House of Lords Business

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Bethell on 24 July (HL Deb, cols 2475–98), whether they will now answer the question put by Lord Alton of Liverpool about the pausing of lockdown easements in Blackburn; what assessment they have made of the number of COVID-19 infections there; what progress they have made in containing the incre… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 22 July (HL6754), whether any agencies or other departments, including, but not limited to, the Armed Forces and security services, have undertaken any assessment of the recent statements made by Dr Li-Meng Yan about (1) the origins of COVID-19, and (2) the response of the Wor… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what are (1) the sources, and (2) the amounts, of funding received by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in the latest financial year for which figures are available; what steps they plan to take to ensure that funding is made available through that Foundation to promote democratic engagement in Hong Kong; what plans th… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that members of the board of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy are not compromised in that role by association with states whose governments (1) are undemocratic, and (2) fail to adhere to legally-binding international treaties to which they are party.  HL7316

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether they have sufficient powers under the new Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Visa scheme to prevent the benefits of the scheme being enjoyed by individuals who have (1) participated in, (2) planned, or (3) encouraged, the perpetration of human rights abuses in Hong Kong.  HL7317

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Suffering of the Faithful – the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims and the rise of international extremism, published on 20 July; and what steps they are taking to address the recommendations of that report… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in establishing how BT verify Huawei’s denials of (1) the use of slave labour, and (2) the use of Huawei technology in oppressing Uighur people.  HL7319

Lord Beecham to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the availability of childcare provision; and what steps they propose to take to mitigate that impact on service providers and those dependent on such provision.  HL7320

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that all firms based in, and selling products in, the UK comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in conducting due diligence on the impact of the products they sell.  HL7321

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they are making, as hosts of COP26, to ensure that participants are able to travel to the conference in the lowest-carbon manner possible, including by (1) train from all parts of Europe, and (2) by sleeper trains.  HL7322

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to set the Adoption Support Fund on a stable basis rather than making year-by-year announcements; whether they will consider lifting the cap for individual support above £5,000; and whether they plan to extend their support to respite care and psychological support for parents, on the same basis… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage and support firms in reducing working hours in an equitable manner while avoiding redundancies, on a model similar to the German Kurzarbeit scheme.  HL7324

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist and support new small independent businesses to start up to cater for the needs of the increasing numbers of home workers across the UK.  HL7325

Lord Berkeley to ask Her Majesty's Government whether a full and independent engineering review has been carried out to assess the (1) construction, and (2) whole life costs, of the (a) Wendover Short Mined Tunnel proposal, and (b) current HS2 Phase One above surface route proposals at Wendover.  HL7326

Lord Bradshaw to ask Her Majesty's Government whether any consultation took place with (1) the Health and Safety Executive, and (2) the Office for Rail and Road, before the decision was made to increase the basic speed limit at which motorists can drive through roadworks; and what assessment they have made of the ability to enforce speed limits at such sites.  HL7327

Lord Browne of Belmont to ask Her Majesty's Government how many DNA profiles of individuals not convicted of any crime have been added to the National DNA Database since 2015.  HL7328

Lord Browne of Belmont to ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the current steps being taken to tackle money laundering in the UK.  HL7329

Lord Browne of Belmont to ask Her Majesty's Government how many armed forces veterans are currently serving a custodial sentence.  HL7330

Lord Browne of Belmont to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assess the merits of sharing details of service personnel leaving the armed forces with veterans' charities.  HL7331

Lord Browne of Belmont to ask Her Majesty's Government how many adjudications related to incidences of violence against prison staff there were in each year since 2014; and how many of those incidences resulted in additional days being added to a prisoner's sentence.  HL7332

Lord Browne of Belmont to ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many prison staff have been tested for COVID-19; and (2) how many prisoners in all prisons have been tested for COVID-19.  HL7333

Lord Chidgey to ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the reduction in the annual UK aid budget as a result of the reduction in the UK Gross National Income due to the economic impact of COVID-19.  HL7334

Lord Chidgey to ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the proportion of the UK aid budget now spent outside of the Department for International Development.  HL7335

Lord Chidgey to ask Her Majesty's Government what management and oversight precautions, if any, they are putting in place to (1) increase accountability of aid spending; and (2) prevent non-attributable day-to-day spending being re-badged as aid.  HL7336

