House of Lords Business

Lord Allen of Kensington to ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan for the Institute for Apprenticeships to take on responsibility for the new T level qualifications.  HL6734

Lord Allen of Kensington to ask Her Majesty's Government to what extent they envisage that Trailblazer groups of employers will be used to inform the development of core content for T level qualifications.  HL6735

Lord Allen of Kensington to ask Her Majesty's Government to what extent they envisage that digital skills, English, maths and literacy will be included in the core content for T level qualifications.  HL6736

Lord Allen of Kensington to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the apprenticeship levy on training and apprenticeships in the creative industries.  HL6737

Lord Allen of Kensington to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support micro-businesses in the creative industries in providing apprenticeships.  HL6738

Lord Allen of Kensington to ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of existing training activity that companies will be able to re-badge into level 2 apprenticeships in order to comply with new regulations.  HL6739

Baroness Altmann to ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to receive the final report from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation relating to the extension of HPV vaccination to adolescent boys.  HL6740

Baroness Altmann to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have taken legal advice relating to whether the failure to vaccinate all young boys against HPV virus constitutes discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 or other equality legislation.  HL6741

Baroness Altmann to ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of (1) employees, and (2) other workers, in the UK who earn less than the personal tax threshold in any one job; and of those, how many are (a) male, and (b) female.  HL6742

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what information they have, if any, regarding the whereabouts and well-being of Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin, a Chinese Catholic Bishop detained by Chinese police; and when they last raised with the government of China the obligations of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, concerning freedom of religion or be… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government whether any British companies are receiving export credit guarantees for undertaking work in Sudan; and if so, which, and in what work they are engaged.  HL6744

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what was their response to (1) the reported arrest in Sudan, since 2011, of nearly 200 Christian leaders, (2) the reported demolition or partial demolition of 20 churches in Sudan, (3) the reported refusal of the Sudanese authorities to provide permits for the replacement of those churches, and (4) the statement of the former… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2017, published by Transparency International, which states that among 180 countries assessed Sudan is in 175th place; and how they plan to ensure that, in such a climate, increased bilateral aid will benefit the average Sudanese citizen.  HL6746

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings, reported by Klaas van Dijken and Abdulmoniem Suleiman in January, that key individuals in the government of Sudan are complicit in people smuggling and trafficking; what is their assessment of the extent to which the €100 million EU development package given to Sudan to tackle t… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the arrest in China of seven North Korean refugees who were en route to South Korea; and whether they have made any representations on behalf of those individuals to the government of China, including raising the risks to the escapees of repatriation, and encouraging safe passage to South Kor… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Bassam of Brighton to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 28 March (HL6432 and 6433), whether they intend the detailed questions contained and unanswered in the reply to be covered by the inquiry currently being undertaken by Sir Martin Moore-Bick.  HL6749

Lord Berkeley to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to ensure that the Pendolino trains currently operating on the West Coast Main Line will be able to operate on the HS2 line, at least during times of maintenance or disruption of the West Coast Main Line.  HL6750

Lord Bradshaw to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 27 March (HL6439), what guarantees they have that the Bus Service Operators Grant funding devolved to local authorities is actually spent on bus services; and to what extent local authorities are allowed to use the grant as a substitute for money that they previously spent on supportin… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Doocey to ask Her Majesty's Government how many Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders have been (1) applied for, and (2) granted, since the introduction of those orders.  HL6752

Baroness Doocey to ask Her Majesty's Government how many times the defence set out in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 has been applied.  HL6753

The Lord Bishop of Ely to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to improve recruitment and retention of teachers in small rural schools.  HL6754

Lord Grocott to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 13 March (HL5787), whether they will now answer the question asked, namely how many police officers have been recruited via the Direct Entry Superintendents Scheme in each year since that Scheme was introduced.  HL6755

Lord Grocott to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 13 March (HL5787), what were the occupational backgrounds of those police officers recruited via the Direct Entry Superintendents Scheme in each year since that Scheme was introduced.  HL6756

Lord Grocott to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 13 March (HL5787), what has been the cost to date of (1) recruiting, and (2) training, police officers recruited via the Direct Entry Superintendents Scheme since that Scheme was introduced.  HL6757

Baroness Helic to ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take in response to the finding by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, published on 11 March, that rape and other acts of sexual violence carried out by government forces in Syria amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity; and whether they intend to seek to refe… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Helic to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they recognise the perpetration and commission of war crimes, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, committed by parties to the Syrian conflict, as recommended in article 136 of the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic published on 11 March.  HL6759

