Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they intend to take, if any, in regard to the National Fund.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The National Fund was created in 1928 with the purpose of paying off the entire national debt. At present the fund cannot be used unless it completely clears the national debt, due to the terms of the fund’s charitable trust.
On 22 May 2018 my predecessor made an application to the High Court to vary the terms of the charitable trust so that the National Fund can be used to help pay down the national debt.
It is now for the High Court to decide whether the terms of the charitable trust should be varied. If the application is successful the money in the fund will be paid over to the National Debt Commissioners towards the reduction of the national debt.
A hearing of the claim is due to take place in October.
Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the report of the External Scrutiny Team on the Reserve Forces, provided to the Ministry of Defence on 1 June, will be placed in the Library of the House.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The report, which was received on 1 July 2019, was placed in the Library of the House on 3 September 2019. The Ministry of Defence will respond to the report in due course.
Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Ofsted recognises the contribution of an in-school cadet movement when reporting on its inspection of a school; and if so, how.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to my noble Friend and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect the Defence Recruiting System to be able to process enlistments to the Army Reserve.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Defence Recruiting System (DRS) went live on 13 November and replaced a 20 year old system. It will enable a quicker and easier recruitment process for applicants and the Armed Forces.
As with any new information system defects have been identified post 'Go Live' and we recognise that for a couple of months these created some problems with the application process, including particular issues regarding the enlistment of new Army Reserves.
These issues have been urgently addressed and are either fixed or have temporary mitigations in place to minimise applicant facing issues. With these mitigations DRS is now processing enlistments to the Army Reserve.
Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
Her Majesty's Government when the United Kingdom Reserve Forces External Scrutiny Team 2017 report was submitted to the Ministry of Defence; and when it will be published.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Sir Michael Fallon) received the External Scrutiny Team's 2017 report on 22 June and it has today been placed in the Library of the House. We are most grateful to the Team for its work and we will provide a full response to the report in due course.
Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish the new Code of Practice for the keeping of equines.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We are currently aiming to lay the updated statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids before Parliament before the end of the year.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Equine Sector Council for their assistance and expertise in updating the code.
Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the People's Republic of China has taken steps to ban completely the domestic trade in ivory.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We were pleased to hear of China’s announcement to end its domestic commercial ivory trade in 2017.
We look forward to seeing further detail on China’s measures, including understanding the nature of provisions for auctioning certified ivory ‘relics’ and how China plans to implement the new measures.
We particularly commend the announcement of enhancements to enforcement and education, both of which are an important part of tackling the illegal trade in ivory and stopping poaching.
Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, given the importance to the UK economy of the export of services, whether they intend that any trade agreements that they negotiate in future will give as great a prominence to services as to goods.
Answered by Lord Price
Services exports are of great importance to the UK economy - the UK ran an £89.9bn surplus on services exports in 2015. The UK is a strong advocate for services trade liberalisation, and leaving the European Union presents an opportunity for the UK to become a world leader in the free trade of services. The Government will consider all options in the design of future bilateral trade agreements.
Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of each of the issues raised in the response of the British Horse Society to their consultation on a draft cycling and walking investment strategy.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are now analysing the feedback received during the draft Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy eight week consultation period, which closed on Monday 23 May. We expect to publish the final Strategy this summer along with a Government response to the consultation.