Lord Hylton

The House of Lords Commission, which has responsibility for setting the strategic direction in this area, met on 25 May and had a preliminary discussion of these matters. The Commission discussion was informed by the debate on hybrid proceedings held in the Chamber on 20 May and was followed by a meeting of the Procedure and Privileges Committee, on 26 May, at which an initial consideration of procedural implications was undertaken. Proposals and options will be developed ahead of further anticipated deliberation at June meetings of the House of Lords Commission, Procedure and Privileges Committee and Liaison Committee. Decisions will continue to be informed by the latest Government guidance and advice from Public Health England. Finally, and most importantly, the House will be invited to consider motions in due course to agree Chamber and Grand Committee procedures moving forwards.

Abingdon Green was closed as a pedestrian thoroughfare on Monday 23 November while Westminster City Council complete essential security works at the perimeter at the Great College Street end, and will reopen on Friday 18 December. Access into and out of Abingdon Green will continue from the north (Jewel Tower) end. This is the first phase of essential security work being undertaken by Westminster City Council and subsequent closures might be expected later in 2021. These works are considered to be vital to protecting the security of Parliament and the surrounding area.

Abingdon Green is owned by the House of Commons but day to day access is delegated by the Clerk of the House to Black Rod. Current policy is to allow public access to the Green to enable them to pass through on the paths or to use it as a recreational space. Because of the unique views that the Green affords to Parliament, we also allow the media to use the Green for the contemporaneous news reporting of events within Parliament on the basis that this is an important way of communicating to the public the political issues that are taking place. We do not permit protests or campaigning on the Green.

There are occasions when events in Parliament create exceptional media activity and demand for broadcasting space on the Green. When this occurs, we conduct a careful assessment on whether to prioritise broadcasting over public access and where the balance of public interest lies. Although we prefer to maintain dual use of the Green by public and media, on some occasions we assess that reporting from the Green must be prioritised and that it is necessary to close it to the public for safety reasons. Not to do so would limit the ability of a wide section of the broadcast media, both national, international and radio to provide high quality coverage of unfolding events in Parliament and interview the politicians involved in a secure manner.

Regarding a permanent media centre, no consideration is currently being given to this. Most media (including broadcast) arrangements are covered through the existing press lobby arrangements. Under this, nominated members of the media are accredited with membership of the Press Gallery and allocated desk space within the House of Commons and given press passes which allow access to the building. This is a long standing arrangement administered by the House of Commons with well understood rules which enables open media access to Parliament to be maintained within manageable levels.

Additionally, as well as Abingdon Green, there are broadcast points within both Houses which are used by UK domestic broadcasters for the reporting of Parliamentary business.

We welcome the agreement by leaders at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in London that the full social, economic and political participation of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status, is essential for democracy and sustainable development to thrive, as expressed in the official communique.

​We also welcome Heads' commitments to continued action to prevent barriers to the development and full realisation of all ​girls’ and women’s human rights. They also committed to ratify and implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, through legislation, policies and programmes that mainstream and promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in social, economic and political life​.

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The UK will continue to support work towards a fairer, more inclusive Commonwealth during its period as Chair-in-Office, including through a programme working with civil society groups which will support countries wishing to reform outdated legislation on sexual orientation and gender identity, and on women's rights.

There was no partial embargo imposed in 2014 on military supplies and equipment for Israel. However, a review of licences in circulation at the outbreak of hostilities in July 2014 identified 12 export licences the Government would suspend, as a precautionary measure, in the event of a resumption of significant hostilities. The Government was concerned that in these circumstances it would be unable to clarify whether the export licensing criteria were being met. This was announced on 12 August 2014.

The results of a further review were announced on 14 July 2015 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/review-of-export-licensing-procedures-for-israel) and concluded that 11 months after the establishment of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, there was now sufficient information from a wide variety of sources to apply standard export licensing procedures using the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria without any additional measures such as the precautionary measure adopted in August 2014.

The specific details of the review were not considered by the Cabinet. This is because export licensing policy is set by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. In setting this policy the Secretary of State always seeks and takes into account advice from other Cabinet colleagues, including the Foreign and Defence Secretaries.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of prosecutions of defendants charged with offences of keeping a brothel or of controlling prostitution. This information could only be obtained by a manual examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

While the CPS does not collect data on defendants prosecuted by specific offence or the outcome of any prosecution, information is available for the number of offences concerning the keeping or management of brothels and controlling prostitution, in which a prosecution commenced at magistrates’ courts. The table below shows the number of these offences recorded on the CPS’s Case Management System in each financial year over the last ten years.

