Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have carried out any analysis of the number of troops from Cuba who may be fighting for Russia against Ukraine.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence are aware of the open-source reports on networks operating in Cuba and Russia alleged to have facilitated young Cubans to join Russia’s war in Ukraine. We are concerned that these individuals have been deceived and recruited to fight for Russia.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made any representations to Avanti Trains concerning implementation of the “one click” automatic delay repay system as operated by LNER.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has not made any representations to Avanti Trains concerning implementation of the ‘one click’ automatic delay repay system as operated by LNER. Avanti West Coast has its own Delay Repay portal where passengers who were delayed by more than 15 minutes on an Avanti service can self-serve their claims provided this is within 28 days of the affected journey. Delayed passengers who booked advance tickets directly with Avanti and who registered for Delay Repay beforehand will automatically receive an email with details on how to claim.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made representations to the Chief Executive of NHS England about the appropriateness of employing NHS staff who have supported calling for (1) a Jihad, or (2) the destruction of Israel.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State has not made representations to the Chief Executive of NHS England about the appropriateness of employing National Health Service staff who have supported calling for a Jihad, or the destruction of Israel.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution they make to the Paris Club group of official creditors; how they monitor the use of any contributions to the group, and in particular whether any funds have been provided to Cuba in the last five years in funding or in debts being written off.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Paris Club is an informal group of official creditors who coordinate on providing debt treatments for debtor countries. The UK does not make any financial contributions to the Paris Club, nor does the Paris Club have a function in providing any finance directly to countries. Any debt treatments agreed by the Paris Club are implemented on a bilateral basis between the official creditor and debtor countries.
In 2015, the Group of Creditors of Cuba (GCC), including the UK, agreed a debt treatment with the Government of the Republic of Cuba to restructure USD 2.6 billion of debt in arrears, over an 18-year period. In 2021, the GCC agreed to defer payments due under the 2015 agreement.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the comments made by Judge Peter Veits in Lincolnshire Magistrates Court that the RSPCA had acted unlawfully in the initiation of the prosecution of a farmer, whether they intend to investigate the role of the RSPCA in bringing forward criminal prosecutions; and whether they plan to instruct police to conduct their own independent investigations.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Although the vast majority of farmed animal related welfare cases are prosecuted by the Local Authority, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 enables prosecutions to be taken by concerned individuals or bodies such as the RSPCA and we have no plans currently to amend.
Chief Constables are operationally independent, and it is for them take decisions on enforcement action and prosecutions.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to put an immediate stop to all further overseas aid to Gaza until it is certain that none of it is being taken or used by Hamas.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There is a robust framework in place for allocating Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) and the UK works with trusted international partners, such as the UN, to ensure strong safeguards against aid diversion are in place. This includes due diligence assessments, audits, spot checks and annual reviews. This comprehensive oversight prevents UK aid from benefitting Hamas.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information they have on the amount of overseas aid to Gaza which has been taken or used by Hamas.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There is a robust framework in place for allocating Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) and the UK works with trusted international partners, such as the UN, to ensure strong safeguards against aid diversion are in place. This includes due diligence assessments, audits, spot checks and annual reviews. This comprehensive oversight prevents UK aid from benefitting Hamas.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people have been (1) killed, and (2) injured, in London by pedicabs in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There is limited data relating to injuries caused by pedicabs in London owing to the lack of a licensing regime and limited enforcement activity. Pedicabs are the only form of unregulated public transport on London’s roads – this has led to Government being made aware of common occurrences of anti-social, unsafe and nuisance behaviour from certain pedicab operators and drivers.
Government has introduced the Pedicabs (London) Bill so that passengers, pedestrians and other road users can go about their lives safe in the knowledge pedicabs, their drivers and operators are properly licensed and accountable.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will raise with Network Rail the provision made for disabled passengers at Euston station and, in particular (1) the distance between the holding facility for disabled passengers and parking place for the buggies for passengers who are unable to walk, (2) removing the steel bars recently installed on either side of the rear seats of these buggies, (3) the availability of assistants with wheelchairs at the passenger drop off point to take disabled passengers to the holding facility, (4) repair of the phone at the disabled passenger drop-off point, and (5) direct access to Platform 1 for the disabled buggy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Passenger Assistance lounge at Euston station, which is usually staffed with at least three assistants, is equipped with six wheelchairs to help passengers from the drop-off point at the taxi-rank to the lounge. Passengers who have pre-booked their assistance can be met at the drop-off point by staff with a wheelchair. If a passenger hasn’t pre-booked, they can contact the passenger assistance lounge using the help point at the taxi rank and be collected. The help point at the taxi-rank is fully operational.
The distance from the Passenger Assistance lounge to the parked buggies at Euston Station is around 15 metres. To help passengers from the lounge to the buggies, Network Rail can provide passengers with wheelchairs, or take them by the arm for support, depending on their needs. In some cases, when the station is quiet, staff can drive the buggy to the entrance of the Passenger Assistance lounge to make this journey shorter.
The buggies have barriers by the rear seats for the safety of riding passengers, reducing the risk of passengers falling.
For the safety of passengers, buggy drivers are instructed to take passengers under the concourse to services on platforms 1 and 2. This is to reduce the amount of congestion on the concourse where passengers are waiting, departing or arriving.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) fires, and (2) deaths, were caused by e-bikes and e-scooters in each of the past five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs), with this data including the cause of the fire and the source of ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications on Gov.UK.
Data collected through the Incident Recording System (IRS) does not include data on whether fire incidents attended were caused by or involved e-bikes or e-scooters. Therefore, the IRS also does not collect data on fatalities where the cause was an e-bike or e-scooter.
We are reviewing the IRS, and the data it collects, and considering what categories to record in the future. Adding new categories, including lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles, e-scooters and e-bikes, to the data collection will be considered as part of the work to reform the IRS with a modern, secure, and flexible system.