Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many countries have permanent diplomatic representation in the UK.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office publishes details of foreign embassies, high commissions and consulates in the UK on gov.uk, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-embassies-in-the-uk.
This page includes the London Diplomatic List (LDL), which contains details of all embassies and high commissions, as well as the names of heads of mission and other diplomatic agents appointed in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The LDL lists 169 diplomatic missions with their permanent seat in the UK. 17 countries have non-resident diplomatic representation to the UK. Nine countries are represented by an Honorary Consul.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which countries do not have permanent diplomatic representation in the UK.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office publishes details of foreign embassies, high commissions and consulates in the UK on gov.uk, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-embassies-in-the-uk.
This page includes the London Diplomatic List (LDL), which contains details of all embassies and high commissions, as well as the names of heads of mission and other diplomatic agents appointed in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The LDL lists 169 diplomatic missions with their permanent seat in the UK. 17 countries have non-resident diplomatic representation to the UK. Nine countries are represented by an Honorary Consul.
Some countries do not have a UK diplomatic presence or Honorary Consul representation. The FCDO does not publish a complete list of countries without UK diplomatic representation as this information is publicly available by comparing the LDL against the official map of countries as recognised by the UN: https://www.un.org/geospatial/content/world-today.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many countries the UK has permanent diplomatic representation in.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has diplomatic representation present in 160 countries recognised by the UK Government. This number periodically changes for political and operational reasons. It excludes countries in which we have closed or temporarily suspended a Post in country, which may operate elsewhere. The UK also has representation present in 15 territories, which includes 12 UK Overseas Territories.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) publishes a full list of locations where the UK has a diplomatic presence on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-foreign-office-posts. This list is regularly updated.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of council homes on social rents, excluding council homes on affordable rents, that they expect to be built by 2030.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country.
The Levelling Up White Paper committed to increasing the supply of social rented homes and a large number of the new homes delivered through our Affordable Homes Programme will be for social rent.
Since 2010, we have delivered over 172,600 homes for social rent.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the development of football for girls in schools and colleges.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not routinely collect data about which sports pupils participate in during the school day. It is up to schools to decide which sports they offer so that they can meet the needs of their pupils. Factors influencing that decision include the spaces available.
The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Data for the 2022/23 academic year, which was published by Sport England on 7 December 2023, showed a significant increase of four percentage points of girls in Years 1-11 playing football over the last week, compared to the baseline data collected in the 2017/18 academic year.
In December 2023, the government responded to Karen Carney’s 2023 review into the future of women’s football in support of all 10 of the strategic recommendations from the review, further demonstrating the government’s continued commitment to supporting women’s sport at every opportunity. The department is delivering on its commitments around equal access to school sports for girls, and is working with other key organisations to ensure implementation.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address fly-tipping in rural areas.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We appreciate the difficulty that fly-tipping poses to landowners. We are working with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land.
As part of the Government’s commitment to unleash rural opportunity, we are currently funding a post within the new National Rural Crime Unit to explore how the police’s role in tacking fly-tipping can be optimised, with a focus on rural areas.
Across two rounds of our fly-tipping grant scheme, we have awarded nearly £1.2m to help more than 30 councils tackle fly-tipping at known hot-spots, including in rural areas, such as by installing CCTV. We are currently reviewing applications for a third round of grants, which could see a further £1m handed out in the spring to help even more councils tackle the issue.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of commercial radio in the UK.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government strongly supports a vibrant radio sector, including national and local commercial stations as well as community stations and the BBC, which between them provide a rich variety of choice for listeners across the UK.
The UK’s commercial radio sector now accounts for approximately 55% of radio listening in the UK, according to figures published by RAJAR for Quarter 4 2023, with 39 million people tuning in to national or local commercial stations at least once a week. This compares to 42% of radio listening and 34 million listeners in Quarter 4 2013. The growth in commercial radio listening over the past 10 years is thanks to the investment the sector has made to develop and grow new services and its ability to adapt what it offers to listeners on digital radio or via internet-connected devices such as smart speakers.
The measures in the Media Bill to reduce regulatory burdens on commercial radio and to secure protections for the carriage of radio on smart speaker devices are intended to help support and secure commercial radio’s long-term future.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the amount of power that will be generated from wind and solar energy by (1) 2030, (2) 2040, and (3) 2050.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Two indicative Net Zero consistent scenarios for the GB power sector are published as Annex O of the Energy and Emissions Projections.[1] Renewable generation in these scenarios is:
Annual Generation (TWh) | 2030 | 2040 | 2050 |
Net Zero Lower | 282 | 427 | 483 |
Net Zero Higher | 307 | 494 | 591 |
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to support the bee population.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Recovering nature is a priority for this Government, which is why we have set legally binding targets to halt and then reverse the decline in species abundance, reduce the risk of species extinction and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats. Action under the Environmental Improvement Plan to deliver our biodiversity targets will address key pressures impacting pollinators including habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation, use of some pesticides, climate change and land use intensification.
Our 2014 National Pollinator Strategy sets out a 10-year plan to help pollinators survive and thrive. It delivers action across four themes: strengthening evidence; restoring habitats and species; sustaining pollinator health; and engaging wider society. A Defra-led working group is considering future priorities for pollinators beyond 2024.
Agri-environment schemes are a key mechanism for recovering bees and other pollinators, in particular through the ‘Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package’. Between 2014 and 2019, an estimated 30,000ha of bee-friendly habitat was delivered through this scheme.
We have also collaborated with research institutes and volunteer organisations to set up the Pollinator Monitoring and Research Partnership to improve our understanding of pollinators and pollination services, and raised the profile of pollinators through our annual Bees’ Needs Week, which raises awareness of key actions we can all take to protect pollinators. Bees’ Needs Week 2024 will run from 8-14 July.
Defra supports the honey bee population specifically through the work of the National Bee Unit inspectorate, which operates our bee pest surveillance programmes and provides free training and advice to beekeepers, including on pest and disease recognition. While bee health is a devolved matter, Defra and the Welsh Government work together on bee health and, in 2020, we jointly published the Healthy Bees Plan 2030 (copy attached).
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many countries the UK has diplomatic representation in.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has a diplomatic representation present in 160 countries recognised by the UK Government. This number periodically changes for political and operational reasons. It excludes countries in which we have closed or temporarily suspended a Post in country, which may operate elsewhere. The UK also has representation present in 15 territories, which includes 12 UK Overseas Territories.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) publishes a full list of locations in which the UK has a diplomatic presence on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-foreign-office-posts.
This list is regularly updated.