Baroness Helic to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to provide (1) expertise to assist in the preservation and documentation of evidence relating to sexual violence in the Syrian conflict, and (2) funding for psychological support programmes for survivors of sexual violence, as recommended by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Rep… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Helic to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Ali Mamlouk, Director of the Syrian National Security Bureau, visited Rome in January in contravention of EU sanctions; what representations they have made to the government of Italy in that regard; and whether Mr Mamlouk has made any visit to the UK since being placed on the list of EU r… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger to ask Her Majesty's Government whether there will be a focus on the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London in April.  HL6762

Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to lay before Parliament the statutory instruments necessary to implement the European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Work in Fishing Convention) Order 2018; and whether they intend that those statutory instruments should be approved by both Houses before the UK leaves the EU.  HL6763

Baroness Lister of Burtersett to ask Her Majesty's Government how they will estimate the earnings of self-employed people for the purposes of calculating entitlement to free school meals.  HL6764

Baroness Lister of Burtersett to ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual cost of extending free school meals to all children in families on Universal Credit over and above that of the proposed income threshold scheme, broken down by costs for (1) free school meals, and (2) the pupil premium.  HL6765

Baroness Lister of Burtersett to ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the administrative costs associated with the proposed income threshold for assessing eligibility for free school meals; and what is their estimate of the administrative cost if entitlement were extended to all children in families on Universal Credit.  HL6766

Lord Marlesford to ask Her Majesty's Government how many deaths of people serving custodial sentences there have been in each of the last five years; and for each year, how many of those deaths were the result of (1) suicide, (2) violence, and (3) natural causes.  HL6767

Lord Marlesford to ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total taxable income of UK farmers in each of the last ten years; and in each of those years, what were the total payments received by UK farmers from the EU Common Agricultural Policy.  HL6768

Lord Marlesford to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to monitor the risk exposure of local authorities acting as property developers and commercial landlords with the primary aim of generating income, as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee in their report Financial Sustainability of Local Authorities (HC708), published in November 2016.  HL6… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Marlesford to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which access to funds from the Public Works Loan Board by local authorities for the purpose of investing in commercial properties is compliant with the provisions of the Prudential Code relating to the activities of public bodies.  HL6770

Lord Marlesford to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to prosecute British citizens who have travelled to the Middle East to take part in military operations of the Islamic State; and whether they will do so in cases where those citizens are regarded as posing little or no national security concern.  HL6771

Lord Marlesford to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to arrange for all persons serving custodial sentences for terrorist offences to receive copies of the judgment of Mr Justice Haddon-Cave when he sentenced Ahmed Hassan to a minimum of 34 years in prison for attempted murder for planting a bomb on a tube train at Parsons Green.  HL6772

Lord Myners to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will instruct the Insolvency Service to publish its report into the collapse of BHS.  HL6773

Lord Naseby to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 10 October 2017 (HL Deb, col 101), whether they will publish their review of the UK's disaster relief operations in the Caribbean following Hurricane Irma; and if so, when.  HL6774

Lord Naseby to ask Her Majesty's Government whether, when preparing the tender documents for the new UK passport, they were aware that French passports are exclusively printed by a state organisation, and that British printers are therefore excluded from any opportunity to bid for a French passport production contract.  HL6775

The Lord Bishop of St Albans to ask Her Majesty's Government in how many cases during 2017 the Forced Marriage Unit provided advice or support related to possible forced marriage to (1) a person aged 15 or under, and (2) a person aged 16 or 17.  HL6776

Viscount Waverley to ask Her Majesty's Government what their freeze and seize programme consists of; when it will be implemented; how; and which Government department will lead on delivery of that programme.  HL6777

Viscount Waverley to ask Her Majesty's Government what coordination exists between NATO partners and those Eastern European nations most vulnerable to cyber-attacks and hybrid threats.  HL6778

Viscount Waverley to ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have conducted with the government of Estonia to learn from recent hybrid threat activities targeting that state, to help prevent further hybrid threats against the UK.  HL6779

Viscount Waverley to ask Her Majesty's Government what provision is in place to allow Five Eyes nations to contribute support to one another (1) in preparation for, and (2) in the event of, a hybrid threat materialising.  HL6780

Viscount Waverley to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to proactively engage and collaborate further with the private sector in the prevention of, and action against, hybrid threats, to combat critical skill shortages and bring in further expertise; and if so, how.  HL6781

Viscount Waverley to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to train and use reservists in both the public and private sectors to deal with hybrid threats.  HL6782

Baroness Whitaker to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 20 February (HL Deb, col 14), what assessment they have made of how the partnership with five major cities to drive up apprenticeships among under-represented groups will affect the Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities; and what support will be given to those whose literacy n… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Whitaker to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 5 February (HL4901), how many Gypsies and Travellers were not in employment, education or training (1) 3 months, (2) 6 months, and (3) 12 months, after having completed an apprenticeship, in each academic year from 2011.  HL6784

Baroness Whitaker to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that the UK should “develop a comprehensive strategy, in consultation with members of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities” to improve outcomes in housing and employment.  HL6785