Lord Chidgey to ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in redirecting aid programmes in each relevant country in Africa through (1) their country programmes, (2) multilateral programmes, and (3) the World Food Programme; and for full details in each case.  HL7337

Lord Chidgey to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the extensive flooding across East Africa and the Horn of Africa in the context of the UK aid programme.  HL7338

The Earl of Clancarty to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for School Standards on 24 July (HC75223), whether new guidance will allow private music educators to resume the teaching of (1) face to face singing, (2) woodwind instruments, and (3) brass instruments.  HL7339

The Earl of Clancarty to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that there is full consultation across the performing arts sector on any Government-commissioned research into managing risks arising from COVID-19 in the performing arts.  HL7340

The Earl of Clancarty to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expand the provision of communications technology and broadband so that children will have access to online music education regardless of their socio-economic background or special educational needs.  HL7341

The Earl of Clancarty to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage all schools, regardless of management or funding, to maintain their commitment to music education (1) through the COVID-19 recovery and catch-up period, and (2) in the long term.  HL7342

The Earl of Clancarty to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to further update the list of online education resources for home learning published on 7 April to include arts subjects, such as art and design and music.  HL7343

The Earl of Clancarty to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that a future agreement with the EU on mode 4 (temporary entry for business purposes) is extended under a free trade agreement to enable touring musicians, their crew, technical staff and entourage to travel between the UK and the EU for short periods of time.  HL7344

Lord Clement-Jones to ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total spent by Government departments on Facebook advertising in the past year; and whether they have plans to join a boycott of major advertisers pending Facebook’s change of policy on hate speech and disinformation.  HL7345

Lord Collins of Highbury to ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Adolescent Girls' Education and Empowerment programme planned by the Department for International Development will still take place.  HL7346

Lord Curry of Kirkharle to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 29 June (HL5836), what progress they have made in identifying NGOs who are running effective programmes to deter attacks on (1) farming communities, and (2) religious minorities, in Nigeria.  HL7347

Lord Curry of Kirkharle to ask Her Majesty's Government when they last made representations to the government of Nigeria about the abduction of Leah Sharibu; and what response they received.  HL7348

Lord Foster of Bath to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 31 March (HL2935), when they will publish the membership of each of the 17 Expert Trade Advisory Groups; and why the membership has not been published to date.  HL7349

Lord Foster of Bath to ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings there have been of each of the 17 Expert Trade Advisory Groups, either in person or virtually; on what dates these meetings were held; and what plans there are for further meetings of each group.  HL7350

Lord Greaves to ask Her Majesty's Government whether having (1) settled status, or (2) pre-settled status, is a sufficient qualification for an application for a student loan; and if not, why not.   HL7351

Lord Greaves to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the written answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 20 July (HL6513), whether (1) the funding allocated for shovel-ready schemes will include the planned work at Earby and the phase 3 scheme at Wentcliffe Beck, and (2) the planned stakeholder roundtable on flood defence schemes will include representatives from Earby.  … Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Greaves to ask Her Majesty's Government whether people who have been granted pre-settled status can remain in the United Kingdom with this status for five years, or whether they need to apply for settled status as soon as they become eligible; and, if the former, whether it is five years from the date they were granted pre-settled status or from 1 January 2021.  HL7353

Lord Greaves to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to revise the Immigration Rules by spring 2021; and what opportunities there will be for parliamentary scrutiny of any changes.  HL7354

Lord Greaves to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to inform people with pre-settled status that they must apply for settled status before the end of the five-year period of pre-settled status.  HL7355

Lord Grocott to ask Her Majesty's Government how many serving members of the UK armed forces are stationed abroad, listed by country of assignment.  HL7356

Lord Grocott to ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total cost of the work of the four Parliamentary Boundary Commissions, from the passage of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 to the publication of their reports of September 2018.  HL7357

Lord Grocott to ask Her Majesty's Government what are the (1) absolute numbers, and (2) proportions of commuters, travelling into by London by (a) rail including London Underground, (b) bus, (c) car, (d) bicycle, and (e) motor cycle.  HL7358

