Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made in implementing the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023 and FCA guidance with regard to politically exposed persons.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023 came into force on 10 January 2024. All businesses within scope of the Money Laundering Regulations are now required to ensure that their starting point for assessing the risk posed by domestic politically exposed persons (PEPs), and the extent of the enhanced customer due diligence measures to be applied in relation to that customer, is that they present a lower level of risk than a non-domestic PEP.
The Government has been working closely with the FCA to follow up on the findings of its review into the treatment of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs by financial institutions) and to ensure firms improve their practices where necessary. The FCA is in the process of updating its guidance on PEPs to reflect the findings of its review and the changes made by The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023. The FCA’s revised guidance will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 10 September (HL616), when they will publish the outcome of their consultation which included a section on sex and gender and made commitments relating to same-sex accommodation, intimate care, and gendered language.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Analysis of the responses to the consultation is currently still in progress, and a decision on the outcome of this process will be made at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the NHS recruitment requirement for new psychologists working with children with gender dysphoria to “practice in a gender affirming manner in line with WPATH SOC 8”, that is, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's standards of care, is in line with its endorsement of the Cass Review.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All of the National Health Service’s new Children and Young People’s gender services are being established closely in line with recommendations from the Cass Review, which the Government and NHS England are committed to implementing in full.
The recruitment campaign referred to relates to a temporary service which was set up solely to provide psychosocial support for the relatively small number of children and young people already referred to endocrine clinics by the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service clinic, prior to the closure of that service in March 2024. The trust has acknowledged that old terminology was used in the job advertisement, including the references to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's standards of care, and is amending it.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the endorsement of the presidents of Somalia, Egypt and Eritrea, on 10 October, of the deployment of Egyptian troops to Somalia, (2) the threat that such a deployment would pose to Ethiopia’s dam on the Blue Nile, and (3) the concomitant risk of conflict between Egyptian and Ethiopian troops.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK, alongside partners, continues to urge all stakeholders and regional actors to avoid escalation and any action that threatens stability in the wider Horn of Africa. We hear downstream nations' concerns about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), and we continue to urge all parties to reach a mutually acceptable agreement through negotiation and dialogue. To further address the rising tensions in the Horn of Africa, we have tabled a debate on 29th October in the House of Lords.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the qualifications that private property managers must hold before taking on the management of (1) private residential buildings and (1) mixed-tenure residential buildings.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Managing agents perform a critical role in managing and maintaining buildings, so it is vital that they provide a good service and are accountable to leaseholders for their actions. Many agents do so and with a high level of professionalism. The Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of the qualifications that managing agents must hold but we welcome the work of the industry itself to drive up standards across the sector. This includes ongoing efforts to encourage greater take up of professional qualifications and the development of Codes of Practice.
The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, including those designed to increase service charge transparency.
Over the course of this Parliament, the Government will further reform the leasehold system. We will enact remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework, and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that property managers of private or mixed tenure high-rise residential buildings are sufficiently competent to manage fire safety risk.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) places a range of legal duties on Responsible Persons (the person in control of a premises), chief among which are the need to undertake a fire risk assessment to identify any general fire safety precautions that need to be taken to ensure that the premises, and people within it, are safe from fire.
In order to help Responsible Persons discharge their duties we publish a range of guides that include an explanation of their legal duties, how to complete a fire risk assessment in specific types of premises including purpose-built blocks of flats and guidance on specific issues such as how to undertake checks on fire doors. Responsible Persons have a duty under Article 18 of the FSO to appoint a competent person to assist them in implementing any preventative and protective measures identified in the fire risk assessment and our guidance provides advice on when and how to do this.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with arm’s-length bodies regarding civil action being taken against their staff due to gender-critical views.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government cannot comment on individual cases of civil action within arm’s length bodies.
Sponsor departments are responsible for maintaining the relationship between the government and its arm’s length bodies. This includes ensuring appropriate discussions about ongoing issues are held.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether government departments give equal consideration and status to staff sex equality and equity networks as they do to LGBT+ and other diversity groupings.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All formally recognised cross-government equality, diversity and inclusion networks are given equal consideration. The Cabinet Office oversees cross-government equality, diversity and inclusion networks. Management of departmental equality, diversity and inclusion networks is delegated to departments.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on Civil Service and other Government staff adding membership or support logos to their official email or correspondence signatures.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There is no central policy on email signatures in the Civil Service. Individual departments may choose to provide their civil servants with guidance on this matter. Civil servants should of course be mindful of the core values in the Civil Service Code, including ensuring anything included in their signatures maintains their commitment to impartiality.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are planning to amend the terms of reference of (1) the House of Lords Appointments Commission, (2) the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, (3) the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, or (4) the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is a government of service and it is committed to restoring trust and confidence in public life. We will establish a new independent Ethics and Integrity Commission, with its own independent Chair. We will ensure that this Commission has the powers and remit necessary to fulfil its responsibilities. The terms of reference of other public bodies are kept under review and updated in line with good practice.