

Dame Margaret Hodge

Jonathan Edwards

Caroline Lucas

Cat Smith

Ms Marie Rimmer

That this House condemns BP’s failure to honour its commitment to exit investments in Russia; notes that BP remains the largest private shareholder of Russia’s biggest oil company, Rosneft, and as such is receiving wartime dividends totalling £580 million; notes that these dividends are equivalent to over one quarter of all aid provided by the Government to Ukraine and that continued UK investment in Russian oil undermines our country’s significant support for the people of Ukraine; further notes that BP is indirectly profiteering from the Kremlin’s egregious war in Ukraine; and calls on the Government to persuade BP, and any British company still invested in Russian oil and gas, to dedicate wartime dividends and profits to the reconstruction of Ukraine and to victims of the war and, if they fail to do so, calls on the Government to levy a special windfall tax to achieve the same purpose.

671Dr Andrew Lownie FRHistS and the Mountbatten Diaries

Tabled: 5/12/22 Signatories: 7

Dr Julian Lewis

Allan Dorans

Sir Desmond Swayne

Martyn Day

Valerie Vaz

Bob Blackman

That this House welcomes the fact that three days after Early Day Motion 338 on the Mountbatten Diaries was published in July 2021, almost all of the material withheld from public access began to be disclosed online; notes that this was the direct result of a six-year campaign by the accomplished biographer, Andrew Lownie, with the support of the Information Commissioner’s Office; deplores the fact that, in order to achieve this result, Dr Lownie had to accumulate legal costs approaching half-a-million pounds on account of protracted Cabinet Office resistance to the release of material almost all of which was known to be innocuous; notes that the Mountbatten Diaries had been purchased from the Broadlands Archive with public money and that very large further sums were spent by the Cabinet Office and Southampton University on their legal fight against disclosure; views it as oppressive and reprehensible that a distinguished historian should face severe financial loss under such circumstances; and consequently calls on the Cabinet Office to reimburse the legal costs which its unnecessary obstructiveness caused him to incur.