Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the future role of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the importance and utility of the OSCE. The Vienna Document, an OSCE military transparency mechanism, highlighted Russia's troop build-up before the invasion and the OSCE "Moscow Mechanism" was amongst the first tools used to document Russia's human rights violations and war crimes in Ukraine. The OSCE remains an important forum to hold Russia accountable to OSCE commitments and its actions in Ukraine. The OSCE retains a unique role in economic, environmental and human security and the UK is resolutely committed to preserving it as a forum for conflict management, mediation and dialogue.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they still appoint directors to the board of OneWeb.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government currently appoints three non-executive directors to OneWeb’s board. Following completion of the proposed OneWeb – Eutelsat merger, Government would continue to be represented on the board of the combined business.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of being a shareholder in Eutelsat together with the government of China.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The China Investment Corporation (CIC) has a longstanding passive shareholding in Eutelsat of less than 4% that would be further diluted by the merger between Eutelsat and OneWeb. The CIC has never been represented on Eutelsat’s Board nor has it had access to any privileged information on Eutelsat or OneWeb’s operations.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many OneWeb launches have taken place since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the halting of launches by the Russian Soyuz; from what locations they were launched; and using what launch vehicle.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
At the time of writing, no launches of OneWeb satellites have taken place since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The next launch is currently scheduled for 23 October 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India, using a Launch Vehicle Mark 3 developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current value of their interest in OneWeb.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The value of the Government’s holding in OneWeb as at 31 March 2022 is £376m which is accounted for under the equity method of accounting and represents the latest point at which the Government valued the investment. The original equity investment was for £374m.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their sale of interest in OneWeb to Eutelsat of France was approved under the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The merger between OneWeb and Eutelsat is subject to UK and international regulatory approvals, including under the National Security and Investment Act 2021. The Government does not comment on individual cases.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 18 July (HL1670), what alternatives they are considering to mutual recognition of disabled persons' Blue Badges by Spain.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In Spain, recognition of disabled parking cards issued outside of the European Union is at the discretion of the local authority responsible for parking enforcement.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government with which EU countries they have negotiated mutual recognition of the disabled persons blue parking badges.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government remains committed to confirming the status of UK issued Blue Badges for motorists visiting Europe. Twenty countries have already committed to recognising Blue Badges and are listed on Gov.uk.
Discussions continue with a number of countries. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the progress of discussions while they are on-going.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 17 May (HL32), when they last discussed mutual recognition of the disabled persons blue parking badges with the government of Spain; and what outstanding issues are preventing mutual recognition.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
At a recent discussion with Spain, Blue Badge recognition was considered as part of wider negotiations on a driving licence exchange agreement but ultimately this was not an appropriate mechanism and the Government is considering alternatives.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether membership of the Commonwealth is open to any country; and what is the eligibility criteria.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal countries. Membership is open to any country subject to meeting the criteria. The Membership criteria can be found here: https://thecommonwealth.org/about/joining. The most recent countries to join were Togo and Gabon, who joined at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali last month (June).