Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 13 March (HL5891), whether they have assessed the effectiveness of the global humanitarian response following the recent earthquake in Turkey.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government's priority was to provide life-saving support to those in need in Turkey and Syria. The Government is committed to learning from its own experience and that of others as part of its constant review of global humanitarian responses. The Government looks forward to hearing the needs assessment of the UN, World Bank and other partners at the 20 March International Donors' Conference.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 6 March (HL5638), what steps they plan to take, if any, to support the implementation of recommendations related to policing at future UEFA Champions League Finals in the independent review of the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final, chaired by Dr Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, particularly (1) Recommendation 7, and (2) Recommendation 8; and whether they intend to ask the government of France to seek from the French police (a) a response to these recommendations, and (b) an apology to Liverpool FC fans for the treatment they received.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
HMG has been clear that the events at last year's Champions League Final were unacceptable. We welcome the French Government's apologies to fans and acknowledgement that mistakes were made. While it is for the French authorities to implement the recommendations made in subsequent reviews, we continually engage with them on major event security, including lessons from the management of the Champions League Final.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current range of waiting times for funerals; and whether they will investigate the reasons for delays in areas of the UK with the longest wait times.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government does not have operational responsibility for the provision of funeral services and as such does not collate information on waiting times for funerals.
However, we are aware of some areas experiencing longer waiting times for funeral services and we are working with other government departments and the sector to address capacity and resilience issues within the death management system.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to discuss with the United Nations the effectiveness of global contingency planning for major natural disasters.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK Government engages regularly with UN agencies on contingency planning for major natural disasters. This includes developing and using early warning tools to predict disasters, approaching early and anticipatory action to help countries prepare for and mitigate the impact of natural disasters and ensuring the speed and effectiveness of humanitarian response when disasters occur. The UK is one of the largest providers of core support to the UN humanitarian agencies, including the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which allows flexibility to plan ahead of disasters and ensure that systems and capabilities required for rapid response are in place.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the effectiveness of the provision of high street banking facilities and services (1) for all holders of bank accounts, (2) for those with disabilities, and (3) for those without access to the internet.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government believes that everyone, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking services. Nonetheless, decisions on opening and closing high street banking facilities are a commercial issue for banks and building societies.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to close their branches or free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on the everyday banking and cash access needs of their customers and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
UK banks’ and building societies’ treatment of their customers is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its Principles for Businesses. This includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all of their customers. The FCA’s Handbook requires firms to identify particularly vulnerable customers, and to deal with such customers appropriately. This includes older or disabled people, and those who may lack the capacity to manage their account on their own. In addition, like all service providers, banks and building societies are bound under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, in the way they deliver their services.
Those without access to the internet can access banking services via telephone banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK. New shared bank hubs are also being piloted, providing basic banking services and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet customers of that bank.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of France regarding the conclusions of the independent review of the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final, chaired by Dr Tiago Brandão Rodrigues; and whether they intend to ask that government to seek from the French police (1) a response, and (2) an apology to Liverpool FC fans for the treatment they received.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
HMG has been clear that the events at the Champions League Final were unacceptable. The former Foreign Secretary raised the issue with the French Foreign Minister on 1 June 2022, as did the Sports Minister with his counterpart on 7 June. This continues to be discussed by officials. The French Government has apologised and acknowledged that mistakes were made. Security at major events will also be discussed at the upcoming UK-France Summit.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have identified the virus which has been responsible for the highest incidence of influenza in Autumn/Winter 2022/2023; and whether they have assessed the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine deployed over the same period in countering that virus.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The most prevalent influenza virus this season in England is of the A/H3N2 subtype, with smaller numbers of A/H1N1 detected and fewer still influenza type B. UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is currently analysing vaccine effectiveness against influenza requiring healthcare, including the different types and will be contributing this to the World Health Organization 2023/24 vaccine strain selection meeting taking place in February of this year.
More detailed genomic description of the influenza strains analysed by the UKHSA national Respiratory Virus Unit are available in the weekly surveillance report. UKHSA’s assessment of relative prevalence of influenza viruses is based on detections in the UKHSA Royal College of General Practitioners primary care sentinel virological surveillance system and detections in the UKHSA Respiratory DataMart sentinel laboratory surveillance system.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 7 November (HL2798) and 24 November (HL3333), whether they have (1) monitored the implementation of all of the recommendations of the report by Baroness Casey of Blackstock into the disorder at Wembley Stadium in the UEFA Euro 2020 Final, or (2) received updates from (a) the Football Association and its key partners, or (b) the Sports Ground Safety Authority, on the implementation of those recommendations; and if so, what progress has been made in respect of each recommendation, and when they expect all the recommendations to have been implemented.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS has continued to work closely with key parties, including the Home Office, the UK Football Policing Unit, the Football Association, and the Sports Ground Safety Authority, to ensure that the recommendations from Baroness Casey of Blackstock’s report were carefully considered and, where necessary, acted upon.
Our approach with respect to these recommendations is outlined in our evidence to the DCMS Select Committee of the House of Commons’s Inquiry into Safety at Major Sporting Events, a copy of which I have placed in the Library.
In the case of Wembley Stadium, significant work has been undertaken by the Football Association and its key partners following Baroness Casey’s report, as successfully demonstrated during the UEFA Women’s Euros and other high-profile events.
The safety of spectators at sporting events is of the highest importance to His Majesty’s Government.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of new COVID-19 variants emerging in China.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors all domestic and internationally circulating COVID-19 variants using United Kingdom sequencing data and the international database, GISAID. Lineages are reviewed weekly for trends, analysis and risk assessments. While China has not submitted recent sequences to GISAID, variants would be detected through the global horizon scanning process. The UKHSA works with international partners and the World Health Organization on variant surveillance.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 24 October (HL2798), by what date they expect appropriate safety measures to be in place for major sports events staged at (1) Wembley, and (2) other major arenas in the UK.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The safety and security of major sporting events across the UK is of paramount importance. Appropriate safety measures are put in place for major sports events, in line with the needs of the event and the venue, according to event-specific schedules. The adequacy of these plans are considered by locally-convened Safety Advisory Groups, and Safety Certificates are issued by the relevant local authority.
In the case of Wembley Stadium, which presents a number of unique challenges, significant work has been undertaken by the Football Association and its key partners since Baroness Casey of Blackstock’s report, as successfully demonstrated during the UEFA Women’s Euros and other high-profile events.
The Sports Grounds Safety Authority continues to offer world-leading expertise to sports venues in their regulatory and advisory capacities.