Blog

  • The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 16 September (HL2047) regarding the Committee on Toxicology’s advice about toxic chemicals in food and the environment, when they intend to write to the members of both Houses.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Department for Transport’s officials are cooperating with the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment regarding the letter that clarifies the Committee’s position on cabin air. This is to ensure the Committee’s advice is represented in full and with clarity. The letters will be sent to the Members of both Houses imminently, certainly in November.

  • The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to emerging evidence relating to the appropriate level of dietary sodium intake; what meetings Ministers have had with scientists and others about that issue; and what representations they have received regarding dietary sodium intake.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The evidence base relating to dietary sodium intake was extensively reviewed in the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s (SACN) report ‘Salt and Health’, published in 2003. In reviewing the evidence, SACN noted that the greatest benefits were likely to be achieved by taking a population approach to reducing salt intakes rather than through individual targeted advice. SACN continues to monitor average salt intakes through a programme of dietary survey work.

    New voluntary salt reduction targets have been developed for 76 specific food groups that contribute most to people’s salt intakes and major retailers, manufacturers and caterers are working to meet these targets by December 2017.

    SACN has also reviewed the evidence around the impact of low sodium intakes. It found no basis for changing the existing recommendation for a target reduction in average salt intake to 6 grammes per day for the adult population, equivalent to an average reduction of 2.4 grammes per day of sodium.

    SACN’s ‘Salt and Health’ report is attached and can be found at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-salt-and-health-report

    Baroness Masham of Ilton has recently asked three questions about dietary sodium intake. Further representations have been received from the Salt Association. Ministers have not met with scientists and others about this issue.

    “

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to release the value-for-money assessment on the badger cull pilots undertaken in 2013 and 2014.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The expected benefits of the policy remain in line with those in the ‘Measures to address bovine tuberculosis in badgers’ impact assessment published in 2011. It will be some years before actual benefits can be quantified.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the badgers culled in the pilots undertaken in 2013 and 2014 had tuberculosis.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Badgers culled under licence in Somerset and Gloucestershire in 2013 and 2014 were not routinely tested for tuberculosis (TB), since this research had already been carried out under the Random Badger Cull Trial (RBCT). However, testing of badgers between 1998 and 2005 via the Randomised Badger Culling Trial and Road Traffic Accident surveys provided evidence of the typical prevalence of TB in badgers in areas of high incidence of TB in cattle. TB was found in around one third of all badgers in these areas.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage builders of new homes to give potential purchasers details of the flood risk affecting those properties at an early stage.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    DEFRA and the Environment Agency provide readily available information on flood risk that any prospective house buyer can access and the Law Society have agreed that flood risk will form part of solicitors’ searches before final purchase. The Law Society have a good practice note (attached) on how this can be carried out, which can be found online at:

    http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practice-notes/flood-risk/

    “

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they give to the office of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government supports the Special Rapporteur, Professor Yanghee Lee, and deplores the hateful and threatening language that has been used against her by MaBaTha monk Wirathu. We have also called for Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs to take action on the matter. I was able to convey my sympathy and concern to Professor Lee in person during her visit to London in March. Last week, we publicly reiterated our support for Professor Lee and her mandate at the UN General Assembly in New York, at a dedicated session discussing her most recent report on the Human rights situation in Burma.

    Unfortunately, statements like those of Wirathu are symptomatic of a troubling rise in intolerance, discrimination and hate speech in Burma. We have repeatedly raised our concerns over this trend, both bilaterally and in company with our international partners. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with senior Burmese government ministers during his visit to Burma in July and, most recently, with Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in September in New York.

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made through the Permanent Mission to the United Nations regarding the incitement of violence in Burma against the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government supports the Special Rapporteur, Professor Yanghee Lee, and deplores the hateful and threatening language that has been used against her by MaBaTha monk Wirathu. We have also called for Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs to take action on the matter. I was able to convey my sympathy and concern to Professor Lee in person during her visit to London in March. Last week, we publicly reiterated our support for Professor Lee and her mandate at the UN General Assembly in New York, at a dedicated session discussing her most recent report on the Human rights situation in Burma.

    Unfortunately, statements like those of Wirathu are symptomatic of a troubling rise in intolerance, discrimination and hate speech in Burma. We have repeatedly raised our concerns over this trend, both bilaterally and in company with our international partners. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with senior Burmese government ministers during his visit to Burma in July and, most recently, with Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in September in New York.

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations Ministers have made to the Burmese authorities regarding threats made in Burma against the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government supports the Special Rapporteur, Professor Yanghee Lee, and deplores the hateful and threatening language that has been used against her by MaBaTha monk Wirathu. We have also called for Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs to take action on the matter. I was able to convey my sympathy and concern to Professor Lee in person during her visit to London in March. Last week, we publicly reiterated our support for Professor Lee and her mandate at the UN General Assembly in New York, at a dedicated session discussing her most recent report on the Human rights situation in Burma.

    Unfortunately, statements like those of Wirathu are symptomatic of a troubling rise in intolerance, discrimination and hate speech in Burma. We have repeatedly raised our concerns over this trend, both bilaterally and in company with our international partners. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with senior Burmese government ministers during his visit to Burma in July and, most recently, with Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in September in New York.

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of public threats made in Burma against the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government supports the Special Rapporteur, Professor Yanghee Lee, and deplores the hateful and threatening language that has been used against her by MaBaTha monk Wirathu. We have also called for Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs to take action on the matter. I was able to convey my sympathy and concern to Professor Lee in person during her visit to London in March. Last week, we publicly reiterated our support for Professor Lee and her mandate at the UN General Assembly in New York, at a dedicated session discussing her most recent report on the Human rights situation in Burma.

    Unfortunately, statements like those of Wirathu are symptomatic of a troubling rise in intolerance, discrimination and hate speech in Burma. We have repeatedly raised our concerns over this trend, both bilaterally and in company with our international partners. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with senior Burmese government ministers during his visit to Burma in July and, most recently, with Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in September in New York.

  • Lord Crisp – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Crisp – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the potential contribution of British scientists and institutions to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030.

    Baroness Verma

    Effective disaster risk reduction management is critical to sustainable development.

    Science has a key role to play in helping us to better understand disaster risks and developing more robust DRR approaches. It can help us to better predict and respond to a range of natural hazards such as floods and storms, droughts, extreme temperatures, health epidemics and pandemics.

    The new framework will help encourage greater engagement from and with the scientific community in order to reduce disaster risk and build resilience. British scientists already play a significant role in helping the UK prepare for and respond to disasters. While we expect British scientists and institutions to play an important role, we are still assessing the full implications of the Sendai Framework.