Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in (1) 2014, (2) 2015, and (3) 2016, what were the balance of trade figures between the UK and (a) France, (b) Germany, and (c) Italy.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The latest available estimates show that the UK ran a trade balance (a) with France of –£6.1 billion in 2014 and -£5.2 billion in 2015; (b) with Germany of –£24.7 billion in 2014 and -£25.3 billion in 2015 and (c) with Italy of -£4.8 billion in 2014 and -£3.9 billion in 2015. Data is currently unavailable for 2016.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many deaths have occurred in prisons in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Safety in Custody statistics, including deaths in custody, are published quarterly. The latest bulletin was published on 27 October 2016 and can be found on gov.uk
Deaths in prison custody, England and Wales, 12 months ending September 2014, 2015 and 2016 | |||
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| 12 months ending | ||
| Sep 14 | Sep 15 | Sep 16 |
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Total deaths1 | 234 | 267 | 324 |
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1. Figures include incidents at NOMS operated Immigration Removal Centres. | |||
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many assaults there have been on prison officers and prisoners in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Safety in Custody statistics, including assaults on prison staff and prisoners, are published quarterly. The latest bulletin was published on 27 October 2016 and can be found on gov.uk
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Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to restrict the commercial sale of cats to licensed establishments to ensure the welfare of cats for sale.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The current law requires that all licensed sellers of pet animals, whether they are running a traditional high street pet shop or selling online from their home, do not sell pets at too young an age, which for mammals is defined as before they are weaned or should have been weaned. As part of the licensing review, we are looking to clarify this requirement in the regulations and make it a requirement that both puppies and kittens should not be sold if they are under 8 weeks’ of age.
While we accept that dog breeding needs to be closely regulated, we do not consider that cat breeding requires licensing. If anyone has any concerns about the welfare of animals at a cat breeding establishment they can report the matter to their local authority or the RSPCA. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal or to fail to provide for its welfare of which the maximum penalty is an unlimited fine and/or six months’ imprisonment.
We are currently reviewing the laws on the animal activities licensing schemes, including those that control the commercial sale of pet animals, including cats. Earlier this year, we consulted on a number of proposals including one to apply specific welfare conditions to pet vendors. This will mean that such activities will have to be licensed and meet specific welfare standards in order to obtain a licence but there are no proposals to restrict those licensed vendors from selling cats to other licensed establishments.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to regulate the breeding of cats for sale in cases where a single cat produces several litters.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The current law requires that all licensed sellers of pet animals, whether they are running a traditional high street pet shop or selling online from their home, do not sell pets at too young an age, which for mammals is defined as before they are weaned or should have been weaned. As part of the licensing review, we are looking to clarify this requirement in the regulations and make it a requirement that both puppies and kittens should not be sold if they are under 8 weeks’ of age.
While we accept that dog breeding needs to be closely regulated, we do not consider that cat breeding requires licensing. If anyone has any concerns about the welfare of animals at a cat breeding establishment they can report the matter to their local authority or the RSPCA. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal or to fail to provide for its welfare of which the maximum penalty is an unlimited fine and/or six months’ imprisonment.
We are currently reviewing the laws on the animal activities licensing schemes, including those that control the commercial sale of pet animals, including cats. Earlier this year, we consulted on a number of proposals including one to apply specific welfare conditions to pet vendors. This will mean that such activities will have to be licensed and meet specific welfare standards in order to obtain a licence but there are no proposals to restrict those licensed vendors from selling cats to other licensed establishments.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to prohibit the sale of kittens under eight-weeks old.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The current law requires that all licensed sellers of pet animals, whether they are running a traditional high street pet shop or selling online from their home, do not sell pets at too young an age, which for mammals is defined as before they are weaned or should have been weaned. As part of the licensing review, we are looking to clarify this requirement in the regulations and make it a requirement that both puppies and kittens should not be sold if they are under 8 weeks’ of age.
While we accept that dog breeding needs to be closely regulated, we do not consider that cat breeding requires licensing. If anyone has any concerns about the welfare of animals at a cat breeding establishment they can report the matter to their local authority or the RSPCA. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal or to fail to provide for its welfare of which the maximum penalty is an unlimited fine and/or six months’ imprisonment.
We are currently reviewing the laws on the animal activities licensing schemes, including those that control the commercial sale of pet animals, including cats. Earlier this year, we consulted on a number of proposals including one to apply specific welfare conditions to pet vendors. This will mean that such activities will have to be licensed and meet specific welfare standards in order to obtain a licence but there are no proposals to restrict those licensed vendors from selling cats to other licensed establishments.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to remedy the problems caused by the failure in hot climates of intercooler units on Type 45 destroyers.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Mr Philip Dunne) in the House of Commons on 8 February 2016, to Question number 25165. Type 45 destroyers were designed for world-wide operations, from sub-Arctic to extreme tropical environments and continue to operate effectively in the Persian Gulf and South Atlantic at all times of the year.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the cost of the contract awarded to Sport and Entertainment Ltd for organising the Queen's Patron Lunch on Sunday 12 June; and why this contract did not go out to tender.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Patron’s Lunch, held on Sunday 12 June is not a government-run event.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that airlines monitor the quality of cabin air.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Currently there is no evidence to suggest that continuous monitoring of aircraft cabin air would be worthwhile. The Government concluded in 2014, after a research programme on cabin air quality lasting for several years, that an international approach to any further research into the issue would be most appropriate. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has launched a programme of research into this issue in 2015.
In terms of monitoring individual events, the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Scheme (CAP382) ensures that an event that is considered by crew to be a “safety-related event which endangers or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person” is reported and investigated.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the EU's main exports to the UK, including both goods and services.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
This information is given in tables 1 and 2 below. The exports of services figures in Table 1 are sourced from the Office for National Statistics’ Pink Book 2015 release and are on a ‘Balance of Payments’ basis. Figures for exports of goods on the same basis are only available at a broad level of commodity aggregation (1 digit SITC level). Goods data at the level of detail required to answer this PQ are available from HM Revenue and Customs Overseas Trade Statistics database (Table 2) which is attached. These data are on a different (‘merchandise’) basis, hence not strictly comparable with the ONS data. Moreover, data for 2015 are not available for services.
Top 10 UK imports of services from the EU in 2014 | |
Type of service | Value (£million) |
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Travel | 22,367 |
Other business services | 15,251 |
Transportation | 10,368 |
Telecoms, computer and information | 5,418 |
Financial | 3,614 |
Intellectual property | 1,990 |
Construction | 1,768 |
Government | 1,763 |
Insurance and pension | 536 |
Personal, Cultural and Recreational | 284 |
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Source: ONS Pink Book 2015 |
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Note: Data for 2015 will be published by the ONS in July 2016 | |