Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of basing Royal Navy Lynx Wildcat helicopters on the east coast to reduce flight times to Critical National Infrastructure in the North Sea and environs.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Royal Navy assets are based at locations where they can be logistically supported and are at their most agile. The Wildcat Maritime Force, which is based at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, is one of a range of assets held at high readiness that could be deployed by the Royal Navy to respond to any threat in UK waters.
Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of enhancing River-Class Offshore Patrol Vessels to protect Critical National Infrastructure in the North Sea and environs.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Royal Navy constantly assess the optimal mix of platforms and capabilities required to deliver its outputs, including Homeland defence and underwater and seabed infrastructure protection. The Royal Navy's Offshore Patrol Vessels safeguard our territorial waters, protect fishing stocks and perform constabulary duties both in UK waters and overseas. They are not currently assessed as the optimal means of protecting our underwater and seabed infrastructure, but we keep this under constant review.
The Government have accelerated the acquisition of two Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance ships in order to protect Critical National Infrastructure such as subsea cables and pipelines.
Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to address inequalities in Fire Authority budgets in (1) the Fair Funding Review, and (2) the 2023/24 Local Government Finance Settlement, to ensure funding is fairly distributed on the basis of (a) local levels of deprivation and need, and (b) rates of price inflation and wage inflation.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is committed to ensuring funding allocations are based on an up-to-date assessment of councils’ needs and resources. We will always work with local partners, including Fire and Rescue Authorities, to take stock of the challenges and opportunities they face as part of any potential reforms to local authority funding.
Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to propose further fiscal measures to widen bus use, such as supporting (1) reduced, or (2) free, fares for everyone (a) under 21, or (b) in full-time education.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department currently has no plans to offer universal free or reduced fares specifically to those under 21 or in full-time education.
Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the breakdown by (1) sex, and (2) age, of (a) undocumented migrants, and (b) refugees, who have arrived in the UK in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
In your question we have interpreted ‘undocumented’ as meaning people who are detected entering the UK who do not carry valid documentation which entitles them to come to the UK, and therefore are termed ‘irregular’ arrivals.
The Home Office publishes data on irregular arrivals to the UK in the quarterly Irregular Migration to the UK release which can be found on gov.uk. Data on small boat arrivals by nationality are published on gov.uk.
If by ‘undocumented’ arrivals you meant undetected arrivals, we cannot provide this as by the very nature of these individuals going undetected, we hold no information on them. Please see the ‘About the statistics’ section of the Irregular Migration to the UK release on gov.uk for more information on what the statistics do and do not include.
Information on asylum cases is published in the Immigration statistics quarterly release on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) undocumented migrants, and (2) refugees, entering the UK in the last five years were nationals of (a) European, (b) African, and (c) Asian countries.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
In your question we have interpreted ‘undocumented’ as meaning people who are detected entering the UK who do not carry valid documentation which entitles them to come to the UK, and therefore are termed ‘irregular’ arrivals.
The Home Office publishes data on irregular arrivals to the UK in the quarterly Irregular Migration to the UK release which can be found on gov.uk. Data on small boat arrivals by nationality are published on gov.uk.
If by ‘undocumented’ arrivals you meant undetected arrivals, we cannot provide this as by the very nature of these individuals going undetected, we hold no information on them. Please see the ‘About the statistics’ section of the Irregular Migration to the UK release on gov.uk for more information on what the statistics do and do not include.
Information on asylum cases is published in the Immigration statistics quarterly release on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any agreements for areas looking to form enhanced partnerships under the Bus Service Improvement Programme grants have been signed; whether they are (1) fully, or (2) partially, funded; and if they are partially funded, what levels of financial need are funded.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Bus Service Improvement Plans are intended to demonstrate Local Transport Authorities’ vision for bus in local areas, and to draw on a number of funding sources over the long-term.
All 79 Local Transport Authorities in England outside London are pursuing either an Enhanced Partnership or developing a business case for franchising to deliver their bus services. 34 places have been allocated funding from the £1.1 billion Bus Service Improvement Plan budget.
Around half of the Local Transport Authorities that are pursuing Enhanced Partnerships have completed them so far. Bus Service Improvement Plan funding, in conjunction with City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements for Mayoral Combined Authorities, will support local bus transformation but is not intended necessarily to entirely fund all projects.
Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the grant funding within Bus Service Improvement Programmes is for physical measures only, or if it covers support for services too.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Bus Service Improvement Plan funding includes both capital funding for physical infrastructure, and revenue funding for fares measures and service enhancements.
Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will formally (1) announce, and (2) award, Bus Service Improvement Programme grants; and when the 34 areas chosen will receive (a) funding, or (b) written confirmation of funding.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
34 places received an indicative funding allocation for their Bus Service Improvement Plan.
24 had their allocations confirmed in August. For 10 places we have had further questions to resolve with the authorities first. Decisions on confirming those allocations will be made in due course.
Delivery of most of the allocated funding is conditional on the submission of a robust and ambitious Enhanced Partnership between the local council and bus operators. We are working closely with stakeholders to ensure these are in place, with the first round of grants expected to be released in November. Two locations are pursuing a system of franchising, for which the release of funding is conditional on adequate mechanisms being in place to deliver the improvement plan before franchising takes effect.
Asked by: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what directions they intend to give Ofwat to reduce or abolish standing charges, to ease the financial burden on consumers, particularly the poorest.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ofwat and the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) wrote to water companies on 18th October 2022 regarding water bills and requested companies to:
Defra expects all companies to make sure households are aware of the support schemes available to help those struggling to pay their bills. That includes bill discount schemes such as Watersure and social tariffs, payment holidays, adjusting payment plans and getting support for customers on managing their personal finances.