Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to identify a freeport within Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Freeports will be national hubs for international trade, innovation and commerce, regenerating communities across the UK by attracting new businesses, spreading jobs, investment and opportunity to towns and cities up and down the country.
We want to ensure that the whole of the UK can benefit. We remain committed to establishing at least one Freeport in Northern Ireland as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were vaccinated against the common flu in the past 12 months; and how this figure compares with the previous 12 months.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The following table shows the number of people who were vaccinated during the seasonal influenza vaccination programme in 2019/20 and 2020/21. The figures are not directly comparable as the immunisation programme was expanded to more cohorts in 2020/21.
2020/2021 | 2019/2020 |
19,158,901 | 14,468,665 |
Source:
‘Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in GP patients: winter season 2020 to 2021. Final data for 1 September 2020 to 28 February 2021’ Public Health England
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of deploying British armed forces personnel to Northern Ireland in response to the opposition to the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The policing of all public order and protest events within Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI). The UK Government will continue to work closely with the PSNI. The safety and security of Northern Ireland remains our key commitment. Further policing support required by them would be provided via mutual aid support from other UK police forces. Defence would only provide support following a request from the PSNI via the well-established MACA (mutual aid to civil authority) process once mutual aid from other police forces had been exhausted, or if the support requested required niche capability not held by police forces within the UK. Defence has not received any request from PSNI to support them in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Until such a request is made by the PSNI no assessment or planning on this issue will be undertaken by the MOD.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Her Majesty's British ambassador to France has discussed the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland with the foreign minister of France.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ministers and Senior Officials regularly engage with their French counterparts on a range of priority issues. Her Majesty's Ambassador to France has discussed the Northern Ireland Protocol on a number of occasions with Senior Officials and Ministers in the French Government. The Prime Minister and President Macron also discussed the Protocol in the margins of the G7 Leaders Summit on 12 June, where the Prime Minister made clear his desire for pragmatism and compromise on all sides but underlined that protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions was paramount.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the governments of (1) Russia, and (2) Armenia, to have the location of land mines in Azerbaijan sovereign territory made available to the government of Azerbaijan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
During her visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan in February the Minister for the European Neighbourhood and the Americas highlighted UK concern over the large amount of unexploded ordnance across the region. We understand from Azerbaijani government reports that as of 9 June 2021, 27 Azerbaijanis have been killed and over 100 injured by explosive remnants of war. We are deeply concerned by this ongoing loss of civilian life.
The UK Government continues to urge both countries, most recently at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on 3 June, to work together to ensure that humanitarian organisations have unimpeded access to the region and that de-mining maps are urgently provided to ensure the safety of civilians.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of civilians who have lost their lives since 1 June as a result of unidentified Armenian land mines in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
During her visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan in February the Minister for the European Neighbourhood and the Americas highlighted UK concern over the large amount of unexploded ordnance across the region. We understand from Azerbaijani government reports that as of 9 June 2021, 27 Azerbaijanis have been killed and over 100 injured by explosive remnants of war. We are deeply concerned by this ongoing loss of civilian life.
The UK Government continues to urge both countries, most recently at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on 3 June, to work together to ensure that humanitarian organisations have unimpeded access to the region and that de-mining maps are urgently provided to ensure the safety of civilians.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland on the territorial integrity of the UK; and whether they consider that any such impact arising from the Protocol was justified in order to secure a wider agreement on the terms of the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Lord Frost
The Protocol itself is clear that Northern Ireland remains an integral part of the United Kingdom, its internal market and customs territory.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether fishing boats based in Northern Ireland have received licences to fish in Irish waters since January 2021; and whether the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland has caused any delay to such licences being issued.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Marine Management Organisation have shared data with the Commission on Northern Ireland vessels wishing to fish in Republic of Ireland waters and is currently waiting for their response. As yet, no Northern Ireland vessels have received licences to fish in the Irish 0-6nm zone.
We do not have any reason to believe that the Northern Ireland Protocol has had an effect on the issuing of licences.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland has affected the sale of horticultural autumn bulbs from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Following the end of the transition period on 1 January 2021, EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) rules continue to apply in Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Protocol. This upholds the longstanding status of the island of Ireland as a single epidemiological unit, and means that all regulated plants and plant products moving from GB to NI are required to meet the EU’s third country import requirements, including the requirement for regulated goods to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate.
As announced in the updated operational guidance for the movement of horticultural goods from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI), bulbs or vegetables that have been grown in soil can be sent from GB to NI even if they still have soil attached, while respecting any pest free area requirements.
Under the Government’s successful Movement Assistance Scheme (MAS), businesses moving plants and plant products from GB to NI do not need to pay for the fees associated with inspections and issuance of phytosanitary certificates (PC). The Government announced on 6 April 2021 that MAS will continue to provide traders with advice and guidance via the dedicated MAS helpline and financial support for certain certification costs. The Government will continue to monitor the performance of the scheme and will review it again in three months’ time, to determine how best to provide ongoing support to traders.
Prior to 1 January, data was not collected on the movement of horticultural autumnal bulbs from GB to NI. Although the Plant Health and Seed Inspectorate (PHSI) collect data on the number of bulb phytosanitary applications, comparisons with exports prior to the Northern Ireland Protocol’s implementation cannot be drawn, as consignments of bulbs were not inspected before 1 January 2021.
The Government recognises the importance of this issue and is recording data on the number of PCs issued for regulated plants and plant products, including bulbs, exported to all third countries and for those moved from GB to NI. This enables us to monitor the trade in these goods over time.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the event of an erroneous trademarking of a trade name by the Intellectual Property Office, they may reverse the trademarking without the need for further legal action by any aggrieved party.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The IPO’s examiners undertake a stringent examination of any trade mark application before it is accepted for registration, which includes a search of current trade marks. Once accepted, all applications are published for a 2-month window where anyone can lodge observations or launch a legal opposition.
Anyone can submit observations to the IPO and outline reasons why they believe a trade mark should not be registered from the date the application is made until it is registered. This IPO does not charge for this service. The IPO will then consider whether the mark has been accepted in error and can reopen the examination phase if there are grounds to do so.
There are more formal legal routes to oppose a trade mark application or invalidate an existing trade mark registration. Whilst these are formal legal processes, the IPO’s Tribunal service is set up to be a low cost and accessible service.