Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether those assessing the applications for the Levelling Up fund will be seeking (1) clarity, and (2) additional information, from the applicants if they have further questions.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We are delighted to have launched the second round of the Levelling Up Fund on 23 March, with the publication of an updated prospectus.
We will shortly publish an updated technical note, which will provide applicants with detailed guidance on the application and assessment process, including timelines and the process for applicants to submit their bids.
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reconsider their priorities for agriculture and rural land use policy owing to the impact of the war in Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 30 March the Government announced steps to assist farmers, address uncertainty and keep costs down. Planned changes to the use of urea fertiliser have been delayed by at least a year. The delay has been made to help farmers deal with rising input costs and to give them more time to adapt.
The Government also published revised statutory guidance on how farmers should limit the use of slurry and other farmyard manure at certain times of the year. This will be supported through new slurry storage grants as of this year, helping farmers reduce their dependence on artificial fertiliser.
Alongside this, the Government has published further details on the Sustainable Farming Incentive. The scheme will pay farmers to build the health and fertility of their soil and reduce soil erosion which are essential for sustainable food production, helping to bolster food security and longer-term resilience of the sector.
The Government will pay farmers to help with the costs of sowing nitrogen fixing plants and green manures or in advance of their crops. This will help substitute some of their fertiliser requirements for the coming season and reduce their dependence on manufactured fertilisers linked to the price of gas. In addition, an industry fertiliser roundtable has been set up and chaired by the Farming Minister, to work on these issues, identify solutions and better understand the pressures facing farmers at this time.
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce standard tests for safeguarding for organisations in order to provide evidence of nationally recognised levels of attainment.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Safeguarding relates to a wide range of activity in a variety of settings, and covers a number of potentially vulnerable groups. It is right that organisational safeguarding policies are able to reflect specific sector needs, within clear regulatory frameworks.
A number of government departments lead on setting safeguarding standards, guidance and training across the sectors for which they have policy responsibility. For example, the Home Office oversees safeguarding from a policing perspective, the Department for Education leads on safeguarding within education settings, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are responsible for safeguarding within civil society organisations, and the Department of Health and Social Care assure that the NHS is meeting its safeguarding responsibilities.
Government departments work closely together to share learning and feedback on safeguarding policy and standards across different settings. For example, there is close collaboration between the Home Office, DHSC and DfE on the implementation of local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements for children, ensuring robust join-up across local authorities, health and policing.
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of (1) the number of roadside ash trees in England, (2) how many of these trees will need to be felled due to ash dieback, and (3) the average cost of felling and removing each tree.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has a long-established Ash Dieback Health and Safety Taskforce comprising the Forestry Commission, Natural England and key stakeholders such as the National Trust, Woodland Trust, Tree Council, CLA, Arboricultural Association, Highways Agency, Network Rail and ten Local Authorities, which meets regularly and guides our approach on reducing the impact of ash dieback on public health and safety.
Working with the Health and Safety Taskforce, we estimate that there are approximately four million ash trees situated alongside roads, of which a large proportion (approximately 1.4 million) will need to be managed. The costs of felling a tree can vary considerably, and we have used case study examples to help inform assessments – these examples range from £400-£500. A strategic approach to planning and coordination can help reduce costs, and to support Local Authorities and other regional bodies dealing with ash dieback, Defra has worked with the Tree Council to develop an Ash Dieback Toolkit. The Government has recently announced a new Tree Health pilot, which is designed to support action against pests and diseases affecting trees, the pilot includes support for diseased and infested trees outside of woodland, for example roadside ash with ash dieback.
