Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the government of Ethiopia’s decision to begin filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in July 2020 without the agreement of other countries through which the River Nile runs, and (2) the possibility of further such unilateral actions; what representations they will make to the government of Ethiopia to prevent further unilateral actions being taken in relation to the GERD; what assessment they have made of the status of the multilateral negotiations on the GERD led by the African Union; and what plans they have to raise issues regarding the management of the Nile in the United Nations Security Council.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to urge all parties involved in the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan - to come to an agreement on the filling and operation of the dam. We support the efforts by the African Union (AU) to help find agreement, and ensure that water resources are managed in a way that ensures their long-term sustainable use for all parties. We continue to speak to all three Governments through our Embassies in those countries, and regularly engage the US and EU as observers to the AU-led process, including through the UK Special Envoy for the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa. The Minister for Africa also raised the issue with the Ethiopian Ambassador on 24 February.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 25 June (HL16054), whether they will now answer the question put, namely what assessment they have made of the impact of the ban on direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh on the current UK terrorist threat level; and whether they will reconsider this ban if it is found to have increased the threat level.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
I refer the noble Lord to my previous response.
The threat level to the UK from international terrorism is kept under constant review by the independent Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, whose judgements about the threat level are made on the basis of the very latest reporting and intelligence. This can change at any time as different information becomes available.
The current threat level from international terrorism is judged to be SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 24 May (HL15688), whether they will now answer the question put, namely what assessment they have made of the impact of the ban on direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh on the current UK terrorist threat level.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
I refer the noble Lord to my previous response.
The threat level to the UK from international terrorism is kept under constant review by the independent Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre, whose judgements about the threat level are made on the basis of the very latest reporting and intelligence. This can change at any time as different information becomes available.
The current threat level from international terrorism is judged to be SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 3 April (HL14709), what assessment they have made of the impact of the ban on direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh on the current UK terrorist threat level.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
As indicated prior, the threat level to the UK from international terrorism is kept under constant review by the independent Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre, whose judgements about the threat level are made on the basis of the very latest reporting and intelligence. This can change at any time as different information becomes available.
The current threat level from international terrorism is judged to be SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have of the likelihood of a terror attack in the UK as a result of tensions resulting from their ban on direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The terrorist threat level to the UK is kept under constant review by the independent Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre, whose judgements about the threat level are made on the basis of the very latest intelligence. The current threat level from international terrorism is judged to be SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resumption of flights by Italy and Germany to Sharm el-Sheikh; what plans they have to allow the resumption of such flights from the UK; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK's ban on flights to that city on the likelihood of terror attacks in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
It is for each country to define the security requirements they need to protect their citizens. We do not comment on the aviation security measures that other countries have in place, nor do we assess other impacts on the current restrictions on flights.
The UK continues to work closely with the Egyptian authorities, sharing aviation security expertise, and we look forward to achieving the return of flights when the situation allows.
The terrorist threat level to the UK is kept under constant review by the independent Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre, whose judgements about the threat level are made on the basis of the very latest intelligence. However, it is long standing government policy not to comment in detail on security arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their ban on direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, and in particular of any resulting decline of employment in the tourism sector there, on the prevalence of terrorism in that city.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department for Transport conducts expert assessments on aviation security at overseas airports. We do not assess the impact on the tourism and airline industries of any restrictions on flights.
The UK continues to work closely with Egypt, sharing aviation security expertise and we look forward to achieving the return of flights when the situation allows.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 5 November 2018 (HL11004), what criteria they use to assess the security requirements of airports.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
As stated in my written answer on 5 November 2018 (HL11004), it is long standing government policy not to comment in detail on security matters, including what criteria we use to assess security requirements at airports.
The UK Government continues to work closely with its Egyptian counterparts, sharing its expertise in establishing effective security arrangements at all Egyptian airports including Sharm el-Sheikh. We hope to be in a position to resume direct flights when the circumstances are right.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to allow flights to Sharm el-Sheikh again; if so, when; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK Government continues to work closely with its Egyptian counterparts, sharing its expertise in establishing effective security arrangements at all Egyptian airports including Sharm el-Sheikh.
It is long standing government policy not to comment in detail on security matters. However, we look forward to achieving the return of flights once we can be assured that the necessary security requirements can be sustained.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they will make available in 2019–20 for nature-based solutions to reduce future flood risk in the UK, as recommended in the United Nations report Nature-based solutions for water, published on 19 March.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Natural flood management (NFM) measures are often integrated alongside more traditional approaches in flood and coastal risk management schemes. This includes within the Government’s £2.6 billion six year capital flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme.
The six year programme is focused on reducing flood risk to at least 300,000 homes, regardless of the type of flood risk management intervention, and the Environment Agency therefore does not hold a separate figure for annual natural flood management spend.
In November 2016, the Government announced £15 million to test natural flood management measures on catchment scale projects that:
reduce flood, or coastal erosion risk, to homes;
improve habitats and increase biodiversity;
contribute to research and development of NFM techniques and interventions; and
support and promote partnership working with and between communities.
The £15 million will be spent over the remainder of the six-year programme ending in March 2021, with £4.7 million of this Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid (GiA) funding forecast to be spent in the financial year 2019-20 on NFM.