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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 28 February 2023

Tabled on 27 February 2023 and due for answer by 13 March 2023.

Baroness Altmann to ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to adopt the Competition and Market Authority’s recommendation of December 2018 to make investment consultants advising on pension funds subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority; and if so, when.  HL5877
Answered
Baroness Altmann to ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the regulation of investment consultants for pension fund investors, including the regulation of their net zero and sustainability strategies.  HL5878
Answered
Baroness Altmann to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring forward legislation this year to enable the creation of the new Auditing, Reporting and Governance Authority.  HL5879
Answered
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask His Majesty's Government why CCTV cameras made by Hikvision and Dahua have not yet been removed from UK army bases, following the direction to do so by the Ministry of Defence in November 2021.  HL5880
Answered
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask His Majesty's Government why they proposed an amendment to the Procurement Bill to delete the requirement for a timetable to be set for the removal of Chinese-made security cameras with potential links to slave labour and with implications for national security.  HL5881
Answered
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to prevent British insurance companies from insuring vessels delivering aviation fuel to Myanmar.  HL5882
Answered
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask His Majesty's Government what assistance they provide to Rohingya refugees in Malaysia.  HL5883
Answered
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote a regional fisheries agreement for the South Atlantic.  HL5884
Answered
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that contractors’ staff on British overseas bases have appropriate employment conditions, including a living wage, sick and holiday pay, and employment protections such as those against pregnancy discrimination.  HL5885
Answered
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage a free, fair, and democratic general election in Thailand in May 2023.  HL5886
Answered
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Thailand regarding the treatment of child defendants, particularly with respect to trials under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code.  HL5887
Answered
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect and reassure Thai nationals in the UK given recent attacks in other countries on those seen as critics of the current and former governments of Thailand.  HL5888
Answered
Lord Berkeley to ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to announce the successful bidders for funding support for Phase 3 of the UK’s programme to introduce Global Navigation Satellite System approaches to aerodromes outside of controlled airspace and without an approach control service.  HL5889
Answered
Lord Berkeley to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to re-examine the fairness to UK residents of being restricted to visits to the Schengen area of a total duration of 90 days out of 180, compared to Schengen residents who are allowed 180 days in the UK within a 360 day period; and whether they plan to seek to negotiate a more equitable arrangement for UK residents… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Birt to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to discuss with the United Nations the effectiveness of global contingency planning for major natural disasters.  HL5891
Answered
Lord Birt to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the effectiveness of the provision of high street banking facilities and services (1) for all holders of bank accounts, (2) for those with disabilities, and (3) for those without access to the internet.  HL5892
Answered
Lord Blencathra to ask His Majesty's Government how they expect demand-led pricing will work in the railway sector, given that each rail company has a monopoly on its routes.  HL5893
Answered
Lord Blencathra to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have urgently to rewrite the Highway Code to strengthen the protection of pedestrians from those using bicycles and e-scooters on the pavement.  HL5894
Answered
Lord Blencathra to ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to introduce a new offence of causing death by dangerous cycling, as outlined by the former Secretary of State for Transport on 5 August 2022.  HL5895
Answered
Lord Blencathra to ask His Majesty's Government what are the protocols which determine the appropriateness of arranging a one-to-one meeting for the President of the European Commission with HM The King.  HL5896
Answered
Lord Blencathra to ask His Majesty's Government which official or officials recommended that the President of the European Commission should have a high-level political meeting with HM The King.  HL5897
Answered
Lord Blencathra to ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants who were issued fixed-penalty notices in relation to gatherings in Downing Street that broke the COVID-19 rules, are still working in any of the buildings in Downing Street.  HL5898
Answered
Lord Blunkett to ask His Majesty's Government what their total financial contribution to local authorities in England will be in the financial year 2023–24 for (1) revenue spending, (2) capital investment, and (3) one-off grants, specifically excluding any funding towards local authority expenditure raised locally.  HL5899
Answered
