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My Lords, the police have been brutal in beating up protesters. Can the Minister confirm that the Government have not authorised the sale of any equipment to Belarus that could be used against protesters?
My Lords, the police have been brutal in beating up protesters. Can the Minister confirm that the Government have not authorised the sale of any equipment to Belarus that could be used against protesters?
My Lords, I can confirm that to my noble friend. Further, I assure him that from August last year, any defence and security co-operation has been suspended by the Defence Secretary, and that the defence co-operation we did extend amounted to training, survival training and language training and was not specific to particular equipment.
My Lords, I declare an interest as the owner of woodlands. What effective guidance will the Government give to ensure that these trees are not subsequently destroyed by grey squirrels?
My Lords, I declare an interest as the owner of woodlands. What effective guidance will the Government give to ensure that these trees are not subsequently destroyed by grey squirrels?
Invasive non-native species like grey squirrels and muntjac deer are a clear threat to our native biodiversity. They cost the economy around £1.8 billion per year and they impact negatively on our trees and woodlands. The Forestry Commission provides advice on maintaining red squirrel habitats and managing grey squirrels, while the Roslin Institute is researching into ways to breed infertility into females. This would provide a more humane way of reducing their numbers. In addition, we support work by the UK Squirrel Accord in developing an oral contraceptive to reduce the grey squirrel population.
My Lords, I declare an interest as the father of an autistic daughter. Can the Minister say when clear guidance will be provided to day centres for the disabled, and when we can expect they will reopen?
My Lords, I declare an interest as the father of an autistic daughter. Can the Minister say when clear guidance will be provided to day centres for the disabled, and when we can expect they will reopen?
My Lords, the guidance for day centres in particular is not something I know the specific date for, but I would be glad to take my noble friend’s question back to the department and seek a date, as he asks. We all wish for day centres to be open, but keeping infection control in day centres for those with learning disabilities and autism is extremely challenging, and our primary concern is the safety and protection of children. Therefore, we have to weigh those considerations with the natural pastoral concerns and the contribution of day centres to the care of children.
My Lords, “Diligence” has provided wonderful support to Royal Naval ships. What is the cost of her recent refits and is my noble friend satisfied that her sale will not affect the maintenance of Royal Naval ships when away from home ports?
My Lords, “Diligence” has provided wonderful support to Royal Naval ships. What is the cost of her recent refits and is my noble friend satisfied that her sale will not affect the maintenance of Royal Naval ships when away from home ports?
My Lords, there was a refit of RFA “Diligence” in 2012-13 and another in 2014-15, both driven by mandatory certification requirements. The aggregate cost of those refits was £28.6 million. I reassure my noble friend that the withdrawal from service of RFA “Diligence” will not have a material effect on the support provided to the fleet. We are always considering different and innovative ways of providing that support to deliver the best value for money for the taxpayer. The Royal Navy is confident that, through a combination of the measures that I have outlined, the required support will be available.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to encourage the International Monetary Fund to investigate the loss of funds from Moldova's banking system.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to encourage the International Monetary Fund to investigate the loss of funds from Moldova's banking system.
In May this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sent a mission to Moldova to discuss the domestic authorities’ strategy for financial sector reforms and ensuring the safety and soundness of Moldova’s banks. According to IMF staff, progress was made towards agreement on the need to strengthen governance and tackle non-transparent shareholder structures in banks. Talks are expected to continue in the context of negotiations for an IMF programme to support Moldova, although timings have not yet been set. The Government will continue to monitor developments in Moldova and its interactions with the IMF.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what programmes are in place to help the government of Moldova address all forms of corruption.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what programmes are in place to help the government of Moldova address all forms of corruption.
The British Government is providing reform assistance to Moldova through the Good Governance Fund (GGF). Supporting anti-corruption measures is one of the key components of our GGF work in Moldova. It includes projects focusing on financial sector transparency and reform, public administration reform, judicial reform, strengthening independent media and the energy sector.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of democratic progress in Moldova.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of democratic progress in Moldova.
