The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the total cost to date of Operation Midland into allegations of historic child sex abuse.
Lord Bates
The resourcing, and cost, of police investigations into non recent child sexual abuse allegations is a matter for the relevant Chief Officer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many responses they have received to their consultation on the repeal of section 73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Government received 39 responses to its consultation: “The balance of payments between television platforms and public service broadcasters". This included questions about possible repeal of s.73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-09-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the proposal for all African lion populations to be transferred to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I at the forthcoming CITES Convention in Johannesburg.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government’s current assessment of the lion uplisting proposal against the biological and other listing criteria under CITES is that the entire lion population of Africa does not meet the criteria for inclusion in Appendix I. This is notably the case for Southern African lion populations, which have an increasing population trend. Assessment and discussions are ongoing in advance of the CITES Conference, which is to be held in Johannesburg from 24 September to 5 October 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of Gypsies and Travellers in the UK.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
In the 2011 census, 63,500 people in the United Kingdom identified their ethnic group as Gypsy or Traveller.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-03-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will make an announcement regarding the future regulatory framework of the independent TV production sector, and what assessment they have made of Ofcom’s recent review of that framework.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Ofcom published their review on the operation of the television production sector on the 23rd December. The Government is considering their recommendations and will make a decision in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-09-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of a compulsory micro-chipping scheme for cats.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It is good practice for owners to have their cats microchipped with their name and address. However, it is not Government policy to make such microchipping compulsory. The case for compulsory dog microchipping does not apply in the case of cats. Stray cats do not present the same level of public nuisance as stray dogs, which are required to be kennelled by local authorities and charities at significant cost and to the detriment of their welfare.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many road traffic accidents in which a dog was injured were reported to the police in each of the last three years.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Department for Transport collates information on animals identified as carriageway hazards in reported personal injury road accidents. However, information on the kind of animal involved in accidents is not collected.
The number of reported personal injury road accidents involving animals1 in the carriageway, in Great Britain, 2012 – 20142, is shown in the following table.
|
Year |
Accidents |
|
|
2012 |
804 |
|
|
2013 |
734 |
|
|
2014 |
692 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the successful tender for the procurement of the human papilloma virus vaccine will be announced.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Following the conclusion of the contract for the human papilloma virus vaccine, information on the award will be placed in the public domain by way of a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, and a copy of the contract published on the Contracts Finder website at: www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. We expect to publish both of these by the end of April 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-09-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent representations they have made to the government of Uganda about its treatment of Uganda’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are in regular dialogue with the Ugandan Government and Parliament on this issue and will continue to raise our concerns about any legislation which could lead to further persecution and discrimination against LGBT people and which is incompatible with Uganda’s international treaty obligations. After the events of Uganda Pride in August, we raised our concerns with the Ugandan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and worked with leading figures in the local LGBT Community and Ugandan Police Force. We remain committed to working with the government of Uganda and with civil society to promote diversity and tolerance, and to prevent violence and discrimination on any grounds.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many deceased cats and dogs have been collected and identified by Highways England since the Department for Transport committed in March 2015 to ensure that it is mandatory for all new and existing contractors to collect and identify cats and dogs killed on the strategic road network.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Backbench Business Committee Debate on 2 March 2015, considered legislating collection and identification of pet fatalities on the strategic road network (SRN). During the debate key commitments were made to immediately make the necessary arrangements to ensure it is mandatory for all new contracts to collect and identify dogs and cats killed on the strategic road network and contact their owners, where possible, and to review how to retrofit the requirements to existing contracts.
The review was completed in September 2015. Mandatory instructions were issued to Highways England service providers in October 2015. Since this time there have been the following dog and cat fatalities on the strategic road network:
|
From October 2015 |
Number of fatalities |
Number identified |
|
Dogs |
39 |
14 |
|
Cats |
42 |
2 |
Service Providers are required to make a search for a collar or disc at the incident sites. Where the owner’s details are found on a collar and/or disc, the remains are bagged, separate from any debris, taken to the depot and the owner notified as soon as possible to be given the option of collecting their pet.
Where no collar/disc is found the entire body is scanned for microchips. Any positive identification is recorded and the appropriate identification body is informed (eg PetLog).
If remains cannot be positively identified they are cold-stored, where facilities are available, for at least seven days or until the cold store is due to be emptied, whichever is sooner. If no owner has come forward at the end of the seven-day period, the remains are disposed of.
Due to the high speed nature of the SRN it is impossible to guarantee that remains can be fully identified e.g. the microchip may have been lost in the collision. In this case, if the remains can be identified as a dog or cat, they are cold stored and as much information as possible is recorded.