Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, they have held with EU countries regarding the introduction of safety and security declaration requirements for EU imports on 31 October, and what were the contents of any such discussions.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government officials engage regularly with officials from EU Member States to discuss new customs-related requirements, including safety and security declarations. This has included official visits to Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland with further engagement planned for Italy, Spain, Poland and Germany in 2024. Baroness Neville-Rolfe visited Belgium to discuss import controls with the Belgian Government and industry in early February 2024. Partners have been extremely helpful in communicating these requirements using their own stakeholder communication channels, and providing suggestions for further guidance that could be helpful. More formal communication of these changes to EU Member States took place in the Trade Specialised Committee on Customs Cooperation and Rules of Origin, the minutes of which can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the economic impact of safety and security declaration requirements for EU imports.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As is standard for such changes, any necessary impact assessment of the changes will be published alongside the legislation.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking ahead of the introduction of safety and security declaration requirements for EU imports on 31 October; and what assessment they have made of the impact of those import controls on channel ports.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Border Target Operating Model sets out the new approach to Safety and Security controls, applying to all imports. We are introducing the Model in a phased approach with plenty of time for industry to prepare. The dataset has been reduced to its most critical elements, ensuring the burden on trade is reduced whilst maintaining security outcomes.
The Government is engaging with industry to support readiness for the changes.
Enhancing our intelligence on imported goods will help Border Force to keep citizens safe from the most harmful goods brought into the country. It will also minimise disruption at the border, including at channel ports, by intercepting the highest harm goods before they enter the country, and supporting a more intelligence informed approach to risking and intervention, as well as facilitating the flow of legitimate trade by reducing the number of ‘false positive’ hits.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent NHS drug shortages.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are around 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. However, the medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global, meaning there can sometimes be supply issues which affect the United Kingdom, along with other countries around the world.
Medicine supply problems can occur for several reasons such as manufacturing difficulties, regulatory non-compliance, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues.
While it’s not always possible to prevent supply issues from occurring, there is a team within the Department that has a range of well-established tools and processes to manage them when they arise, working closely with the pharmaceutical industry, the National Health Service, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and others operating in the supply chain to help mitigate the risks to patients.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support combating gambling addictions in the community at large, particularly among younger people.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises that, while millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. It is particularly important to take steps to protect those, particularly young people, who are at risk of experiencing gambling harm.
In April the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a White Paper following our review of the Gambling Act 2005. The White Paper outlined a series of measures to tackle practices and products which can drive harm and to ensure that people who are at risk of gambling harm and addiction are protected. These include new, frictionless financial risk checks, a stake limit for online slots games, improvements to customer-led tools, and tougher restrictions on bonuses and direct marketing. These measures will be complemented by strengthened messaging about the risks associated with gambling. The White Paper also contained a commitment to introduce a new statutory levy paid by operators to fund research, prevention, and treatment. In July 2023 the Gambling Commission also published a vulnerability statement, outlining its approach to identifying, supporting, and protecting consumers who are in vulnerable situations.
We are working with the Gambling Commission and others to bring the measures from the White Paper into force as quickly as possible, and have already published consultations on a number of important proposals so that we can finalise details ahead of their implementation.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many households they have helped with home insulation measures in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
From 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023 (latest available data), around 97,100 insulation measures were installed in domestic properties under the following schemes: Energy Company Obligation, Great British Insulation Scheme, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, Green Homes Local Authority Delivery and Home Upgrade Grant. Under these schemes, some households may have had more than one type of insulation measure installed. Statistics for each of these schemes are published on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many households they aim to help with home insulation measures in the next 12 months; and what budget is available to support this.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
While the Department does not hold precise estimates of how many households will be treated in next twelve months, we estimate around 450,000 will be supported via the Energy Company Obligation Scheme from April 2022 to March 2026 with the scheme funding approx. £1 billion per calendar year.
The Government also estimate over 300,000 homes will be supported via the Great British Insulation Scheme from April 2022 to March 2026 with £1 billion funding available across that period.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance, financial or otherwise, they have provided to businesses in the development of automated vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Government, through the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, a joint DfT and DBT specialist policy unit, has jointly committed with industry more than £600m to the development of Automated Vehicles between 2015 and 2025.
CCAV is currently supporting 20 projects with £50m of government funding to further operationalise CAM technologies and services.
In the recently published Advanced Manufacturing Plan, Government also committed to long-term support for Connected and Automated Mobility with up to £150m in the five-year period to 2030.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with other countries regarding the development of automated vehicles, including in relation to developing common standards for such vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
UK officials actively participate in various international fora to discuss standards for automated vehicles.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations has been developing technical requirements for automated vehicles for over 5 years, and the Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety is considering wider safety implications.
The UK is an active participant in both fora, working to drive development of requirements to assure the safety of such vehicles.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with the devolved administrations regarding automated vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are grateful to officials in the Devolved Administrations for the productive engagement that we have had so far on the Automated Vehicles Bill. The Automated Vehicles Bill implements the recommendations of a four-year review by the Law Commission of England and Wales, and the Scottish Law Commission.
In line with legislative processes, we will seek legislative consent from Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru where appropriate.
We are keen for Great Britain to share in the benefits of these planned measures and look forward to the support of the Devolved Administrations as this Bill moves through parliamentary passage.