Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the 75 local authorities eligible for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme received part of the £50 million allocated for parenting support, and how this funding was broken down across those family hubs.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The funding package for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is for all 75 local authorities. The published funding methodology can be found attached. This publication sets out how each local authority received their funding allocation. For parenting support, each local authority will receive up to £250,000 across the three-year programme duration.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the 75 local authorities eligible for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme received part of the £81.75 million allocated for creating family hub networks, and how this funding was broken down across those hubs.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The funding package for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is for all 75 local authorities. The published funding methodology can be found attached. This publication sets out how each local authority received their funding allocation. Each local authority will receive up to £500,00 across the three-year programme duration to transform their Family hubs services into a Family Hub model.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the 75 local authorities eligible for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme received part of the £81.75 million allocated for creating family hub networks, and how this funding was broken down across those hubs.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The funding package for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is for all 75 local authorities. The published funding methodology can be found attached. This publication sets out how each local authority received their funding allocation. Each local authority will receive up to £500,00 across the three-year programme duration to transform their Family hubs services into a Family Hub model.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are making representations to the government of Guatemala regarding the protection of Indigenous leaders and human rights defenders in Guatemala from attacks and forced eviction, in the light of the findings of the report by the Independent Delegations of International Lawyers to Guatemala “We are not trespassers: this is our land”: Agrarian conflict and Indigenous peoples' rights in Alta Verapaz, published in September .
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
When Minister Rutley visited Guatemala in April, he spoke with representatives from civil society groups about the need to protect space for environmental and human rights defenders including those from indigenous communities. These concerns are regularly reflected in bilateral discussions we have with the Guatemalan Government and in international fora, including in the UK's response to the 42nd Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in Guatemala. We also regularly raise the issue of human rights defenders and land defenders in Guatemala via our Embassy in Guatemala City, working in conjunction with other international partners, with the aim of promoting full respect for human rights for all Guatemalans. FCDO Officials attended a roundtable with the Independent Delegation of International Lawyers to Guatemala on 18 October in order to discuss the findings of their report and consider their recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Guatemala regarding reports of threats against the Indigenous human rights defender Lesbia Artola and other members of the Comité Campesino del Altiplano in Guatemala.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
When Minister Rutley visited Guatemala in April, he spoke with representatives from civil society groups about the need to protect space for environmental and human rights defenders including those from indigenous communities. These concerns are regularly reflected in bilateral discussions we have with the Guatemalan Government and in international fora, including in the UK's response to the 42nd Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in Guatemala. We also regularly raise the issue of human rights defenders and land defenders in Guatemala via our Embassy in Guatemala City, working in conjunction with other international partners, with the aim of promoting full respect for human rights for all Guatemalans. FCDO Officials attended a roundtable with the Independent Delegation of International Lawyers to Guatemala on 18 October in order to discuss the findings of their report and consider their recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to (1) the remarks by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 10 May (HL Deb col 1922), and (2) the Supreme Court's decision on the government's Rwanda policy, what methodology they used in designating Rwanda as a safe country for the offshore processing of asylum claims.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We undertook an analysis of a wide range of publicly available evidence from a variety of reliable sources about Rwanda’s asylum system and human rights situation. The information was carefully selected in accordance with internationally established country-of-origin information research methods.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the comprehensiveness of their current data in estimating total national fraud, and (2) the feasibility of reintroducing a government-led Annual Fraud Indicator.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office and the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) publish datasets reflecting their respective responsibilities for fraud against individuals and businesses, and fraud against the public sector.
These include the Crime Survey of England and Wales (supplemented by data from Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau), the Economic Crime Survey of 2020 estimating fraud against businesses across seven sectors (due to be refreshed in 2024), and the PSFA’s annual report on the scale of fraud. There are also plans for a new Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Service in 2024.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have further to support the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina in light of recent actions by President Dodik and the Republika Srpska.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK fully supports the High Representative and the use of his executive powers, should the situation require it. We remain an active member of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board (PIC SB), through which we provide the High Representative with political guidance. Ambassadors of the PIC SB issued a statement on 22 September, urging Dodik to immediately stop his policy of non-recognition of and non-co-operation with the High Representative.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Goldie on 3 July (HL Deb col 987), what estimate they have made of the planned UK expenditure consequent on the AUKUS agreement.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As announced in the Integrated Review Refresh, we are providing £2 billion this year and £2.95 billion next year to Defence. Of this new money, £3 billion will be invested across the defence nuclear enterprise, supporting areas such as the construction of industrial infrastructure, allowing us to continue to grow our graduate and apprentice nuclear skills programmes, and enhancing support to in-service submarines. This will support the overall delivery of AUKUS, while longer-term funding will be revisited at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the operational readiness and viability of the UK’s Warfighting 3rd Division.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Warfighting capability remains the cornerstone of deterrence and the bedrock of a world-class British Army. The 3rd (UK) Division is at the heart of this, able to manage a multi-domain battle in ever greater depth; designed to act with NATO and capable of providing a framework for Allies.
The Army constantly keeps its warfighting capability under review, and regularly assesses the adequacy of its readiness. It is embracing the ever-changing global landscape and ensuring that it will be more capable against peer adversaries and integrated with our NATO Allies and partners.