It should be noted that the figures relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It is often the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same victim.

There is no information held about successful prosecutions for offences connected with trafficking in persons in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

However, the UK shares relevant information on organised immigration crime (OIC) with partners in source, transit and destination countries for illegal migration. This takes place both on a bilateral basis and through the European Migrant Smuggling Centre within Europol.

Through the multi-agency Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce, the government is improving the intelligence picture around OIC, modern slavery and human trafficking, undermining the criminal business model and building the capacity of upstream law enforcement partners to tackle the threat.

The police transformation program includes an analytical team, the Joint Slavery and Trafficking Analysis Centre (JSTAC) which is building and developing the strategic intelligence picture by improving data collection and focused analysis of the information gathered. To aid in international dissemination of information, a seconded national expert to Europol to coordinate activity between UK law enforcement and European counterparts during cross-border investigations has been implemented.

Official data regarding prosecutions are held by the Ministry of Justice, but the department does not record it in a form which allows it to distinguish between overseas bribery and domestic bribery.

Whilst not official data, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) record data for their own management information purposes. In the last five years, the SFO has successfully prosecuted three British companies and 10 individuals, nine of whom were British citizens, for bribery or corruption overseas (offences under the Bribery Act 2010 or the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906).

In addition to this the SFO has secured three Deferred Prosecution Agreements with British companies in the past two years for overseas corruption offences. The first agreement included a financial penalty of $25m, plus SFO’s full costs; the second resulted in financial orders of £6.6m and the most recent one was for £497.25m plus interest, as well as a payment of the SFO’s full costs.

CPS’s data measures the outcome of prosecutions against defendants but not on the outcome against individual offences. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

The Prime Minister's office has no record of receiving this correspondence. If Lord Hylton would kindly like to supply a further copy, a reply will be sent.

The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence. It is current practice to show incoming Ministers letters when a response has not yet been issued.

Individual departments are responsible for maintaining their own performance records when new Ministers are appointed to the department.

The Integrated Security Defence and Foreign Policy Review was announced in the Queen's Speech to reassess the nation’s place in the world. The review will examine how we strengthen and prioritise our alliances, diplomacy and development. It will also deliver against the government’s ambition to extend our diplomatic network; reinvigorate relationships with Europe; and seek to strengthen old and new partnerships across the world.

The government has demonstrated its commitment to tackling social injustices through the Race Disparity Audit, the LGBT Action Plan, the Taylor Review and a number of other actions taken to confront issues such as gender inequality, poverty and low standards of education.

The Prosperity Fund (PF) has spent the following in the Philippines over the last three years:

Project activity has covered a number of areas including health, urban development and disaster protection, and includes preparatory work for larger programmes shortly to be approved. It is too early to fully assess impact.

The government has no plans to re-nationalise the water, electricity, or gas industries. Properly regulated markets, which incentivise private capital to invest in the energy and water systems, provide the best outcome for consumers and promote market competition as the best driver of efficiency, innovation, and value.

Geothermal technologies that generate electricity are eligible for the Contracts for Difference scheme, which is the Government’s main mechanism for supporting low carbon electricity generation. The application window for the next Allocation Round opened on 30th March 2023 and concludes in Summer.

Funding support is available for heat network projects using deep geothermal from The Green Heat Network Fund which offers capital grants to support the commercialisation and construction of new low and zero carbon heat networks. It has recently awarded Cornwall Council £22 million for the Langarth Deep Geothermal Heat Network which is the UK’s first deep geothermal project.

Great Britain has electricity interconnectors with France (4 GW), Norway (1.4 GW), Belgium (1 GW), the Netherlands (1 GW) and the island of Ireland (1 GW). There are currently no electricity interconnectors to Iceland.

The Government works closely with National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) and the transmission system operators of all connected countries to ensure that the maximum interconnector capacity is available for use.

Increased interconnection promotes competition, leading to reduced consumer bills. Ofgem estimated the net total quantifiable impact on GB consumer welfare to be greater than £20 billion for projects under their regulatory regime, to date.

Intellectual Property rights have been critical in underpinning innovators’ confidence to form over 300 partnerships - an unprecedented number - which have made real, positive impacts on vaccine delivery; examples include AstraZeneca and the Serum Institute of India, and Pfizer-BioNTech and BIOVAC in South Africa. These examples show what is possible when the right partners work together and share technology.

