Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with members of the Nordic Council in regards to (1) achieving peace in Ukraine, and (2) preventing the spread of any hostilities to (a) Scandinavian, or (b) Baltic, countries.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Nordic and Baltic states are key UK partners in regional security, working closely through NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force, and together in support of Ukraine. We welcome Nordic countries' support for the G7 Joint Declaration agreeing long-term bilateral security commitments for Ukraine.
In support of regional security and protecting NATO's Eastern Flank, the UK has deployed a significant military presence to Estonia as part of NATO's enhanced Forward Presence. The UK has been committed to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, which will strengthen Euro-Atlantic security. We welcome Finland's membership and are supporting Sweden's swift accession to the Alliance.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many privately owned e-scooters have been confiscated in each of the last three months for the offence of being driven in a public area.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on Fixed Penalty Notices and other outcomes for motoring offences as part of the “Police Powers and Procedures: Other PACE powers” statistical bulletin. The most recent data, for 2021, are available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1118166/fixed-penalty-notices-and-other-motoring-offences-statistics-police-powers-and-procedures-year-ending-31-december-2021.ods
However, data are not collected on the type of vehicle involved in the offence. Additionally, the Home Office does not hold information on the number of e-scooters confiscated.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many penalties have been issued for (1) e-scooters, (2) e-bikes, and (3) bicycles, in each of the past three months for the road traffic offence of riding on a pavement.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on Fixed Penalty Notices and other outcomes for motoring offences as part of the “Police Powers and Procedures: Other PACE powers” statistical bulletin. The most recent data, for 2021, are available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1118166/fixed-penalty-notices-and-other-motoring-offences-statistics-police-powers-and-procedures-year-ending-31-december-2021.ods
However, data are not collected on the type of vehicle involved in the offence. Additionally, the Home Office does not hold information on the number of e-scooters confiscated.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timetable for the Ely area capacity enhancement programme; and what assessment they have made of the impact of this programme on the freight corridor, from Felixstowe through Ely and to Selby in North Yorkshire, serving Yorkshire and the Humber region in terms of increasing rail freight capacity.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Business case analysis of the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement Scheme confirms it could unlock rail freight capacity across Britain, including in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the risk to pedestrian safety of carelessly ridden e-bikes, e-scooters and bicycles with a view to increasing the penalties that apply.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Cycling on the pavement is already an offence, and privately owned e-scooters cannot be ridden on the highway or on pavements. Enforcement of these offences is a matter for the police. There are already penalties in place for these offences and the Government has no plans to change these.
The Government is considering bringing forward legislation to introduce new offences concerning careless or dangerous cycling, to tackle those rare instances where victims have been killed or seriously injured by irresponsible cycling behaviour. This follows an earlier review exploring the case for specific careless and dangerous cycling offences, a response to which the Government will publish as soon as it can.
In the case of e-scooters, a range of motoring offences and penalties currently apply for using an e-scooter illegally and/or irresponsibly, including criminal prosecution.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the penalties for cycling offences, such as riding on a pavement in circumstances where a cycle lane exists.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Cycling on the pavement is already an offence, and privately owned e-scooters cannot be ridden on the highway or on pavements. Enforcement of these offences is a matter for the police. There are already penalties in place for these offences and the Government has no plans to change these.
The Government is considering bringing forward legislation to introduce new offences concerning careless or dangerous cycling, to tackle those rare instances where victims have been killed or seriously injured by irresponsible cycling behaviour. This follows an earlier review exploring the case for specific careless and dangerous cycling offences, a response to which the Government will publish as soon as it can.
In the case of e-scooters, a range of motoring offences and penalties currently apply for using an e-scooter illegally and/or irresponsibly, including criminal prosecution.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government to what extent commoners with grazing rights in perpetuity will benefit from the Environmental Land Management Schemes.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are designing the Environmental Land Management schemes so farmers on common land can take part in the schemes in a straightforward and positive way.
We have already designed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) so that eligible single entities can apply for an agreement on common land, as well as making an additional payment available to help with the costs of administering an agreement if there is a group of two or more people on the common.
Commoners will also be eligible for the annual SFI management payment, which will pay £20 per hectare for up to the first 50 hectares entered into the scheme, resulting in a payment of up to £1,000 per year.
Alongside SFI, there are multiple actions available in Countryside Stewardship that are applicable to commoners, as well as payment to support the administration of agreements involving shared grazing on common land. Common land is also eligible for entry into the Landscape Recovery scheme, and applications are currently being accepted for round two.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which those taking the economic risk will be rewarded under the Environmental Land Management Schemes.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are designing our Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes with this in mind, many of the actions we will pay for through the ELM schemes will help farmers and land managers reduce their costs, improve their efficiency and improve the natural environment. For example, the nutrient and integrated pest management standards will help optimise use of inputs, helping to reduce costs whilst also potentially maintaining or even improving yields. Other actions in our schemes can enable farmers to generate an income from unproductive corners and edges of fields, using hedgerows to improve productivity (for example as windbreaks or shelterbelts), and improving soil health. The payments are also intended to support and de-risk the transition for farmers wanting to adopt more sustainable farming approaches. We use ‘income foregone plus costs’ to calculate payment rates and we have recently reviewed and updated them to ensure they fairly reflect changes in costs.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review the resolution system for disputes between tenants and landlords.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Renters (Reform) Bill) will introduce a new private rented sector Ombudsman, ensuring that tenants and landlords have the same mechanisms to resolve disputes as exist in the social sector through The Housing Ombudsman.
The new Ombudsman will act as an impartial decision-maker to which complaints can be escalated by private tenants where they have been unable to resolve these with their landlord. We are exploring whether the Ombudsman also could provide a mediation service for landlords to resolve disputes with their tenants without needing to take court action.
Through the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, the Government is taking action in the social housing sector to ensure that disputes between tenants and landlords can be resolved more effectively. This includes giving the Ombudsman the powers to issue a code of practice on complaint handling and issue orders to landlords to prevent the recurrence of issues identified through an investigation.
In October 2022, we amended legislation to allow social housing residents with unresolved complaints to access the Housing Ombudsman directly without having to contact a designated person or wait eight weeks.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to encourage targeted technology investment in renewable fuels such as the use of waste cooking oils in aviation fuel.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation is currently our main support mechanism to encourage the supply of renewable fuels, including aviation fuels and those produced from waste feedstocks like used cooking oil (UCO).
The Government plans to introduce the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate in 2025, which will aim to drive demand for SAF in the UK and deliver at least 10% SAF in the jet fuel mix by 2030. The mandate will include a cap on hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) SAF, which includes UCO. The Department is currently consulting on what level the cap should be set at.