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 - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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
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 - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of 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 - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of 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.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to update their business Risk Advisory regarding companies operating in Xinjiang to ensure UK companies and individuals are aware of the deteriorating situation in the region.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our overseas business risk guidance on Xinjiang was last updated on 16 August 2021 and is kept under constant review. The guidance makes clear the extensive evidence of human rights violations occurring in Xinjiang, and urges UK companies to conduct appropriate due diligence and consider their corporate responsibilities when making investment decisions. We expect them to take appropriate action in response.
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 the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Home Office on 27 January 2021 (UIN 139991), what assessment they have made of the protected characteristics of those deprived of citizenship; and what plans they have, if any, to collect and publish the data on this.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In order for deprivation on ‘conducive to the public good’ grounds to be a consideration, the starting point is an individual’s conduct, that the individual is a terrorist or an extremist, or involved in espionage, war crimes, serious organised crime or similarly dangerous activities, in order to meet the ‘conducive to the public good’ test.
Figures for numbers of conducive deprivation orders, which are made under Section 40(2) of the 1981 British Nationality Act, have been published as part of the HM Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Four reports have been published to date in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020.
Figures are provided on an annual basis and we do not break those figures down further into sub-categories.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when information relating to the use of deprivation of citizenship orders under section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, and (3) 2021, will be published.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Figures for numbers of conducive deprivation orders, which are made under Section 40(2) of the 1981 British Nationality Act, have been published as part of the HM Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Four reports have been published to date in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020 which provide the number of deprivation of citizenship orders made up until the end of 2018.
A further publication which includes the more recent data is due to be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were deprived of their citizenship under section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 for each year from 2010 to 2018, broken down by (1) the grounds upon which those deprivation orders were made, (2) whether or not the individual had previously been granted refugee status, discretionary leave or humanitarian protection in the UK, (3) whether or not the individual was under the age of 18, and (4) whether the individual was in the UK at the time of the deprivation.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Figures for numbers of conducive deprivation orders, which are made under Section 40(2) of the 1981 British Nationality Act, have been published as part of the HM Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Four reports have been published to date in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020 which provide the number of deprivation of citizenship orders made up until the end of 2018.
Year | Number of Individuals |
2010 | 5 |
2011 | 6 |
2012 | 5 |
2013 | 8 |
2014 | 4 |
2015 | 5 |
2016 | 14 |
2017 | 104 |
2018 | 21 |
Figures are provided on an annual basis and we do not break those figures down further into sub-categories.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many appeals against deprivation of citizenship orders under section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 have been made in each of the last five years; and how many of those appeals were upheld.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Figures for numbers of conducive deprivation orders, which are made under Section 40(2) of the 1981 British Nationality Act (BNA 1981), have been published as part of the HM Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Four reports have been published to date in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020 which provide the number of deprivation of citizenship orders made up until the end of 2018.
Figures are provided on an annual basis and we do not break those figures down further into sub-categories. However, data on the number of people who appealed against a deprivation of British citizenship decision under both Section 40(2) and 40(3) of the BNA 1981 has been published. The table shows a breakdown by year of appeals lodged between 05/03/2011 and 31/12/2018 against deprivation decisions and orders.
Year | No of people who lodged an appeal |
2011 | 5 |
2012 | 5 |
2013 | 10 |
2014 | 29 |
2015 | 37 |
2016 | 41 |
2017 | 37 |
2018 | 88 |
Total | 252 |
The following notes should be considered when viewing this data:
A number of the appeals in relation to deprivations under Section 40(2) of the BNA 1981 are ongoing. Therefore, we are unable to provide a partial figure of upheld appeals whilst litigation is ongoing.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of people in each of the last five years who would have been deprived of their citizenship if there had been no requirement to give prior notification.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Prior to the recent High Court decision in the case of D4, the relevant regulations governing service of notice in deprivation cases, provided adequately for a variety of situations, meaning that there had been no cases where the notification requirement had prevented deprivation action from taking place.