Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) emotional, and (2) social, impact on university students of remote learning; whether they plan to prioritise the return of such students to classrooms or other physical settings within the next six weeks; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Protecting student wellbeing is vital, and we recognise that many students are facing additional mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why we have asked providers to prioritise student mental health during this period. The Student Mental Health and Wellbeing working group, convened by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Universities, has discussed the emotional and social impact of the pandemic on students in detail and has created a resources document for higher education providers, collating the guidance, tools, and services available to support students’ mental health. This information is now being spread through the networks of the working group members, including university and student representatives, to raise awareness of the support available and enable people to seek help. The Minister of State for Universities also established the Higher Education Taskforce on 18 August 2020, which is formed of various sector representatives to work through challenges that students are facing.
Alongside this, the Office for Students (OfS) has been working closely with the government throughout the pandemic to support students – funding mental health support, monitoring quality, and issuing guidance. We have worked with the OfS to provide Student Space, a mental health and wellbeing platform, which has been funded by up to £3 million. We are pleased that they have been able to extend the platform to support students for the whole 2020/21 academic year, because no student should be left behind at this challenging time.
In the current national lockdown, we have had to take additional steps to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, including by significantly reducing the number of students returning to university after the Christmas holidays, and limiting the number of people travelling to and from university facilities. We are now advising providers that they can resume in-person teaching and education for students who are studying practical or practice-based subjects (including creative arts) and who require specialist equipment and facilities from 8 March 2021. Providers should not ask students to return if their course can reasonably be continued online. The government will review, by the end of the Easter holidays, the options for the timing of the return of remaining students. This review will take account of the latest data and will be a key part of the wider roadmap steps.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the £10,000 cap on the value of claims brought to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Small Claims Track; and what consideration they have given to raising that cap.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The IPO commissioned external research into the functioning of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, including the value caps, in 2015. The IPO has also facilitated a series of working groups over the last year looking at the enforcement framework. The cost and accessibility of court processes for IP disputes was considered as part of this review, and questions on these topics were included in the call for views which closed in November this year. The IPO is currently considering the responses received from that exercise and will carry out further assessment as necessary before any recommendations are taken forwards.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to bring forward proposals to include registered designs within the scope of the small claims track of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recently sought stakeholder views on the inclusion of registered designs in the small claims track of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court and is currently considering the responses received and the best way to take this work forward.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing criminal provisions for intentional unregistered design infringement.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has considered this issue in detail in recent years. There were - and continue to be - mixed views on criminal sanctions for unregistered designs, and many design-intensive industries have argued against their introduction.
Taking account of all views, the Government remains of the view that it is not appropriate to extend criminal penalties to unregistered designs.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Transport for London about ensuring that residents in London receive a discount on the charge for driving within the congestion charging zone.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of the recent funding package provided to TfL, the Mayor agreed to maintain the current temporary changes to the daily charge, operating hours and days of the Congestion Charge as a continuing response to the coronavirus pandemic and ensure that London’s recovery is not restricted by traffic and congestion.
Transport in London is devolved and is the responsibility of the Mayor of London and TfL, including any policy on resident discounts for the congestion charge.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have suspended priority visa services for spouses; and when they plan to reinstate pre-COVID-19 pandemic arrangements and timescales for such visas.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
All priority services were suspended for all application routes as a result of Covid 19 and the closure of application processing centres in the UK and overseas. Priority services will remain suspended until UKVI is able to ensure service standards may be met and that customers receive the services paid for.
39 UKVCAS service points are now open the UK and 198 VACs overseas are now open and being managed as part of business as usual.
The resumption of priority services remains under review and services will be offered where capacity permits and will be reintroduced on a phased basis. UKVI continues to keep this position under review and will publicise any changes to services on GOV.UK.
Information on processing times for visa applications is published as part of the Migration Transparency data, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data .
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average processing time for spouse visa applications from the United States in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
All priority services were suspended for all application routes as a result of Covid 19 and the closure of application processing centres in the UK and overseas. Priority services will remain suspended until UKVI is able to ensure service standards may be met and that customers receive the services paid for.
39 UKVCAS service points are now open the UK and 198 VACs overseas are now open and being managed as part of business as usual.
The resumption of priority services remains under review and services will be offered where capacity permits and will be reintroduced on a phased basis. UKVI continues to keep this position under review and will publicise any changes to services on GOV.UK.
Information on processing times for visa applications is published as part of the Migration Transparency data, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data .
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the research paper by the Taxpayers' Alliance Tax reforms to secure a recovery from coronavirus, published on 3 June, what assessment they have made of the impact of employers’ national insurance contributions on the sustainability of supply chains; and what plans they have, if any, (1) to abolish the requirement for employers to contribute to national insurance, and (2) to replace those contributions with a payroll tax of 10 per cent on wages above £4,500 per annum.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government considers all aspects of its support to businesses together and has therefore made no specific assessment of the impact of employers’ national insurance contributions on the sustainability of supply chains.
The Government has provided unprecedented levels of support to businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, tax deferrals, a business rates holiday, and other business support grants.
While the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are no current plans to abolish employer national insurance contributions and to replace them with a payroll tax.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the relevant legislation in order to limit rights of representation at the UK Intellectual Property Office for new UK trade mark and design applications and existing UK trade mark and design rights, to persons with a UK or Channel Islands address for service, following the end of the transition period, if there is no reciprocity.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Officials are having ongoing conversations with representative bodies over how to best approach the issues surrounding address for service once the transition period ends.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow the reopening of churches in the UK following their closure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what, if any, health measures will be put in place to facilitate the reopening of places of worship.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
On 11 May, the Government published the document “Our Plan to Rebuild”, which outlined the steps it would be taking to ease the lockdown restrictions.
The Government continues to consider how to allow places of worship to reopen for additional uses in Step 3 of its roadmap, which is expected to be no earlier 4 July, subject to further scientific advice. As part of the steps to ease the restrictions, the Government launched a Places of Worship Taskforce to look at how they can reopen and operate safely. Meetings are being led by the Secretary of State for Communities, or the Faith Minister, and comprise of representatives from the country’s major faiths. The Taskforce is working towards the safe reopening of places of worship as soon as possible. It also addresses the specific issues that places of worship will face as they prepare to reopen safely.
As of Saturday 13 June, places of worship are now permitted to open for individual prayer, in line with social distancing guidelines. We have published (attached) guidance to support places of worship to do this in a way that is safe and in line with social distancing. Communal prayers, worship or devotion will not be possible at this stage. The Government will continue to work with the Taskforce towards the full reopening of places of worship as soon as the scientific advice allows.
Places of worship play an important role in spiritual and mental health for many, and in bringing our communities together, which is why we want them to reopen them as soon as we can. However, no place of worship will be able to reopen for further activities before a final decision by the Government and the accompanying changes to the legal position in the published regulations. Even after we permit places of worship to reopen for further activities, some may choose to reopen in stages or at a slower pace depending on their local circumstances.
The current list of permitted activities that can take place within a place of worship can be found (attached) on gov.uk here, and the associated regulations can be found here. These documents will be updated as and when further changes come into effect.