House of Lords Business

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what information they have about the rape, torture, and murder by stoning of a retired Christian schoolteacher, Suzan Der Kirkour in Syria; whether they are seeking to confirm reports about who was responsible; and what assessment they have made of the statement by church leaders that “attacks against Christians, mainly women… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Black of Brentwood to ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) action they take, and (2) sanctions are available, to ensure that local authorities meet their responsibility for the public inspection of financial records under section 26 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.  HL17383

Baroness Burt of Solihull to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the proposal to make HMRC a secondary preferential creditor in insolvencies may have on business rescue support in the UK from April 2020.  HL17384

Baroness Burt of Solihull to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that their proposal to make HMRC a secondary preferential creditor in insolvencies will have on the UK’s ranking in the World Bank’s annual "Doing Business" report.  HL17385

Baroness Burt of Solihull to ask Her Majesty's Government why HM Treasury has decided to not introduce a cap on the age of tax debts which will be eligible for secondary preferential status in insolvencies from April 2020; and what assessment they have made of the impact of this decision on the costs of insolvency procedures and business lending.  HL17386

Baroness Burt of Solihull to ask Her Majesty's Government why HM Treasury has decided that existing lending will not be exempted from their policy of making HMRC a secondary preferential creditor in insolvencies; and what assessment they have made of the impact of this decision on the continued availability of existing business lending.  HL17387

The Lord Bishop of Coventry to ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the upcoming deadline for forming South Sudan’s Transitional Government, what steps they are taking to encourage the parties and regional powers in that region to (1) unify security forces, and 2) clarify, with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Dr Riek Machar’s freedom to travel back to Sout… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Crawley to ask Her Majesty's Government when the Health and Safety Executive will revisit its current work place exposure limits for formaldehyde.  HL17389

Baroness Crawley to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of occupational exposure limits and maximum exposure limits for formaldehyde in the UK being higher than those of France, Germany and several other European member states.  HL17390

Lord Dholakia to ask Her Majesty's Government how many 10 and 11 year olds received a youth caution or criminal conviction in each of the past five years; and what proportion of those children were in care at the time of the caution or criminal conviction.  HL17391

Lord Dholakia to ask Her Majesty's Government how many children aged between 10 and 14 years old were held in youth custody in each month in the last five years.  HL17392

Lord Dholakia to ask Her Majesty's Government how many 10 and 11 year olds received a custodial sentence in each of the past 10 years.  HL17393

Baroness Doocey to ask Her Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to review the affordability of major tourist attractions for children from lower income families.  HL17394

Baroness Doocey to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the importance of live music venues to music tourism in the UK.  HL17395

Baroness Doocey to ask Her Majesty's Government how many apprenticeships were created in the tourism sector in (1) 2014–15, (2) 2016–17, and (3) 2017–18.  HL17396

Baroness Doocey to ask Her Majesty's Government what is the Home Office's strategy for ensuring that the families of EU national offenders and EU nationals in the probation system are able to apply for settled or pre-settled status through the EU Settlement Scheme.  HL17397

Lord Empey to ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to announce the appointment of the next Commissioner for Victims and Survivors in Northern Ireland.  HL17398

Lord Grocott to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 18 July (HL16984), whether they will now answer the question put, namely what assessment they have made of the comparative costs of directly elected mayoral systems and traditional systems of local government administration.  HL17399

Baroness Hamwee to ask Her Majesty's Government how many EU nationals are currently, or at the latest date for which information is available, held in immigration detention.  HL17400

Baroness Hamwee to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, or intend to take, to ensure that EU nationals granted pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme but who fail to apply for settled status and become illegal residents are not placed in immigration detention.  HL17401

Baroness Hamwee to ask Her Majesty's Government how many children thought to be eligible for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme have applied to that scheme; and how many such children have been granted (1) settled, and (2) pre-settled, status.  HL17402

Baroness Hamwee to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for applying a lower suitability threshold than for adults for children from the EU, European Economic Area and Switzerland living in the UK who are applying for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.  HL17403

Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that over 150 Palestinians have been recently arrested in Saudi Arabia, possibly because of alleged links with the Muslim Brotherhood; whether any of those people have refugee status; and what action they intend to take to ensure that those arrested are not held indefinitely.  HL17404

Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made, or intend to make, to the government of Israel about (1) international academics at Birzeit and other Palestinian universities reportedly being denied entry or residence visas by Israel, and (2) academic freedom and harm to those universities caused by any such visa refusals.  HL17405

Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that at least 13 civilians have recently been kidnapped by militants supported by Turkey in the Afrin province of Syria; and what plans they have to discuss such reports with the government of Turkey.  HL17406

Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will send an observer to the Astana Process meeting, starting in Kazakhstan on 1 August.  HL17407

Lord Jones of Cheltenham to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the International Education Strategy: global potential, global growth, published in March, what plans they have to introduce a new system of visas for international students to (1) enable the growth of international student numbers, (2) improve their experience of applying for visas, (3) reduce the admin… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Jones of Cheltenham to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the International Education Strategy: global potential, global growth, published in March, what plans they have to introduce a new system of visas for international students which would (1) increase the diversity of applicants, (2) be accessible to all applicants, and (3) be simpler for students and spon… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the reduction in energy efficient upgrades to domestic housing since 2014.  HL17410

