Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what conditions they have attached to the renewal of funding and support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and whether they plan to increase funding to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) plays a critical role in Gaza and the wider region. The Foreign Secretary announced on 19 July that the UK will resume funding to UNRWA, releasing £21 million. Some of the UK's funding will be directed at supporting the implementation of UNRWA's management reforms, that will implement the recommendations made by Catherine Colonna's independent report. The reforms include delivering stronger independent oversight, better detection systems, improved screening procedures and other areas.
The UK continues to play a leadership role in trying to alleviate the suffering - on 14 July, the Foreign Secretary also announced £5.5 million new funding to UK-Med to fund their life-saving medical work in Gaza.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they have responded to the Israeli Knesset's decision to designate the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East as a terrorist organisation, and whether this will impact on future UK support and funding to that agency.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Foreign Secretary announced on 19 July that the UK will resume funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), providing £21 million. We are committed to continuing our support to UNRWA, which plays a critical role in delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza and contributing to regional stability. Some of the UK's funding will be directed at supporting the implementation of management reforms recommended by Catherine Colonna's independent review. We are deeply concerned that draft legislation is being considered by the Israeli Knesset which would designate UNRWA as a terrorist organisation and will continue to monitor developments closely.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to implement the enhanced physical checks set out in the Border Target Operating Model and if so, when they plan to do so.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The BTOM sets outs out a risk-based, proportionate regime of controls which assesses the inherent biosecurity or public health risk presented by an import, together with the prevalence of relevant pests and diseases and our confidence in the exporting country’s production standards and health controls.
This assessment allows us to set controls at the most appropriate level and focus on the areas of highest risk to the UK. The goods posing the highest biosecurity risk are being prioritised as we build up to full check rates and high levels of compliance.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Northern Ireland Executive regarding public consultation in advance of the Democratic Consent Vote in respect of the Windsor Framework, due to take place in the Northern Ireland Assembly by the end of 2024.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to supporting the Northern Ireland Executive as appropriate in consulting with businesses, civil society groups, and representative organisations. There is regular contact between the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on a range of issues and further detail will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they will put in place to mitigate the administrative burden on firms sending business-to-business parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland following the full implementation of customs controls under the Windsor Framework from autumn.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to delivering the Windsor Framework. It has carried out extensive engagement with businesses (including parcel carriers) to implement the changes agreed under the Windsor Framework for moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to communicate the next stage of the implementation of the Windsor Framework in autumn to businesses in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to delivering the Windsor Framework. It has carried out extensive engagement with businesses (including parcel carriers) to implement the changes agreed under the Windsor Framework for moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will establish an Industry-NHS vaccine working group to consider how best to accelerate the National Immunisation Programme.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Officials are working with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry to refresh our industry-Government vaccine working group, which includes representation from across industry, the Government, and national health partners including NHS England, and will consider potential improvements to the National Immunisation Programme.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to deliver Labour’s Child Health Action Plan, and in particular what actions they will take to improve access to childhood immunisation.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children in our history. This will include giving children a healthy, happy start to life, and protecting them from the growth of infectious diseases.
To achieve this, the Department works with NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency to make accurate and up to date information on the benefits of vaccines and their eligibility, available to parents, carers, and patients. We are also learning lessons from the COVID-19 vaccine programme about the power of real-time, specific data to improve uptake, as well as looking at system changes for delivery, to make getting vaccinated easier for all. The Department, alongside partners, is also exploring how to enable vaccinations for babies and children as part of health visits.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the expected coverage rates of maternal respiratory syncytial virus vaccination in the first year of the programme.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation considered uptake when developing their advice on a maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programme. Uptake for the RSV vaccination programme is expected to be like that of other year-round maternal respiratory immunisation programmes.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to remarks by the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 18 July that "the biggest threat to nature and food security ... is the climate crisis" (HC Deb col 189), what plans they have to appoint a Climate Envoy.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We cannot address the urgency of the climate and nature crisis without co-ordinated global action. Failure to act would cause environmental devastation, fuelling displacement, conflict and famine. We are committed to reinvigorating the UK's international leadership on climate and nature, working with our international partners. We will set out further details of our approach in due course.