Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of efforts in New York State to ensure private creditor debtor terms are equal to those of other creditors to lower and middle-income countries; and what plans they have, if any, to enact similar legislation in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The UK, alongside the G20 and Paris Club, expects creditors, including private creditors, to participate in debt restructurings on comparable terms.
At this stage, the Government is not pursuing a legislative approach that would force private or other lenders to participate in debt restructurings. The Government is focused on delivering a market-based (contractual) approach to private sector participation, including taking the lead in developing Majority Voting Provisions for private syndicated loans. These promote more efficient restructurings and reduce the ability for creditors to hold out.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the NHS is prepared for the arrival of new diagnostic innovations for dementia.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The National Health Service is a world leader in rolling out innovative treatments and has established a dedicated national programme team which is working in partnership with other national agencies and with local health systems to prepare for the potential roll out of new treatments for use in the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s disease. These plans assume that, if these new treatments are approved by the regulators, significant additional diagnostic capacity, including amyloid positron emission tomography–computed tomography, lumbar puncture and magnetic resonance imaging, will be needed both to identify patients who are most able to benefit and to provide important safety monitoring.
The national programme team is conducting preparations across the country, working alongside clinicians and local teams to identify where further funding will be required to roll out the additional tests and services needed to introduce these new and complex treatments.
NHS England is also working with partner agencies to support and inform further research into other diagnostic modalities, including blood-based biomarker and digital tests, which will help improve identification and management of Alzheimer’s disease.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect updated NHS wait times to be published for 2022 and 2023.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
NHS England publishes Referral to Treatment Waiting Times data for elective treatment monthly in an online-only format, including for 2022 and 2023. There are no plans to revise waiting times figures for these years.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve access to infant formula for families who need it but are finding that rising costs are making it unaffordable.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are committed to promoting a healthy diet for children and providing support to families who need it the most through our Healthy Start scheme, which can be used towards the cost of infant formula. In April 2021, the value of Healthy Start rose from £3.10 to £4.25 per week, providing additional support to pregnant women and families on lower incomes to make healthy food choices. Children aged under one year old receive £8.50 in total per week, a rise from £6.20 a week.
Infant formula legislation under the Retained Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/127 sets robust nutritional and compositional standards to ensure that all infant formulas, including cheaper options, provide all the nutrients a healthy baby needs.
The Government launched the Household Support Fund in 2021 which was distributed by councils in England to directly help vulnerable households meet daily needs such as food, clothing, and utilities. The Government announced an extension of the fund to March 2024, which means since 2021 the fund has made £2.5 billion available to families most in need of support.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 11 December, whether they plan to call a meeting at the UN Security Council to discuss Myanmar’s non-implementation of the provisional measures set out by the International Court of Justice to protect the Rohingya in The Gambia v Myanmar.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are aware of concerns that Myanmar is not meeting its obligations, under a Provisional Measures Order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to protect the Rohingya. We are clear that Myanmar must comply with the Order. In November, we jointly filed a declaration of intervention at the ICJ in The Gambia's case alleging Myanmar has perpetrated genocide against the Rohingya, in order to set out our interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Genocide Convention before the Court. We will continue to use our UN Security Council leadership role to maintain a spotlight on Myanmar, including the Rohingya.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have made to address concerns in the social care sector about the closure of care homes caused by the loss of staff from overseas as a result of restrictions on staff bringing their families to the UK.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We recognise the importance of international recruitment to ensure we have sufficient supply of care workers and senior care workers. This is why the Government decided to add care workers to the Shortage Occupation List in February 2022, in response to unprecedented workforce pressures.
On 4 December 2023, the Secretary of State for the Home Department announced a five-point plan to curb legal net migration, including removing the right for care workers and senior care workers to bring dependants to the United Kingdom and restricting access to the route to employers who are regulated by the Care Quality Commission. The Secretary of State for the Home Department has committed to put estimates of the impact of these announcements in the House of Commons Library. This will be set out in due course.
The Government is committed to building a sustainable adult social care workforce. As part of this, international recruitment has bolstered the workforce with 101,000 out of country visa grants for care workers and senior care workers to the year ending September 2023. While at home, we are backing domestic recruitment with our National Recruitment Campaign, working with the Department for Work and Pensions to promote adult social care careers, and funding sector partner to support employers and commissioners to improve recruitment and retention.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authorities they estimate are on the verge of bankruptcy; and what steps o they plan to take to address this.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government monitors the financial health of local authorities on a regular basis using a wide range of data as well as through extensive direct engagement with councils.
In 2023/24, the final Local Government Finance Settlement made available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.
Individual councils are responsible for managing their budgets, and any decision to issue a Section 114 report is made locally. We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances or faces pressures it has not planned for.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking with respect to the effective enforcement of sanctions against Russian entities and individuals.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is committed to ensuring that our sanctions are robustly enforced and potential breaches are investigated and appropriate action taken. Departments from across HMG including HMT (through the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI)), HMRC, Home Office, and NCA, are working together, and with UK companies, to promote compliance and ensure that sanctions are enforced.
Since 2022, HMRC has imposed fines in excess of £1.3 million to five UK companies relating to the unlicensed trade of goods in breach of the Russia sanctions regime. In August, OFSI also published an enforcement notice against Wise Payments Limited (Wise), a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulated company, for breaching Russia sanctions by making funds available to a company owned or controlled by a designated person.
The Government announced a new Economic Deterrence Initiative in the 2023 Integrated Review Refresh. With funding of up to £50 million over two years, the initiative is maximising the impact of our trade, transport and financial sanctions, including by improving our sanctions implementation and enforcement.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Myanmar military is implementing the provisional measures set out by the International Court of Justice in The Gambia v. Myanmar case, in which they recently filed their declaration of intervention.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is aware of concerns that Myanmar is not meeting its obligations, under a Provisional Measures Order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to protect the Rohingya. We are clear that Myanmar must comply with the Provisional Measures Order. On 15 November, the UK jointly filed a declaration of intervention at the ICJ in The Gambia's case alleging Myanmar has perpetrated genocide against the Rohingya, in order to set out our interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Genocide Convention before the Court. We reiterate that there must be accountability for the atrocities committed in Myanmar against the Rohingya.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their current position in relation to Ukraine joining NATO.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, the UK and Allies made clear that Ukraine's future is in NATO. The UK is committed to supporting Ukraine on its path towards future membership, including through NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package, to which we have contributed £82 million.