Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 14 October (HL Deb cols 9–11), what progress they have made on implementing the provisions of the Online Safety Act 2023 relating to pornography, and when they expect the age verification provisions to be enforced.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Ofcom’s implementation progress update, published 17 October, sets out their intention to publish finalised guidance on age assurance for publishers of online pornography in January 2025. Ofcom expects to start monitoring and enforcing the age assurance duties at that point.
The child safety duties – which require user-to-user services to prevent children encountering pornography – come into effect after parliament has considered Ofcom’s finalised Children’s Safety Code of Practice. We anticipate this will happen by Summer 2025.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many companies were registered on the UK Trader Scheme at the highest point of its operation.
Answered by Lord Roborough - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 30 September 2023, when the UK Trader Scheme was replaced by the UK Internal Market Scheme, 5,700 businesses were authorised on the UK Trader Scheme. Around 3,800 businesses were actively using their authorisation in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many companies are registered on the UK Internal Market Scheme which are based in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Roborough - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of April 2024, over 7,800 businesses are authorised under the UK Internal Market Scheme, including over 4,100 which are established in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the commencement of section 45B of the UK Internal Market Act 2020, what export procedures will apply to goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain to goods that are in temporary storage in accordance with Article 144 of Regulations (EU) No 952/2013; what is a practical example of what a business moving a good in this context will encounter in terms of paperwork and checks; when the export procedure will be commenced; and how they plan to apply the procedure if there is no Border Control Post at Cairnryan.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Windsor Framework removes the requirement for export procedures that existed under the original Protocol and the subsequent 2020 agreement on the need for "equivalent information", with such controls only applying to a niche set of goods. Consistent with this, we have now laid domestic legislation under the Safeguarding the Union package that expressly prohibits export procedures applying to goods moving Northern Ireland to Great Britain, restoring our unfettered access safeguards. Detailed guidance on the treatment of relevant goods where exceptions apply is available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the commencement of section 45B of the UK Internal Market Act 2020, what export procedures will apply to goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain when placed under a procedure listed in Article 210 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013; what is a practical example of what a business moving a good in this context will encounter in terms of paperwork and checks; when the export procedure will be commenced; and how they plan to apply the procedure if there is no Border Control Post at Cairnryan.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Windsor Framework removes the requirement for export procedures that existed under the original Protocol and the subsequent 2020 agreement on the need for "equivalent information", with such controls only applying to a niche set of goods. Consistent with this, we have now laid domestic legislation under the Safeguarding the Union package that expressly prohibits export procedures applying to goods moving Northern Ireland to Great Britain, restoring our unfettered access safeguards. Detailed guidance on the treatment of relevant goods where exceptions apply is available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the Free Trees for Schools and Communities scheme run by the Woodland Trust to encourage children to plant native trees cannot operate in Northern Ireland, despite all of the tree species involved being certified as UK and Ireland-grown.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
As part of the Windsor Framework, we have worked closely with industry to identify and lift the EU prohibition on movements to Northern Ireland for eleven priority species of tree: European beech, English oak, Sessile oak, Norway maple, Japanese maple, Sycamore maple, Field maple, Crab apple, Common apple, Hawthorn and two types of privet (wax leaf and delavey). In addition, the ban on Common hazel will also be lifted soon. An additional 26 species from other prohibited genera are currently under consideration for removal from the prohibited list. Many of those species are those included in the Woodland Trust tree packs. We have reached out to the Woodland Trust to discuss this matter further. Moreover, we continue to work with stakeholders to identify further species to be considered by the EU for removal from the prohibited list.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will promote social fragmentation rather than social cohesion.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government aims to use the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to create a discussion about the role that living heritage of all sorts plays in the identity, pride and cohesion of all parts of the UK. To support this, we are taking an inclusive approach to the ratification and seeking to ensure as many people and groups as possible can be involved, which has included launching a public consultation on details of the ratification.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of the proposed ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, what steps they will take to ensure that they discharge their obligations under that convention in relation to the Ulster Scots community in a manner that is consistent with the recognition of Ulster Scots as a national minority of the United Kingdom under the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government is taking an inclusive approach to the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage across the whole UK. We want to engage with everyone, including the Ulster Scots community, and to provide the conditions to allow everyone to express, preserve, and develop their culture and identity within the UK’s implementation of the framework of the 2003 Convention.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of the proposed ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, what is their reason for not proposing a threshold of longevity for recognition of a cultural practice.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government has taken on board guidance from UNESCO which defines Intangible Cultural Heritage as ‘traditional, contemporary, and living at the same time’. In line with this, we want to ensure that newer practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage can be recognised as well as more long-standing ones.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) army personnel, (2) Royal Air Force personnel, and (3) Royal Navy personnel, are based in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The attached supporting table details the number of UK regulars and Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) personnel stationed in Northern Ireland by service as at 1 January 2023.
The figures are based on Service personnel's stationed location and not their location of residence - where personnel work isn't necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location. The Royal Navy/Royal Marines personnel on sea service are included against the local authority containing the home port of their ship.