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of education provision in Cumbria, following the closure of Askham Bryan College’s Newton Rigg campus; whether they have made any legal assessment of the implications of the closure of that institution; and what discussions they have had with the Further Education Commissioner regarding its closure.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
A comprehensive analysis of local provision needs for Newton Rigg and the surrounding area was undertaken in 2020 by the Further Education Commissioner and the Education and Skills Funding Agency. The core objective of this analysis was to establish if there was a need for college provision within the general vicinity of Newton Rigg campus. It considered the location of neighbouring further education colleges in relation to travel to learn options and identified that the majority of enrolments could be accommodated at other statutory further education institutions. Where gaps in provision were identified, alternative arrangements for the next academic year have been introduced to ensure continuity of delivery after Newton Rigg closes.
If further evidence of gaps in provision are highlighted as a result of the closure of Newton Rigg in support of local authorities’ statutory duty to secure provision in an area, the Education and Skills Funding Agency will consider requests to fill a gap in provision. Where this cannot be met through negotiation with good existing providers the requirements are put out to tender through open competition.
We routinely consider the legal implications of decisions that are made.
Officials from the Education and Skills Funding Agency continue to work closely with the Further Education Commissioner’s team with regard to the closure of Newton Rigg.
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether non-affiliated members of the House of Lords are considered for places on select committees; and if so, what criteria are applied as to whether or not places are offered.
Answered by Lord McFall of Alcluith
Non-affiliated members who wish to be considered for appointment to select committees should write to me, as the Chairman of the Committee of Selection, setting out which particular committee they would like to be considered for and why. Representations that I receive are then put to the Committee of Selection for consideration when agreeing proposals to the House for membership of committees. In deciding whether to recommend a nomination the Committee of Selection will take account of the particular experience that the member concerned would bring, the current composition of the committee and the nature of its work, as well as any other relevant factors.
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they anticipate that Workington and Whitehaven will be eligible to receive support from the Stronger Towns Fund.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Stronger Towns Fund is a new £1.6 billion fund to support towns in England to harness their unique strengths to grow and prosper.
I confirmed to the House on 5 March the Government will publish further detail on the operation of the Fund in due course.
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people who are UK (1) citizens, and (2) residents who (a) have, or (b) are entitled to dual nationality of another EU member state.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Dear Lord Inglewood,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of people who are UK (1) citizens, and (2) residents who (a) have, or (b) are entitled to dual nationality of another EU member state (HL13401).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes estimates of the UK population by country of birth and nationality based on the Annual Population Survey (APS)[1]. The latest estimates are for the year July 2017 to June 2018 and these show the number of British citizens resident in the UK was 59,216,000, with a confidence interval of plus or minus 364,000, and the citizens of other EU member states resident in the UK as 3,723,000, with a confidence interval of plus or minus 91,000 (all figures rounded to the nearest thousand).
In the 2011 census, ONS collected data about dual passport holders which is the closest approximation to dual nationality available. Table 1 below shows the numbers from the census. ONS has no data about entitlement to dual nationality.
Yours sincerely,
John Pullinger
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish a concise and comprehensive comparative economic analysis of the impact of (1) a no deal situation, (2) the arrangements set out in The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, and (3) remaining in the EU, before any meaningful decision about Brexit.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is undertaking a wide range of continuing analysis and preparatory work, across a range of scenarios, looking at the implications of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Our overall programme of work is comprehensive, thorough and is continuously updated.
The Government has confirmed that when we bring forward the vote on the final deal, we will ensure that Parliament is presented with the appropriate analysis to make an informed decision. At this stage of the negotiation, it would not be practical or appropriate to set out the details of exactly how the Government will analyse the final deal.
Asked by: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated total annual gross cost of the registration scheme outlined in the Ivory Bill in respect of pre-1947 items with low ivory content; and how many items they anticipate will be registered each year.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We are working on the design and development of the new IT system to facilitate the registration process, in line with the principles of managing public money. Those registering items will need to pay a fee to cover the costs of registration.
The data available does not provide an exact number of items in the UK that are made of or contain ivory. We are therefore unable to anticipate how many items owners may wish to sell, and subsequently register, each year under this exemption.
We will, however, once the ban is in force, be publishing headline data on the number of exemption certificates that have been issued for each category of exemption.