Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what factors they envisage would cause a Minister to use the power contained in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to dismiss the Chair of the Parole Board on grounds of "public confidence".
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims and Prisoners Bill has not yet reached Report stage in the House of Commons, meaning it is not in the final form in which it will be introduced to the House of Lords. I look forward to debating this Bill with the Noble Lord and others shortly once it has reached the House of Lords in the form approved by the House of Commons.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the problems in the system for the release, licence and recall of prisoners that would be solved by the disapplication of section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims and Prisoners Bill has not yet reached Report stage in the House of Commons, meaning it is not in the final form in which it will be introduced to the House of Lords. I look forward to debating this Bill with the Noble Lord and others shortly once it has reached the House of Lords in the form approved by the House of Commons.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether decisions to veto a parole board decision to release in ‘top tier’ cases would be based solely on the Minister’s personal view of whether the test was met or not; and if so, why a Minister is better placed than a Parole Board to make such an assessment.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims and Prisoners Bill has not yet reached Report stage in the House of Commons, meaning it is not in the final form in which it will be introduced to the House of Lords. I look forward to debating this Bill with the Noble Lord and others shortly once it has reached the House of Lords in the form approved by the House of Commons.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consultations they have had with (1) victims of crime, and (2) statutory bodies that support victims of crime, over the proposal to extend the parole process by creating a Ministerial veto power subject to a full merits appeal in ‘top tier’ cases.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims and Prisoners Bill has not yet reached Report stage in the House of Commons, meaning it is not in the final form in which it will be introduced to the House of Lords. I look forward to debating this Bill with the Noble Lord and others shortly once it has reached the House of Lords in the form approved by the House of Commons.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of ministerial time that would be required to review all parole release decisions in ‘top tier’ cases.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims and Prisoners Bill has not yet reached Report stage in the House of Commons, meaning it is not in the final form in which it will be introduced to the House of Lords. I look forward to debating this Bill with the Noble Lord and others shortly once it has reached the House of Lords in the form approved by the House of Commons.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the primary legislation envisaged in their response to Online Advertising Programme consultation on 25 July will include specific measures to tackle programmatic advertising fraud.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises the impact that fraudulent advertising can have on people’s lives and is committed to increasing protections against it. Data from the City of London Police / the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau found 35,000 frauds linked to digital advertising from April 2020 to March 2021, which carried an estimated overall cost of £400 million.
As set out in HM Government’s response to the consultation on the Online Advertising Programme in July, the programme’s focus is on tackling illegal advertising and increasing protections for children and young people under 18 against advertisements for products and services which it is illegal to sell to them. It is intended that all forms of paid-for fraudulent advertising will be in scope. Further detail of the proposed regulation will be set out in a second consultation, which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the public consultation on new primary legislation relating to the Online Advertising Programme as announced on 25 July.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises the impact that fraudulent advertising can have on people’s lives and is committed to increasing protections against it. Data from the City of London Police / the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau found 35,000 frauds linked to digital advertising from April 2020 to March 2021, which carried an estimated overall cost of £400 million.
As set out in HM Government’s response to the consultation on the Online Advertising Programme in July, the programme’s focus is on tackling illegal advertising and increasing protections for children and young people under 18 against advertisements for products and services which it is illegal to sell to them. It is intended that all forms of paid-for fraudulent advertising will be in scope. Further detail of the proposed regulation will be set out in a second consultation, which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made on the impact of programmatic advertising fraud on (1) businesses, and (2) consumers.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises the impact that fraudulent advertising can have on people’s lives and is committed to increasing protections against it. Data from the City of London Police / the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau found 35,000 frauds linked to digital advertising from April 2020 to March 2021, which carried an estimated overall cost of £400 million.
As set out in HM Government’s response to the consultation on the Online Advertising Programme in July, the programme’s focus is on tackling illegal advertising and increasing protections for children and young people under 18 against advertisements for products and services which it is illegal to sell to them. It is intended that all forms of paid-for fraudulent advertising will be in scope. Further detail of the proposed regulation will be set out in a second consultation, which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that ISIS loses any capability to raise funds in the UK through the use of (1) non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and (2) other ways to exploit NFT technology.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The government has implemented various measures to combat terrorist financing, disrupt funding of terrorist groups, and address the illicit crypto use and emerging fintech.
This includes extending the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) to the cryptoasset sector in January 2020. The UK assesses cryptoasset Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance (ML/TF) risks case-by-case, allowing the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) to regulate the rapidly evolving industry. Firms involved in activities that are described as involving Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) will be supervised and subject to enforcement, if they deal with cryptoassets as defined in the regulations.
Separately, the traditional art market is regulated for AML purposes so businesses dealing with NFTs which could reasonably be classified as “works of art” and meet the wider relevant criteria for supervision by HMRC, are required to comply with AML regulations to combat terrorist financing.
To prevent terrorist organisations such as ISIS exploiting blockchain technology, the UK is implementing the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF's) 'Travel Rule') which enhances information sharing and retention for cryptoasset transfers to detect terrorist financing.
We are also updating UK CT legislation with the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency (ECCT) Bill to prevent terrorist groups from exploiting NFT technology. This empowers law enforcement to seize, detain, freeze, and forfeit terrorist cryptoassets, with the revised definition of cryptoassets encompassing various technologies that utilize cryptography and distributed ledger technology, including NFTs.
The UK continues to engage internationally to mitigate illicit finance risks associated with cryptoassets including NFTs, and constantly reviews legislative tools to ensure we can keep pace with evolving terrorist financing threats.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the involvement of retired UK judges in the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeals, given the bounties placed by the government of Hong Kong on three residents of the UK.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK judges that remain on Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal are retired from UK judicial service. The UK judiciary and legal profession are independent from the UK Government. As private citizens, It is for the individuals concerned to make their own personal decisions on their continued service in Hong Kong.