Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what departmental support they provide to the COP26 President, Alok Sharma MP.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
A dedicated COP26 Unit, comprising 230 staff, has been set up in the Cabinet Office to oversee preparations for COP26. The COP26 Unit works closely with other government departments and the global diplomatic network.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Earl Howe on 6 February 2019 (HL Deb, col 410GC), what was the outcome of the consultation on the .50 calibre rifles; and what plans they have, if any, to ban such rifles.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government ran a public consultation on a range of firearms safety issues between 24 November 2020 and 16 February 2021.
Amongst other issues, the consultation sought views on high muzzle energy rifles and whether enhanced security arrangements are necessary for these rifles to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Over 12,000 responses were received to the consultation. The Government is considering these responses carefully and will publish its response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what due diligence was carried out on PPE Medpro Ltd prior to it being awarded a contract for the supply of personal protective equipment to the NHS; and what account was taken of that company having been incorporated in May with a share capital of £100 prior to it being awarded that contract.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government issued a public call to action to support the increased requirements of personal protective equipment (PPE). The aim was to reach suppliers who had experience of supplying PPE and also those who had no prior experience but who had access to sources of PPE through their business contacts. To date this has resulted in 15,000 suppliers offering their help and support. All offers were prioritised based on volume, price, clinical acceptability and lead time – this is the time from an offer being accepted by the Department to the supplier delivering those items. Suppliers are evaluated by Departmental officials on their financial standing, compliance with minimum product specifications and ability to perform the contract. These were often private businesses whose net asset position is only one factor in evaluating their offer.
Contracts are awarded by the appropriate Departmental accounting officer in line with Departmental policy and procedures.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) which, ministers they intend to send to the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, due to be held in Stockholm from 19 to 20 February.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Her Majesty’s Government will be attending the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety representing the United Kingdom and will share our world leading expertise in road safety.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to deliver on the road safety aspects of the UN Global Sustainability Goals, as outlined in the 2017 UN report Road Safety: Consideration in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, published in 2017.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK Government supports UN Global Sustainability Goals on road safety and has supported research to improve road safety and reduce the impact of road crashes on poor people in developing countries. The UK Government has invested £20 million through the Global Road Safety Facility through DFID and the Department of Health and Social Care. This facility has generated new evidence on road safety, and has influenced World Bank investments in roads. The facility succeeded in including Road Safety as a criteria in the Bank’s corporate Safeguarding Framework. Several other Multilateral Development Banks are now using this as a model. It is estimated by the World Bank that as a result of this work over 2,100 road deaths and injuries were avoided in developing countries in 2017.
DFID also works to share UK expertise on road safety with developing country governments including Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda. The Department for Transport held an International Conference on Road Safety in the UK in September 2019 and will lead the UK delegation at the UN’s 3rd Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Sweden in February 2020.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many ministers attended the commemoration of 50 years of Continuous At Sea Deterrence held at HM Naval Base Clyde (Faslane) on Friday 5 July.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
No Ministers attended the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Continuous at Sea Deterrent held at HM Naval Base Clyde on 5 July. This event, held at the home of the deterrent, was designed to focus on the families and personnel of the deterrent enterprise. The principal national commemorative event took place on 3 May in Westminster Abbey and was attended by the Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP, the then Secretary of State for Defence, and the Rt Hon Liam Fox MP, the then Secretary of State for International Trade. I also had the pleasure of attending.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding support they give to the British American Security Information Council; and for what purposes.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office allocated £49,874.00 to the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) in Financial Year 2018 to 2019. This supported a project on 'Foregrounding Nuclear Responsibilities', which aims to foster international understanding and constructive dialogue among moderate nuclear and non nuclear-armed states on the responsibilities of nuclear weapons possession and disarmament. We also provided £7,281.44 to BASIC in Financial Year 2017 to 2018 for a research paper and two private roundtables, in order to inform the international conversation on Nuclear Security Assurances and support the rules-based international system and institutions.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the provisions of Article 32.10 (Non-Market Country FTA) of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement would preclude the UK having both a United States–UK free trade agreement and a UK–China free trade agreement.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
The UK is not a party to the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement and none of its provisions place an obligation on the UK.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the UK meeting the Sustainable Development Goal target of halving the number of road traffic fatalities by 2020.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK has one of the lowest road traffic fatality rates of all European countries, but we are not complacent. The British Road Safety Statement sets out the Government’s commitment to improve road safety further and reduce the number of people killed or injured on the roads every year and can be viewed on gov.uk and available in the libraries of the House.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Caledonian MacBrayne registered their sea-going employees in a company registered in Guernsey; and, if so, how much revenue was foregone by HMRC in employer's national insurance contributions.
Answered by Lord Bates
The provision of ferry services in Scotland is a devolved matter, and CalMac Ferries Limited and its subsidiaries are companies wholly owned by the Scottish Government. HMRC cannot comment on the tax affairs of individual taxpayers, as it has a duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality.