Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the statement by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 11 November 2020 (HL Deb, cols 1115–28) on the future of financial services, what plans they have to publish details of the membership of the Green Technical Advisory Group; and when they estimate that Group will complete its work.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government has announced that it will be launching a Green Technical Advisory Group to provide independent advice on how to effectively implement a Green Taxonomy in the UK. This group will be made up of experts drawn from taxonomy users, academia, science, and NGOs. The Green Finance Institute will act as the secretariat for this group. As a first step, the GFI will provide independent advice, in consultation with industry, on the group’s membership and its work plan. we will provide more details on this in due course.
The Government is required to make Technical Screening Criteria (TSC) for climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation no later than 1 January 2023. These TSC will be subject to appropriate, open consultation prior to making.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 11 November 2020 (HL Deb, cols 1115–28) on the future of financial services, what plans they have to consult industry and other interested parties on the technical screening criteria for the UK’s ‘green taxonomy.’
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government has announced that it will be launching a Green Technical Advisory Group to provide independent advice on how to effectively implement a Green Taxonomy in the UK. This group will be made up of experts drawn from taxonomy users, academia, science, and NGOs. The Green Finance Institute will act as the secretariat for this group. As a first step, the GFI will provide independent advice, in consultation with industry, on the group’s membership and its work plan. we will provide more details on this in due course.
The Government is required to make Technical Screening Criteria (TSC) for climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation no later than 1 January 2023. These TSC will be subject to appropriate, open consultation prior to making.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the National Institute for Health Research about commissioning research into how many people with terminal illnesses die as a result of suicide per year.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any specific research into how many people with terminal illnesses die as a result of suicide per year, but welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The Office for National Statistics is unable to collect data on suicide where a terminally ill person has taken their own life, as information on the deceased’s terminal illness is not generally recorded
Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Office for National Statistics about commissioning research into how many people with terminal illnesses die as a result of suicide per year.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any specific research into how many people with terminal illnesses die as a result of suicide per year, but welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The Office for National Statistics is unable to collect data on suicide where a terminally ill person has taken their own life, as information on the deceased’s terminal illness is not generally recorded
Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to undertake a “deep dive” study into drug-related deaths and suicides in order to establish the number of people with terminal illnesses who die as a result of suicide.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any specific research into how many people with terminal illnesses die as a result of suicide per year, but welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The Office for National Statistics is unable to collect data on suicide where a terminally ill person has taken their own life, as information on the deceased’s terminal illness is not generally recorded
Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what help and support they are providing to authorities in Norfolk dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak at a meat processing plant in Watton.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Regional officials worked closely with the local and district authorities, the Director of Public Health for Norfolk and the company in Watton to support the Incident Management Team’s (IMT) meetings and facilitate the deployment of mobile testing units (MTU) to enable testing of the workforce to take place.
The outbreak was escalated by the Norfolk local authorities to the Joint Biosecurity Centre Regional Lead for the East of England and to the Escalation and Response Unit.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set up an animal welfare cell as part of the IMT to mitigate the impact of the public health measures on animal welfare where possible. The factory is being supported to participate in the lateral flow testing scheme. This will allow the company to carrying out routine testing and help reduce the risk of further workforce outbreaks at the factory.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with coroners about the number of people with terminal illnesses who die as a result of suicide per year.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The Ministry of Justice oversees the legal framework that governs the coronial system but does not have operational responsibility for coroner services. Ministers and officials meet with the Chief Coroner, individual coroners and local authorities from time to time to discuss a range of issues including suicide. We have not had recent discussions on the issue or the number of people with terminal illnesses who take their own lives.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the High Court judgment in R (Jackson and Simpson) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWHC 183 on 7 February 2020, when they intend to lay the Remedial Order to remove the incompatibilities from the legislation governing Bereavement Support Payment by extending that benefit to cohabitees with children.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We intend to take forward a Remedial Order to extend eligibility for Bereavement Support Payment to cohabitees with children.
We are currently considering the detail and implementation of the policy and will update the House once we have a confirmed laying date.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement on the future of financial services by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 9 November (HC Deb, cols 619–21), what plans they have to consult on the new green taxonomy.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The UK Taxonomy will use the EU framework which is already part of UK law, as amended by the EU Withdrawal Act. The UK will be establishing a Green Technical Advisory Group to advise the government on an ongoing basis on any improvements or additions that could be made to the taxonomy for the UK context. We will set out more details on this in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they undertake country-specific risk assessments for countries in Africa before deciding whether visitors to the UK from those countries have to self-isolate due to COVID-19.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Decisions on International Travel Corridors, and therefore whether visitors to the UK from specific countries have to self-isolate, are currently informed by risk assessments provided by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), working closely with Public Health England (PHE), using methodology endorsed by the four Chief Medical Officers (CMO) of the UK.
JBC and PHE monitor over 250 countries, territories and islands to inform these risk assessments. This includes African nations. Factors taken into consideration include: