Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (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 use of interim suspensions of doctors subject to fitness to practice investigations; and what plans they have to improve the interim suspension procedure for patients and doctors.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors, anaesthesia associates, and physician associates practising in the United Kingdom. It sets and enforces the standards all doctors, anaesthesia associates, and physician associates must adhere to. If an allegation is made about a professional on its registers, the GMC has a statutory duty to investigate and take action to safeguard the health and well-being of the public where necessary. In serious cases, an Interim Orders Tribunal can suspend, or impose conditions upon, a professional’s registration on an interim basis, pending completion of the GMC’s investigation and possible hearing of the case by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Services.
The GMC is independent of the Government, directly accountable to Parliament, and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The Government has no current plans to discuss the interim suspension procedure with the GMC.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to reform regulatory procedures for doctors and dentists by utilising or amending powers pursuant to section 60 of the Health Act 1999.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has been considering its priorities for professional regulation and will be setting these out shortly.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce the projected cost of clinical negligence claims over the course of the Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
The causes of the overall cost rise are complex and there is no single fix, as costs are likely to be rising because of a range of factors, including higher compensation payments and legal costs, rather than more claims or a decline in patient safety.
We recognise that this is an important issue, and ministers intend to look at all the drivers of cost.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many students wishing to study (1) ancient history, and (2) classical history, at university were prevented from doing so as a result of a reduction in places in each of the past three years; and what assessment they have made of the future of these subjects as university courses.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on student entrants across UK higher education (HE) providers. This includes data on students entering courses in different subject areas, categorised using the HE Classification of Subjects system. Counts of entrants across all subjects from 2019/20 to 2022/23 are published in Table 52 of HESA’s Student Data, which are detailed below and can also be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-52.
Entrants to UK higher education providers by subject of study | |||
Subject | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
Ancient history | 645 | 595 | 540 |
Classical studies | 1,995 | 1,950 | 1,985 |
The department does not hold information on the number of university places available for each course. We are unable to assess the extent to which the decline in entrants was linked to the reduction of places.
English universities are independent, autonomous institutions and are therefore free to choose which courses they run. Quality is assessed by the Office for Students, the regulator of HE providers in England.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made on the role of online advertising in financing criminal content online, and whether they have proposals to deal with the issue.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government continually assesses the impact of online services’ activities on UK citizens.
The Online Safety Act establishes a new regulatory regime for online services including platforms and search engines. It gives these services duties to tackle illegal content and protect their users from harm. Ofcom is the regulator for this regime. It has strong enforcement powers if platforms fail to comply. These powers include business disruption measures with court approval. Through these powers, third-party service providers can be required to withdraw services from a non-compliant platform.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of money laundering in the online advertising sector, and whether they have proposals to deal with the issue.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that online advertising may be targeted by criminals to commit fraud and that illicitly obtained funds from fraud can be laundered and used for further criminal purposes. The upcoming National Risk Assessment (NRA) for money laundering and terrorist financing will consider how the proceeds of fraud are laundered within the UK.
The Government welcomes pledges to prevent fraud by tech companies under the Online Fraud Charter and we are committed to working with industry to reduce fraud. The Online Safety Act will require the largest user to user and search services to take steps to prevent the publication or hosting of any fraudulent advertising on their service.
DCMS are leading the Online Advertising Taskforce, which is working to improve transparency and accountability in the online advertising supply chain. One of the Taskforce's key objectives is to improve the evidence around the scale and threat of the illegal harms.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many collective proceedings applications were filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal, broken down by opt-out and opt-in proceedings, in each month since July 2023.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The following numbers of collective proceedings applications, broken down by opt-in and opt-out proceedings, have been filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal in each month since July 2023:
Month / Year | Opt-Out | Opt-In |
Jul 23 | 4 | 0 |
Aug 23 | 2 | 0 |
Sep 23 | 1 | 0 |
Oct 23 | 0 | 0 |
Nov 23 | 4 | 0 |
Dec 23 | 4 | 0 |
Jan 24 | 0 | 0 |
Feb 24 | 1 | 0 |
Mar 24 | 1 | 0 |
Apr 24 | 0 | 0 |
May 24 | 1 | 0 |
Jun 24 | 4 | 0 |
Jul 24 | 0 | 0 |
Aug 24 | 1 | 0 |
Sep 24 | 0 | 0 |
Oct 24 | 0 | 0 |
Nov 24 | 1 | 0 |
Dec 24 | 2 | 0 |
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the normal turnaround time between (1) receiving an application for a licence to shoot avian predators, and (2) notification of decision; and what are the principal reasons for refusal to approve licence applications.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Natural England aims to assess individual licences within 30 working days.
