Under a deal situation, the political declaration has provisions for Eurojust, Europol, Prüm and PNR. Leaving without a deal would necessitate us relying on other mechanisms to fulfil those obligations.

Well, a large number of the Tory party were at prayer 10 minutes ago.

My Lords, that is a constructive and useful suggestion; I shall take it back. It would be very useful in relation to Wales. The Secretary of State will obviously want to consider it.

The noble Lord goes a bit above my pay grade, but I am sure that he is right. The Question today refers to lost documents—that is, documents that are sent in good faith and then lost, and then the individual who has sent the document has great difficulty in obtaining whatever service it is that they wish to complete. As I say, the presence of a data protection officer and some of the digitisation that the Home Office is undertaking should help to alleviate this.

We take all obligations in respect of alleged breaches of international law very seriously, and we have always regarded the United Nations as an important forum for addressing these issues. The United Kingdom believes that allegations of genocide are for international judicial authorities to determine. As the noble Lord is probably aware, the International Criminal Court does not have territorial jurisdiction over crimes committed in Syria, because Syria is not a state party to the Rome statute.

My Lords, the noble Lord is right that the position will vary according to the nature of the lease in question: it may vary enormously from one lease to another. We already have the example of Citiscape in Croydon where those responsible, the leaseholders under the lease, have had the owner of the block, Barratt, come forward and say it will bear the cost. We are hoping that that position will be replicated in other cases. We rule nothing out, but in the meantime the round tables that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State is organising provide a way forward to see how this will be received.

My Lords, BSL is a devolved matter so, with regard to Wales and the Welsh language, there were no particular recommendations on the provision of BSL. However, a parliamentary Statement in 2003 recognised BSL as a language and the Lords Select Committee was clear that this should be extended to the devolved regions. It is also important to make it clear that there are a number of different sign languages, not just one particular sign language.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply and I will place a copy of their letter in the Library of the House.

The December 2017 interim report on legislative consent from the Welsh Assembly’s External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee recommends “that the Assembly withhold its consent for the Bill in its current form” but notes that “this is an interim report and, should the Bill be amended, [the committee] will issue a further report.”

We continue to have positive discussions with the devolved administrations and legislatures to find an agreed approach to clause 11 of the Bill and we intend to bring forward amendments during the Bill’s Lords stages. We are committed to achieving legislative consent for this vital piece of legislation.

I thank the noble Lord for his input. Yes, the ability of a country to regulate on its own behalf in the public interest is well recognised in international law. Therefore, we would expect to be able to continue to regulate in our national interest. In the terms of our agreements, that is what we will be achieving in our agreements—going for the UK’s best interests.

All noble Lords will be aware that, with the exception of Russia, as I mentioned, there are only, as I understand it, three countries—Nicaragua and Venezuela are two—which have actually recognised the two breakaway republics. To answer the question in reverse, all countries with the exception of

those four recognise internationally the territorial sovereignty, including that of Georgia, over the two breakaway regions.

The government has not made a formal assessment of this kind.

The Bank for International Settlements publishes international comparisons of credit provision. In the latest figures from Q2 2017, total credit to the non-financial sector as a percentage of GDP was 281.0 in the UK, 345.2 in the Republic of Ireland, 296.0 in Canada, and 208.3 in New Zealand.

The government is committed to supporting credit unions, which provide vital services to financially under-served communities and contribute to the diversity of the UK’s financial services sector. Over the last two financial years, the government has done this by:

• Announcing at Autumn Budget 2017, that where a credit union’s membership conditions are based on locality, a credit union will be able to increase the number of potential members it can have to from 2 to 3 million. The legislation to make this change was laid in November 2017 and comes into force in April 2018.

• Announcing at Autumn Statement 2016 that, from 2018, an existing scheme which incentivises credit union membership in communities at risk of being targeted by loan sharks, will be expanded. This uses funds recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act from convicted loan sharks.

• Contributing £600,000 to an initiative developed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Young Enterprise, to start savings clubs in primary schools and educate young children in the benefits of saving. Lifesavers works with local credit unions to help run savings clubs with schoolchildren, and is currently being piloted in six primary schools.

• Providing funding for the Credit Union Expansion Project, delivered by the Association of British Credit Unions Ltd. In 2017, three credit unions with a total membership of 16,500 began using an online banking platform provided by this project.

The UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments agreed at JMC(EN) on 16 October the principles that will guide how we approach common frameworks in future https://www.gov.uk/government/news/progress-made-at-eu-talks-with-devolved-governments--2. Discussions with the devolved administrations in these areas are ongoing. We do not expect there to be a need for frameworks in all areas currently governed by EU law, and so the Government expects that the return of powers from the EU will lead to a significant increase in the decision making powers for the devolved administrations.

We are continuing to work closely with the devolved administrations to quickly determine where common approaches will and will not be required in the future. These discussions are guided by the common frameworks principles agreed at JMC(EN) on 16 October https://www.gov.uk/government/news/progress-made-at-eu-talks-with-devolved-governments--2. We know that there will be some areas where we will continue to need common frameworks, but equally some areas where common frameworks would not be needed. The Government expects that the return of powers from the EU will lead to a significant increase in the decision making powers for the devolved administrations.

The Industrial Strategy Council will be independent. It will be responsible for putting the right evaluation and reporting structures in place and make recommendations to government on industrial strategy.

We will begin the process to establish the Council as soon as possible. We expect Council members will be invited on the basis of their expertise, experience and skills. We expect the Council’s membership to be multidisciplinary and include leading business men and women, investors, economists and academics with wide ranging knowledge of local, national and international perspectives. Our aim is for it to start work in spring 2018.

The Industrial Strategy Council will be independent. It will be responsible for putting the right evaluation and reporting structures in place and make recommendations to government on industrial strategy.

We will begin the process to establish the Council as soon as possible. We expect Council members will be invited on the basis of their expertise, experience and skills. We expect the Council’s membership to be multidisciplinary and include leading business men and women, investors, economists and academics with wide ranging knowledge of local, national and international perspectives. Our aim is for it to start work in spring 2018.

The Industrial Strategy Council will be independent. It will be responsible for putting the right evaluation and reporting structures in place and make recommendations to government on industrial strategy.

We will begin the process to establish the Council as soon as possible. We expect Council members will be invited on the basis of their expertise, experience and skills. We expect the Council’s membership to be multidisciplinary and include leading business men and women, investors, economists and academics with wide ranging knowledge of local, national and international perspectives. Our aim is for it to start work in spring 2018.

My Lords, as a Government we want to ensure that disadvantage is eradicated, but I am very proud of coming from a rural background. Rural areas are wonderful places to live, work and play. They are beacons of excellence in looking after our natural environment. In truth, unemployment, poverty and homelessness are lower in rural areas. I very much want us to ensure that all these indices are reduced wherever we are in the United Kingdom.

The Government has committed to working closely with the devolved administrations on common frameworks, establishing them only where they are needed and identifying areas that could be released from the temporary competence arrangement in time for exit day. These discussions are ongoing, guided by the principles agreed between the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments at the last meeting of Joint Ministerial Committee (European Negotiations).