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to use their powers under section 2(3) of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 to extend reporting requirements to Special Advisors.  HL7359

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to adopt the recommendation in the report by the Group of States against Corruption, Fifth evaluation round - evaluation report - United Kingdom, published on the 17 May 2018, that the scope of the registry of consultant lobbyists be extended to include (1) third parties operatin… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to begin post-legislative scrutiny of Part 1 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.  HL7361

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to ask Her Majesty's Government whether the £143.5 million for NHS legal costs listed on page 18 of the report by NHS Resolution, Annual report and accounts 2019/20, published on 16 July, includes staff costs and office costs incurred in connection with clinical negligence cases.  HL7362

Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote World Day against Trafficking in Persons on 30 July; and what priority they give to trafficking in person in their serious and organised crime policies.  HL7363

Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they, and international fora, have (1) to address climate change and pollution, and (2) to prevent violent conflict and communicable diseases.  HL7364

Lord Jones of Cheltenham to ask Her Majesty's Government on what date the COVID-19 lockdown began in the UK; and under what circumstances they would impose a similar such lockdown in the future.  HL7365

Lord Jones of Cheltenham to ask Her Majesty's Government what is the (1) target, and (2) anticipated, processing time for those applying for indefinite leave to remain in the UK.  HL7366

Lord Jones of Cheltenham to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement on 21 July that public sector workers will receive above inflation pay rises, what assessment they have made of the impact of that announcement on the morale of those public sector healthcare workers who will not be in receipt of such a pay rise.  HL7367

Lord Jones of Cheltenham to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the process for applying for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and what plans they have, if any, to ensure that the process for applying for such leave is adapted to reflect any such disruption.  HL7368

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Align, Hydrogeological and Surface Water Risk Assessment for Load Test Piling Location 2, approved in January 2019, and, in particular, its conclusion that there are no historic sources of contamination present at the London Power Tunnels phase 2 construction site… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to stop scams that aim to defraud customers with the sale of non-existent pets.  HL7370

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley to ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) Google, (2) Twitter, (3) Facebook, and (4) other social media sites, about (a) the action, and (b) the time, those companies take to remove (i) racist, (ii) anti-Semitic, (iii) abusive, (iv) criminal, and (v) illegal, content online.  HL7371

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley to ask Her Majesty's Government what is the size of the tax return backlog; and when they estimate to complete processing those returns.  HL7372

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the fairness of contract terms associated with retirement villages, particularly in respect of assignment fees or event fees that are levied when the property is sold after the owner passes away or moves into long-term care.  HL7373

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quality of service provided by optometrists; and what plans they have to review regulations regarding the provision of such services online and on the high street.  HL7374

Lord Lipsey to ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of how much the increase in daily reported COVID-19 cases can be attributed (1) to increased testing, and (2) to changes in natural prevalence.  HL7375

Lord Moynihan to ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made, if any, on developing a new IT system for pre-lodgement for the wine trade to assist movement through roll-on roll-off ports after 31 December.  HL7376

Lord Moynihan to ask Her Majesty's Government to list the laboratories accredited to provide analysis for consignments of EU wine over 100 litres brought into the UK from 1 January 2021.  HL7377

Lord Moynihan to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to require that all consignments of EU wine over 100 litres brought into the UK from 1 January 2021 are accompanied by both a stamp from a 'competent authority' and an analysis from an accredited laboratory; and, if so, to define what is a 'competent authority' in the context of EU VI-1 forms.  HL7378

Lord Moynihan to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have estimated costs for the laboratory tests required to import EU wine into the UK from 1 January 2021.  HL7379

Lord Moynihan to ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) labelling requirements, (2) tariffs, (3) reimbursements, and (4) processes, will be required for importing EU wine into Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021.  HL7380

Lord Oates to ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Zimbabwe about the detention of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono. [T]  HL7381

Baroness O'Loan to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office on 6 July (HC Deb, col 717), when their public consultation on the use of both sets of abortion pills at home will commence; and how long the consultation will last.  HL7382

Baroness O'Loan to ask Her Majesty's Government what precautions they are taking to ensure that the public consultation on 'at home' abortions does not extend beyond the end date of the temporary order.  HL7383