Most licences are renewals. These have a streamlined application process and light touch reassessment process, whereby licensees indicate that they want to renew their licence when they submit their licensing report at the end of the licence period.
To shoot avian predators to prevent serious damage to fisheries or inland waters, specific legislative and policy tests relevant to the species and purpose must be satisfied for a licence to be granted.
For cormorant licensing:
For herons, mergansers and goosanders:
If any one test cannot be satisfied, this will be the basis for refusing a licence application.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how DEFRA, Natural England and the Environment Agency jointly assess the balance in limiting population densities between (1) non-at-risk avian predators, and (2) Atlantic salmon, on the principal salmon rivers.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only.
Salmon populations in England’s rivers are generally declining, with many detrimental factors suppressing recovery. Defra is a member of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation, working with international counterparts to conserve and restore Atlantic salmon, including measures to mitigate avian predation.
All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, including avian predators, regardless of their population or conservation status.
The Government does not aim to limit or reduce the population of any native wild bird. If evidence shows that species such as cormorant, heron or goosander are having a serious impact on fisheries or salmon, a licence can be issued.
Natural England (NE) sets evidence-based limits on the number of cormorants licensed to be killed each year to prevent irreversibly affecting their conservation status. Scarecer breeding species, including goosander, are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Licences issued by NE target specific locations when migrating salmon are most vulnerable, like during the smolt run, to improve the effect of protecting fisheries.
The Environment Agency funds two fisheries management advisors within the Angling Trust who provide bespoke advice to fisheries seeking predator control licences.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many licences to shoot avian predators were issued in total in each of the past 5 years, broken down by species and catchments or rivers; and how this compares with the number of applications.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The number of licence applications received to shoot avian predators over the last five years is set out in the table below:
Year received | Number of apps received | Number of licences issued |
2023 | 494 | 518* |
2022 | 469 | 406 |
2021 | 554 | 408 |
2020 | 508 | 422 |
2019 | 563 | 463 |
*Due to licences being issued across an 8 month season which straddles years, more licences can be issued than received given any one year.
River and catchment data cannot be prepared within the timescale for response.
The number of licences issued to shoot avian predators in each of the past five years, broken down by species, is set out below:
Year | Licence Purpose: | Species | Total |
2023 | Preventing serious damage to fisheries or inland waters, under section 16(1)(k) | Cormorant | 439 |
Cormorant and Goosander | 11 | ||
Goosander | 39 | ||
Grey heron | 29 | ||
| 518 |
Year | Licence Purpose: | Species | Total |
2022 | Preventing serious damage to fisheries or inland waters, under section 16(1)(k) | Cormorant | 370 |
Cormorant and Goosander | 1 | ||
Goosander | 17 | ||
Grey heron | 18 | ||
| 406 |
Year | Licence Purpose: | Species | Total |
2021 | Preventing serious damage to fisheries or inland waters, under section 16(1)(k) | Cormorant | 355 |
Cormorant and Goosander | 5 | ||
Goosander | 24 | ||
Grey heron | 24 | ||
| 408 |
Year | Licence Purpose: | Species | Total |
2020 | Preventing serious damage to fisheries or inland waters, under section 16(1)(k) | Cormorant | 371 |
Goosander | 23 | ||
Grey heron | 28 | ||
| 422 |
Year | Licence Purpose: | Species | Total |
2019 | Preventing serious damage to fisheries or inland waters, under section 16(1)(k) | Cormorant | 405 |
Goosander | 24 | ||
Grey heron | 34 | ||
| 463 |
This data has been taken from the Transparency data published by Natural England located here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summary-of-wildlife-licences-issued-by-natural-england-in-2023