Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 16 July (HL9053), whether they will answer the question put.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Please refer to my answer to HL9053 published on 16 July. We encourage all Allies to meet their North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commitments.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of GDP which the government of Belgium has spent on defence over the last five years in accordance with their obligations as a NATO member; and what representations they have made to that government regarding meeting pledged defence spending targets under NATO, including the new target of 5 per cent.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) collects defence expenditure data from Allies and publishes it on a semi-regular basis. NATO spending reports are published online here: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_49198.htm. At the NATO Summit, Allies committed to investing 5 per cent of gross domestic product annually on defence and security, composed of 3.5 per cent core defence spending and 1.5 per cent security and resilience spending, by 2035. We encourage all Allies to meet their NATO commitments.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Goldie on 2 July (HL Deb, col 1344), what representations they have made to the government of China with regard to the statement by the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal that “it replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London in the highest appellate court in Hong Kong after 30 June 1997”.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Prior to the handover in 1997, the British Government had detailed discussions with the Chinese Government related to the establishment of a Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong. I am not aware of any specific representations made by the British Government to the Chinese Government about a statement made by the Court of Final Appeal.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 December (HL12075), whether they will now answer the question put namely, in relation to the annual report for the Government's hospitality wine cellar, what saving they estimate might be made by substituting English and Welsh wines with comparable wines from elsewhere.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We do not hold details of the exact savings which might be made by substituting English and Welsh wines with comparable wines from elsewhere. This would be very much dependent on the alternative comparable wines available at the time, the types of functions we were looking to use them for and the volume in which we were looking to procure them – potential economies of scale etc. However, as detailed in the Wine Cellar Annual Report, we estimate that in 2017/18 English and Welsh wine made up 57% of all Wine Cellar wine consumed in 2017/2018. The average cost of each bottle of English/Welsh wine used was around £12.96. Whereas, the overall average price of each bottle used from other countries in the same period was £12.82. However, as already mentioned the cellar has been, and continues to be, a firm supporter of the UK wine industry in line with wider Government objectives to support British business and produce. Consequently, whilst English and Welsh wines might be more expensive than some alternatives from elsewhere, the differential is sufficiently small that we believe that this still represents good value for money in the proper expenditure of taxpayers' money.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 21 November (HCWS1098) in relation to the annual financial report for the Government’s hospitality wine cellar, what saving they estimate might be made by substituting English and Welsh wines with comparable wines from elsewhere.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government Hospitality wine cellar supplies wines and spirits for official business hospitality offered by Government Ministers to a range of domestic and international guests. The cellar has a clear objective of being able to supply the highest quality wines from around the world at the best prices, by purchasing wines young and relatively inexpensive and keeping them until they are ready to drink. The cellar has been a supporter of the UK wine industry for over 25 years and stocks a range of English and Welsh still and sparkling wines. However, some UK wines can cost more than some imported wines, and Government Hospitality must always strike a careful balance between the proper expenditure of taxpayers' money and the desire to promote UK produce. The stocking of the cellar is carefully managed to achieve the best value for money.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with NATO headquarters concerning the (1) challenges, and (2) scope for further improvements to NATO's financial audits in response to a presentation from the International Board of Auditors for NATO to NATO on 24 March.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We believe NATO needs to move faster on implementing the International Board of Auditors for NATO (IBAN) recommendations. Some progress is being made. As a result of the recent Functional Review of the NATO HQ nations have agreed additional resources to address areas of weakness identified in risk management, internal audit and internal control. But there is currently no consensus among allies on how to proceed with IBAN’s Financial Performance audit recommendations. We have requested a NATO scoping paper setting out how the organisation intends to address some of the points raised and will continue to press for faster progress on implementing IBAN recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the decision was taken to construct the new NATO headquarters building in Brussels; when any plans for the new headquarters building were approved; what was the anticipated cost of the project at that time; whether those costs have been revised subsequently, and if so, what is the current estimated cost on completion; what the anticipated dates of completion and occupation were at the time of approval; whether those dates have been revised subsequently; and when it is expected that the old NATO headquarters building will be vacated.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
At the 1999 Washington Summit, NATO Heads of State and Government decided to build a new NATO headquarters to meet the requirements of the Alliance in the twenty first century. In 2003, the North Atlantic Council approved a design for the new headquarters with an estimated cost of €1.2 billion. These costs have been revised on a number of occasions; the current estimate is €1.17 billion. Handover of the site was originally planned for August 2015 but was delayed until March 2017 due to technical difficulties. Allies will begin moving to the new headquarters in March 2018 with the site of the current buildings returning to the Belgian Government towards the end of this year.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to each of (1) the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, (2) the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and (3) the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly, (a) how many full members from the UK there are, (b) how many peers serve as full members, (c) what percentage of the total number of delegates those peers represent, and (d) what percentage of the total costs is represented by those peers.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
There are 18 full members of the UK Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Four of the PACE delegation are peers, 22.2% of the total, five of the NATO delegation are peers, 27.8 %. There are 13 full members of the UK Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, three of whom are peers, 23.1% of the total.
The allocation of places and costs for peers is decided by the political parties in Parliament.
Further details of the delegations are available at: https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/delegations/
The British Government welcomes and encourages the role our national Parliamentarians play in contributing their expertise more widely across the world. In international and regional organisations they underline the UK's commitment to a rules-based international order.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 13 October (HLWS187), what was the average price paid by Government Hospitality per bottle of (1) white, and (2) red, wines produced in (a) France, (b) Germany, (c) Italy, (d) Spain, (e) South Africa, (f) Australia, (g) New Zealand, (h) the United States, and (i) the UK.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As highlighted in the Annual Statement of 13 October (HLWS187), the average cost per bottle of wine bought by Government Hospitality in 2015-16 was £11.00. Government Hospitality does not calculate the average cost of bottles purchased by type or country of origin, as to do so would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 30 June (WA 213), whether they will respond to Lord Stoddart of Swindon's question about ever-closer union.
Answered by Baroness Warsi
The Written Answer by Lord Freud on 30 June (WA 213) referred to the business of the 19 June Council meeting. The noble Lord may be interested to note that the concept of ever closer union was covered in the 26/27 June European Council conclusions which stated that “the European Council noted that the concept of ever closer union allows for different paths of integration for different countries, allowing those that want to deepen integration to move ahead, while respecting the wish of those who do not want to deepen any further”. I also refer the noble Lord to the Prime Minister's Statement to the House of 30 June regarding the European Council.