Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the consultation response to the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 on 17 January, when they will inform the WTO and EU Commission of the proposed changes, and how long each will have to make a response.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working to notify the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of the legislative changes to The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 and Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 in February. Notification to the EU Commission in respect of amendments in Northern Ireland will happen concurrently. The notification to WTO under the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement involves a comment period of 60 days. Any comments received will be considered, following which measures can be adopted in Great Britain subject to parliamentary process. After notifying the EU Commission under Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, for legislative changes in Northern Ireland, the Commission will provide an opinion on envisaged measures within three months. Measures can be adopted in Northern Ireland six months after notification provided the Commission’s opinion is not negative.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers from Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 26 June (HL8412, HL8413 and HL8414), when they expect the Building Safety Regulator will undertake the cost benefit analysis of making regular inspections and testing of electrical installations in relevant buildings.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Under Section 21 of the Building Safety Act, the Building Safety Regulator must carry out a cost-benefit analysis of making regular inspections of, and testing and reporting on, the condition of electrical installations in relevant buildings. This report will be provided by 1 October 2026. The Regulator remains on track for completing this activity within the agreed timeframe.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of protective earthed neutral faults in public and street chargers for electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Safety requirements relating to protective earthed neutral faults, including those for electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints, are covered by The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002, BS 7671 Requirements for Electrical Installations, the Institution of Engineering and Technology's code of practice for EV Charging Equipment, and the Energy Networks Association’s Engineering Recommendation G12. The Government has not undertaken any separate risk assessment of protective earthed neutral faults in EV chargepoints.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have received any representations from interested parties regarding restrictions for making submissions to the review into the number of prisoners who died on Alderney during the Nazi occupation, and what steps the review has taken to obtain relevant material from such parties.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The UK’s Post Holocaust Issues Envoy, Lord Eric Pickles announced the review into the number of prisoners who died on Alderney during the Nazi occupation on July 27, 2023. He has appointed a team of eleven independent, experienced, and internationally recognised experts led by Dr Paul Sanders the renowned French academic. The review is also receiving expert assistance from the Archives at Yad Vashem, the world’s preeminent Holocaust Centre. Lord Pickles has publicly encouraged all interested parties to put forward their evidence and has met with several groups and individuals who have expressed their interest in the review.
The department works closely with the Channel Islands on Holocaust issues.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish their response to their September 2022 consultation on amending the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 and the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The full summary of responses and Government response are in the final stages of the Government clearance process, and we expect to publish in January. Officials have been carefully analysing the 369 responses received, while also discussing with the devolved administrations the best approach to consistent and effective policy implementation across the UK. We have continued engagement with industry and further assessment to ensure that any changes to the regulations successfully deliver improved public health, protect consumers, minimise impacts to industry and assist enforcement authorities.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the National Archives file 'Organophosphate poisoning to farmers caused by sheep dip' (PIN 21/843) is open in its entirety and, if not, for what reasons any redactions have been made.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
When The National Archives identifies information in an ‘open’ record which engages, or is likely to engage, an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the record in question has its access status amended to ‘Access Under Review’, which temporarily prevents the record from being orderable by members of the public.
Officials at The National Archives can confirm that the record (PIN 21/843) will revert to being orderable again shortly once the appropriate assessment of its status under the Freedom of Information Act has been carried out.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to reply to the letter from Lord Rooker to Lord Markham of 24 August regarding the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and folic acid.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Goldie on 22 June 2022 (HL Deb col 224), what was the result of the inquiries that were made regarding cotton products used by the Royal Navy.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
It is longstanding policy that the use of slave labour is a mandatory exclusion from contracts with the Ministry of Defence; this policy is currently captured within the Procurement Contract Regulations (2015). In line with this policy the current supplier of combat clothing follows a code of practice under which cotton sourced from countries or regions at high risk of forced labour or child labour is prohibited, including the Xinjiang province of China. This is subject to regular review, and inspections of overseas suppliers are performed to ensure adherence to this policy.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Benyon on 11 September (HL Deb col 666), how many clothing retailers are using element analysis systems rather than paper trails to determine where the cotton in their products is grown.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra does not hold information on the number of retailers that are using element analysis systems to determine where cotton in their products is grown. However, Defra funds Textiles 2030 which commits signatories to meeting targets on their water and carbon usage and working towards a Circular Economy. The government’s proposals for minimising textile waste outlined in Maximising Resources Minimising Waste (MRMW) which was published in July will increase the amounts of clothing and other textiles, including ones made from cotton, that will be collected for recycling and reuse and therefore keep textiles in use for longer.
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36m or more are required to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The prevalence of modern slavery and complexity of global supply chains means that it is highly unlikely that any sector or company is immune from the risks of modern slavery.
The Government encourages companies to monitor their supply chains with rigor to uncover and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find. The UK continues to support the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The UK continues to be an authority on modern slavery reporting, and we continue to share our experiences with other countries who are introducing their own transparency legislation.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of delays in funerals being caused by (1) the existing system for registering a death, (2) the number of available pathologists, (3) delays in completion of Medical Certificate Cause of Death forms and access to local GPs, (4) the availability of mortuary storage at local hospitals and public mortuaries, and (5) any delays by medical examiners.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Whilst the Government does not have operational responsibility for the provision of funeral services, we are aware of funeral delays in some areas and acknowledge that these are often exacerbated by pressures from within the wider death management system.
Government departments are taking a collaborative approach to reforming the death registration system as part of the roll out of the statutory medical examiner scheme which will come into force in April 2024. The doctor who attended the deceased during their last illness has a legal responsibility to complete a Medical Certificate Cause of Death (MCCD) as soon as possible to enable the registration of the death to take place. Guidance for doctors on completing an MCCD, available on Gov.uk, emphasises this point. As part of the work on the statutory medical examiner scheme, the Department of Health and Social Care is looking at expanding the pool of doctors who can sign the MCCD forms. When the demand on civil registration services is high, death registration appointments will always take priority over other registration appointments.
The Government continues to look at wider improvements to the death management system’s capacity and resilience, including mortuary capacity. The shortage of pathologists is a long-standing and cross-cutting issue. The Government is determined to make progress as soon as practicable. To that end, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State is engaging with Ministerial colleagues to implement effective solutions through a cross-government action plan.