Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish their response to Sir Duncan Ouseley’s independent report on the operation of the closed material procedure under the Justice and Security Act 2013, which was carried out pursuant to section 13 of the Act and laid before Parliament in November 2022.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Government is carefully considering the recommendations made by Sir Duncan Ouseley in his Independent Report on the Operation of Closed Material Procedures under the Justice and Security Act 2013 and is working to establish how any recommendations that we take forward could be sustainably and effectively implemented. Subject to this detailed ongoing work, the Government aims to publish its response to Sir Duncan’s report by early 2024.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to deliver on their commitment in the UK–France Joint Leaders’ Declaration of 10 March to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
At the summit in Paris on 10 March 2023 the UK committed to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France.
We are currently working through the details of implementation and more information, including timescales, will be provided in due course.
This agreement with France will help to strengthen and maintain educational and cultural links with our closest continental neighbour. We will keep the position under review and ensure that we continue to operate our border in the UK's best interests.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the Framework Document to be agreed between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Office for Environmental Protection.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Good progress continues to be made in agreeing the Framework Document between Defra and the OEP. We aim for it to be published in Spring 2023.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to prepare and lay before Parliament the annual reports, required by section 3A of the Law Commissions Act 1965, on the extent to which Law Commission recommendations were implemented for the reporting years (1) 2018–19, (2) 2019–20, (3) 2020–21, (4) 2021–22, and (5) 2022–23.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
A draft of the Government’s report on the implementation of Law Commission recommendations is currently being prepared and is expected to be laid before Parliament as soon as practicable this year. It will provide an update on the implementation status of all relevant Law Commission recommendations since the report was last published in 2018.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the Common Framework document that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will agree with the Office for Environmental Protection.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We are committed to working collaboratively with the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to finalise the Defra-OEP framework agreement. We are currently in the final stages of negotiations. The purpose of the Framework Document is to set out the broad governance framework within which the OEP and Defra operate. It will reflect the parties' core responsibilities and will describe the governance and accountability framework that applies between the parties, including how the day-to-day relationship works in practice. This will include detail on governance and financial matters, whilst also respecting the provisions in the Environment Act for OEP independence.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the implementation of the duty of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to have regard to the need to protect the independence of the Office for Environmental Protection as set out in Schedule 1 of the Environment Act 2022.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has been provided with safeguards to ensure its operational independence from the Government, including a specific duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to protect the OEP’s independence.
The indicative five-year budget for the OEP has been protected by Defra within this spending review period. This ensures the OEP has sufficient funds to carry out its statutory functions and gives the OEP greater certainty of its finances with which to plan its future activities.
The OEP board has set out its strategy and continue to operate independently of Government.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they keep copies of memorandums of understanding concluded with foreign governments since 1997; and what plans they have, if any, to publish (1) the text of those memorandums of understanding, and (2) a descriptive list of those memorandums of understanding.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any health equipment with constituent parts made using forced labour has entered the UK supply chain since January 2020.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
Suppliers appointed to the NHS Supply Chain framework contracts, which supply the majority of medical goods and services into the National Health Service, must comply with the Labour Standards Assurance System or they can be removed from consideration for future opportunities. If there is an allegation of modern slavery practices against a company supplying medical goods or services into the United Kingdom, these are investigated. The Department does not have a record of any breaches of the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 since January 2020. Information on procurement by NHS trusts and foundation trusts is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 7 October 2020 (HL8400), how many orders have been made under section 40(4A) of the British Nationality Act 1981, depriving a person of citizenship in circumstances where that person is rendered stateless; and when the next review of that power under section 40B of the British Nationality Act will be commissioned.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The power to deprive an individual of British citizenship under section 40(4A) of the British Nationality Act 1981 has not been used since its introduction in July 2014. As circumstances have not changed since the first statutory review of the power was published in April 2016, a further review of the power will be undertaken within 12 months of the power first being used.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to create a Modern Slavery Risk Register to aid UK companies and individuals to avoid investment in organisations abroad which are alleged to have facilitated modern slavery.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
At present there are no plans to introduce a Modern Slavery Risk Register. However, on 24 March 2021, the Government announced a review of the 2014 Modern Slavery Strategy. The review will consider all aspects of the 2014 strategy and the Government’s response, including our approach to supply chains.
In the meantime, to further enhance transparency, the Government launched an online GOV.UK registry for modern slavery statements. This service enables investors, consumers, NGOs and others to scrutinise the effectiveness of the actions being taken and monitor progress across sectors over time. Since launch, over 6,900 statements have been submitted covering over 23,000 organisations on a voluntary basis. In future, it will be mandatory for in scope organisations to submit their statement to the registry, as part of the planned changes to strengthen section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act.