Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they estimate the completion of the Silecroft to Silverdale section of the England Coast Path, referenced in the Natural England North West stretch update on 7 October, will cost; how much of that cost has already been allocated; and from what sources.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Natural England’s estimates for the costs of establishing this stretch are summarised within the individual published reports relating to the stretch. These total £2,106,819 (exclusive of any VAT payable). Subject to budgets, establishment costs will be met entirely by Natural England, via grants to Cumbria County Council (as access authority responsible for completing the works). Allocation of budget and grant provision would follow the approval of Natural England’s proposals by the Secretary of State.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of reduced fundraising for armed forces charities during the COVID-19 pandemic, what additional measures they are taking to enable such charities to deliver support for veterans.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Government is committed to making the UK the best country in the world to be a veteran.
Every year it provides £10 million to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, which distributes this as grants to charitable organisations through a range of programmes. This year we have provided an additional £6 million for 100 service charities through the Covid Relief fund, to ensure they can continue to provide their vital services throughout the pandemic. Furthermore, through the Loneliness Covid-19 Fund, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen And Families Association has been provided with a grant of £500,000 to support veterans and their families experiencing loneliness throughout the UK.
Charities are also able to apply to access the additional financial support provided through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Charities can also apply to receive up to £3,000 a month through the Local Restrictions Support Grant if an organisation’s premises is forced to close.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Goldie on 2 November (HLWS537), what assessment they have made of the impact of the decision for AWE plc to "become an Arms-Length Body wholly owned by the MOD" on the timetable for their commitment to nuclear warhead renewal.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The change in the Atomic Weapons Establishment operating model will enhance the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) agility to manage the UK's nuclear deterrent and improve the delivery of core defence objectives, including the replacement warhead.
The change will also enable the MOD to invest in the development of the workforce, infrastructure and capabilities needed for the replacement warhead programme. I am withholding further information on the replacement warhead timetable for the purposes of safeguarding national security.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £27million of COVID-19 related funding allocated to domestic abuse services has so far been paid out; and how much they have allocated for use by such services in each (1) region, and (2) local authority.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Of the £27 million of funds which were earmarked for domestic abuse services affected by COVID-19, government departments have as of 28 October 2020 paid out £25,129,341.
Within the £27 million, of the £15 million earmarked for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to distribute to local domestic abuse services through Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), the breakdown by UK region of the funds is as follows:
UK region | Sum distributed to PCCs in the region in question to distribute to domestic abuse services in their area/£ |
East | 1,465,536 |
East Midlands | 1,297,433 |
London | 2,217,191 |
North-East | 1,001,315 |
North-West | 1,779,688 |
South-East | 2,275,251 |
South-West | 1,199,098 |
Wales | 940,479 |
West Midlands | 1,166,225 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 1,067,868 |
The above funds were distributed to the following PCCs:
PCC | Sum allocated/£ |
Avon and Somerset | 365,583 |
Bedfordshire | 214,654 |
Cambridgeshire | 209,068 |
Cheshire | 222,793 |
Cleveland | 354,331 |
Cumbria | 152,784 |
Derbyshire | 365,080 |
Devon and Cornwall | 320,775 |
Dorset | 170,710 |
Durham | 303,238 |
Dyfed-Powys | 96,416 |
Essex | 462,273 |
Gloucestershire | 113,933 |
Greater Manchester | 645,461 |
Gwent | 152,199 |
Hampshire | 433,854 |
Hertfordshire | 226,923 |
Humberside | 116,022 |
Kent | 484,381 |
Lancashire | 380,264 |
Leicestershire | 352,997 |
Lincolnshire | 74,881 |
Merseyside | 378,386 |
MOPAC (London) | 2,217,191 |
Norfolk | 191,926 |
North Wales | 178,500 |
North Yorkshire | 203,407 |
Northamptonshire | 188,331 |
Northumbria | 343,746 |
Nottinghamshire | 316,144 |
South Wales | 513,364 |
South Yorkshire | 405,664 |
Staffordshire | 284,632 |
Suffolk | 160,692 |
Surrey | 277,865 |
Sussex | 474,728 |
Thames Valley | 604,423 |
Warwickshire | 153,308 |
West Mercia | 235,586 |
West Midlands | 492,699 |
West Yorkshire | 342,775 |
Wiltshire | 228,098 |
Of the £2 million earmarked for the Home Office to distribute to national and regional domestic abuse services, most of the recipients cover more than one UK region and so it is not possible to delineate the funding by region. The exceptions are one organisation which covers only the South-East, which was allocated £5,000, and three organisations which cover only Wales, which collectively were allocated £192,206.
