Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what definitions they use for the purpose of assessing health and welfare needs for (1) severe disability, (2) long-term disability, and (3) terminal illness.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Other than the definition for people who are terminally ill, there is no common definition used for assessing health and welfare needs. What is meant by “severe disability” and/or “long-term disability” will be specific to the benefits or schemes which apply them and could be defined in the legislation applicable and/or the guidance available. The definition of whether a person is “terminally ill” is that they “suffer from a progressive disease and their death in consequence of that disease can reasonably be expected within 6 months.”
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people diagnosed with COVID-19 on admission to hospital have died while still an in-patient after 28 days.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Public Health England does not collect the data in the format requested.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to respond to the Report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review First Do No Harm, published on 8 July.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The recommendations of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review are being considered carefully.
The Government will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to amend the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice to comply with the judgment in the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v. MM case so that there is no longer a presumption that welfare deputyship by relatives should be restricted to people with learning disabilities and autism.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The statutory Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) Code of Practice provides practical guidance on the operation of the MCA, including on when the Court of Protection may appoint a deputy to make decisions on behalf of and in the best interests of someone who lacks capacity to make those decisions. The Code is currently under review, to establish the extent to which it should be revised to reflect changes in case law and lessons learned through practical use of the code since its publication in 2007. We sought input from a range of interested stakeholders through a call for evidence in spring 2019 and propose to consult on a revised Code in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to enhance police inspection powers in respect of mobile scrap metal dealers and collectors.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The police have powers to check and inspect scrap metal dealer sites and to verify mobile collectors’ licenses. We do not have any plans to change these powers, although we shall continue to work with the police and other partners through the National Metal Theft Working Group to ensure that the police and local authorities have the powers they need to ensure that those who trade and deal in scrap metal are fully compliant with the legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for standardising licence and fee arrangements across England and Wales applying to dealers in scrap metals.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The licensing fee charged to scrap metal dealers is set by each local authority on a cost recovery basis, to provide them with the funding they need to administer their licensing arrangements and to ensure compliance. While we are looking at the issue of licensing as part of the current review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, it will be important to ensure that the arrangements continue to meet the costs of local authorities in administering their licensing arrangements.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how the enforcement rules preventing cash payments for scrap metal might be improved.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
It is an offence under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 to buy scrap metal for cash and this is an important part of the regulatory regime for the scrap metal industry. We shall continue to work with the police and other partners through the National Metal Theft Working Group to see what further action can be taken to deal with those rogue dealers who flout the law and pay cash for scrap metal.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, what action they intend to take.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We are currently considering the responses submitted by a range of interested partners to inform our review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013. We will publish a report with our findings shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that local authorities submit accurate, up-to-date information to the Environment Agency on licence holders subject to the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The role of the Environment Agency is to publish the information supplied by local councils in the public register, as required by the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013. The Environment Agency aims at making it as simple as possible for councils to provide that information, including engaging with them on how to best submit data to the public register.
The Electronic Public Register currently hosts data for 310 of 326 local councils across England.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which NATO countries reimburse costs from their overseas aid budget to their defence budget when their military are deployed internationally on humanitarian exercises.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
In the UK, Humanitarian and disaster-relief operations are the only activity area in support of international development where the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is formally reimbursed from the overseas aid budget. We do not hold information on transfers between overseas aid and defence budgets in other NATO countries. Reporting on how NATO countries spend Official Development Assistance (ODA) is done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC). The OECD-DAC publish project level information on spend by all donor members, including NATO countries, on their website (wwww.oecd.org/dac/stats/). This includes data on humanitarian assistance spending, which may or may not be partially reimbursed from defence budgets.