A lot of women in prison have substance use issues. That is why we are doing work in those settings to make sure that they get the therapeutic and, if necessary, addiction services they need.

Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine is marked by increasing evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Ukrainian service personnel and civilians, including executions, torture and sexual violence. We are fully committed to holding Russian forces to account for any atrocities that have been committed in Ukraine. Established accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court's investigations and Ukrainian domestic judicial processes are investigating all allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The UK continues to support these independent investigations, including by establishing the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group with the US and EU to provide practical and financial support to assist the War Crimes Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

The Government appointed Lord James O’Shaughnessy to carry out an independent review into United Kingdom commercial clinical trials. Following publication of the review on May 26, the Government made five headline commitments to improve the commercial clinical trials system backed by £121 million. This included £20 million to establish two or three new Clinical Trial Acceleration Networks which will bring together several existing mechanisms to create a joined-up approach to clinical trials, focusing on accelerating priority areas of research and delivering best practice.

An update on implementation will be provided in Autumn, which will outline progress against these commitments as well as responding in full to the review recommendations. Implementation of the five headline commitments and the full review response will be informed by consultation with the UK clinical trials community including individual medical research charities and the Association of Medical Research Charities, of which the Cystic Fibrosis Trust is a member.

People with long term conditions such as cystic fibrosis who are eligible for financial assistance through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme can claim a refund of reasonable travel costs. Travel expenses should be calculated by reference to the cheapest means of transport that is reasonable for the patient. This can include journeys made in a private vehicle.

To help alleviate cost pressures associated with travel for appointments, NHS England is supporting NHS providers to embed, spread and use video consultations innovatively across their services. The decision on whether an appointment needs to take place face-to-face, on video or by telephone will be made by an expert clinician based on patients’ individual care needs and preferences.

The UK has made clear, for the avoidance of any doubt, that President Putin would not be welcome in the UK. FCDO officials re-emphasised this to senior officials at the Russian Embassy in the UK at a face-to-face meeting in early April. The UK sanctioned President Putin and applied an asset freeze shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The UK has provided lifesaving and life-sustaining assistance to those in need in Turkey and northwest Syria, committing £43 million in aid. In Syria, the UK provided £4.3 million to the White Helmets for life-saving search and rescue and emergency relief operations. In addition, we provided 242 tonnes of vital relief items to help provide protection against the freezing winter weather conditions. In Turkey, the UK provided: search and rescue capability; specially trained dogs; and treatment to over 19,000 patients by UK medical teams. UK funding has also contributed to restoring the supply of clean water, reaching an estimated 263,000 people.

We have been in contact with the Canadian Foreign Minister and Canadian Government officials, offering UK support and our sympathy, following the devastating wildfires. Canada is a close partner of the UK, and we will continue to work together closely and provide support to one another in times of crisis.

I accept what my noble friend says. The challenge has been that, as the dam broke, pollutants and other substances such as oil and petrol contaminated the whole river. As I said to the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, there are implications for both agricultural land and the ecological habitats along the river. The assessment is still yet to be made fully.

The Ministrt of Defence (MOD) has had to make some difficult decisions to dispose of sites, including the former RAF Scampton, that have become surplus to military requirements in accordance with HM Treasury guidance on the management of surplus Government land. As part of the disposal process, full consideration is always given to the history and heritage of a site. Leading up to the disposal of the former RAF Scampton, a number of heritage assets were relocated to other either RAF stations, returned to their private owners or donated to the local Scampton Heritage Group in order to preserve them for future generations.

The MOD is extremely proud of its personnel and those that gave their lives in the defence of the United Kingdom. The sacrifices made by these heroic individuals are remembered through the various memorials that are open to the public with the Dambusters squadron crew that lost their lives being represented by the memorial at Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, and with the 55,573 Bomber Command crew that lost their lives being represented by the Bomber Command memorial located within The Green Park, London.

Questions on provision of necessities for any asylum seekers housed at the former RAF base in the future are a matter for the Home Office.

I thank my noble friend for that. Some 60% of Scotland’s trade is with the rest of the United Kingdom, 20% is with the EU and 20% is international. We talk to businesses regularly, which say that they do not recognise borders. The last thing that they want is a hard border on this island. Scottish businesses want access to that market, and we would encourage the Scottish Government to respect that.

I agree 100%. As I say, I have some personal experience. In many ways, these children or young people have incredible skills and are gifted in many directions, and the economy we live in, with IT and everything, gives more and more opportunity for these people to thrive.

