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House of Lords Business

See what is going on in the House of Lords today, as well as what has happened since June 1998. This includes the relevant Order Paper, Minutes of Proceedings, questions tabled and edition of House of Lords Business. These documents can also all be downloaded.

Questions for Written Answer for 23 March 2021

Tabled on 22 March 2021 and due for answer by 7 April 2021.

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to replace the eTwinning scheme, which ended when they withdrew from the Erasmus+ programme.  HL14427
Answered
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prevent the deaths of (1) birds, and (2) non-target species, in glue traps; and what consideration they have given to a potential ban on the sale of such traps.  HL14428
Answered
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Global Future Silenced Voices, published on 10 March; and what plans they have to help community language teaching (1) recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) increase.  HL14429
Answered
Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury to ask Her Majesty's Government when is the earliest date that applicants can expect to receive funding from the SME Brexit Support Fund.  HL14430
Answered
Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits to businesses of receiving funding from the SME Brexit Support Fund (1) at any time, and (2) after the impending import process changes.  HL14431
Answered
Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury to ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is provision for SME Brexit Support Fund grants to be applied retroactively to cover adjustments put in place by businesses before the funding became available.  HL14432
Answered
Lord Bradley to ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were released from prison while serving a determinate sentence of 20 years or more in the last year that figures are available; and of these, how many have subsequently been recalled to custody.  HL14433
Answered
Lord Bradley to ask Her Majesty's Government how many people currently in prison serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence who have spent a total period of 10 years or more in custody have been (1) unreleased, and (2) recalled.  HL14434
Answered
Lord Bradley to ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners currently sentenced to imprisonment for public protection were convicted of theft.  HL14435
Answered
Lord Bradley to ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were released from prison in the last year that figures are available while serving (1) a life sentence, or (2) an imprisonment for public protection sentence, having spent at least 10 years in custody; and of these, how many have subsequently been recalled to custody.  HL14436
Answered
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Royal College of Emergency’s Medicine’s call to (1) restore bed capacity to pre-COVID levels, and (2) provide an additional 9,429 hospital beds, as set out in their letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 1 March.  HL14437
Answered
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand same-day emergency care to all emergency departments in England; and what the timescales are for any such plans.  HL14438
Answered
Lord Goodlad to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expedite the re-opening of Hammersmith Bridge.  HL14439
Answered
Baroness Hodgson of Abinger to ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made regarding the consultation on coronial investigations of stillbirths since it closed on 18 June 2019.  HL14440
Answered
Baroness Hodgson of Abinger to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they conducted a consultation to inform their actions pursuant to section 3 of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc.) Act 2019; and if so, what the outcome of the consultation was.  HL14441
Answered
Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prioritise the use of videophones by prisoners with children while family visits are not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and what plans they have for similar prioritisation for prisoners held at long-distance from their families when the restrictions in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic have ended.  HL… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to establish a permanent naval force in the (1) Indian, and (2) Pacific, oceans; if so, where they intend to establish dockyards to conduct repairs for those forces; and whether such forces would be protected by permanent air defences.  HL14443
Answered
Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of lifting the cap on the number of Trident nuclear warheads the UK can stockpile with their obligations under Article 6 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; and what effect they expect this action to have on nuclear disarmament.  HL14444
Answered
Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Zimbabwe about (1) the release, or (2) the trial, of Joanna Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova.  HL14445
Answered
Lord Judd to ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Zimbabwe about the human rights situation in that country; and in particular, about (1) reports of corruption and abuse of state funds, and (2) the continued incarceration of Joanna Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova.  HL14446
Answered
Lord Judd to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking within appropriate multilateral institutions to develop a strategic response to the proliferation of cruise missiles (1) to foster maximum transparency, and (2) to develop a coherent safeguarding approach within arms control arrangements.  HL14447
Answered
Baroness Kennedy of Cradley to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the political and economic situation in Rwanda.  HL14448
Answered
Baroness Kennedy of Cradley to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the political and economic situation in Niger.  HL14449
Answered
Lord Kennedy of Southwark to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce mandatory five yearly electrical safety checks in the social rented sector.  HL14450
Answered
Lord Kennedy of Southwark to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of electrical safety issues in local authority housing stock.  HL14451
Answered
Lord Lee of Trafford to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar on 10 March (HL13677), what assessment NHS England & Improvement has made of the impact on the mental health of prisoners of being confined to their cells for 23 hours a day or more.  HL14452
Answered
Lord Myners to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 17 December 2020 (HL11087), what assessment they have made of whether it would now be a good use of public resources to publish the names of those firms borrowing under Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and Bounce Back Loan Scheme.  HL14453
Answered