Lord Campbell-Savours to ask His Majesty's Government whether they have issued instructions to any government departments to cease or avoid the use of (1) Hikvision, or (2) Dahua, equipment; and if so, (a) which departments, and (b) with what justification.  HL5900
Answered
Lord Clement-Jones to ask His Majesty's Government whether they will list the name, origin, and provenance of all data fields provided by the Cabinet Office “Gov.UK One Login” to the current “Basic Criminal Records Check Service” regarding an identity verified by (1) passport, and (2) drivers licence; and how long they retain each field after use.  HL5901
Answered
Baroness Coussins to ask His Majesty's Government how they monitor compliance with the 'Guidance for Commissioners: Interpreting and Translation Services in Primary Care', published by NHS England in September 2018.  HL5902
Answered
Lord Davies of Brixton to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 20 February (HL5446), why they do not collect or collate information on unregistered alternative education providers.  HL5903
Answered
Lord Davies of Brixton to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 20 February (HL5450), what assessment they have made, if any, of the accuracy of the information provided through the Schools Census in respect of the usage of unregistered alternative education providers.  HL5904
Answered
Lord Davies of Brixton to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 20 February (HL5445), whether they will publish the responses received to the call for evidence on the use of unregistered alternative education provision, prior to preparation of the commissioned analysis.  HL5905
Answered
Lord Davies of Brixton to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 20 February (HL5445), what enforcement activity they have undertaken in each of the last five years in respect of unregistered alternative education provision against (1) such providers, (2) schools engaging such providers, and (3) local authorities.  HL5906
Answered
Lord Field of Birkenhead to ask His Majesty's Government how many benefit claims were subject to sanctions in the most recent three months for which data is available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the total and average sum of benefit income lost by claimants due to sanctions in each constituency; what was the (1) shortest, (2) average, and (3) longest, l… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Field of Birkenhead to ask His Majesty's Government how many and what proportion of benefit claimants currently under sanction (1) are in paid employment, (2) are receiving hardship payments, (3) have a medical condition, or (4) were in hospital or attending a medical appointment when they were deemed to have failed to comply.  HL5908
Answered
Lord Field of Birkenhead to ask His Majesty's Government how many children are living in households in which a benefit claimant is under sanction.  HL5909
Answered
Lord Field of Birkenhead to ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish their evidence review on the drivers of food bank usage; and whether they have considered the potential merits of including the need to use a food bank, alongside undue hardship, in the criteria which may exempt claimants from having deductions taken from their universal credit claim.  HL5910
Answered
Lord Field of Birkenhead to ask His Majesty's Government how many universal credit claims were subject to deductions in the most recent month for which data is available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the (1) total, and (2) average sum of, deductions in each constituency; what proportion of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments; and how many u… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Field of Birkenhead to ask His Majesty's Government whether all universal credit claimants subject to a deduction are automatically informed of their option to seek a waiver; how many universal credit claimants requested a deductions waiver in the most recent six months for which data is available; and of those requests, what proportion were successful.  HL5912
Answered
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock to ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what is the latest estimate of the cost of the work currently underway at Peers' Entrance; by whom this expenditure was authorised; and what was the cost of the works that required the temporary closure of Peers' Entrance in August and September 2022.  HL5913
Answered
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that the UK maintains a leadership role in the number of phase 1 trials being delivered in the UK, by comparison to international competitors.  HL5914
Answered
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to ask His Majesty's Government why they decided to delay the establishment of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body by six months until October 2023.  HL5915
Answered
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 27 February (HL5458), whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of examples of (1) the YAML specifications, and (2) the Python code, currently used to create or define dashboards within the NHS installation of Palantir Foundry.  HL5916
Answered
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to update the Stamp Duty Reserve Tax legislation so that the growth market exemption applies to regulated recognised growth markets that are not part of a recognised stock exchange.  HL5917
Answered
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether digital asset firms that have left the UK to seek authorisation in other jurisdictions can still serve UK consumers.  HL5918
Answered
