Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Egypt regarding the investigation carried out by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in January 2024 which reported that refugees from Gaza are denied entry to Egypt unless they buy a permit.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Egyptian borders are a matter for the Egyptian government. We maintain a close dialogue with Egypt on a range of issues relating to the conflict in Gaza and strongly support the efforts led by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. It is a ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages and a long-term political solution that offer the best hope of alleviating the suffering of civilians in Gaza and deliver a permanent and sustainable peace.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of the Law Regarding the Asylum of Foreigners (Law No. 164 of 2024), enacted by the Parliament of Egypt in December 2024, on Egypt's obligations under international refugee and human rights laws.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to working with the Government of Egypt to ensure that the application of its new asylum law adheres to international standards when it is implemented. Officials at our Embassy in Cairo are regularly engaging with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to this end. The UK advocates for the implementation of the rights guaranteed by Egypt's constitution.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to penalise universities that fail to counter antisemitism in their institutions.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
As autonomous, self-governing institutions, universities should have robust policies and procedures in place to ensure that they deal with any incidents of racial and religious hatred decisively and take concerted action to prevent and tackle antisemitism on campus.
The Office for Students (OfS) introduced a new registration condition in July 2024 that will come into force on 1 August 2025 and covers incidents of harassment and sexual misconduct that affect students. It will establish regulatory requirements around training, reporting mechanisms and provision of support and will require universities to develop the capability and resource capacity to implement them. The OfS will be able to take action against providers where there is, or has been, a breach of this condition.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have raised concerns with the United National Human Rights Council about the proportionality of its standing agenda item 7 with regard to Israel.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has regularly raised concerns at the Human Rights Council about the proportionality of the standing agenda item 7 with regards to Israel. Most recently, at an Interactive Dialogue on the Occupied Palestinian Territories on 25 February, we said that 'the UK is opposed to the existence of item 7. The UK wants to see all countries face appropriate scrutiny of their human rights record but opposes the disproportionate focus of this item'.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to appoint a Chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
An interim Chair of the Committee, Isabel Doverty, was appointed on 1 April 2025 by the Prime Minister. Ministers are considering options for the recruitment of a permanent Chair to lead ACOBA.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many competitions for public appointments have been paused before completion since 9 July 2024; what are the reasons for pausing these processes; and when they will be resumed.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The public appointments digital system, run by the Cabinet Office, enables departments to effectively and consistently manage their public appointment campaigns. It shows the current stage of a campaign and the outcome when completed. However, the system does not record if a campaign has been paused, and where campaigns are paused, the Cabinet Office does not collect the reasons for this or data on when such campaigns might be resumed. That would be a matter for individual sponsor departments and their ministers as part of the normal day-to-day management of the recruitment campaigns they run.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to continue the process for appointing new members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission; and whether the appointment criteria have changed.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Ministers are in the process of considering the next steps for this campaign.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of non-democratic states currently serving on the United Nations Human Rights Council and of their record of upholding human rights.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UN Human Rights Council members are elected by the entire UN membership, based on an equitable geographic distribution of seats. We expect all Human Rights Council members to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 15 April (HL6489), who were the experts consulted on the reliability of the Gaza Ministry of Health's fatality figures.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Over the last 18 months, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has consulted experts, including from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Every Casualty Counts, and interrogates relevant research. Experts assess that the total number of deaths in Gaza since 7 October 2023 estimated by the Gaza Ministry of Health is a reasonable figure, and likely to be an underestimate.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what authority The Royal Parks closed Victoria Tower Gardens on 23 April for the 80th Anniversary National Holocaust Commemoration.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Access and usage of Victoria Tower Gardens is managed by the Royal Parks under its Contract for Services with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We do not have any plans to restrict future closures of Victoria Tower Gardens.
Holocaust commemoration events have historically been held at the existing Holocaust Memorial in Hyde Park. Further to the previous agreement to use Victoria Tower Gardens for the Yom HaShoah commemorations in 2024, the Royal Parks sought the department’s views on the continued use of the Gardens on behalf of the event organisers. DCMS agreed to the continued use of Victoria Tower Gardens for commemoration of the 80th Anniversary National Holocaust Commemoration, Yom HaShoah, on 23rd April 2025.