A more stable, secure and prosperous Moldova is important for the stability of the European neighbourhood. Moldova has made some progress on implementing the reforms required under the Association Agreement with the EU. But substantial political and economic issues remain to be addressed. This can only be achieved through constructive dialogue among all political forces in the country, which takes into account the expectations of the people of Moldova.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times officials have met the deputy chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova since May 2010.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times officials have met the deputy chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova since May 2010.
Officials have met the Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova on a number of occasions since May 2010, principally in his capacity as First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova (December 2010-February 2013).
Most of these occasions were group meetings involving our Ambassador in Chisinau and other members of the Diplomatic Corps in Chisinau.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the merits of using dogs to detect medical conditions.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the merits of using dogs to detect medical conditions.
There is not, as yet, an established level of evidence to support the systematic application of the use of dogs within the NHS at this time. However, both the Department of Health and NHS England will be interested to see the outcome of the prostate cancer detection trials that recently started at Milton Keynes University Hospital with the charity Medical Detection Dogs.
My Lords, each day that we sit in this House we trust dogs’ acute sense of smell of explosives to ensure our safety. Research shows that dogs detect human disease earlier than existing tests, which could increase survival rates and save the NHS millions of pounds. Will my noble friend’s department increase research capacity in this field and ensure that Britain remains a world leader?
My Lords, each day that we sit in this House we trust dogs’ acute sense of smell of explosives to ensure our safety. Research shows that dogs detect human disease earlier than existing tests, which could increase survival rates and save the NHS millions of pounds. Will my noble friend’s department increase research capacity in this field and ensure that Britain remains a world leader?
My Lords, interestingly, the human nose contains some 5 million scent glands but a dog’s nose contains many more. In fact, the sniffing ability of a dog can be up to 10 million times that of the ability of a human being. Therefore we should not underestimate the contribution that dogs can make in this field. The trial being conducted at Milton Keynes University Hospital, which involves 3,000 patients giving urine samples, with nine dogs in a controlled environment over the three years, could indeed make a huge a contribution to the early detection of certain cancers. Therefore we will follow that trial with keen interest.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what civilian retraining is available for Armed Forces personnel who have been seriously wounded.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what civilian retraining is available for Armed Forces personnel who have been seriously wounded.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Royal Navy personnel deployed to Iraq are involved in the training of the Iraqi navy.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Royal Navy personnel deployed to Iraq are involved in the training of the Iraqi navy.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what resources are available to commanding officers to provide support for the families and dependants of Armed Forces personnel.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what resources are available to commanding officers to provide support for the families and dependants of Armed Forces personnel.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether officer cadets at (a) Britannia Royal Naval College, (b) the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and (c) RAF Cranwell, receive language training in Dari Persian or Pashto.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether officer cadets at (a) Britannia Royal Naval College, (b) the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and (c) RAF Cranwell, receive language training in Dari Persian or Pashto.
To ask Her Majesty's Government under what circumstances senior officers in Her Majesty's Armed Forces are granted first class train travel.
To ask Her Majesty's Government under what circumstances senior officers in Her Majesty's Armed Forces are granted first class train travel.
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Bolton on 18 March (WA 214), how many Snatch Land Rovers are deployed in Afghanistan.
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Bolton on 18 March (WA 214), how many Snatch Land Rovers are deployed in Afghanistan.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many civil servants there are in the Headquarters Land Forces redeployment pool as a result of Project Hyperion; how long they have been there; and what is the cost of keeping them there.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many civil servants there are in the Headquarters Land Forces redeployment pool as a result of Project Hyperion; how long they have been there; and what is the cost of keeping them there.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the retention rate for Apache helicopter pilots serving in HM Armed Forces in each year since 2001.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the retention rate for Apache helicopter pilots serving in HM Armed Forces in each year since 2001.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Harrier aircraft are (a) in service with HM Armed Forces, and (b) in operational condition.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Harrier aircraft are (a) in service with HM Armed Forces, and (b) in operational condition.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there will be a gap in capability during the transition between retiring Harrier pilots and training Joint Strike Fighter pilots.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there will be a gap in capability during the transition between retiring Harrier pilots and training Joint Strike Fighter pilots.