Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they, or their agencies, regularly determine the operational false positive rates for polymerase chain reaction tests carried out at each laboratory undertaking analysis for mass COVID-19 testing; whether they use an ‘end to end’ method to audit those rates; if not, what methodology they use to make such determinations; and whether those methods include inserting samples into the system that cannot be positive.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Currently samples are not placed into the system to test operational sensitivity. The Department has undertaken substantial work with Porton Down and the Milton Keynes Lighthouse Laboratory to conduct temperature and long-term stability experiments on sample collection kits to ensure swabs meet an appropriate standard for testing.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the British Army last deployed a largely fully formed and supported division for manoeuvre and deployment training; and when it next plans to conduct an exercise of this scale in order (1) to test the UK's ability and identify any weaknesses, (2) to reassure allies, and (3) to deter potential opponents.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
I refer the noble Lord to the previous replies given by my noble friend the right hon Earl Howe (Minister of State, Ministry of Defence) to question HL5012 answered on 6 February 2017 and Oral question (volume 794, column 2118) answered on 8 January 2019.
The Army continues to have a sophisticated exercise programme in place to ensure that it is trained and ready to operate at the divisional level. This includes training with Allies and partners. The UK are due to take part in Exercise WARFIGHTER in March 2021, in which HQ 3 (UK) Division will deploy to the US as part of III (US) Corps.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 10 December (HL10848), what steps they have taken reliably to determine the operational false positive rate for polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 mass testing; and how they have made any such determination.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Polymerase chain reaction tests are very specific and the risk of false positives where the test is reacting to other viruses is extremely low. Independent confirmatory testing of positive samples indicates a test specificity that exceeds 99.3%, or a false positive rate of 1%, and additional guidance has been provided to laboratories to reduce the rate even further.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are offering for sale at least seven ex-Ministry of Defence MAN HX18.330 SV6T flat-bed trucks in Germany, advertised as unused.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Due to a change in threat assessments, a surplus of MAN SV6T flatbed trucks has been identified. To economise storage and support costs, a number have been identified for sale.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 are applicable to vehicles operated by the Ministry of Defence; and if not, (1) why not, and (2) what technical reasons there are for not including such vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The vehicles operated by the Ministry of Defence are within the scope of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.
Vehicles that were originally built as heavy goods vehicles but have been converted to be a living van (under the C&U regulations definition) are within the scope of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.
Vehicles of historical interest, as defined in the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, will be exempt from these regulations irrespective of the load. However, if such a vehicle is being used commercially, it is not exempted from these regulations, as it is important to balance the granting of any exemptions with the safety of all road users.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 are applicable to vehicles that were originally built to be heavy goods vehicles but have been converted to meet the test of being a living van; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The vehicles operated by the Ministry of Defence are within the scope of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.
Vehicles that were originally built as heavy goods vehicles but have been converted to be a living van (under the C&U regulations definition) are within the scope of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.
Vehicles of historical interest, as defined in the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, will be exempt from these regulations irrespective of the load. However, if such a vehicle is being used commercially, it is not exempted from these regulations, as it is important to balance the granting of any exemptions with the safety of all road users.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the exemption for vehicles defined as historic under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 are applicable to such vehicles if they are operated with a load at a significant proportion of their gross (1) vehicle, or (2) train, weight; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The vehicles operated by the Ministry of Defence are within the scope of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.
Vehicles that were originally built as heavy goods vehicles but have been converted to be a living van (under the C&U regulations definition) are within the scope of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.
Vehicles of historical interest, as defined in the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, will be exempt from these regulations irrespective of the load. However, if such a vehicle is being used commercially, it is not exempted from these regulations, as it is important to balance the granting of any exemptions with the safety of all road users.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what formal quality assurance assessment, or similar, is required to be undertaken before an organisation can be accredited (1) to perform, and (2) to analyse, COVID-19 tests; and what is the minimum standard those organisations must meet before accreditation.
Answered by Lord Bethell
All manufacturers of polymerase chain reaction tests for COVID-19 must meet the requirements of our validation process to ensure the accuracy of their tests. The accreditation process for organisations completing COVID-19 testing will be completed by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and published online.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the operational false positive rate for polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 tests is regularly determined by inserting samples into the system that cannot be positive; and what is the false positive rate for such samples.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the operational false positive rate for polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 tests in each of the last four weeks; and how this rate was determined.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The information is not held in the format requested.