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My Lords, are any plans in place to offload the cargo to mitigate any potential damage?
My Lords, are any plans in place to offload the cargo to mitigate any potential damage?
If I heard the question correctly, plans have been put together with UK support to do precisely that—to try to shift the oil from this tanker to another—but that is not possible without co-operation across the board. I refer the noble Lord to my first Answer.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they are giving to serving and retired Ghurkas and their families in Nepal to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they are giving to serving and retired Ghurkas and their families in Nepal to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
We recognise the invaluable contribution Gurkhas make to our armed forces. Gurkhas serve with honour and distinction and are a vital part of our bilateral relationship. The UK-funded Gurkha Welfare Trust has ensured access to life-saving support and supplies to Gurkha veterans and their communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also financing antigen kits for district hospitals across Nepal with distribution being done by the Gurkha Welfare Trust, and two districts have so far received these kits.
More broadly in Nepal, the UK has funded a new £180,000 duplex oxygen generation plant at the Nepal Police Hospital in Kathmandu to help address oxygen shortages to treat COVID19 patients. We are also one of the leading donors to COVAX, committing £548m to the scheme, which will provide more than a billion vaccines to developing countries including doses for almost a fifth of Nepal's population.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland impacts the movement of Italian bees from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland impacts the movement of Italian bees from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.
It is not the case that honey bees moved from Northern Ireland to other parts of the UK must be destroyed.
EU member states may export bees to Northern Ireland in line with intra-Union trade rules. Queen honey bees can be imported into any part of the UK from Italy and other EU countries but packages and colonies of honey bees can only be imported into Northern Ireland. There is, and will remain, unfettered access for honey bees which qualify as a Northern Ireland good to the rest of the UK market. The basis on which businesses may qualify for unfettered access is clearly set out in legislation passed last year.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether honey bees moved from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK must be destroyed; and if so, why.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether honey bees moved from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK must be destroyed; and if so, why.
It is not the case that honey bees moved from Northern Ireland to other parts of the UK must be destroyed.
EU member states may export bees to Northern Ireland in line with intra-Union trade rules. Queen honey bees can be imported into any part of the UK from Italy and other EU countries but packages and colonies of honey bees can only be imported into Northern Ireland. There is, and will remain, unfettered access for honey bees which qualify as a Northern Ireland good to the rest of the UK market. The basis on which businesses may qualify for unfettered access is clearly set out in legislation passed last year.
What is being done to clear up the large number of plastic bottles and other containers that are discarded alongside rural roads?
What is being done to clear up the large number of plastic bottles and other containers that are discarded alongside rural roads?
My Lords, it is a question of education and awareness. How do we discourage the one in five people in our great country who actually admit that they drop litter? I understand the pressures on local authorities and volunteers who, like me, pick up litter, but this situation is unacceptable. The truth is that we will crack this thoroughly only when everyone in the country, starting from the next generation, thinks that it is not acceptable to drop litter.
My Lords, is not the trouble on the M20 often caused by strikes in France, so it is not in fact our fault at all?
My Lords, is not the trouble on the M20 often caused by strikes in France, so it is not in fact our fault at all?
Operation Brock is designed to be an improvement on Operation Stack, which we saw huge problems with in 2015. We actually used Operation Stack in mid-March; that was caused by high winds. My noble friend is right to point out that disruption can have a number of causes. That is why we have the contraflow in place: to ensure that we can deal with any disruption.
My Lords, is it acceptable to develop sites with flat surfaces and playing fields on flat roofs? Will my noble friend look into this?
My Lords, is it acceptable to develop sites with flat surfaces and playing fields on flat roofs? Will my noble friend look into this?
My Lords, I will certainly ensure that that matter is taken to the relevant Minister so that it is looked at.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether community service sentences may include picking up litter in (1) rural, and (2) urban, areas.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether community service sentences may include picking up litter in (1) rural, and (2) urban, areas.
Where a court imposes an unpaid work requirement as part of a community sentence or suspended sentence order, the local Community Rehabilitation Company provides work placements in accordance with a range of criteria including:
- that the work benefits the local community;
- that the work undertaken is not a direct substitution for paid employment; and
- the views of local people and community stakeholders such as the police are taken into account.
Any proposal for unpaid work involving litter collection would have to be considered with reference to the requirements for unpaid work placements which form part of the service specifications and can be found at https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/probation-instructions/pi_02_2010_unpaid_work_community_payback_service_specification.pdf.
My Lords, conductors normally get out of the train to make certain it is safe to close the doors before the train goes on. Will drivers be getting out of the train to perform that task?
My Lords, conductors normally get out of the train to make certain it is safe to close the doors before the train goes on. Will drivers be getting out of the train to perform that task?
I repeat to my noble friend what I have already said: the new driver-only operated trains do not mean that there will be staff redundancies. Those conductors will now become train supervisors and will continue to have a role not only in ensuring that passengers leave and embark on the train safely but in ensuring passenger safety across the whole train.
My Lords, what effect has immigration had on the supply of affordable housing?
My Lords, what effect has immigration had on the supply of affordable housing?
My Lords, I do not have those figures to hand, but I can go back to the department and see whether such figures are available.
My Lords, what is the estimated saving to Her Majesty’s Government of pensioners living abroad not using the National Health Service and other government services?
My Lords, what is the estimated saving to Her Majesty’s Government of pensioners living abroad not using the National Health Service and other government services?