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK becomes an attractive jurisdiction for digital assets companies looking to build and scale up their business.  HL5919
Answered
Lord Jackson of Peterborough to ask His Majesty's Government what funding they have provided to the Global Disinformation Index since 2017; and for what purpose they have provided it.  HL5920
Answered
Lord Jackson of Peterborough to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure value for money and propriety in the dispersal of funds to the Global Disinformation Index.  HL5921
Answered
Lord Jones to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for the development of the Wylfa (Ynys Môn) and Trawsfynydd (Gwynedd) nuclear power stations.  HL5922
Answered
Lord Jones to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for establishing of Free Ports in Wales.  HL5923
Answered
Lord Jones to ask His Majesty's Government how many Atlas C.1 (A400M) aircraft are operational in the UK; and whether they have ordered more to be built.  HL5924
Answered
Lord Jones to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to build miniature nuclear power generators in Wales.  HL5925
Answered
Lord Jones to ask His Majesty's Government (1) how much they have spent to date, and (2) how much they plan to spend, on the improvements to the Crewe–Holyhead rail line.  HL5926
Answered
Baroness Lister of Burtersett to ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish a response to the Managing pavement parking consultation, which ran from 31 August 2020 to 22 November 2020; and what assessment they have made of the merits of a ban on pavement parking to make it easier for those with a disability to walk or wheel on pavements.  HL5927
Answered
Baroness Lister of Burtersett to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the views of disabled people are represented in transport policy decisions.  HL5928
Answered
Baroness Lister of Burtersett to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 8 February (HL5087), what evidence sources they are relying on to support their position that there is “clear evidence that it is in the best interest of children to be in working households”.  HL5929
Answered
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering to ask His Majesty's Government what proposals they have to improve access for disabled passengers at Thirsk Station; and what is their timetable for such improvements.  HL5930
Answered
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering to ask His Majesty's Government what is the current level of UK self-sufficiency in fruit and vegetables.  HL5931
Answered
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering to ask His Majesty's Government what is the role of the Grocery Code Adjudicator in investigating unfair practices of supermarkets in relation to small growers of UK fruit and vegetables.  HL5932
Answered
Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on starting an antibody testing pilot study for those who remain vulnerable to poor outcomes from COVID-19 despite vaccination; and when the funding will be confirmed.  HL5933
Answered
Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 6 February (HL5220), what are the processes at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NICE) to assess the study proposal for COVID-19 antibody testing, including its (1) funding, and (2) timetable.  HL5934
Answered
Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 7 February (HL4941), what standards are set for governance and reporting by (1) RAPID C-19, and (2) other Department of Health and Social Care committees; how they are audited against this standard; and how regularly that auditing takes place.  HL5935
Answered
Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 7 February (HL4942) which confirmed that the expert working group established specifically to review Evusheld pre-exposure prophylaxis only met twice, the last meeting being on 19 May 2022, why the parliamentary Written Answers provided from that date until 4 July 2022 refer to asking… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government why Evusheld was not referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) until 10 August 2022 despite the review process starting on 8 June 2022; and how timelines can be tightened in future decision making.  HL5937
Answered
Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 8 February (HL4944), when the clinical advice that was submitted to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) was agreed by the Therapeutics Clinical Review Panel; and what date was that submitted to NICE.  HL5938
Answered
Baroness Merron to ask His Majesty's Government whether, as reported, the upcoming NHS workforce plan will include a doubling of medical school places.  HL5939
Answered
Lord Naseby to ask His Majesty's Government what are their reasons for not entering into a contract with Rolls-Royce on small modular reactors.  HL5940
Answered
Baroness Parminter to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the proposals contained in the Nature recovery green paper: protected sites and species, published on 16 March 2022, what plans they have to reform the designations of protected sites (1) on land, and (2) at sea, including (a) the types of designations, and (b) the overall structure.  HL5941
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of existing laws in preventing the distribution of illegal content, including extreme pornography and prohibited images of children, via online services.  HL5942
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to develop a comprehensive strategy to address fraud and financial crime, particularly that committed against older people.  HL5943
