Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what initiatives they are undertaking to protect the union of nations within the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
To ensure that we are indeed a United Kingdom, it is crucial to give greater importance to respect and collaboration, working in the service of people across the country. This is high on the list of this government’s priorities. The Prime Minister convened the first Council of the Nations and Regions earlier last month, delivering on a manifesto promise to rewire the way the UK Government operates.
Focussed on investment and growth, the Council saw First Ministers and Deputy First Minister from the Devolved Governments come together with regional mayors to collaborate and seize opportunities to secure long-term investment and boost growth. The agenda included discussion on how to boost growth and inward investment across the UK, including through an industrial strategy and the Investment Summit.
The Prime Minister also held bilateral meetings and a joint meeting with the Devolved Government First Ministers and Deputy First Minister focussed on supporting intergovernmental relations as we continue to reset our relationship and work together to deliver for people across the UK.
This Government was elected to deliver for people throughout the United Kingdom the public expect us to work together to deliver on their priorities.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to establish Freeports in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has confirmed the continuation of the Freeport and Investment Zones programmes across the UK, which will promote investment opportunities, create additional jobs, and drive economic growth. Given the alignment between Freeport and Investment Zone objectives, in Northern Ireland these programmes have been combined into the Enhanced Investment Zone. This will bring together the overall funding envelopes of both programmes in a bespoke offer for Northern Ireland, reflecting its unique economy, sectoral strengths and opportunities. Northern Ireland’s combined allocation could be open to flexible use between tax incentives and spend.
The government will work in partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive to co-develop proposals for the Enhanced Investment Zone.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to dismantle the border control posts at UK ports, following the publication of Safeguarding the Union in January (CP 1021).
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
SPS facilities have always been necessary under all scenarios, as the Government has made clear, in order to administer red lane checks on goods moving on into the EU. This is reflected in the fact that the plans were brought forward, and the business case for the facilities was being prepared, during the passage of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of efforts to reduce the numbers of illegal border crossings into the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office’s priority is to deliver a safe and secure border and we will never compromise on this. We are relentless in our pursuit of those who seek to enter the UK illegally. Border Force have robust measures in place to detect clandestine entrants into the UK and stand ready to respond to any methods deployed.
Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies work tirelessly, deploying to risk using tested, but continually assessed, intelligence and targeting techniques.
The Home Office publish irregular migration to the UK statistics on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/irregular-migration-to-the-uk-year-ending-december-2023. In 2023, there were 36,704 irregular arrivals, one-third (33%) fewer than in 2022, and 80% of these arrived on small boats.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) asylum seekers, and (2) other migrants are being housed in hotel-style accommodation; and how much financial support they are providing in support of these arrangements.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Data on other immigration groups is published in table Reg_01 of the Regional and local authority data. This includes the number of people accommodated in interim accommodation as part of the Afghan Resettlement Programme.
The standard weekly allowance is £49.18 for each supported asylum seeker in self-catered accommodation and £8.86 for each supported asylum seeker in catered accommodation. Further information on what support asylum seekers receive can be found in the attached link: https://www.gov.uk/asylum-support/what-youll-get.
Individuals on our resettlement schemes with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK have access to mainstream benefits and services to enable their integration; and we are working across Government to ensure these services meet the needs of refugees.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the UK fishing industry to ensure sustainable management of UK fishing waters and the livelihoods of British fishermen.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
We are ensuring the sustainable management of UK fishing waters and livelihoods of British fishers by developing Fisheries Management Plans and through the £100m UK Seafood Fund, which has provided £3.9m in grant funding to projects in Northern Ireland. This includes a £2.8m project at Portavogie Harbour that will replace and enhance the existing boat cradle and winch.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what provisions are in place to support the families and caregivers of individuals with rare diseases.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Each year since 2021, we have published an England Rare Diseases Action Plan. On 29 February 2024, we published the third England Rare Diseases Action Plan. In this plan we recognised that significant challenges exist with access to mental health and psychological support for people living with rare conditions, as well as their families and carers. During this year we have taken steps to further understand the challenges faced through a workshop, and have begun to address these needs by developing resources to better equip the workforce to provide support.
The enormous contribution of unpaid carers, including those caring for individuals with rare diseases, is reflected throughout the Next Steps to Put People at the Heart of Care, published in April 2023. Furthermore, the Better Care Fund in 2023/24 includes £327 million for carers support, including short breaks and respite services for carers. This also funds advice and support to carers, and a small number of additional local authority duties. The Accelerating Reform Fund also provides support for unpaid carers. The Government is developing a new survey of unpaid carers which will capture the wide range of experiences, circumstances, and needs of unpaid carers across England. Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, an evaluation of the support provided to unpaid carers funded through the Better Care Fund has been commissioned, which will improve the understanding of what support works best for unpaid carers.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure equitable access to specialised care and support for patients with rare diseases across England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
In January 2021, the Government published the UK Rare Diseases Framework, providing a national vision for how to improve the lives of those living with rare diseases. The framework lists four priorities, collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, which are: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs. The principles of the UK Rare Diseases Framework commit the four nations to ensuring that any impacts on health inequalities are considered when developing action plans.
Each year since 2021 we have published an England Rare Diseases Action Plan, with health equity highlighted as a focus area. On 29 February 2024 we published the third England Rare Diseases Action Plan, which is working to address these priorities. Several actions have been committed to in this year and previous year’s action plans, that relate to equitable access to specialised care and support for patients with rare diseases.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support research and development of treatments for patients with haemochromatosis.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The National Institute for Health and Care Research is currently directly funding one ongoing study on haemochromatosis, and over the last five years, has funded infrastructure to support seven others.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase funding and support for Alzheimer's research to accelerate the development of effective treatments and improve early diagnosis techniques.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is strongly committed to supporting research into dementia and has committed to double funding for dementia research, to £160 million per year, by the end of 2024/25. This will span all areas of research, including diagnosis and treatment of dementia, and more specifically Alzheimer’s disease.
The Government has allocated up to £120 million to the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission, which aims to speed up the development of new treatments through innovations in biomarkers, clinical trials, and implementation.
Alongside the mission, the Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is funding a range of research to accelerate the development of effective treatments and to improve early diagnosis techniques. This includes investing almost £50 million into the NIHR’s Dementia Translational Research Collaboration Trials Network. This will expand the United Kingdom’s early phase clinical trial capabilities in dementia, speeding up the development of new treatments, and funding to the Blood Biomarker Challenge which could make the case for the use of a blood test in the National Health Service, to support diagnosis of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.