Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland last met political parties in Northern Ireland to discuss the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Caine - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland regularly meets Northern Ireland political representatives to discuss Northern Ireland-related matters, including the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Until the recent resignation of the First Minister, the Secretary of State also regularly attended meetings of the cross-Government Protocol Contact Group along with the Minister for Europe and the First and deputy First Minister and he looks forward to their resumption after the Northern Ireland Assembly Election on 5 May.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland last visited Dublin for meetings with Irish ministers.
Answered by Lord Caine - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland last visited Dublin for meetings with Irish Ministers on Wednesday 23 March where he attended the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference alongside Minister of State, Conor Burns.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect the work on the smart motorways arrangements around Slough and Reading will be completed.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Construction work to upgrade the M4 between Junctions 8/9 and 12 to an all lane running smart motorway is complete. On this section, all traffic management and temporary speed restrictions have now been removed and work is continuing to complete the commissioning of the technology. Construction work continues between Junctions 3 and 8/9. It is due to be completed this year.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Welsh Government about the current negotiations for a UK/EU trade deal.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Joint Ministerial Committee on EU Negotiations, attended by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and ministers from the Devolved Administrations alongside other ministers, met in Cardiff on 28 January and discussed negotiations with the EU.
The UK Government also engaged both with the Welsh Government and the other Devolved Administrations on the UK’s approach to the negotiations ahead of its publication on 27th February and following the first round of negotiations with the EU.
The UK Government is committed to working closely with the devolved administrations throughout negotiations with the EU to ensure a future relationship that works in the interests of the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any extra funding has been allocated to the Welsh Government to deal with recent flooding in Wales.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales and others are determined to ensure that all of those affected by flooding are supported in the best way possible. Flood response in Wales is a devolved matter. It was announced in March Budget that the UK Government will fund assistance for flood relief. For 2020-21, the Welsh Government will receive an additional £17m in Barnett consequentials from additional spending on flood prevention in England. If the Welsh Government matches our spending per head on flood prevention then this would see over £300m spent in Wales by 2026-27.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Secretary of State for Wales has met the First Minister of Wales to discuss the provision of financial help for flood victims in Wales.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Flood response in Wales is a devolved matter. The First Minister and the Secretary of State for Wales met at the start of the flooding, on 24 February, and have been in regular contact since. The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales will work with the Welsh Government to ensure that all of those affected by flooding are supported in the best way possible, including consideration of any request from the Welsh Government for additional support and finances for assistance for flood relief.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Welsh Government about the provision of financial help to recent flood victims in Wales.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
Flood response in Wales is a devolved matter. The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales will work with the Welsh Government to ensure that all of those affected by flooding are supported in the best way possible, including consideration of any request from the Welsh Government for additional support and assistance for flood relief, including additional finances.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the next meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee will take place.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Devolution Memorandum of Understanding established the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) - a committee structure which meets in different formats for intergovernmental relations, to enable ministers from the UK Government and Devolved Administrations to engage.
Future meetings will be confirmed in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the next meeting of the British–Irish Council will take place.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The next Summit meeting of the British-Irish Council will take place this summer and be hosted by the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pupils attended (1) sixth form colleges, and (2) 16–19 academies in England, broken down by academic year, in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Participation estimates for young people academic aged 16 to 18 in education, training and employment in England are published annually in the National Statistics release ‘Participation in education, training and employment’. Academic age refers to the age at the start of the academic year 31 August and therefore includes the first year of post compulsory education.
The estimates in the release relate to a snapshot of activities at the end of the calendar year and therefore does not give all pupils who attended. Information is drawn together from various post-16 data sources including the school census and the individualised learner record (ILR) to give a coherent and comprehensive picture of participation.
The attached table shows the numbers of young people of academic age 16-18 in full or part-time education by institution type.
For 2017, the ‘Converter Academies’ row in the attached table includes both schools recorded as converter academies on the school census and sixth form colleges who were recorded as a converter academy on the ILR.