Tag: Lord Wigley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of holding a referendum in June on the UK’s membership of the EU on the elections to the National Assembly for Wales.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

As the Prime Minister has consistently said, what will determine the timing of the referendum is the outcome of the negotiation. The only deadline we have set is to hold the referendum by the end of 2017. The Government has made no decisions on the date, except to specifically rule out holding it on 5 May 2016 or 4 May 2017.

As the Foreign Secretary has said – ultimately, the decision will be made by the House, as the date will be decided by a statutory instrument brought before it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research they have undertaken into the number of legal practitioners who will still be able to provide criminal legal aid services in England and Wales in the light of the decision to abandon proposals to reduce significantly the number of duty solicitors in those countries.

Lord Keen of Elie

All organisations who bid for own client contracts in 2015 will have the opportunity to bid for criminal legal aid work when we invite applications for replacement contracts later in the year. As my colleague, Lord Faulks, told the House on 28 January, a process of natural consolidation is already taking place in the criminal legal aid market, following the reduction in crime and natural competition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the respective responsibilities of the home nations’ tourism organisations following restructuring of VisitBritain, in particular regarding the attraction of overseas visitors to each of the four nations.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Tourism is a devolved matter, so it is for each of the home nations to decide on the structure and activities of their national tourist boards.

The Government has decided that the British Tourist Authority should continue to trade as VisitBritain and VisitEngland – with VisitBritain focussed on the promotion of Britain overseas, and VisitEngland focussed on the development of English tourism product. VisitEngland will do this through a new £40m Discover England fund.

Funding for British tourism will now be ring-fenced and the Government is committed to setting challenging targets for VisitBritain to encourage more visitors to explore beyond London. We are actively engaging with the Scottish and Welsh Governments on these targets and operating principles.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-07-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provisions are being made at HM Prison Berwyn to meet the reasonable requirements of Welsh-speaking prisoners.

Lord Keen of Elie

It is a requirement that all staff at HMP Berwyn must show an understanding of the importance of the Welsh language.

All prisoners at HMP Berwyn will have access to welsh speaking staff and all material will be bilingual. To help support this, we are currently arranging courses for our staff to ensure they have a good understanding of Wales and working in the Welsh context, which includes a section on language.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made representations to the government of Pakistan concerning reports of human rights violations in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

​We remain concerned about reports of human rights abuses in Pakistan. Our concerns are reflected in the latest update to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual human rights report. We continue to urge Pakistan to honour in practice all its human rights obligations and uphold the rule of law. During his visit to Pakistan in March, the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the importance we attach to safeguarding the rights of all Pakistani citizens regardless of ethnicity, faith or gender.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to publish a route map for the development of small modular nuclear reactors in the UK.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Policy development for small modular reactors, including plans in respect of publishing a Roadmap, remains on-going. We are drawing on the findings of the independent Techno-Economic Assessment, the Phase One expressions of interest documents, the meetings held by officials over the summer with 32 technology vendors, service providers and potential investors, and our continuing discussions with regulators.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to publish any legal advice they have received on whether or not the UK has the right to withdraw the Lisbon Treaty Article 50 notification before the two year time-limit has elapsed if negotiations to leave the EU under the provisions of Article 50 lead to unacceptable conditions for Brexit.

Lord Bridges of Headley

A clear majority of the UK electorate voted to leave the EU and we will respect the will of the people. The Government’s position is that once given, our notification will not be withdrawn.

Our efforts will be focused on getting the best deal possible for the UK in the negotiations with the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK citizens also have citizenship of the Republic of Ireland.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.