The Government set out its position on this and other recommendations in its response, which was published in February, to the review by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, entitled Animal Welfare in England: Domestic Pets.

Aid delivered by road, by trusted humanitarian partners who ensure it gets to those who need it most, is the most effective way to meet needs in Syria. We are pushing the Assad regime to allow this, while working tirelessly with our partners to examine all other options for getting aid into besieged areas.

DFID invests in long-term planning, preventative programmes and putting systems in place to build the capacity of countries at risk of food insecurity. Early warning mechanisms and resilience systems put in place with DFID support since 2010/11 have strengthened the response to the food crisis across the Horn of Africa this year. For example, with DFID support the response in Somalia has mobilised much earlier this year compared to 2010; in Kenya the Hunger Safety Nets Programme has enabled emergency support to be delivered at scale to drought affected households much quicker than in previous crises.

DFID’s first responsibility is to support Montserrat in delivering essential public services to its citizens, including health, education and social services. Ongoing consideration of the island’s long term economic prospects is a key feature of our development partnership, where we have a shared objective of enabling Montserrat ultimately to manage fully its own financial and economic affairs.

Despite some improvements, the security situation in Sudan remains concerning; particularly in Darfur and the Two Areas of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. We continue to urge the Government of Sudan and the opposition to reach an agreement on a cessation of hostilities to allow for humanitarian access. We are deeply troubled by the fighting and displacement in South Sudan, particularly in the regions of Greater Upper Nile and the Equatorias. The UK continues to pursue every opportunity to call on all parties to cease hostilities, allow access for humanitarian workers and engage in genuine dialogue.

We are aware of the decision of South Korea's Constitutional Court. We are monitoring the ongoing election campaign. We remain steadfast in our desire for a close partnership with the Republic of Korea and will work together to continue building on our already strong bilateral relationship.

The Government wants all disabled people and people with a long term health condition to have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that appropriate work can bring. That is why we published ‘Improving Lives the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper’ setting out the action we plan to take and starting a far-reaching, national debate on what more we can do to ensure everyone, including people with multiple sclerosis, is supported to reach their full potential.

During our three-month consultation, we heard from a wide range of stakeholders, including organisations who work with and represent people with multiple sclerosis. We are now taking stock of what we have heard.

The Government has been conducting a programme of rigorous and extensive analytical work that will help define our partnership with the EU, and inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. Parliament has voted repeatedly not to publish detail which could undermine UK's position in our negotiations with the EU and the Government will repeat repeat that decision.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and is child abuse that requires domestic and international action. Recent work to prevent it includes:

• Changes to the law via the Serious Crime Act 2015, including extended extra-territorial jurisdiction over FGM offences committed overseas, a new failure to protect offence, and the creation of a mandatory reporting duty for known cases in under 18s;
• the introduction of FGM Protection Orders in July 2015 – the most recent figures show 94 orders have been made;
• the launch of the Home Office’s FGM Unit which carries out awareness raising and outreach work with professionals and communities; and
• the Department for International Development’s £35m programme to support the Africa-led movement to end FGM overseas.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has a specialist team that checks that any seafarer, who applies for a Certificate of Equivalent Competency to allow them to work on a UK-flagged ship, meets the necessary standards.

The UK Government is satisfied that the process is working and has no plans to change the current arrangements.

​British Embassy officials in Asuncion regularly discuss security issues with the Paraguayan authorities.

We are doing our utmost to provide assistance to all those in need in the region. The UK has now allocated £2.3 billion since 2012 to meet the immediate needs of vulnerable people in Syria and of refugees in the region making it one of the largest donors. Since summer 2014, we have committed £169.5 million in humanitarian assistance to help those affected by Daesh in Iraq.

In addition, the UK operates four resettlement schemes (Gateway, Mandate, the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) Scheme and the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS), working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on each to identify those most in need of resettlement, prioritising the most vulnerable.

The UK works according to the humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality which means that we do not take into consideration the ethno-religious origins of people requiring assistance as we assist solely on the basis of needs, identified by UNHCR.

All asylum claims lodged in the UK, including claims based on religious persecution, are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention. Those who demonstrate a well founded fear on return to their country are normally granted protection.

Turkey continues to be a Candidate Country of the EU. The UK remains of the view that the EU accession process is important to delivering security, stability and prosperity in Turkey. We encourage Turkey to continue to engage constructively with the accession process. As and when candidate countries have met the requirements for accession in full, it will be for those countries and EU members at the time to decide on membership. That point remains some way off.

As a result of the government's Superfast Broadband Programme and roll-out by the private sector, superfast broadband with speeds of more than 24Mbps is now available to more than 92% of homes and businesses in the UK and the government expects this to reach 95% by the end of 2017. This coverage includes rural areas. The delivery programme in Scotland including the Gordon constituency is delivered by the Scottish Government.

Thinkbroadband estimate that current coverage of superfast broadband in the Gordon constituency is 79%, which DCMS estimate will rise to 83% by the end of 2017. This compares to a UK average of over 92%. The Scottish Government is responsible for delivering broadband in Scotland.

Take up in the Rest of Scotland Project area is 28% and as a result of the UK Government's contract management, further funding can be returned to the Scottish Government for reinvestment in more superfast coverage as take-up rises. It would be for the Scottish Government to decide where funding returned by suppliers under the contracts is allocated to increase coverage.

UK aid programmes in source and transit countries increasingly focus on jobs and livelihoods, aiming to reduce the need for migrants to leave. We are also targeting people smuggling gangs.

The conflict makes Libya a difficult country in which to operate. Nonetheless the UK has committed over £12.4million since October 2015. This funding includes a programme partnering with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to improve living conditions for men and women in detention centres and assist the voluntary repatriation for migrants.

The UK is also supporting the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in providing humanitarian relief and immediate lifesaving assistance to vulnerable populations in Libya.

Before I answer the right hon. Gentleman’s question, let me say this to him. He is an old friend of mine, and, politics notwithstanding, I wish him well. As for the answer to his question, I do not want to see any trade barriers within the United Kingdom, which, of course, is why I support the Union.

Since the 2015 general election, Parliament has debated lowering the voting age to 16 a number of times and has repeatedly voted against it.

HM Treasury has responsibility for taxation and the letter has been passed on for the responsible Minister to respond.

I apologise for the delay in responding to your letter on behalf of your constituent Ms Kimberly Roy. A response has been issued to you today (26 April 17).