Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to introduce the Registration of Overseas Entities Bill.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government published a Draft Registration of Overseas Entities Bill on 23 July 2018.
A Joint Committee was appointed to consider and report on the Draft Bill. The Committee made recommendations in a report to both Houses, published on 20 May 2019. The Government welcomes the Committee’s thorough and helpful scrutiny of the Bill. We are considering their recommendations and will publish a response in due course.
The Government intends to introduce the Bill to Parliament early in the second session. Following Royal Assent and the making of secondary legislation, the Government anticipates that the register will be operational in 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when their consultation on electoral integrity will be launched; and whether that consultation will be open to the public.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government recently announced measures to strengthen and protect our democratic processes, which includes a consultation on electoral integrity. Before we launch the consultation, we will be holding discussions with interested groups and exploring the scope for cross-party agreement. The consultation will be open to all interested parties, including members of the public, and it will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when a communiqué from the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council in London on 4 and 5 December 2018 will be published.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The British Government and the Overseas Territories developed an Action Plan as a more effective tool for measuring progress following the Joint Ministerial Council. I laid a Written Ministerial Statement on 17 December 2018 (HLWS1153) which covered the main issues in the Action Plan. The next Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council will take place in London on 26 and 27 November 2019.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 28 January (211613), what is the schedule for technical workshops between the UK and the British Overseas Territories for the establishment of public registers of beneficial ownership; and what are the agendas for each of those workshops.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
My Department is working with other Government Departments on the support and expertise the UK Government can offer the Overseas Territories. As part of that, we plan to hold a technical workshop this summer, and are currently liaising with the Overseas Territories to agree the issues they would find it most useful to cover in the workshop. These issues could include policy, technical and legal areas.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals were subject to adverse recommendations by the Home Office due to suspicions that they were involved in or associated with war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in each year from 2010 to 2018; and of those, how many have been (1) prosecuted in the UK, and (2) extradited to other countries as a result of such crimes.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Metropolitan Police is responsible for the investigation of all allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and torture. The Counter Terrorism Division (CTD) of the Crown Prosecution Service, Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, has responsibility for prosecuting any such crimes and as a consequence would be the relevant authority for such decisions and data regarding the number of individuals in the UK prosecuted for these offences.
The Home Office is the competent authority for extraditions from England and Wales to countries outside the EU. Between 2010 and 2018, no individuals were extradited from England and Wales to countries outside the EU for war crimes offences. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own central authorities to deal with extradition requests. Extradition requests to and from the EU are made under the European Arrest Warrant and are dealt with by the National Crime Agency.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of whether there are grounds to raise the case of Ahmed Aliouat with the government of Morocco.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are aware of the case of Ahmed Aliouat, and of the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention report on his case. Human rights forms part of our ongoing dialogue with Morocco, and we raise concerns where appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 26 November (HL11409), which government departments will be responsible for providing financial and technical assistance to the British Overseas Territories to support the introduction of public registers of beneficial ownership, as established by section 51 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The British Government will aim to bring expertise from a range of departments and executive agencies, including Companies House, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Development and the Home Office. I announced at the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council the setting up of workshops between the UK and the British Overseas Territories that will be scheduled from spring next year to provide technical support to the territories. The British Government is considering what financial support is possible for the Official Development Assistance-eligible territories.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what technical assistance will be provided to the British Overseas Territories to support the introduction of public registers of beneficial ownership, as established by section 51 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
I announced at the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council the setting up of technical workshops between the UK and the British Overseas Territories that will be scheduled from spring next year to support the introduction of public registers of company beneficial ownership.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much financial assistance will be provided to each British Overseas Territory to support the introduction of public registers of beneficial ownership, as established by section 51 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The British Government is considering what financial support is possible for the Official Development Assistance-eligible territories to support the introduction of public registers of company beneficial ownership.
Asked by: Baroness Stern (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many requests for beneficial ownership information have been made by UK law enforcement to each British Overseas Territory and Crown Dependency under the Exchange of Notes agreement to date, by month
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford
This information is not routinely collected. When the government reviewed the Exchange of Notes arrangements earlier this year after six months of operation it had been used to request information from the Crown Dependencies and relevant Overseas Territories more than 70 times.
This is described in a Written Ministerial Statement of 1st May 2018 (HLWS641). These arrangements represent an important capability to UK law enforcement and have enhanced operational activity. The government will conduct a statutory review of these arrangements by summer 2019, at which point details on the number of requests will be provided.