The speculated potential savings, were people to move back to this country, have not been costed, but the costs of full uprating for the state pension in countries where it is currently not uprated would be more than £500 million a year.
My Lords, what is being done by the Government to help Kent and Dover, in particular, to deal with the large number of unaccompanied minors arriving in the country?
My Lords, what is being done by the Government to help Kent and Dover, in particular, to deal with the large number of unaccompanied minors arriving in the country?
That, of course, was one of the big pressures. There is now in place the Kent dispersal scheme, for which Richard Harrington is responsible: rather than people being concentrated in a given local authority area, they are redistributed nationally. So far, 55 local authorities have signed up to that scheme, through which they can receive unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
My Lords, is there a maximum number of cars allowed to each diplomatic mission, or does this measure apply to all cars, some missions being bigger than others?
My Lords, is there a maximum number of cars allowed to each diplomatic mission, or does this measure apply to all cars, some missions being bigger than others?
I do not know. I am sorry, my Lords.
My Lords, how many cases have been referred to the police or other investigative organisations to be looked into?
My Lords, how many cases have been referred to the police or other investigative organisations to be looked into?
My noble friend puts his finger on a key point. When you look at the level of prosecutions, after the legislation has been put through and the initiatives have been announced, we have not got a strong story to tell. The previous Labour Government introduced forced marriage protection orders; as a result there have been some 800 of those orders, which are a civil function. But we very much want to see further criminal prosecutions so that the message goes out that we do not tolerate this type of behaviour at all.
My Lords, is part of the problem due to the specialisation of nurses? Are far too many of them being trained only as specialists so that they are therefore unable to be moved from one part of a hospital to another? Would more general training be better?
My Lords, is part of the problem due to the specialisation of nurses? Are far too many of them being trained only as specialists so that they are therefore unable to be moved from one part of a hospital to another? Would more general training be better?
I do not think that is a problem. In many ways, in acute hospitals we lack generalists. That is true of consultants as well of nurses. That is actually my noble friend’s point. Possibly there are too many specialists, but on a cardiac ward or a specialist acute ward you need specialist nurses who know how to operate the equipment as well as how to look after the patient. You need a good balance between the two but, if anything, I fear we have, as my noble friend said, become too specialist and insufficiently generalist.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who holds primary responsibility for issuing Dispensing Appliance Contractor licences.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who holds primary responsibility for issuing Dispensing Appliance Contractor licences.
There are no licensing requirements to open a private dispensing appliance contractor business. NHS England is responsible for determining whether a dispensing appliance contractor should be granted the right to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services. Such determinations can generally be appealed to the Family Health Services Appeal Unit of the NHS Litigation Authority.
The Department keeps the operation of the relevant NHS regulations governing the right to provide NHS pharmaceutical services under regular review with NHS England, the NHS Litigation Authority and contractors’ representatives, as appropriate. We are not aware of any significant issues regarding the impact of these arrangements on small and medium-sized businesses offering continence products nor on the adoption of innovation in the NHS.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to assess the impact of the process of obtaining Dispensing Appliance Contractor licences on the Department of Health’s wish to increase medical innovation, as outlined in their Innovation Health and Wealth strategy.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to assess the impact of the process of obtaining Dispensing Appliance Contractor licences on the Department of Health’s wish to increase medical innovation, as outlined in their Innovation Health and Wealth strategy.
There are no licensing requirements to open a private dispensing appliance contractor business. NHS England is responsible for determining whether a dispensing appliance contractor should be granted the right to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services. Such determinations can generally be appealed to the Family Health Services Appeal Unit of the NHS Litigation Authority.
The Department keeps the operation of the relevant NHS regulations governing the right to provide NHS pharmaceutical services under regular review with NHS England, the NHS Litigation Authority and contractors’ representatives, as appropriate. We are not aware of any significant issues regarding the impact of these arrangements on small and medium-sized businesses offering continence products nor on the adoption of innovation in the NHS.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to assess the impact of the process of obtaining Dispensing Appliance Contractor licences on small and medium-sized businesses offering continence products.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to assess the impact of the process of obtaining Dispensing Appliance Contractor licences on small and medium-sized businesses offering continence products.
There are no licensing requirements to open a private dispensing appliance contractor business. NHS England is responsible for determining whether a dispensing appliance contractor should be granted the right to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services. Such determinations can generally be appealed to the Family Health Services Appeal Unit of the NHS Litigation Authority.
The Department keeps the operation of the relevant NHS regulations governing the right to provide NHS pharmaceutical services under regular review with NHS England, the NHS Litigation Authority and contractors’ representatives, as appropriate. We are not aware of any significant issues regarding the impact of these arrangements on small and medium-sized businesses offering continence products nor on the adoption of innovation in the NHS.
My Lords, what consideration is being given to the expansion of Manston Airport, which has good rail and road communications with London and could easily mop up a lot of the unemployment on the Isle of Thanet?
My Lords, what consideration is being given to the expansion of Manston Airport, which has good rail and road communications with London and could easily mop up a lot of the unemployment on the Isle of Thanet?
My Lords, I have to confess a lack of knowledge on that question, and I will gladly write to your Lordships.
My Lords, there appears to be far more abuse of children today than there was 30 or 40 years ago. Is it known why?
My Lords, there appears to be far more abuse of children today than there was 30 or 40 years ago. Is it known why?
My Lords, I think that there appears to be more abuse of children these days; I do not necessarily think that there is more abuse. We are just far more aware of it and willing to deal with it.