Of the £10 million earmarked for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to distribute to safe accommodation services in England, information is not available on the UK regions to which funds were distributed. This is because the exact locations of refuge and safe accommodation services are not revealed for safety reasons, and so may not match the charity’s registered address.
It is not possible to break any of the three departments’ allocations down to local authority level.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they estimate the total spend on the #YouAreNotAlone domestic abuse campaign to be; and which media channels they intend to use to disseminate that campaign.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The #YouAreNotAlone campaign signposts victims of domestic abuse to support over the lockdown period with paid media running from mid-April until end of September and via key partners including charities, retailers, employers, banks and post offices.
The Home Office has, so far, committed over £850k to cover COVID-19 related communications on domestic abuse up until the end of September 2020. Online channels, including social media, search advertising and digital display, have played an important role in reaching victims discreetly, to increase confidence that support is available and raise awareness of where and how to get help. Podcast advertising and PR have supplemented the digital activity with community engagement outreach reaching diverse communities who may be less likely to seek support for domestic abuse. The Home Office has also worked with partners and the sector to help disseminate messages via their channels.
Since campaign launch (Apr-Aug), traffic to the gov.uk domestic abuse page has increased by over three times compared to the same period the previous year, which demonstrates that communications are required to continue to help signpost and direct victims and those concerned to help and support.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the implementation of their codeword scheme for domestic abuse victims, announced on 21 May; and what assessment they have made of the success of that scheme so far.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We have been working closely with the domestic abuse sector, pharmacies, retailers and the police to develop a codeword scheme that will enable victims of domestic abuse to access emergency support in their community. To ensure that the scheme provides a safe and effective response to victims, we have worked with domestic abuse specialist organisations to develop training and guidance for retail staff delivering the scheme and are preparing to roll out these materials prior to public launch. An external evaluation will be carried out to assess of the effectiveness of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a working group reporting to the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals to consider whether to introduce a special service medal for current and former submariners who have served on patrol in the ongoing Operation Relentless.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Government appreciates the courage shown and sacrifices made by all our brave Service men and women, including those who have served in the Submarine Service as part of Operation Relentless. However, there are no plans to introduce a special service medal. Since 2010, our submariners receive the Deterrent Patrol Pin recognising the professionalism, dedication and commitment displayed by those who have deployed on ballistic missile submarine patrols. Former members of the Service are entitled, and encouraged, to apply for the pin in recognition of their previous service.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, what plans they have to re-assess official predictions of (1) medium, and (2) long term passenger growth in (a) international flights, (b) domestic flights, (c) long distance rail travel, and (d) motorway usage.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A new long-term forecast for travel demand in international and domestic flights is not feasible due to the uncertainty arising from COVID-19 concerning forecasting and appraisal. The Government is monitoring the evolving situation and engaging regularly with industry on their forecasts.
We have conducted long distance rail demand scenarios using assumptions on potential drivers subject to ongoing update, refinement and review. We will continue to review and evaluate the evidence for motorway usage. Our priority is to understand potential impacts resulting from COVID-19 following the update of road forecasts.
We plan to issue updated guidance in February on how to incorporate the impact of COVID-19 in medium and long-term forecasts for transport. More widely, the Government will continue to closely monitor the impact of the pandemic and to consider how to reflect this uncertainty with other drivers, including technological change and travel behaviour.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the assumptions about passenger growth contained in the HS2 Phase One full business case, published on 15 April, remain accurate following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what plans they have to revise this business case.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The rapid development and the uncertain outcome of the COVID-19 outbreak mean it has not yet been possible to undertake specific analysis to determine its impact on HS2. The Department for Transport is working with colleagues across Government to understand the impact on transport demand and the pandemic’s wider effect on the economy, and how this will affect future business cases for transport infrastructure investment.
The Full Business Case for Phase One published in April looked at both high and low demand scenarios, underpinned by population and economic growth forecasts. That analysis showed that even in a scenario where demand is relatively low, there is still a clear case for pressing ahead with HS2.
We are confident that the strategic case for HS2, including its subsequent stages to Crewe, Manchester and Leeds remains clear, and that there remains a case for increasing capacity on the UK rail network, bringing cities closer together and levelling up regions across the UK. HS2 also remains key to achieving net-zero by 2050, a commitment which remains unchanged despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Programme Design and Definition phase of the SSN(R) programme.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The programme to deliver the first of Class of an SSN Replacement for the Astute Class submarines is currently in the Programme Definition and Design Phase, which aims to identify potential capability solution choices. Therefore, it is too early to determine what the capability solution will be.