While we must continue to ensure vaccine production needs are met globally, the WHO news release of 7 October made it clear that, “With global vaccine production now at nearly 1.5 billion doses per month, there is sufficient vaccine from a supply perspective to achieve global vaccination targets”. We must therefore also focus on issues of distribution and delivery to successfully vaccinate the globe.

Her Majesty’s Government are committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of outer space and take our international responsibilities around debris mitigation very seriously. The Government is committed to regularly reviewing and assessing risks and uses a robust methodology to ensure that risks are up to date and understood.

In carrying out safety assessments under its current licensing process, the UK Space Agency considers operators’ collision avoidance and debris mitigation measures as conducted throughout the entire time the spacecraft remains in orbit around the Earth.

The Government also actively participates in a number of multi-lateral fora, including the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its Subcommittees and the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), alongside a number of bodies defining safety standards. Within these forums, the Government works collaboratively with its international partners to define the best practice and associated guidelines that will ensure space is accessible for future generations.

We are also working with satellite operators, the Royal Astronomical Society, the European Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union to understand the impacts of the artificial light generated by satellites and clarify what actions could be taken to mitigate interference for the UK community and our international partners. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, alongside the UK Space Agency, will continue to support the UK science and astronomy community.

The Government continues to support measures in place to continue the reduction in flared and vented gas, via both the individual actions of the relevant regulators and collaborative engagement to share learning and identify further improvements on this practice.

The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) is taking a robust stance to reduce flaring and venting from oil and gas production platforms through its consents, field development process and project stewardship role. The OGA issues consents for flaring and venting of gas on extant licences, where necessary for safety purposes, and is exploring tougher measures as part of this process, to eliminate unnecessary flaring and venting. The OGA has also expanded its benchmarking activity to the flaring and venting of greenhouse gases on the UK Continental Shelf – detailing flaring and venting activity levels in the North Sea – to enable operators to learn from good examples set by others.

In 2018, the Environment Agency reissued its environmental permits for oil & gas refineries under the Environmental Permitting Regulations to reflect the revised European standard limiting the use of flares for safety reasons or for non-routine operational conditions only, alongside several techniques for reducing emissions to air when flaring is unavoidable.

Furthermore, the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) is responsible for developing, administering and enforcing the offshore oil and gas environmental regulatory regime. As the Regulator for the environment, OPRED is charged with protecting the environment, and issuing permits under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme which provides a fiscal regime for emissions reduction.

We have no current plans to establish a national fuel fund.

The Government provides support to those struggling with their gas and electricity bills through:

• The Warm Home Discount, which provides a £140 rebate to more than two million households;

• Winter Fuel Payments, that provides £200-300 to pensioners, ensuring that they can keep warm during the colder months; and

• Cold Weather Payments, which were automatically provided to more than one million households during winter 2018-19.

In addition, the default tariff cap protects all consumers on default tariffs from being overcharged and Ofgem’s safeguard price cap protects consumers on pre-payment meter tariffs.

The most sustainable approach to decreasing energy bills is improving energy efficiency.

• The Energy Company Obligation drives £640 million of investment annually into improving the efficiency of low income and vulnerable households.

• The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards require landlords spend up to £3500 (including VAT) improving their rented properties to EPC Band E.

The government has no plans to develop a specific internet service provider child protection policy.

Tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse is a priority for the new online safety regulatory framework. All companies in scope will need to ensure that illegal content is removed expeditiously and that the risk of it appearing is minimised through effective systems.

Internet service providers will not be in scope of the duty of care. This is because they do not directly host user generated content or provide search engine services. It would not be proportionate to impose duties on such companies as they do not control if, or how, content is hosted or promoted. Subjecting them to new duties could incentivise broad blocking or removal of websites or apps, which would pose significant risks to freedom of expression and users’ ability to access services. However, they will have duties with regard to enforcement action and Ofcom will be able to require these services, where appropriate, to cooperate with business disruption measures.

Furthermore, the government will produce voluntary best practice guidance for infrastructure service providers, setting out where their actions can help identify and prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse. This guidance will be separate from the online harms regime.

Pornography is a legal activity amongst consenting adults. Children cannot consent to sexual activity under UK law, and “child pornography” is an inappropriate description of illegal sexual abuse. The terms used in the UK are indecent imagery of children (IIOC) or child sexual abuse material (CSAM).