Baroness O'Loan to ask Her Majesty's Government how many at-home abortions beyond 9 weeks and 6 days have been reported; and what was the gestational age of each, since the temporary order to allow them commenced.  HL7384

Lord Patten to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of (1) the Apostleship of the Sea, (2) the Mission to Seafarers, and (3) other UK based maritime worker welfare charities.  HL7385

Baroness Randerson to ask Her Majesty's Government when they last updated the guidance to local authorities and other providers of public toilets on additional hygiene precautions required during the COVID-19 pandemic; what organisations they consulted before drafting that guidance; and where that guidance is publicly available.  HL7386

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to help tackle the disproportionate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on BAME communities.  HL7387

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with each NHS trust in England about the implementation of the recommendations of Public Health England’s review Beyond the data: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on BAME groups, published in June.  HL7388

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled people; and what plans are in place to aid recovery from that impact.  HL7389

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had, and with whom, about the effect of the withdrawal of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on those with protected characteristics.  HL7390

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of easing COVID-19-related restrictions in England on those who are (1) ill, and (2) disabled.  HL7391

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the suspension of gender pay gap reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic on gender pay gap inequality.  HL7392

Lord Roberts of Llandudno to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of questions for written answer tabled by members of the House of Lords that have not been answered within the required timeframe; and why those questions have not yet received an answer.  HL7393

Lord Roberts of Llandudno to ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that ministerial replies, both oral and written, are fact checked to ensure accuracy.  HL7394

Lord Roberts of Llandudno to ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what arrangements are in place to ensure that House of Lords staff with pre-existing health conditions are protected from COVID-19 if they return to work in the office after the summer recess.  HL7395

Lord Roberts of Llandudno to ask Her Majesty's Government why they decided to resume granting export licences for the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.  HL7396

Lord Roberts of Llandudno to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that anyone appointed to advise them about their policies can be scrutinised by Parliament.  HL7397

Lord Singh of Wimbledon to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to conduct an independent investigation into racism experienced by former Metropolitan Police officer Gurpal Virdi.  HL7398

Lord Singh of Wimbledon to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they undertook a formal investigation into the conduct of those implicated in racism against former Metropolitan Police officer Gurpal Virdi; and if not, why not.  HL7399

Lord Storey to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement on 7 June of grants worth more than £750,000 to help schools and colleges respond to the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing, how many schools have received funding; and how much of that funding each such school has received.  HL7400

Lord Storey to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement on 7 June of a pilot project with the Education Support Partnership to provide online peer support and telephone supervision to school leaders, how many people have accessed support through that scheme.  HL7401

Lord Strasburger to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the positive vetting procedures for ministers and special advisers; and whether any such plans will include a review of the impact of attending events abroad where foreign intelligence agents were also in attendance.  HL7402

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what financial support they plan to give to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew to help it to address any deficit arising as a result of the restrictions put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.  HL7403

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for using the Royal Navy to protect Palestinian fishermen from attacks by the Israeli Navy.  HL7404

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for providing protection for archaeological artefacts in Palestine to ensure that any such artefacts remain under Palestinian ownership.  HL7405

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the decision by the Beersheba District Court to acquit two security officers of causing injury with grave intent in relation to the death of Haftom Zarhum, an Eritrean asylum seeker, was because the judge considered it reasonable for the defendants to have mistaken the deceased for a Pale… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the civil rights of Palestinians living in Israel, in particular in Jisr al-Zarqa.  HL7407

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports (1) that the government of Israel does not have sufficient evidence to convict those who killed Eyad Al-Hallaq, and (2) that no footage has been recovered of the incident from the CCTV cameras or mobile phones in the area.  HL7408

Baroness Verma to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow local authorities to use the remaining funds allocated to support businesses at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown to support businesses that are facing second or local lockdowns.  HL7409

Lord West of Spithead to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Making Tax Digital programme on the productivity of the self-employed.  HL7410

Baroness Whitaker to ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to mark Roma Holocaust Memorial Day on 2 August.  HL7411

Lord Young of Cookham to ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer from Lord True to Lord Norton of Louth on 14 July (HL Deb, col 1546), when the information referred to will be provided to Lord Young of Cookham and Lord Norton of Louth.  HL7412