Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce more stringent biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of African Swine Fever entering the UK, building on the mitigation measures introduced in September.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Preventing an outbreak of African swine fever in the UK remains one of Defra’s key biosecurity priorities. UK safeguard measures are in place prohibiting live pigs, wild boar, or pork products from affected European Union (EU) areas from entering Great Britain. Enforcement is carried out by Border Force and Port Health Authority officers at seaports and airports.
Under the enhanced safeguard measures introduced in September, travellers are no longer allowed to bring pork products into Great Britain unless they are produced and packaged to the EU’s commercial standards and weigh no more than two kilograms.
Defra and its agencies continuously review the spread of African swine fever and are ready to introduce further biosecurity restrictions should these be deemed necessary in response to new scientific and risk data. Risk assessments can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animal-diseases-international-monitoring.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the minimum and maximum kill targets for each area for the intensive badger cull that began around 1 September.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 30 August, the Government announced the start of work on a comprehensive new strategy for England, to drive down bovine tuberculosis (TB) rates to save cattle and farmers' livelihoods and end the badger cull by the end of this parliament. This will be under-taken in co-design with farmers, vets, scientists and conservationists, ensuring the new strategy marks a significant step-change in approach to tackling this devastating disease.
The published policy guidance as introduced by the previous Government requires Natural England to set a minimum and maximum number of badgers to be removed for bovine TB disease control purposes. These numbers are published annually on GOV.UK and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-authorisation-for-badger-control-in-2024.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what scientific or other consultations they carried out prior to voting against the United Nations General Assembly resolution on nuclear war effects and scientific research.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
HMG engages in regular dialogue with civil society, including NGOs and academia, on nuclear disarmament and other security issues. The UK voted against the draft resolution on nuclear war effects and scientific research because we believe there is abundant scientific information and research already available on this topic, and the purpose of this panel was unclear. We made an Explanation of Vote to that effect (The devastating consequences of a nuclear war are already clear: UK explanation of vote at the UN First Committee), which can be found at GOV.UK.
HMG engaged with the main sponsors, New Zealand and Ireland, and in the UN consultations, and ultimately concluded that such a panel could not alter or add to the already well-known conclusions of the devastating consequences of a nuclear war.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the adequacy of the assessment of the environmental impacts of the UK–Australia Free Trade Agreement.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK Government assessed the economic and environmental impacts of the UK-Australia FTA within the independently scrutinised impact assessment published in December 2021 when the FTA was signed. The UK-Australia FTA contains an ambitious environment chapter which affirms our shared commitment to the Paris Agreement and to strengthen cooperation on a range of environmental issues.
This Government will continually assess the impacts of our free trade agreements, including those negotiated under the previous government, as they are being implemented. We will look to maximise their benefit for businesses, support economic growth and also to understand their impacts more broadly.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the UK–Australia Free Trade Agreement is an environmental agreement for the purposes of costs protection under the UNECE Aarhus Convention.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Costs limits in Aarhus Convention claims are regulated by Part 46 of the Civil Procedure Rules. An ‘Aarhus Convention claim’ is defined in rule 46.24. The interpretation of rule 46.24 is the subject of an ongoing appeal before the Court of Appeal. Therefore, the Government is unable to comment on this matter at this time.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to revise the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 or its associated regulations.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government does not have any plans to revise the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act, 2023. Currently, there are no associated implementing regulations, but my department will lay before parliament the secondary legislation required to unlock the benefits of the Precision Breeding Act as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Foreign Secretary has met, or if he has any plans to meet, Sebastien Lai, son of UK citizen Jimmy Lai.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
British national Jimmy Lai's case is a priority for the UK Government. We continue to call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their politically motivated prosecution and release him immediately. The Foreign Secretary raised his case with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting on 18 October in Beijing. Diplomats from our Consulate-General in Hong Kong attend his court proceedings on a regular basis and will continue to do so when the trial resumes in November. We also continue to press for consular access.
Minister West met with Sebastien Lai on October 8 to discuss his father's case. The Foreign Secretary met with Sebastien Lai on November 7.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of The Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling, published on 24 October; and what plans they have to respond.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to strengthening protections to ensure that people can continue to enjoy gambling, without the risks that can ensue from harmful gambling. We are acutely aware of the impact harmful gambling can have on individuals and their families. We are committed to reviewing the best available evidence from a wide range of sources and working with all stakeholders in order to support the industry and ensure there are robust protections in place to protect those at risk, and we have noted the Lancet Public Health Commission’s report. We will provide further updates to the House soon.
The Gambling Commission’s Gambling Survey of Great Britain collects official statistics on gambling behaviour in Great Britain including participation rates of bet in play and participation rates and Problem Gambling Survey Index scores for online instant win games (online and in person), betting on sports and racing (online and in person) and fruit and slots games (online and in person).
The Gambling Commission is responsible for the implementation of a number of the regulatory reforms set out in the white paper, such as introducing new regulations to make online games safer. This has included introducing a limit on spin speeds for online slots games in 2021, with additional rules coming into force from January 2025 to reduce the speed and intensity of online products.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of in-game sports gambling and other high-speed gambling activities.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to strengthening protections to ensure that people can continue to enjoy gambling, without the risks that can ensue from harmful gambling. We are acutely aware of the impact harmful gambling can have on individuals and their families. We are committed to reviewing the best available evidence from a wide range of sources and working with all stakeholders in order to support the industry and ensure there are robust protections in place to protect those at risk, and we have noted the Lancet Public Health Commission’s report. We will provide further updates to the House soon.
The Gambling Commission’s Gambling Survey of Great Britain collects official statistics on gambling behaviour in Great Britain including participation rates of bet in play and participation rates and Problem Gambling Survey Index scores for online instant win games (online and in person), betting on sports and racing (online and in person) and fruit and slots games (online and in person).
The Gambling Commission is responsible for the implementation of a number of the regulatory reforms set out in the white paper, such as introducing new regulations to make online games safer. This has included introducing a limit on spin speeds for online slots games in 2021, with additional rules coming into force from January 2025 to reduce the speed and intensity of online products.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in meeting the 1 October 2024 deadline to address the recommendations in Decision VII/8s, adopted by the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention at their Seventh meeting in 2021, concerning compliance by the UK with its obligations under the Aarhus Convention.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to the effective implementation of its international obligations under the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters.
The submission of the UK’s final Progress Report has been delayed to allow the new Government time to consider the recommendations in decision VII/8s, endorsed at the 2021 Meeting of the Parties.
We look forward to responding in due course.