Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received about allegations of fraud connected to the Dolphin Trust; what steps they plan to take to safeguard UK investors' investments in the Trust; and whether the Trust is operating in the UK.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government are aware of the allegations of fraud made against the German Property Group (GPG), formerly known as the Dolphin Trust.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are working closely with financial advisers who have advised customers to make these investments and operators of Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) whose customers currently hold investments with GPG.
The FCA have published a joint statement with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the Financial Ombudsman Service. The statement sets out what UK consumers should do if they invested in GPG via an FCA authorised firm, either a financial adviser firm or a SIPP operator, and they believe they were mis-sold. It can be accessed on the FCA’s website.
Companies under the German Property Group are incorporated in Germany and have never been authorised by the FCA. However, consumers should be assured that the FCA are working closely with all relevant external stakeholders on this matter and will share any further updates as and when they are able to.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the report of the Dunlop Review into UK Government Union capability.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office told the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 10 September, the Government intends to publish the Dunlop Review before the end of the year.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether companies registered in Northern Ireland can continue to tender for EU Commission contracts during the implementation period.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Access to new procurement procedures during the implementation period will continue as normal. For any procedures ongoing at the end of the implementation period the existing regime will continue up to award. Therefore, companies registered in Northern Ireland will be able to continue to tender for EU Commission contracts during the implementation period as they do now.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government on what grounds Wen Li (Jaiwen Li), who is reported to be held at Brook House immigration removal centre, is being deported to China; and what assessment they have made of any potential risks to him in China.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We do not routinely comment on individual cases. The UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those who need our protection and each case is assessed on its merits and individuals have the right to appeal to an independent immigration court.
Where a decision has been made that a person does not require international protection, removal is only enforced when we and the courts conclude that it is safe to do so, with a safe route of return. We monitor the situation in countries of origin and update our positions regularly and make decisions on returns on a case by case.
Guidance used by UK Visas and Immigration to make decisions on asylum and human rights applications is published and can be found on gov.uk
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £225 million in funding per annum the Department for International Development committed to spend on family planning from 2017 until 2021 they estimate (1) has been, and (2) will be, spent on (a) the provision of contraceptives, (b) the provision of safe abortions, and (c) the training of health personnel to conduct safe abortions.
Answered by Lord Bates
In 2012 the UK committed to spend an average of £180m a year on family planning (FP) to 2020. This commitment then increased to £225m per year after the 2017 Family Planning Summit. Since 2012, using internationally agreed methodology to capture spending on family planning, we have spent an average of £184 million each year on family planning programmes between 2012/13 – 2016/17. We take an integrated approach to family planning and the training of health workers, covering a range of services, and therefore it is not possible to disaggregate spend on specific elements such as safe abortion provision.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many unsafe abortions were avoided as a result of the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy project, which came to an end in June 2018.
Answered by Lord Bates
Modelling estimates indicate that the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy project helped to avert approximately 7.1 million unsafe abortions through integrated sexual and reproductive health services over the lifetime of the programme.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many safe abortions they provided funding for through the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy project.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy programme aimed to help women and girls avoid recourse to unsafe abortion and to increase access to voluntary family planning.
The programme supported integrated sexual and reproductive health services designed around women’s needs, for example providing a woman with holistic care for HIV, counselling, post-abortion care and information on family planning. Because these services are integrated, it is not possible to disaggregate figures solely relating to safe abortion procedures.
Modelling estimates are that the project helped to avert 7.1 million unsafe abortions through such approaches over the lifetime of the programme. This is the estimated impact of holistic approaches including contraception, information and provision of safe alternatives; all of which help women avoid having to go through the trauma and life-threatening health risks of unsafe abortions.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what methods they use to measure how many unsafe abortions have been averted through the programmes that they fund internationally.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID uses modelling to estimate the number of unsafe abortions prevented by some programming. It is possible to model, for illustrative purposes, the number of abortions prevented by improved access to family planning specifically. Between April 2017 and March 2018, we estimate UK aid reached at least 14 million women and girls with family planning services, preventing an estimated 1.2 million unsafe abortions.
Our methodology is explained in the first footnote to the Family Planning page at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-results-sector-pages-2017-to-2018-single-department-plan
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Duncan of Springbank on 18 July (HL Deb, Col 1259), when they intend to provide a written reply about abortion and abortion services in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
I have recently written to the Noble Lord on these matters.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many single-earner married couples there are in each local authority area in the UK, broken down as a percentage of the total number of married couples for each area.
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 and I will place a copy of their letter in the Library of the House.