Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what support is available to support new House of Lords and bicameral staff to learn English.
Answered by Lord McFall of Alcluith
The House of Lords Administration has partnered with the House of Commons to offer an English Language course to staff of both Houses and bicameral staff. The programme is provided by West London College and runs for 13 weeks, from 10 January 2020 to 3 April 2020. The Administration has marketed this course to staff in Property and Office and Catering & Retail Services where there is high representation of people for whom English is not their first language. Depending on evaluation of the course, it may run again in 2020.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the cost of the Brexit negotiations since the result of the EU referendum in 2016.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support any British citizen returning to live in the UK following the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has always been clear and steadfast in our commitment to protecting citizens' rights. We have announced a series of measures to protect UK nationals in the EU and those who choose to return to the UK after exit.
This includes: access to NHS-funded healthcare, a transition period until March 2022 for UK nationals to return from the EU with their non-UK family members and for those family members to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme and reassurance for UK nationals on their entitlement to UK benefits and services if they choose to return to the UK.
The measures aim to provide maximum certainty to UK nationals in both a deal and no deal scenario.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what physical arrangements would be necessary to provide a border between the EU and the UK in the Irish Sea.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK and the EU have been clear in the Political Declaration that we will seek to negotiate an ambitious economic partnership, including a free trade area for goods that facilitates trade through a new customs arrangement, deep regulatory cooperation, and avoids any tariffs or quotas.
The Declaration recognises that the application of checks and controls between the EU and the UK would depend on the UK’s commitments, including in relation to the level of alignment with EU rules. Obviously we will need to agree the balance as part of the future negotiations.
The Government has been clear, in all circumstances, we seek to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and we stand by all our commitments including the safeguarding of the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what preparations they are making to ensure smooth passage of freight and cars between Dublin and Holyhead in the event of a failure to reach an agreement on customs arrangements, as a result of leaving the customs union and the single market.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We want our future relationship with the EU to be a deep and special partnership. We are confident that this is very much in the interests of both sides, so we approach these negotiations anticipating success. The Government does not want or expect a no deal outcome and the agreement on an implementation period makes such an outcome less likely.
However, a responsible Government should prepare for all potential outcomes. We have been engaging with border locations and the border industry to understand the operational impacts of any potential changes, especially at key locations like Dover, the Channel Tunnel and Holyhead, which handle large volumes of EU traffic.