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to ensuring that the Online Safety Bill empowers Ofcom to take action against any online services publishing illegal pornography, regardless of whether that content is user-generated or not.  HL5944
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of violent and abusive online pornography on violence against women and girls.  HL5945
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that violent and abusive pornography that would be prohibited from distribution offline is subject to equivalent controls online.  HL5946
Answered
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government whether the Online Safety Bill will enable the regulator to proactively assess online pornography services' compliance with age-verification requirements.  HL5947
Answered
The Earl of Sandwich to ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government and churches of South Sudan concerning the recent conflict in Abyei; and what steps they will be taking following those discussions.  HL5948
Answered
Baroness Scott of Needham Market to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the consent regime for the installation of solar panels on Listed Buildings.  HL5949
Answered
Lord Shinkwin to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of threat posed by Iran to the Jewish community in the UK.  HL5950
Answered
Lord Shinkwin to ask His Majesty's Government what discussions Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers have had with Home Office Ministers concerning the proscription of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and what the outcome of those discussions was.  HL5951
Answered
Lord Shinkwin to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Hamas has located three rocket launch sites close to schools in Gaza City.  HL5952
Answered
Lord Shinkwin to ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of reports that France seized a shipment of more than 2,000 Iranian assault rifles headed to Houthi groups in Yemen.  HL5953
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the establishment of the new independent football regulator; and what assessment they have made of the impact the regulator will have on the financial stability of English football.  HL5954
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to implement anti-discrimination legislation to help tackle racism in sports.  HL5955
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the difference in the pay scales for adult and children’s social care staff.  HL5956
Answered
Baroness Walmsley to ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of nurses dropped out of (1) all nurse training, (2) paediatric nurse training, (3) adult nurse training, and (4) mental health nurse training, in the most recent year for which figures are available.  HL5957
Answered
Baroness Walmsley to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the proposed establishment of the National Underground Asset Register, what plans they have to put a legal obligation on housebuilders, commercial developers, and individual property owners to register all deep underground obstructions, such as deep foundations, energy piles, and other potential underground obstructions… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Warner to ask His Majesty's Government what arrangements there are for the registration and regulation of private fostering agencies; whether there is a statutory basis for such registration and regulation; and whether other agencies and local authorities are informed of misconduct by an individual foster carer provided by a private fostering agency.  HL5959
Answered
Lord Warner to ask His Majesty's Government what progress Ofsted has made on the (1) registration, (2) regulation and (3) inspection of religious schools such as (a) madrassas, (b) yeshivas, and (c) Sunday schools where concerns have been raised about the appropriateness of the material being taught to children at such places; and what powers Ofsted has to take action, as necessar… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Warner to ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made, if any, in (1) registering, and (2) regulating, the home tuition of children to ensure that they (a) are taught a balanced curriculum, and (b) are able to secure recognised national qualifications.  HL5961
Answered
Viscount Waverley to ask His Majesty's Government, whether they will list the individual regions within the UK they use to determine their strategies for (1) trade and investment, and (2) freight and logistics, sectors; and what is their rationale for selecting those regions.  HL5962
Answered
Baroness Whitaker to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Education Policy Institute report COVID-19 and Disadvantage Gaps in England 2021, published in December 2022, which found that Gypsy and Traveller pupils were the only ethnic groups whose attainment fell further behind in 2021, whether they will extend the Pupil Premium to cover all Gypsy and Traveller pupi… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Baroness Worthington to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Impact Assessment on the Hydrogen Heating Village Grid Conversion Trial which stated that “the trial will largely be funded by Ofgem and BEIS, with some private sector investment", how much of the cost will be paid (1) from public funds, and (2) by billpayers.  HL5964
Answered
Baroness Worthington to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that participants in the hydrogen heating neighbourhood trial and village trial are not disadvantaged by either their participation or their choice of an alternative heating solution; how they will ensure throughout the trial that the financial position of consumers in the trial is no worse t… 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.