Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the staffing costs for the UK pavilion at the Osaka Expo 2025.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
Requirements for staffing the UK pavilion are still being scoped and therefore estimated costs are not currently known.
Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to bid for the UK to host future Expo events.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
There are currently no plans for the UK to bid to host a future Expo.
Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their policy paper UK-India free trade agreement: the UK’s strategic approach, published on 13 January, to what extent they consider the long-run estimates within the document applicable to the UK in the first 15 years of the trade deal being in effect.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
The Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model used to estimate these benefits produces long run results: although not explicitly modelled, this is typically assumed to refer to a period of around 15 years after implementation. Because the model used is static, all changes resulting from the agreement are incorporated at once and therefore it does not capture short run impacts.
India is projected to be the world’s third largest economy by 2050 and as India’s middle class grows to nearly a quarter of a billion middle class consumers, greater access to this market is expected to benefit UK firms.
Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their policy paper UK-India free trade agreement: the UK’s strategic approach, published on 13 January, whether they have produced any short-run estimates for the impact of the prospective UK-India free trade agreement on (1) wages, and (2) output, by sector, measured by gross value added.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
The Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model used to estimate these benefits produces long run results: although not explicitly modelled, this is typically assumed to refer to a period of around 15 years after implementation. Because the model used is static, all changes resulting from the agreement are incorporated at once and therefore it does not capture short run impacts.
India is projected to be the world’s third largest economy by 2050 and as India’s middle class grows to nearly a quarter of a billion middle class consumers, greater access to this market is expected to benefit UK firms.
Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the outcome of COP27; and what plans they have, if any, to address the issues raised at the conference.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
COP27 established a new fund for responding to loss and damage as part of other funding arrangements relevant for loss and damage. This progress is significant in supporting the most vulnerable.
We maintained the focus from Glasgow on the urgent action needed to keep 1.5 alive and secured further work on mitigation to accelerate and implement emission reductions.
The deal in Egypt preserves the historic commitments countries agreed to last year in the Glasgow Climate Pact, and the UK will continue to push for international ambition and implementation of the Glasgow Climate Pact and the Paris Agreement.
Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a GCSE course in the Kurdish language; and what support the Department for Education provides for the teaching of this language.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
There are no current plans to add additional language GCSEs to the existing range of subjects. It is exam boards who are responsible for deciding, based on the existing modern foreign languages subject content, which language GCSEs are offered. The government would support an exam board in developing a language GCSE, including in Kurdish, if the board considered there was a strong case to do so, including sufficient demand.
It is up to schools to decide which languages are taught as part of their curriculum in both primary and secondary schools. There are several supplementary schools in England which teach Kurdish to children and young people outside of their regular schooling, where parents may choose to send their children for Kurdish tuition. Further information on supplementary schools can be found on the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education’s website at: www.supplementaryeducation.org.uk.
Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the nuclear energy roadmap for deployment referred to in the Net Zero Strategy, published on 19 October 2021.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
New nuclear has an important role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, as well as contributing to our energy security and delivering a low-cost, diverse, and resilient energy system. The Government will publish a roadmap for new nuclear deployment, including large-scale and advanced nuclear technologies, this year.
Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many high-temperature gas-cooled reactors they intend to authorise for construction in the UK to provide certainty to the UK nuclear fuel supply chain.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department’s Advanced Nuclear Fund includes funding for an Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) Research, Development & Demonstration (RD&D) Programme which aims to enable a High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) demonstration by the early 2030s to understand the potential of the technology.
We have published a stakeholder engagement note which set out a proposed three phase approach. The development of the UK nuclear supply chain will be considered as part of the Programme.
Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment the Financial Conduct Authority has made for the levels of over-indebtedness in the UK; and what independent evidential basis informs that assessment.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent public body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry. As such, the Government is unable to comment on the FCA’s assessment of their consumer research work and the evidence base that impacts their assessment. The Government has therefore passed this enquiry on to them directly and they will respond to the noble Lord by letter.
Asked by: Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment the Financial Conduct Authority has made of the reasons for the high levels of personal debt in the UK; and what independent evidential basis informs that assessment.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent public body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry. As such, the Government is unable to comment on the FCA’s assessment of their consumer research work and the evidence base that impacts their assessment. The Government has therefore passed this enquiry on to them directly and they will respond to the noble Lord by letter.