Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial support they are providing to help people fleeing from Ukraine; what discussions they have had with other European countries about the provision of such financial support; and what support those countries have committed for that purpose.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are in regular dialogue with our European partners and stand ready to provide humanitarian assistance as needed. Total UK aid to Ukraine and the region for the current crisis comes to almost £400 million. This includes £220 million of humanitarian assistance and £100 million to bolster the Ukrainian economy and reduce Ukraine's reliance on Russian gas imports.
Our humanitarian support will help partners stand up their response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, and create a lifeline for Ukrainians with access to basic necessities. We have also deployed UK humanitarian experts to support Ukraine's neighbours, who are receiving and supporting the increasing flow of refugees fleeing Ukraine.
Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) legislative controls, and (2) licensing agreements, govern the (a) accountability, (b) liability, (c) market restrictions, and (d) other controls, of oil and gas operators in UK waters.
Answered by Lord Callanan
The UK has a robust regulatory system which provides a comprehensive regime for exploration and production activities in the offshore oil and gas sector, which includes provisions to ensure safe operations and protect the environment. The legislation allows the Government to serve legal notices on any party involved in the exploration and production of an offshore oil or gas field, ensuring they remain responsible for decommissioning costs, rather than the UK taxpayer.
Offshore operators will require environmental permits from the relevant environment agencies, scrutiny by the relevant health and safety bodies, and Oil and Gas Authority consents for drilling under the provisions of their licence.
Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to require the sales and promotional material for individual leasehold properties to include (1) copies of the legislation relating to leasehold properties, and (2) any legislative proposals Her Majesty’s Government have published on (a) lease extensions, and (b) freehold rights to buy.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. We have already committed to setting a maximum fee and timescale for the provision of leasehold information when a home is being sold. This will require freeholders, or managing agents acting on their behalf, to provide relevant information including details of service charges. We will bring forward these proposals as soon as parliamentary time allows and will publicise changes widely so that leaseholders are aware of the maximum fee they should pay.
Furthermore, as set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, the UK Government and the industry will work together to ensure the critical material information buyers of leasehold and freehold properties need to know - like tenure type, lease length and any service charges - are available digitally wherever possible from trusted and authenticated sources, and provided only once.
Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to enable the prosecution of persons who prejudice the national security of the UK by acting as a covert agent for a foreign government.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
We are committed to introducing new legislation to ensure our security services and law enforcement agencies have the tools they need to disrupt state threats.
The Government is reviewing responses to the Public Consultation on legislative proposals to tackle state threats which concluded last year. Legislation will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows
Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assurances, to which they were a party, were given to (1) Mikhail Gorbachev, or (2) other representatives of the government of the Soviet Union, on NATO expansion into Eastern Europe at the time of German reunification; whether any such assurances remain valid; and what assessment they have made of whether those assurances are being met.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
During the 1990 discussions on German reunification, no written assurances about the further enlargement of NATO beyond Germany were made to Mr Gorbachev or other representatives of the Government of the Soviet Union. Despite consistent assertion, Russian leaders have been unable to produce any written evidence that such assurances were made.
Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a person knowing that they are carrying COVID-19, and knowing that they may be at risk of transmitting the virus to another person with or without the intention to cause harm, could be charged with assault.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Self-isolation is a vitally important weapon in the battle against the spread of the virus, it ensures that friends, family, community, and NHS are protected. Therefore, a new legal duty was introduced in September 2020 requiring a person in England to self-isolate for 10 days if they tested positive for the COVID-19.
To increase compliance and ensure our domestic self-isolation regime is effective failure to self-isolate can result in an FPN of £1000 for the first offence. This increases to £2000 for a second offence, £4000 for a third offence and £10,000 for a fourth and any subsequent offence. Failure to pay a Domestic Self-Isolation Fixed Penalty Notice can be subject to criminal proceedings.
