Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of efforts to reduce maternal and under-five mortality rates in South Sudan; and what plans they have, if any, to reduce the level of funding provision to the South Sudan Health Pooled Fund.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK-led Health Pooled Fund is supporting activities in South Sudan that are recognised globally as important contributors to reducing maternal and under five mortality rates. As announced last year, the impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision to temporarily reduce how much we spend on Official Development Assistance. The FCDO is reviewing all individual country allocations as part of the Country Business Planning process, including specific implications for all spend in South Sudan and therefore the Health Pooled Fund. These will be communicated to Parliament in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the progress of the peace process in South Sudan, and (2) the contribution made by the South Sudan Council of Churches’ Action Plan for Peace to that process.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The full and inclusive implementation of the 2018 Peace Agreement is a priority for the UK as the best chance for a more stable and prosperous future for the people of South Sudan. We welcome recent progress, including commitment to proceed with transitional justice mechanisms and the formation of regional governance structures. Overall implementation is however slow, with continued delays to tasks such as the unification of armed forces and the appointment of a transitional national legislature contributing to increased levels of violence and a worsening humanitarian situation. Civil Society and faith organisations have an important role in supporting progress on the peace process. This includes work by the South Sudan Council of Churches' under their Action Plan for Peace, which has promoted advocacy, peace and reconciliation, and provided a neutral forum to support dialogue between communities at a national and local level.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction in overseas aid, in particular the funding provided through the Conflict Security and Stability Fund, on (1) the peace process in South Sudan, and (2) the contribution made by the South Sudan Council of Churches’ Action Plan for Peace to that process.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As announced to Parliament last year, the impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough, but necessary decision to temporarily reduce the Official Development Assistance budget. This includes the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, which will continue to support the delivery of the Government's top national security priorities. The FCDO is reviewing all individual country allocations as part of the Country Business Planning process, including specific implications for all spend in South Sudan. These will be communicated to Parliament in due course. The UK is steadfast in our commitment to supporting victims of conflict worldwide. We will continue our engagement with organisations such as the South Sudan Council of Churches to deliver shared goals on promoting reconciliation, healing and bringing a lasting end to the conflict. In particular, we will continue to press for full, inclusive implementation of the 2018 Peace Agreement, which remains South Sudan's best chance for long-term peace and stability.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by Lord Callanan on 14 December (HL Deb, col 1410), what specific steps they are taking to meet their tree planting target for (1) 2020, (2) 2021, and (3) any future years.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We committed in our manifesto to increasing planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025 and are exploring whether longer-term statutory targets for trees in England would be appropriate.
To achieve this, we announced a £640 million Nature for Climate Fund to increase planting in England over this parliament and will publish a new England Tree Strategy in spring.
This year we kick-started efforts through:
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place (1) to prevent, and (2) to minimise the impact of, any environmental governance gap after 31 December.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 will make sure all existing EU environmental law continues to operate in UK law at the end of the transition period, providing businesses and stakeholders with certainty. We have a long history of environmental protection supported by a strong legal framework which predates membership of the EU, and we will safeguard and improve on this record.
As regards scrutiny of the implementation of environmental measures, the Government intends to bring the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) into operation in 2021. The delay to the Environment Bill due to Covid-19 means it will not be formally established by the beginning of the year as originally planned. The Government is therefore establishing an interim secretariat which will support the OEP Chair-designate and will receive complaints about alleged failures of public authorities to comply with environmental law from the start of next year. This will be in place until the OEP can begin its statutory functions.
As a result, the OEP will be able to use its legal powers to investigate and take enforcement action, where appropriate, against any serious failures alleged to have occurred from 1 January 2021. For example, if the interim Secretariat receives a complaint in February 2021 about an alleged failure to comply with environmental law which happens in January 2021, it will pass this to the OEP once it becomes operational. At that point the OEP will be able to consider whether the matter is serious and action should be taken in connection with that complaint. As a result, there will be no gap in time where public authorities cannot be held to account.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reach their tree planting target as set out in the Tree Planting Strategy; and if they have not reached that target, what assessment they have made of the reasons why they have not done so.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We committed in our manifesto to increase tree planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025.
