Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in considering the establishment of a special tribunal on the crime of aggression following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is their policy that the issue of personal immunities should to be decided by judges in line with international law.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Those responsible for the hideous atrocities we have seen in Ukraine must be held to account for their actions. The UK is working with partners in the Core Group, established and led by Ukraine, to consider the complex issues involved in establishing a Special Tribunal. The issue of personal immunities remains under discussion in the Core Group and will form part of any agreement on the wider package of issues relating to the establishment of a Special Tribunal.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government on how many occasions since 2019 (1) illegal bush meat products and (2) other illegal, non-compliant or contaminated meat products have been confiscated at ports of entry to the UK; where and when these confiscations occurred; from which countries these confiscated products originated; and which species were confiscated.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This information requested is not available.
We cannot provide any data on the species of animal any meat seized is from, or on the countries from which the meat originated. The data does not distinguish between 'meat' and 'bush meat’, and it does not specify why the meat was seized.
We also do not release details of the location as this information could risk undermining border security by providing intelligence in our resource deployment and targeting to smuggling networks.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of diseases being spread into the UK from illegal imports of (1) bush meat from Africa, and (2) meat from eastern Europe; and what steps they have taken to mitigate those risks.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra monitors animal disease outbreaks worldwide and assesses the risk that they might enter the United Kingdom (UK) through legal or illegal trade in animal products. Its team of veterinary and risk experts provide rapid outbreak assessments to inform import decisions and enforcement action and undertake full qualitative risk assessments in certain cases. These assessments are published on gov.uk at www.gov.uk/government/collections/animal-diseases-international-monitoring.
Meat imported commercially via Border Control Posts is subject to local authority-led official controls to ensure that it complies with UK import conditions. The Home Office’s Border Force has lead responsibility for identifying and seizing meat imported illegally other than via Border Control Posts.
To further mitigate the risks, it is illegal in the UK to feed catering or domestic food waste to livestock, including pigs.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to continue to support the establishment of a special tribunal on the crimes of aggression following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which could consider the criminal accountability of senior leaders of Russia and Belarus.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Those responsible for the hideous atrocities we have seen in Ukraine must be held to account for their actions. As we made clear in our manifesto, the Government supports work towards establishing a Special Tribunal on the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The UK is working with partners in the Core Group, established and led by Ukraine, to explore all options and models of tribunal.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that any special tribunal on the crime of aggression following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is international in character, and has sufficient legitimacy and support.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is working with partners in the Core Group, established and led by Ukraine, to explore all options and models of tribunal. The UK is also considering how to encourage the broad international support that will be crucial to any tribunal's legitimacy.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments by Professor Chris Elliott of Queen's University Belfast in June that a series of threats to food security are converging to create “chaos” because it is "now much easier to get food that is not of the same quality and standards into the UK”; and what steps they are taking to improve border checks and information-sharing to mitigate these threats.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published the UK Food Security Report 2024 last week and remains committed to protecting our biosecurity and will maintain the appropriate level of controls to achieve this in accordance with the Border Target Operating Model. Please also see the Border Target Operating Model web page on gov.uk for detailed information on the rationale for border controls (at Final_Border_Target_Operating_Model.pdf).
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many successful prosecutions there have been in respect of the importation of (1) bushmeat and (2) other illegal, non-compliant or contaminated meat products since 2019.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of prosecutions at criminal courts in England and Wales between 2018 and June 2024 in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: June 2024.
However, offences relating to the importation of bushmeat or other illegal, non-compliant or contaminated meat products cannot be specifically identified from the Court Proceedings database. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase in the number of whistleblowing complaints in respect of the Drax power station, from 14 in 2022 to 49 in 2023.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government takes reports of complaints very seriously. Compliance with biomass sustainability criteria is a priority and Ofgem as the independent regulator is responsible for ensuring generators’ compliance. Ofgem’s recent investigation found that whilst Drax complied with sustainability standards, it had failed to report data accurately. This is a serious matter and the Government expects full compliance with all regulatory obligations. Drax’s subsequent £25 million redress payment underscores the robustness of the regulatory system.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their most recent estimate of the quantity by weight of (1) illegal bush meat products and (2) other illegal, non-compliant or contaminated meat products, illegally imported into the UK each year.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency does not collect the inland data required at a commodity or establishment level to be able to estimate the quantity by weight of illegal, non-compliant, or contaminated meat products, illegally imported into the United Kingdom each year. Local authorities in England and Wales hold primary responsibility for acting against businesses identified as importing, trading, or selling such products. As such, data on these seizures is held by each individual local authority.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions ministers have had, if any, with European Cargo about undertaking due diligence and screening the company's cargo on routes from Urumqi to Cardiff International Airport and Bournemouth Airport.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Border Force does not routinely assess whether goods on freight entering the UK may have been made using forced labour, but we work closely with law enforcement partners to share intelligence to ensure all goods abide by customs and excise rules.
The Government encourages businesses to monitor their global supply chains with rigour, uncover and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find. Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36 million or more must report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains by publishing an annual modern slavery statement.
The Home Office is currently working with a wide group of stakeholders to update the Section 54 statutory guidance. This will further support businesses to produce high quality statements, which are underpinned by effective measures to prevent and effectively respond to instances of modern slavery in supply chains.