Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to suspend (1) the granting of arms export licences, and (2) military support, to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners involved in operations in Yemen.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
HM Government takes its export responsibilities seriously and will continue to assess all export licences in accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (the ‘Consolidated Criteria’). HM Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria, including if there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
In addition, HM Government is able to review licences – and suspend or revoke as necessary – when circumstances require, and this is done in line with the Consolidated Criteria
The United Kingdom has an ongoing defence relationship with Saudi Arabia, including training courses, advice and guidance, which support Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect its national security. This also supports the Saudi military’s compliance with international humanitarian law.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of concerns raised by local authorities, in particular those raised by Cumbria County Council, about the performance of private companies carrying out track and trace operations to address the COVID-19 pandemic; and what plans they have to divert the resources provided to those companies to local authorities to ensure that contact tracing is local by default.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are working with local authorities and other community partners to minimise the risk of local outbreaks occurring to respond swiftly and effectively to stop the spread of COVID-19. As of 18 December, we have over 270 local contact tracing partnerships in place, with more in implementation. In the week 3 to 9 December, 96.6% of contacts where communication details were given were reached and told to self-isolate, an increase from 92.5% in the previous week.
To support these local responses, we have already made £700 million additional funding available for local authorities in England to develop robust, tailored outbreak control plans to identify and contain potential outbreaks.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports of an increase of COVID-19 cases in Gaza, what action they are taking with international partners to support the health care system in that region.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains concerned about the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza and the impact of COVID-19 on an already fragile healthcare system. Recognising the severity of the situation, we were one of the first donors to provide funding to support the health and humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We have provided £1.25 million funding (the World Health Organisation with £630,000 and the United Nations Children's Fund with £620,000) to purchase and co-ordinate delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline health workers and scale up laboratory testing capacity - mainly in Gaza.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of food insecurity in Palestine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) has exacerbated the humanitarian and food insecurity situation. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, food insecurity, driven by high poverty and unemployment, affected 1.6 million Palestinians - nearly a third of the population in OPTs.
We recognise the importance of tackling food insecurity. To support, we are providing £2.5 million to the World Food Programme to provide food and cash assistance to the most vulnerable Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza. We have also contributed £1 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's Emergency Appeal in the OPTs which will help provide emergency food to over one million food-insecure refugees in Gaza.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of the shortage of oxygen supplies for COVID-19 patients in Gaza; and what steps they are taking, if any, to address any such shortage.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain concerned about the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, especially in Gaza. We welcome the recent 30% increase in hospital beds for patients suffering critical and severe cases and the recent procurement by World Health Organisation of two additional oxygen generators. The UK continues to monitor the situation closely.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with local authorities about the commencement of their new, consolidated, global resettlement scheme and the resettlement of 5,000 refugees in one year at the conclusion of the Vulnerable Persons’ Resettlement Scheme; and what was the outcome of any such discussions.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We have been working closely with key domestic and international stakeholders on plans to safely resume UK resettlement arrivals against the backdrop of unprecedented restrictions and pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of this work, and as announced by Baroness Williams of Trafford in the House of Lords on 9 November, the UK will shortly restart UK resettlement arrivals to fulfil our commitment of resettling 20,000 refugees affected by the conflict in Syria under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) and we are working closely with partners to deliver this commitment.
Due to the lead times for refugee arrivals, it is likely that we will see most refugees start to arrive early in the new year.
Decisions regarding resettlement beyond the completion of this scheme are yet to be made and will need to take account of the impact of COVID-19 and the ongoing pressures on the asylum system. We have committed to a review of safe and legal routes to the UK. We are aware that the pause in resettlement has had an impact on our resettlement partners and will continue to work with them as future plans are developed.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the fraud and corruption charges against Georgy Bedzhamov in the context of his application for British citizenship.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
I cannot comment on the specifics of individual cases.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Music Education, the Incorporated Society of Musicians and the University of Sussex Music Education: State of the Nation, published in January 2019; and what steps they have taken to improve music education in schools.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The government agrees with the report’s stated ambition that all pupils should receive a high-quality music education.
That is why music remains compulsory in the National Curriculum from ages 5 to 14. Music is also stated as one of the subjects that schools should continue to teach as part of a broad and ambitious curriculum in the guidance on the full opening of schools earlier this autumn. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
To support teachers in providing high-quality lessons, the department has worked with an expert panel to develop a non-statutory model music curriculum for Key Stages 1 to 3. This expands on the National Curriculum programme of study and acts as a benchmark for all schools. The model music curriculum will be published shortly.
The department has also invested nearly £500 million of central programme funding between 2016 and 2020 on a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes. This includes £300 million for Music Education Hubs that provide specialist music education services to around 90% of state-funded schools. It also includes almost £120 million for the Music and Dance Scheme, which currently supports over 2,300 exceptionally talented children and young people to attend specialist music and dance schools and training centres each year. More information about this is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/multi-million-pound-culture-boost-for-children-in-schools.
In January 2020, the department announced a further £80 million investment in Music Education Hubs for the 2021-22 financial year to ensure that all children, whatever their background, have access to a high-quality music education.
The government remains committed to continued support for music education, and following the one-year Spending Review settlement, our partner organisations will be updated soon on funding for the 2021-22 financial year.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the signing of the Memoranda of Understanding by the Foreign Secretary and the Egyptian Foreign Minister on 6 November 2015, what representations they have made to the government of Egypt about its use of anti-terrorist charges against (1) Karim Ennarah, (2) Mohammed Basheer, and (3) Gasser Abdel Razeq; and what discussions they have had with that government about the evidence on which such charges are based.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We welcome the release of Gasser Abdel Razek, Karim Ennarah and Mohamed Basheer. The UK was clear from the outset that we had serious concerns about their arrest and detention, concerns shared by likeminded international partners. The Foreign Secretary raised the issue with his Egyptian counterpart on 19 November, the first Foreign Minister to do so. We continue to take a close interest in this case. We continue to have regular discussions with the Government of Egypt on human rights issues, raising concerns where we have them.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Egypt about the release of (1) Karim Ennarah, (2) Mohammed Basheer, and (3) Gasser Abdel Razeq; and what representations they have made to the government of Egypt about the importance of the work by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in upholding human rights.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We welcome the release of Gasser Abdel Razek, Karim Ennarah and Mohamed Basheer. The UK was clear from the outset that we had serious concerns about their arrest and detention, concerns shared by likeminded international partners. The Foreign Secretary raised the issue with his Egyptian counterpart on 19 November, the first Foreign Minister to do so. We continue to take a close interest in this case. We continue to have regular discussions with the Government of Egypt on human rights issues, raising concerns where we have them.