Skip to main content

1-20 of 174 results for house:"House of Lords"

Member X
Lord Bethell
Subject X
Mobile phones

Type

House

Session

Year

Department

Member

Bethell, Lord (174)
More

Primary member

Answering member

Legislative stage

Legislation

Subject

More
Mobile phones (174)

Publisher


Show detailed: On Off
Results: 10 20 50 100
Sort by: Newest first Oldest first

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Addington, for a very moving speech there, but I will address his point directly.

This amendment does not object to a child having a basic phone for safety. My plucky 11 year-old son travels to and from school every day with...

Member
Lord Bethell (Conservative; Conservative)
Type
Proceeding contributions
Date
3 February 2026
Reference
852 cc1531-2
House
House of Lords

My Lords, it is a great privilege to speak after the noble Baroness, Lady Morris. I think she spoke for many of us on the challenge of edtech: how our hopes that this would be a transformational technology have now changed emphatically, and how we now find ourselves in a...

Member
Lord Bethell (Conservative; Conservative)
Type
Proceeding contributions
Date
23 June 2025
Reference
847 cc36-8
House
House of Lords

My Lords, I fear that what the noble Lord, Lord Knight, has suggested is indeed happening: private schools, grammar schools and schools in wealthy areas are doubling down on their success by pursuing smartphone bans. Schools in areas of deprivation, where family and community ties are the weakest, are being...

Member
Lord Bethell (Conservative; Conservative)
Type
Proceeding contributions
Date
23 June 2025
Reference
847 c47
House
House of Lords

The Minister is quite right to point out that the Online Safety Act did not get much of a mention: maybe it is some kind of PTSD, because some of us did hard yards during that difficult passage. One of the most difficult things was the debate on age verification...

Member
Lord Bethell (Conservative; Conservative)
Type
Proceeding contributions
Date
23 June 2025
Reference
847 c59
House
House of Lords

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app in identifying close contacts with people who test positive for the virus.

Asked by
Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat)
Answering body
Department of Health and Social Care
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
20 July 2021
Reference
HL1771
House
House of Lords

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what facility they will make available as proof of vaccination for those wishing to travel who do not have a smart phone and access to the verification app.

Asked by
Lord Blunkett (Labour)
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 cc1653-6
House
House of Lords

My Lords, since May, individuals in England who have had two doses of an approved Covid-19 vaccine have been able to demonstrate their vaccine status for international travel. The services can be accessed through digital and non-digital routes, via the NHS app and the NHS website or by calling 111 to request a letter. The devolved Administrations are making available similar letters for use in travelling overseas. Over 63,000 people have requested a letter since the service was launched.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1653
House
House of Lords

My Lords, 57,000 people have received their letters so far. I am not aware of any delays. Those who wish to can use a pharmacy for the delivery of their letters. It is encouraging news and we have gone to considerable lengths to meet the suggestions of charities which we engaged with on the letters. They are available in different languages and in Braille.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1653
House
House of Lords

My Lords, that is not our approach. Our approach is to try to use whatever technologies work in order to open up our borders. The idea that 30% of tests are not correct is an unhelpful suggestion by the noble Lord. We will be using testing in the validation app.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1654
House
House of Lords

My Lords, we have engaged considerably with the sector on exactly these kinds of matters. GPs and pharmacies are briefed to help those with difficulties get this material. We are also conscious that some with autism may struggle to take a test and find the process of swabbing intimidating, so we are looking into workarounds for that.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1654
House
House of Lords

My Lords, vaccine data is held in the vaccine database and in the patient’s record. We abide by the principle that the data is owned by the patient.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1654
House
House of Lords

My noble friend alludes to having pre-printed certificates. In fact, each vaccine certificate has a tailored two-dimensional QR code that is designed for each person. Therefore, it is necessary to print the certificate for the person because it has their specific details on it.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1654
House
House of Lords

My Lords, I apologise for not being clearer; I will be crystal clear right now. Today, you can have a digital certificate on your iPhone, you can have a digital certificate that is printed out from your computer or you can call a number and have a paper certificate sent to you in the post immediately. All of those options are live today.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1655
House
House of Lords

My Lords, I am very alive to the concerns of the disabled. We have to balance the need to limit the spread of this virus to save lives, but in a way that is fair and just to all people. We are very much engaged with disability and other charities to ensure that that works. The noble Baroness is right that there will be some people for whom the vaccine does not work and who could yet catch the disease. We need to make provision for those people, and we are working on that.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1655
House
House of Lords

My Lords, all the promotions for vaccine certificates through travel agents and GPs make very substantial reference to the availability of paper letters and the channel of being able to call 119 to receive them. I completely sympathise with those who do not want to use their mobile phones for everything, and some will prefer a letter in the pocket to an app on their phone.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1655
House
House of Lords

I do not know about Albania specifically, but the freedom to travel in Europe is, of course, in part defined by Europeans themselves. We are in conversation with all European countries at the moment as to how our vaccine certificate scheme can be aligned with theirs. Indications from Europe are that they are interested in having a two-vaccination programme for entry as well, but we are trying to understand that more thoroughly.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1656
House
House of Lords

Yes, I completely endorse that sentiment. I pay tribute to 111 and 119, two facilities that have been used to an incredible extent during this pandemic. A lot of people would much prefer to hear someone at the end of a telephone, to have that reassurance and that personal touch. That is why we have substantially invested in both those resources and will continue to do so.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1656
House
House of Lords

My Lords, I pay tribute to the England football team, who did extremely well; I am glad that my noble friend was able to attend. He is entirely right: this is an incredibly valuable resource. We have a very strong preventive agenda in our healthcare strategy. The vaccine has demonstrated how we can use modern medical technology to prevent the spread of disease, and it is by using thoughtful technology like this app that we can popularise and make useful a vaccine approach that could reach out to other diseases.

Answered by
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
14 June 2021
Reference
812 c1656
House
House of Lords

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have downloaded the NHS COVID-19 application; how many contacts of people with COVID-19 tested positive after being traced through (1) the NHS COVID-19 application, and (2) other means, on each day since 1 January; and of such contacts, how many they were...

Asked by
Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat)
Answering body
Department of Health and Social Care
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
12 March 2021
Reference
HL12804
House
House of Lords

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of smartphone users in the UK who have downloaded the NHS COVID-19 Application.

Asked by
Lord Birt (Crossbench)
Answering body
Department of Health and Social Care
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
13 January 2021
Reference
HL9979
House
House of Lords