Blog

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the measurement of diesel emissions from cars in the light of evidence that nitrogen oxide emissions in real time road trials are up to 12 times higher than in laboratory tests.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The UK Government has been at the forefront of action at European level to introduce Real Driving Emissions (RDE) testing for new cars. The RDE test will be conducted on public roads and will require manufacturers to ensure new diesel (and petrol) cars control nitrogen oxide emissions to below 2.1 times the laboratory test limit from 2017. From 2020 the requirement will be tightened so they must be at or below the laboratory limit (with a margin for measurement uncertainty).

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the position taken by the European Parliament that products containing glyphosate should be banned where alternative weed killers exist, and for use in public parks and playgrounds.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government recognises the importance of effective pesticides and believes that they should be authorised where the scientific evidence shows they do not pose unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.

    The European Food Safety Authority concluded that glyphosate met these standards and UK experts agree. We therefore consider that glyphosate should be approved. If this happens, all authorised products which contain glyphosate will be individually re-assessed at a Member State level to ensure that they also meet safety standards.

    The scientific assessment carried out so far does not suggest that blanket restrictions to prevent certain uses across the EU are justified. The Government therefore does not favour the inclusion of such restrictions in any future approval of glyphosate. It should be for Member States to consider whether restrictions are needed for particular glyphosate products in particular circumstances. This would form part of the normal product re-assessment process.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what submissions they have made to the European Commission’s review of the licence of glyphosate.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Pesticide active substances, such as glyphosate, must be approved at EU level before products containing them can be authorised for sale and use in a Member State. The approval decision is based on an assessment of the risks to people and to the environment and is subject to regular review to ensure that current standards continue to be met. The scientific assessment is led by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and decisions are made by the European Commission through a comitology process.

    UK experts participated fully in the EFSA review of glyphosate and agree with its overall conclusion that this active substance meets the standards for approval. The Government has therefore been clear to the Commission that we support the continuing approval of glyphosate.

  • Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Earl Attlee on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patents have been applied for by the Ministry of Defence or its agencies in the last 10 years.

    Earl Howe

    The Ministry of Defence and its agencies filed 875 patent applications from 2006 to 2016. This includes patent applications filed in both the UK and abroad.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what have been the maintenance costs of Tinsley Viaduct since its construction, and what effect the underlying geological faults and old mine workings have had on the cost of maintenance.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Highways England currently only has readily available the details of maintenance costs for Tinsley Viaduct covering the past 6 years. In this period, maintenance schemes on the viaduct have cost approximately £1 million per year. Highways England are not aware of any effects the underlying geological faults or mine workings have had on maintenance costs.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of reports of collusion within the police forces and other agencies after the Hillsborough disaster, whether they will introduce legislation to prevent serving members of the police force and the judiciary from belonging to the freemasons.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Any police officer must be able to discharge their duties within the law and is expected to abide by the oath of constable. The Standards of Professional Behaviour, set out in Schedule 2 to the Police (Conduct) Regulations (2012), require police officers to be ‘honest, act with integrity and . . . not compromise or abuse their position’. Police officers must be able to do so, irrespective of membership of any external membership organisations.

    The College of Policing introduced a Code of Ethics in July 2014 which applies to all police officers and staff in England and Wales and sets out clear principles and standards of behaviour expected of them. It is for individual forces to determine whether an individual officer’s behaviour or misconduct meets the standards that are set out and where they are not, to investigate and instigate disciplinary proceedings where appropriate.

    Following the Chapman Review in 2014, the Government is continuing its programme of reforms to improve police integrity and the police discipline system, including through the Policing and Crime Bill which is currently before parliament to improve the system and its ability to hold officers to account for their actions and behaviour.

    In the case of judges it is also essential to the rule of law that they are independent and impartial when exercising their judicial functions. All judicial office holders should recuse themselves in any case where bias or the appearance of bias arises and are counselled against engaging in any activity which might undermine or be reasonably thought to undermine their judicial independence or impartiality. These commitments are enshrined in the judicial oath.

  • Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the number of people with disabilities who are seeking asylum.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    At present the Asylum Transparency Agenda Data set does not report information on asylum claimants with disabilities nor are there plans for this to be included. In addition we do not currently record this information in a readily accessible format.

  • Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to gather evidence on food insecurity in the UK.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    There is no single definition of food insecurity. The factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is, therefore, very difficult and potentially misleading to attempt to develop a single classification of food insecurity.

    Defra publishes annual statistics to show the proportion of household income spent on food by (a) all households and (b) the lowest income 20% of households. Lower income families spend a greater proportion of household income on food (15.7% compared to 11.4% for the average household). This has remained stable over recent years: 16.5% in 2013, 16.6% in 2012, 16.6% in 2011, 15.8% in 2010 and 16.1% in 2009. The most recent statistics are in the Food Statistics Pocketbook 2015 on the GOV.UK website.

    Year on year food prices have continued to fall with an annual rate of inflation of -2.7 per cent in the year to March 2016. General inflation is 0.3 per cent, unchanged from January.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to encourage public bodies, including the BBC, to recruit and promote individuals based on merit alone, and to move away from any affirmative action policies that may be in use.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    All public appointments to the boards of public bodies are made on merit and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the Rt Hon Peter Riddell. The boards of non-departmental public bodies should ensure that the body’s rules for recruitment and management of staff provide for appointment and advancement on merit. These requirements also apply to the BBC.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to contest the European Commission’s decision to open an infringement case against the UK over time-based road charges for heavy goods vehicles.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Commission has requested information prior to reaching a considered view about the UK’s HGV Levy and its compatibility with EU Directives. The Government considers that the levy is justified and consistent with the free movement of goods, and will respond to the Commission in due course.