Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the planned changes to the apprenticeship levy will impact the number of available police apprenticeships.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government’s new levy-funded growth and skills offer will introduce greater flexibility to employers and learners in England, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, aligned with the government’s industrial strategy.
Police forces in England can make use of a number of apprenticeships, including the level 4 police community support officer standard and the level 6 police constable standard.
Level 6 apprenticeships, such as the police constable standard, are a core part of our apprenticeships offer and continue to be funded by the government.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to deliver additional police apprenticeships.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship is one of four entry routes available to candidates interested in becoming a warranted police officer. It is a popular Level 6 (degree) apprenticeship across England and Wales. The Government is committed to ensuring apprenticeships remain an attractive option to candidates interested in the police service and the Home Office regularly engages with the Department of Education who hold overall responsibility for apprenticeship policy.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the raid on the Westminster Quaker Meeting House on 27 March on relations between the Metropolitan Police, the Religious Society of Friends and other religious groups.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The use of police powers are a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of Government. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement about the incident in question, which reads as follows:
“Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks. While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. On Thursday, 27 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action. Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action. A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether police officers are required to consider a risk assessment before undertaking a raid which might involve innocent bystanders.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The use of police powers are a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of Government. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement about the incident in question, which reads as follows:
“Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks. While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. On Thursday, 27 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action. Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action. A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the appropriate use of force by police officers when undertaking raids in cases of suspected conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The use of police powers are a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of Government. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement about the incident in question, which reads as follows:
“Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks. While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. On Thursday, 27 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action. Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action. A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Ministers have met senior members of the Metropolitan Police to discuss the consequences of the raid at Westminster Quaker Meeting House on 27 March.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The use of police powers are a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of Government. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement about the incident in question, which reads as follows:
“Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks. While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. On Thursday, 27 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action. Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action. A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the feasibility of underwriting or otherwise guaranteeing the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service Safety-of-Life Service to enable its use for domestic aviation purposes; what plans they have to implement such an arrangement to restore localiser performance with vertical guidance approach capability in the UK; and what is their estimate of the cost and timeframe for doing so.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) programme the European Satellite Services Provider (ESSP) terminated the EGNOS working agreements with aerodromes, resulting in the UK’s access to an assured EGNOS Safety of Life (SoL) service provision being terminated. Whilst the signal in space is still available and receivable, the signal should no longer be used as a SoL service. It should be noted that flights that are taking place continue to do so safely, following alternative Civil Aviation Authority approved procedures.
The Government is still considering options for UK access to a satellite-based augmentation system, following our withdrawal from the EU's EGNOS system. This work is continuing and no decision has yet been made.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial contribution the EU requested for the UK to continue to access to the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service Safety of Life service; how the request compared with the UK’s previous contributions; how they assessed value for money in view of its impact on aviation; and what plans they have to renegotiate access to this service.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK sought to negotiate a service access agreement on the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) with the EU. However, the EU required participation in the programme along with the full associated costs of participation, as per previous years, for continued access to the EGNOS Safety of Life service. For all programmes under consideration, the Government was clear it would only participate where the terms were in the UK’s interests, and in this case, it was not considered value for money.
Officials in the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority have been working with the aviation sector on understanding the impact and ensuring any available mitigations are put in place. The UK is also developing a national strategy for resilient position, navigation and timing through a dedicated programme of work which will consider the aviation sectors’ needs and requirements.
The negotiations on EGNOS concluded in December and given the clear position from the EU, there are no plans to reopen discussions on this matter.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to retain access to the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK no longer participates in the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) programme.
The UK sought continued access to EGNOS services through the UK-EU trade negotiations. However, an agreement could not be reached as the EU demanded a significant financial contribution to secure those services.
Despite not being able to reach an agreement, we expect that UK users will continue to be able to utilise the freely available EGNOS Open Service, which is used for a range of different applications, including precision agriculture and personal navigation.
The UK is exploring alternatives to fulfil its needs for secure and resilient position, navigation and timing information through a dedicated programme of work led by the UK Space Agency.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect that the UK’s withdrawal from the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service will have on the ability of light aviation to make precision approaches to UK airports.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Government’s assessment is that the UK’s withdrawal from the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) means that as of 25 June 2021, airspace users will not be able to benefit from “localizer performance with vertical guidance” (LPV) procedures which offer 3-dimensional precision approaches. Where promulgated, airspace users will continue to be able to use lateral navigation (LNAV) procedures which offer 2-dimensional non-precision approaches.
The Government continues to explore options for mitigating the loss of the LPV capability.
The UK Government did seek to retain the use of EGNOS, but it was not possible to reach a satisfactory settlement with the EU in the 24 December 2020 agreement.