Sue Gray Report

Debate between Baroness Rawlings and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Monday 31st January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Rawlings (Con)]

My Lords, this afternoon the Prime Minister answered many questions by saying, “We will wait until the Metropolitan Police report is published”. I wonder whether we have any idea when it might be published.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

The Metropolitan Police put out a statement this afternoon in which it said it was working “at pace”, but it did not give a specific timescale. I am afraid that I cannot say more than that, but it has confirmed what it is investigating. It has had a lot of evidence from the Cabinet Office and is now working at pace to continue the investigation, but I am afraid I do not have a timescale.

Procedure and Privileges

Debate between Baroness Rawlings and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Tuesday 13th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Rawlings (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I fully support the Procedure and Privileges Committee’s report and the decision for the House to return to as normal as possible with your Lordships being present in the House, except, of course, severely disabled Members. It is also important that we return to the practice that your Lordships should be physically in the—[Inaudible.]

Could my noble friend the Minister clarify whether Members of your Lordships’ House are obliged to attend Select Committee meetings physically or whether they will still be able to continue attending online? I am not talking about anyone who is giving evidence. Will it still be illegal to attend any meeting from a car or train if we continue to be able to participate remotely?

Legislation was passed during the Covid lockdown without any debate in your Lordships’ House and without any votes. This diktat is considered legal as it is included now in the Standing Orders. This point does not—[Inaudible.] I wonder whether it could be clarified by the Minister for your Lordships.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

The noble Baroness keeps cutting out so it is probably best that we move to the next speaker.

Covid 19: Winter Plan

Debate between Baroness Rawlings and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Tuesday 24th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

We have a central government unit that will be working on this, but also DCMS is working very closely with social media platforms to help identify false claims, exactly as the noble Lord said, about both the virus and the vaccine and, where necessary, promoting authoritative sources of information in their place. I assure the noble Lord that we are very cognisant of these issues and are working hard to make sure that the rollout of the national vaccination plan is accompanied by a public health strategy and message to make sure that people understand that we will always put the safety of the public first, and that any vaccine that is approved will have gone through an incredibly rigorous process to pass that hurdle, as the noble Lord will well know.

[Baroness Rawlings (Con) [V]]

My Lords, it is very encouraging news that vaccines will be available in 2021—a remarkable feat. We should all congratulate Oxford, which is not only supplying 100 million vaccines to our Government but is doing so on a not-for-profit basis. Is Pfizer, the supplier of the first vaccine to be announced, which is supplying us with 40 million doses, doing so on the same basis? More importantly, deal or no deal, as the Pfizer vaccine is, I believe, coming from Belgium, will there be import duties or tariffs?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

Well, we have secured more than 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, as my noble friend rightly said, which is enough for about a third of our population, and in total we have secured early access to more than 355 million doses through a portfolio of promising new vaccines—so we are very well placed to take advantage of both the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines, which have now reached the stages they have, and other vaccines that will hopefully follow through on the back of their success.

European Council

Debate between Baroness Rawlings and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Monday 26th June 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I said, we will bring forward proposals for a future immigration scheme in due course.

[Baroness Rawlings (Con)]

My Lords, the Leader of the House has talked about a fair and serious offer. Having mentioned the medicines agency and the financial agency, have the Government had any discussions about patenting law?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I am afraid I will have to get back to my noble friend as I do not know the answer to that question.

Northern Powerhouse: Early Years Attainment

Debate between Baroness Rawlings and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Tuesday 22nd December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I entirely agree with the noble Lord, which is why we focus very much on improving the quality of the early years workforce and why we are focusing resources through the early years pupil premium, which was introduced in April 2015. The pupil premium for secondary schools was of course a coalition achievement. Focusing resources on the most deprived is extremely important, and we will continue to do that.

[Baroness Rawlings (Con)]

My Lords, will the Government relocate any public bodies to the north—that is, to the northern powerhouse—a bit like the BBC moved up to Salford?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I am afraid I am not entirely sure on that point. However, we will be establishing a network of industry-led national colleges, which will be operational from September 2017. They will include the National College for Onshore Oil and Gas, which will be headquartered in Blackpool, the National College for Nuclear, which will have one of its hubs in Cumbria, and the National College for High Speed Rail, which will be based in Doncaster, so we will certainly be encouraging organisations to move to and develop in the north.

Education: Politics A-level

Debate between Baroness Rawlings and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Tuesday 22nd December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

We certainly consider citizenship education important and will continue it within schools. But we believe that the revised content for A-levels and AS-levels that has been undertaken will ensure that the key elements of citizenship A-level will continue to be taught within different A-levels.

[Baroness Rawlings (Con)]

My Lords, will the Government encourage more learning of foreign languages, which is so important in life and to international politics?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

Yes, we certainly do want to encourage the use of modern languages. We live in an ever-global world, and the more that young people and people heading into the workplace can speak foreign languages, the better their prospects in the economy.