As noted in a public paper this summer, we are exploring whether a statutory target for trees in England would be appropriate, under the target setting process proposed by the Environment Bill.
To increase planting in England, we recently consulted on proposals for a new ambitious England Tree Strategy, which will be published in spring 2021. This will set out priority policies and plans for the £640m Nature for Climate Fund.
The planting season begins soon, and we hope to build on the increasing annual planting rates seen in England over the last few years.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Institute of Zoology Living Planet Report, published in September, what steps they are taking to work with business to address species and habitat destruction caused by UK supply chains.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government regularly engages with businesses in the UK to support the transition to sustainable supply chains. For example, the Government has engaged with the UK Roundtable on Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil since 2012, and the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Soya since 2018 when it was established. With the support of roundtables the UK achieved 77% certified sustainable palm oil in 2018 – up from 16% in 2010. The Government also engages through the Council for Sustainable Business, who advises Defra on how businesses can help achieve the aims of the 25 Year Environment Plan. Biodiversity is one of the three challenges the Council is focusing on in 2020.
In July 2019 the Government convened the Global Resource Initiative (GRI) taskforce to investigate what the UK can do to reduce our global environmental footprint, fulfilling a 25 Year Environment Plan commitment. The GRI drew on a wide range of expertise from across business, finance and civil society and consulted over 200 businesses and organisations to formulate their final recommendations report, which was published in March this year. We are considering the GRI recommendations carefully and will issue a formal response in due course.
Drawing on the GRI recommendations, the Government recently consulted on whether to introduce a mandatory due diligence requirement to tackle climate change and prevent biodiversity loss in supply chains by making it illegal for larger businesses to use forest risk commodities that have not been produced in accordance with relevant local laws. The due diligence consultation closed on 5 October 2020, generating a wealth of responses including from businesses. We will be publishing a response on gov.uk shortly, including a summary of the feedback received.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the green homes grant on 8 July (HC Deb, col 976), whether (1) clergy housing, and (2) buildings open to the public and run by charities, such as churches, are eligible for that grant. [T]
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In his Summer Economic Update, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £2bn Green Home Grant scheme that will support homeowners and landlords in England to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, and supporting a green economic recovery.
The funding will be spent on paying for accredited tradespeople to install a range of measures, for example insulation, to improve the energy performance of their homes.
Further detail on eligibility will be announced before the full launch of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 29 June (HL6029) and the remarks by the Home Secretary on 22 June that “appointments to the [Intelligence and Security] Committee are taking place and an announcement will be made in due course on when that will be coming forward” (HC Deb, col 1085), when they estimate they will be able to make the announcement about the appointment of the Intelligence and Security Committee; and what steps they are taking to ensure that the Committee is (1) appointed before Parliament adjourns for the summer recess, and (2) able to publish the report Russia, sent to the Prime Minister on 17 October 2019. [T]
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Intelligence and Security Committee was reconstituted on 14 July 2020.
The report is the property of the Committee, not the Government, and it will be up to them to choose when they wish to publish it. I am sure the Committee will take note of the Rt. Reverend Prelate’s interest in the publication of the Report.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to facilitate the publication of the redacted report of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, Russia, sent to the Prime Minister on 17 October 2019. [T]
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
In line with his responsibilities in the Justice and Security Act 2013, the Prime Minister carefully considered and approved the report, and is content that its publication would not prejudice the functions of those bodies that safeguard our national security.
We acknowledge the public’s interest in the publication of the report, however - as the Government has repeatedly made clear - the report itself is the property of the independent Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament and as such it is not for the Government to publish ISC reports; it is for the ISC to lay them before Parliament. Once a new Committee has been established, it will be up to them to choose when they wish to publish it. An announcement on the new Committee will be made in due course.