The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-05-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to improve the reporting of fly-tipping on private land, since the publication of Defra’s 2010 report, Fly Tipping: Let’s cut it out.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-11-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children were being home educated in each of the years 2010 to 2014 inclusive.
Lord Nash
This information is not collected by the Department for Education. Local authorities maintain voluntary registers of the number of children being educated at home.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-05-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the levels of fly-tipping on private land across the UK in each of the last five years.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Fly-tipping is unacceptable whether it occurs on public or private land, it spoils our enjoyment of the countryside, can harm human health and wildlife, and damage farming and rural tourism. It also undermines legitimate waste businesses where unscrupulous operators undercut those that operate within the law and is a drain on both local authorities and landowners that clear it up. Tackling this scourge and other forms of illegal waste activity is a priority for the Government.
The exact extent of fly-tipping on private land is unknown as landowners are not required to report this to Defra. However landowner estimates, provided to the Defra chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, suggest that fly-tipping on private land may cost between £50 million and £150 million per annum in clean up and disposal costs alone.
Some private landowner organisations do report fly-tipping on their land to Defra on a voluntary basis. Between April 2009 and April 2016 these organisation reported some 5,946 fly-tipping incidents on their land. We recognise that the data collected does not fully reflect the scale of the problem.
We recognise the inconvenience and costs that fly-tipping poses to landowners and we are working with a wide range of interested parties through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to improve understanding and awareness of the problem as well as sharing best practice about tackling it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the spread of Acute Oak Decline in the UK.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Over the past five years Forest Research, in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, has conducted a systematic survey to model the distribution of acute oak decline (AOD) in England and Wales. The results show that the condition currently affects several thousand oak trees, mostly across East Anglia, the Midlands and southern England.
The complex nature of the condition means it is often associated with other pathogens, as well as insect defoliators and the research has not yet concluded whether AOD kills trees or not. A large proportion of the infected trees monitored have entered remission suggesting some level of host resistance. We do not have information at the landscape level on the number of oak with AOD symptoms that die every year.
Since 2013, Defra has invested £1.1 million in research to understand the causes, distribution and scale of AOD in the UK. This includes work to investigate the bacterial species associated with the condition and to understand whether the Agrilus biguttatus beetle plays a role in the dispersal of these bacterial species. Early findings from this research are still inconclusive. There is currently no firm evidence of transmission by the beetle.
Earlier this year, Defra in collaboration with the Research Councils, Scottish Government and the Forestry Commission launched a further £2 million call for research proposals on ‘oak health’ and Phytophthora. The successful bids from this call are due to be announced shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-06-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of reported commercial robberies in London in 2015 were targeted at betting shops.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Home Office does not hold data on the number of police recorded crimes made in licensed premises such as betting shops in London.
The Home Office collects data on the number of notifiable offences broken down by offence group and police force area, but these do not routinely include information on the specific location.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many oak trees have been killed by Acute Oak Decline in the past five years.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Over the past five years Forest Research, in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, has conducted a systematic survey to model the distribution of acute oak decline (AOD) in England and Wales. The results show that the condition currently affects several thousand oak trees, mostly across East Anglia, the Midlands and southern England.
The complex nature of the condition means it is often associated with other pathogens, as well as insect defoliators and the research has not yet concluded whether AOD kills trees or not. A large proportion of the infected trees monitored have entered remission suggesting some level of host resistance. We do not have information at the landscape level on the number of oak with AOD symptoms that die every year.
Since 2013, Defra has invested £1.1 million in research to understand the causes, distribution and scale of AOD in the UK. This includes work to investigate the bacterial species associated with the condition and to understand whether the Agrilus biguttatus beetle plays a role in the dispersal of these bacterial species. Early findings from this research are still inconclusive. There is currently no firm evidence of transmission by the beetle.
Earlier this year, Defra in collaboration with the Research Councils, Scottish Government and the Forestry Commission launched a further £2 million call for research proposals on ‘oak health’ and Phytophthora. The successful bids from this call are due to be announced shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-09-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to review their policy of freezing state pensions of British citizens residing in overseas countries, where there is no existing reciprocal social security arrangement in place.
Lord Freud
The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so – for example in countries where a reciprocal agreement is in place that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this or to assess the impact of British citizens’ choosing to retire abroad.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research they have conducted into the bacterial infection spread by the Agrilus biguttatus beetle.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Over the past five years Forest Research, in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, has conducted a systematic survey to model the distribution of acute oak decline (AOD) in England and Wales. The results show that the condition currently affects several thousand oak trees, mostly across East Anglia, the Midlands and southern England.
The complex nature of the condition means it is often associated with other pathogens, as well as insect defoliators and the research has not yet concluded whether AOD kills trees or not. A large proportion of the infected trees monitored have entered remission suggesting some level of host resistance. We do not have information at the landscape level on the number of oak with AOD symptoms that die every year.
Since 2013, Defra has invested £1.1 million in research to understand the causes, distribution and scale of AOD in the UK. This includes work to investigate the bacterial species associated with the condition and to understand whether the Agrilus biguttatus beetle plays a role in the dispersal of these bacterial species. Early findings from this research are still inconclusive. There is currently no firm evidence of transmission by the beetle.
Earlier this year, Defra in collaboration with the Research Councils, Scottish Government and the Forestry Commission launched a further £2 million call for research proposals on ‘oak health’ and Phytophthora. The successful bids from this call are due to be announced shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-09-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to negotiate extending reciprocal social security arrangements to overseas countries so as to facilitate an annual increase in the state pension for British citizens who retire to those countries.
Lord Freud
The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so – for example in countries where a reciprocal agreement is in place that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this or to assess the impact of British citizens’ choosing to retire abroad.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-12-16.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the detention and trial of human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang in China.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are seriously concerned by Pu Zhiqiang’s conviction despite the suspension of his sentence. This case has again raised issues about due process and transparency of justice in China. It has also highlighted the situation faced by human rights lawyers in the country. We urge China to make sure freedom of expression and other civil and political rights are protected, in line with their constitution and international human rights commitments. We have also raised specific concerns over the physical mistreatment of British and other journalists and diplomats attempting to attend Pu’s trial on 14 December. The Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my Right Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) did so in his meeting with Vice Minister Chen Fengxiang on 16 December.