Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce legislation to ensure “zero checks and zero customs paperwork” for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland via the UK Internal Market Scheme; and if so, when.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, the internal market system will ensure the smooth flow of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland for internal UK trade. In line with the Government’s commitments since 2021, these arrangements establish individual schemes that can be used only by UK internal market traders, to preserve those benefits for UK traders and to maintain the smooth flow of that trade. Checks on internal UK movements under the schemes will be removed except those conducted by UK authorities and required as part of a risk-based or intelligence-led approach to tackle criminality, abuse of the schemes, smuggling and disease risks. We will set out further information on the transition to these new arrangements shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether checks are still made on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland via the UK Internal Market Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, the internal market system will ensure the smooth flow of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland for internal UK trade. In line with the Government’s commitments since 2021, these arrangements establish individual schemes that can be used only by UK internal market traders, to preserve those benefits for UK traders and to maintain the smooth flow of that trade. Checks on internal UK movements under the schemes will be removed except those conducted by UK authorities and required as part of a risk-based or intelligence-led approach to tackle criminality, abuse of the schemes, smuggling and disease risks. We will set out further information on the transition to these new arrangements shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what rules exist for pet owners wishing to take their dog on holiday (1) from England to Northern Ireland, and (2) from England to Scotland.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The detail on the movement of pets from Great Britain to Northern Ireland can be found on the website of the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/travelling-pets. A copy is attached to this answer.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount of drone equipment and heavy machinery going from the UK to Armenia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan which is then sent on to Russia.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
HMG has sanctioned every item that Ukraine has found Russia using on the battlefield to date. This includes goods that could be used for drones and heavy machinery.
We maintain a Common High Priority List (CHPL) of items critical to the Russian military, to thwart attempts to circumvent sanctions through third countries.
We continue to engage with relevant countries and monitor our exports for signs of circumvention, to do everything we can to ensure that sanctioned UK technologies do not make it to Russia.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Caine on 4 March and with regard to paragraphs 54 and 65 of the relevant Supreme Court judgment, whether they can confirm that the inconsistency between the Acts of Union and the protocol was not at issue before the Supreme Court because the Government did not lodge any cross appeal from the Court of Appeal’s decision that such inconsistency existed.
Answered by Lord Caine - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Supreme Court clearly set out in its judgement of 8 February 2023 the issues it considered and its reasoning for reaching the conclusions it did.
The Government’s consistent position on these matters is set out in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, which is that the Windsor Framework (which replaced the old Protocol) applies entirely consistently with Northern Ireland’s constitutional position within the United Kingdom, including as expressed in the relevant statute today.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they submitted any cross appeal on the finding of the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal in the matter of an application by James Allister and others that the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland created an inconsistency with Article 6 of the Acts of Union.
Answered by Lord Caine - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In its judgement on appeal of this case on 8 February 2023, the Supreme Court did not make a specific determination on this point.
The Court rightly focused on the sovereignty of Parliament and affirmed, as Article Six of the Acts of Union itself recognised, ‘that it is the most fundamental rule of UK constitutional law’.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government who are the members of the statutory inquiry established to investigate the Post Office Horizon scandal; and who chairs that inquiry.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is chaired by Sir Wyn Williams FLSW, a former High Court judge, who is supported by an Inquiry team including counsel, solicitors, assessors, and the Secretariat.
The statutory roles to the Inquiry which support the Chair are Counsel to the Inquiry (Jason Beer, KC), Solicitor to the Inquiry (Segun Jide) and Secretary to the Inquiry (Leila Pilgrim). There are two assessors to the Inquiry (Erika Eliasson-Norris and David Page) who have been appointed to provide advice to the Chairman on their area of relevant expertise regarding the Inquiry.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the suspension of movement of ruminant animals from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will be lifted.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Movements can only resume when the conditions of the importing authority, as set out in their export certification, can be met. We will take action to ensure that any additional restrictions imposed on exports are minimised and proportionate to the low risks involved.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government why ruminant animals can move within Great Britain despite Bluetongue virus in Kent, but cannot be moved from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The findings of Bluetongue in England means that Great Britain is no longer recognised as free of Bluetongue disease and is therefore unable to export live susceptible animals.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of Bluetongue virus have been verified in Great Britain.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of the 20 February, 112 Bluetongue serotype 3 cases have been found in England on 64 premises in 3 counties. This comprises 106 cases in cattle and 6 cases in sheep. The latest case figures and information are available online at GOV.UK.