There may be some circumstances where someone could be charged with assault by risking harm to others in passing on COVID-19 but such charging decisions would be for the Crown Prosecution Service to consider.
Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what facts would influence whether a charge of assault would be brought against a person working in a healthcare environment who knowingly was carrying COVID-19, with or without intention to transmit the virus to another person.
Answered by Lord Kamall
National Health Service organisations should consider the specific facts in a case-by-case basis and in accordance with their local disciplinary policy and procedures. Any investigation should establish whether the staff member intentionally, recklessly, carelessly, or negligently put patients and/or other members of staff at risk of infection. This may result in dismissal as the ultimate sanction.
If any internal investigation identifies a criminal offence has been committed, the employing organisation will need to make a referral to the relevant police force. Any charges of assault would be a matter for the police and Civil Court.
Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the band for council tax payable for the apartments occupied by (1) the Prime Minister, and (2) the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in Downing Street; and what are the council tax charges payable for each apartment.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Valuation Office Agency's "Check your council tax band" online service shows that there are two properties liable for council tax on Downing Street. Both properties are in band H. Council tax decisions are taken by local authorities, but information published by Westminster City Council shows that the band H charge for 2021-22 is £1655.12, including the precept for the Greater London Authority.
Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 14 July (HL1629), whether someone (1) born in an (a) European Economic Area, or (b) European Free Trade Area, state other than the UK, (2) who carries a non-UK passport, (3) who is married to a UK citizen, and (4) has (a) resided, and (b) been employed, in the UK for over 20 years including paying taxes or drawing pension payments, would automatically have "UK immigration status" by dint of those characteristics; or whether they might still need to apply for it under the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
An EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) national who was settled in the UK before 1 January 1973 may have acquired indefinite leave to enter or remain automatically under section 1(2) of the Immigration Act 1971.
Where they hold indefinite leave to enter or remain obtained in this way, or where an EU, EEA or EFTA national holds such leave obtained by applying for it under another immigration route, they do not need to apply for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), but they may do so if they wish given the benefits of doing so.
Indefinite leave to enter or remain granted under the EUSS (referred to as ‘settled status’) enables the holder to access additional rights in line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements. For example, they can be absent from the UK for five consecutive years, rather than two years, before their settled status lapses, and they can sponsor certain family members to join them in the UK without meeting the requirements of the family Immigration Rules.
Where an EEA national was resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 based on free movement rights, they must apply to the EU Settlement Scheme for status under UK immigration law. The deadline for doing so was 30 June 2021, but late applications will be accepted where reasonable grounds exist for missing the deadline. This includes where someone has lived in the UK for many years and did not realise they needed to apply.
Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 14 July (HL1628), whether someone (1) born in the EU, (2) with an EU Member State passport, (3) who is married to a UK citizen, and (4) has (a) resided, and (b) been employed, in the UK for over 20 years, including paying taxes or drawing pension payments, would automatically have "UK immigration status" by dint of those characteristics; or whether they might still need to apply for it under the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
An EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) national who was settled in the UK before 1 January 1973 may have acquired indefinite leave to enter or remain automatically under section 1(2) of the Immigration Act 1971.
Where they hold indefinite leave to enter or remain obtained in this way, or where an EU, EEA or EFTA national holds such leave obtained by applying for it under another immigration route, they do not need to apply for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), but they may do so if they wish given the benefits of doing so.
Indefinite leave to enter or remain granted under the EUSS (referred to as ‘settled status’) enables the holder to access additional rights in line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements. For example, they can be absent from the UK for five consecutive years, rather than two years, before their settled status lapses, and they can sponsor certain family members to join them in the UK without meeting the requirements of the family Immigration Rules.
Where an EEA national was resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 based on free movement rights, they must apply to the EU Settlement Scheme for status under UK immigration law. The deadline for doing so was 30 June 2021, but late applications will be accepted where reasonable grounds exist for missing the deadline. This includes where someone has lived in the UK for many years and did not realise they needed to apply.