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch to ask Her Majesty's Government what is their target for the number of energy efficiency upgrades of UK domestic properties in each of the next three years; and how achievement of those targets will be measured.  HL17411

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the contribution energy efficiency in properties can make to meeting the UK’s climate reduction targets.  HL17412

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a national fund to help low income, vulnerable and fuel poor households insulate their homes.  HL17413

Lord Kilclooney to ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) men, and (2) women, are in the British army.  HL17414

Lord Kilclooney to ask Her Majesty's Government how many people there are in the Army Reserve in (1) Wales, (2) Scotland, (3) Northern Ireland, and (4) England.  HL17415

Lord Lingfield to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on appellants of First-Tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) hearings being cancelled; and what plans they have to mitigate this impact, including any plans to offer financial compensation.  HL17416

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Hezbollah forces are being deployed along Lebanon's and Syria's borders with Israel; and what plans they have in place to protect the UK's interests in that region.  HL17417

Lord Myners to ask Her Majesty's Government what tests they apply to determine whether an investigation into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) meets the standard required to be described as independent of the FCA; and what assessment they have made of whether FCA employees acting for an investigation compromises its independence.  HL17418

Lord Myners to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have identified any features in common in the cases of London Capital and Finance, Lendy Limited and Collateral (UK) Limited that require a change in regulation, law or process.  HL17419

Lord Myners to ask Her Majesty's Government when they first became aware that Collateral (UK) Limited was acting without authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); and why that company was allowed to take new client money without advising clients that the firm was not authorised by the FCA.  HL17420

Lord Myners to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have investigated the change of name on the FCA register of authorised parties of Regal Pawnbrokers Limited to Collateral (UK) Limited; whether they identified any concerns about that change in respect of Collateral (UK) Limited; and if so, when.  HL17421

Lord Myners to ask Her Majesty's Government whether any action was taken to protect (1) documents of, and (2) client money in, Collateral (UK) Limited when they were made aware that that firm was acting without the authorisation of the Financial Conduct Authority; and if not, why not.  HL17422

Lord Myners to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they were aware that Collateral (UK) Limited advertised itself as having interim authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) when this was not the case; whether the FCA has taken any action against that firm, its shareholders or directors; and what assessment they have made of whether that firm continued to raise mon… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Palmer to ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what was the total cost of providing new uniforms for parliamentary security staff; and what proportion of that cost was paid by the House of Lords.  HL17424

Lord Sheikh to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current status of indefinite conscription in Eritrea.  HL17425

Lord Sheikh to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the peace deal brokered in 2018 between Eritrea and Ethiopia.  HL17426

Lord Sheikh to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent border closure between Eritrea and Ethiopia.  HL17427

Lord Sheikh to ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance, if any, they are providing to Eritrea and Ethiopia in ratifying a trade agreement.  HL17428

Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to de-escalate tensions with Iran.  HL17429

Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the apprenticeship levy to (1) ensure companies spend more on training, and (2) broaden the levy to include a greater number of companies.  HL17430

Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of a reduction in import tariffs on a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and Canada.  HL17431

Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help increase growth in the UK biotechnology sector after Brexit.  HL17432

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking following reports of an escalation in violence by the Israel Defense Forces and settlers, including an attack on two Palestinian children.  HL17433

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the abuse of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.  HL17434

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) treatment of, and (2) information supplied to, families of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons without charge.  HL17435

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they intend to make to the government of Israel about the reported confiscation of tents and solar panels from Palestinians in Nahalin.  HL17436

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they intend to make to the government of Israel about reports that Palestinian students were detained for celebrating their graduation with fireworks.  HL17437

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 10 July (HL16850), what steps they are taking to ensure the security of the Palestinian population living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as the security of the Israeli population living in that area.  HL17438

Lord Trefgarne to ask Her Majesty's Government how many de-commissioned (1) destroyers, and (2) frigates, remain in the ownership of the Ministry of Defence; and how many of those, if any, could be returned to service.  HL17439

Lord Watson of Invergowrie to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 22 July (HLWS1746), what proportion of the additional cost of the School Teachers' Review Body's recommendation for a 2.75 per cent uplift in all pay ranges and allowances will be met by the Government.  HL17440

Lord Watson of Invergowrie to ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration is given to the effect on the intake of comprehensive secondary schools in the proximity of grammar schools which have successfully applied for satellite expansion under the Selective School Expansion Fund.  HL17441

Lord Watson of Invergowrie to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the full bids of successful applications to the Selective School Expansion Fund; and if not, why not.  HL17442

Lord Watson of Invergowrie to ask Her Majesty's Government what safeguards are in place to prevent selective schools and their local authorities increasing the proportion of pupils passing the 11-plus test by lowering the pass mark in order to increase the numbers of pupils meeting the admission criteria for selective state schools.  HL17443

Lord Watson of Invergowrie to ask Her Majesty's Government what safeguards are in place to ensure that pupils born in the summer are not disadvantaged in the 11-plus tests for entry to selective state schools.  HL17444

Lord Watson of Invergowrie to ask Her Majesty's Government what are the progress rates of pupils in non-selective secondary schools in Buckinghamshire, Kent and Lincolnshire compared to pupils in selective schools in those areas; and what assessment they have made of that data.  HL17445