Lord Pearson of Rannoch to ask the Senior Deputy Speaker,  further to the ‘Valuing Everyone’ training session for Peers on the morning of 16 March, whether describing a female over the age of 14 as a ‘girl’ rather than a ‘lady’ in the course of their parliamentary duties would constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Lords; and if so, what the penalty… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Pearson of Rannoch to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the activities of the European Institute for Human Sciences in respect of any risk to (1) UK national security, and (2) the incidence of anti-Semitism.  HL14455
Answered
Lord Pearson of Rannoch to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the activities of the Islamic Online University in respect of any risk to (1) UK national security, and (2) the incidence of Islamist radicalisation in the UK.  HL14456
Answered
Lord Pearson of Rannoch to ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made, if any, of the threat to national security posed by the preacher Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips.  HL14457
Answered
Baroness Randerson to ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, about listing the Six Nations Rugby Championship as a Group A sporting event under broadcasting regulations.  HL14458
Answered
Baroness Randerson to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their decision to alter the grant scheme for plug-in electric vehicles, announced on 18 March, on demand for electric vehicles from (1) private individuals, and (2) fleet purchasers; and what further financial encouragement they intend to provide to fleet purchasers in order to meet the Government… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to tailor their approach to BAME communities to aid uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.  HL14460
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the measures (1) in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) aimed at minimising the impact of COVID-19 among BAME communities.  HL14461
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of their guidance (1) about the restrictions in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) to promote uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among BAME communities; and what plans they have to adapt future measures in response to any such assessment.  HL14462
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with community-based organisations about supporting BAME communities to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  HL14463
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps (1) they have taken, and (2) they intend to take, to address the level of (a) domestic abuse, (b) violence against women and girls, (c) hate crime, (d) online hate, and (e) online radicalisation, experienced by BAME communities.  HL14464
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by Lord Macdonald of River Glaven of their decision to cut the level of foreign aid spending to 0.5 per cent of the national income.  HL14465
Answered
Lord Roberts of Llandudno to ask Her Majesty's Government which political parties have claimed (1) furlough payments, or (2) other emergency funding related to the COVID-19 pandemic, since March 2020; and what amount was paid to each one.  HL14466
Answered
Lord Sikka to ask Her Majesty's Government on what dates capital adequacy and stress tests were carried out on Greensill Capital; and what the outcome was of those checks.  HL14467
Answered
Lord Sikka to ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of businesses subject to pre-pack administration survive longer than (1) five years, (2) 10 years, and (3) 15 years.  HL14468
Answered
Lord Sikka to ask Her Majesty's Government what record they have of (1) letters, (2) emails, (3) phone calls, (4) text messages, and (5) other communications, from former Prime Minister David Cameron to officials in (a) the Treasury, and (b) the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in connection with Greensill Capital.  HL14469
Answered
Lord Sikka to ask Her Majesty's Government on what dates capital adequacy and stress tests were carried out by the UK Gambling Commission on Football Index; and what the outcome was of those checks.  HL14470
Answered
Lord Sikka to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the tax tribunal judgment in Odey Asset Management LLP and others v HMRC [2021] UKFTT 31 (TC), what penalties have been levied upon Ogier Trustee (Jersey) Limited.  HL14471
Answered
Lord Sikka to ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Jersey Gambling Commission regarding capital adequacy and stress tests carried out on Football Index.  HL14472
Answered
Lord Smith of Finsbury to ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with the Victoria and Albert Museum about securing for the Theatre & Performance Collection (1) expert custodianship, and (2) continued safe access for (a) researchers, and (2) other members of the public.  HL14473
Answered
Lord Smith of Finsbury to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on research outcomes of using funds from UK Research and Innovation to contribute to Horizon Europe.  HL14474
Answered
Lord Storey to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the work of the Black Swimming Association; and what steps they intend to take in response to the finding by Sport England’s Active Lives Survey, published in October 2020, that (1) 95 per cent of Black adults, (2) 80 percent of Black children, (3) 95 percent of Asian adults, and (4) 78 per cent… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Learning and Work Institute Disconnected? Exploring the digital skills gap, published on 22 March; and what steps they are taking to encourage more young people to enrol in further education IT courses.  HL14476
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the survey by takepayments, published in February, which found that 30 per cent of small businesses have had to let staff go due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  HL14477
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact the revised tax legislation which takes effect next month will have on the ability of HGV drivers to remain self-employed.  HL14478
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce delays to court cases arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.  HL14479
Answered
Lord Truscott to ask the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, further to the remarks by the Leader of the House of Commons on 11 March (HC Deb, col 1006), what discussions they have had with him about reports of the costs of the refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster; and whether they have any plans to review (1) the feasibility, or (2) the affordability, of the refurbishment.  H… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
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Item that is new or altered.
* Item is an oral question.
Numbers starting HL are unique identifiers for written questions, Bills or papers.