What is happening to shore birds is a tragedy. There is a slightly different strain affecting shore birds and poultry—and pheasants I class with the latter. It is a tragedy that is apparent

when you look at Bass Rock, which for centuries has been white and is now black, because there are not the sea-birds on it. We are working across government to make sure that we address the disease in wild as well as domestic birds.

In the last eighteen months the UK has provided nearly £90 million of life-saving aid to communities across Ethiopia affected by crises. This support has provided emergency health supplies for 1 million people. Through the recently announced package of £14 million humanitarian support, funding is expected to reach up to 150,000 people with comprehensive health, water sanitation, hygiene and nutrition services across Ethiopia.

All parties at COP27, including the UK, agreed to establish both new funding arrangements for assisting developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, and a fund for responding to loss and damage. Parties also agreed to establish a Transitional Committee on operationalisation of the funding arrangements and the fund.

The UK announced at COP27 £5 million of funding for the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage which will bring together and enhance the technical assistance available to developing countries suffering from the worst impacts of climate change.

The UK will constructively engage with the Committee, with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and parties and with civil society to help ensure the funding arrangements, fund and the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage deliver effectively for countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

I agree with the noble Lord; 60% of Scottish trade is with England, 20% is with the EU and 20% is international. This is part of the issue not addressed in the paper. I point to a couple of observations. The IFS has said of the paper that

“Scotland’s much higher levels of public spending … mean that it … would need to make bigger cuts to … spending or … increases to taxes”.

Richard Murphy, traditionally a pro-independence economist, said to the National that the

“currency plans are ‘so wrong’ he would vote No in a future referendum.”

A pro-independence campaigner, Robin McAlpine, commented that the prospect was dismal—Scotland has no lender of last resort under these plans and there is no solution to the border. In summary, he said the whole thing is “utter pish”. I defer to the Lord Speaker to explain to more genteel noble Lords that that is a Glaswegian euphemism for utter balderdash.

The Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Crises Compact was agreed during the UK's G7 Presidency and we have provided our share of the $7 billion in humanitarian assistance to the countries one step from famine in 2021. Globally we intend to spend UK humanitarian funding of £3 billion over the next three years. We continue to deliver on our policy commitments in the Compact. For example, in 2021 we partnered with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Germany to co-host the High-Level Event on Anticipatory Action.

My Lords, international collaboration and knowledge exchange is facilitated through the World Organisation for Animal Health by the UK Chief Veterinary Officer and the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s international reference laboratory. The UK’s membership of the Ospar-Helcom-ICES joint working group on birds and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement are also key forums for improving collaboration, monitoring and information sharing on avian influenza in migratory birds. Defra has commissioned Natural England to assess the vulnerability of seabird species and recommend actions.

My noble friend is absolutely right to raise the importance of an international response to this. I assure him that there is almost daily collaboration across the devolved Governments and through international fora such as the ones I just mentioned. We are also consulting our European colleagues in the European Food Safety Authority closely; we have two officials on the panel working on this. This requires an international response. The impact it is having on our wild bird population and on domestic birds in poultry farming and other settings is tragic. We are working really hard, with a sense of real emergency, to try to find solutions, but it is a very difficult one to solve as it is now endemic in the wild bird population.

I have no hesitation in agreeing with my noble friend. We have all been appalled by the barbarism of Russia’s attacks in Ukraine, not least in Kyiv. It is quite clear that deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are war crimes, and those responsible will be held to account. The ICC, with support from countries such as the UK, is doing a remarkable job in ensuring that crimes are investigated, evidence is gathered and the basis is laid for successful prosecutions.

We recognise the significant threat posed by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) to the UK’s seabird populations and it is deeply concerning to see the impact this is having on these important species.

Details of findings of HPAI in wild birds in Great Britain are updated weekly and published via GOV.UK/Bird-Flu, together with outbreak and risk assessments. These reports include the recent mortalities of gannets on Bass Rock. Defra is working with Devolved Administrations, Arm’s Length Bodies and NGOs to monitor and respond to the effect of HPAI on wild birds. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) operate a robust programme of wild bird surveillance and carry out year-round HPAI surveillance of dead wild birds from across Great Britain.

While HPAI viruses are predominantly considered a pathogen of birds, the virus can infect mammals. While there is no routine surveillance for HPAI in seals, causes of death of stranded marine mammals are monitored and investigated through the Cetacean Stranding Investigation Programme and Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme. Where appropriate, stranded seals are tested for avian influenza in collaboration with the APHA avian influenza National Reference Laboratory. While the scale of HPAI findings in seabirds during the 2021/2022 avian influenza outbreak have been unprecedented, to date there is no evidence of increased mortality in UK seal populations or an increase in clinical cases brought into wildlife rehabilitation centres.