Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to reform the funding rules for local elections.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The funding of costs necessarily incurred for the delivery of local elections is a matter for local authorities.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the year-on-year commitment of the £7.85 million provided to the Global Survivors Fund since 2019; and what was the country breakdown of this year-on-year commitment.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Since 2019, the UK Government has supported the Global Survivors Fund to provide life-saving support and reparative measures for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence around the world.
UK funding to the Global Survivors Fund has supported thousands of survivors, including in Ukraine, Colombia, Iraq, South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Turkey, East Timor, Nigeria and Nepal among others. Projects have included the provision of psychosocial, educational and livelihood support, as well as technical support to Governments.
A year-on-year breakdown of funding is as follows:
• From Financial Year (FY) 2019/20 to 2021/22: £2.7m
• FY 2022/23: £1.5m
• FY 2023/24: £1.85m
• FY 2024/25: £1.8m
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they recognise the term "domicide".
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK Government does not recognise the term "domicide". "Domicide" is not a standalone international crime, though certain breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) involving homes may be war crimes. Promoting IHL compliance is central to the Government's humanitarian policy, and IHL compliance provides protections for civilian objects, such as homes.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to aid children in Gaza in 2025, and especially those in need of medical assistance.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK has consistently pressed Israel to do more to protect civilians in Gaza, including children, and for all parties to ensure adherence to international humanitarian law. In the last financial year, we announced £6 million for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support vulnerable families in Gaza, and £41 million funding for United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), supporting their delivery of essential services including education across Gaza, the West Bank and to Palestinian refugees in the region. £5.8 million of the UK's contribution to the Global Partnership for Education has been earmarked to support essential education service delivery in Gaza and the West Bank. Through our partnership with UK-Med, they have provided over 405,000 patient consultations in Gaza since January 2024. The UK also supported delivery of Polio vaccination campaigns protecting over 600,000 vulnerable children across Gaza through funding to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. As the Prime Minister has said, the UK will continue to play a key humanitarian role in Gaza.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to re-establish a ceasefire in Gaza.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We urge all parties to return urgently to talks, implement the ceasefire agreement in full and work towards a permanent peace. More bloodshed is in no-one's interest. Our priority is urging all parties to return urgently to dialogue and to ensuring the ceasefire agreement is implemented in full and work towards permanent peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.
Since the hostilities resumed, the Foreign Secretary has spoken to Secretary Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, EU High Representative Kallas and the UN emergency relief co-ordinator, Tom Fletcher. On 15 April, the Foreign Secretary spoke to his Israel counterpart Gideon Sa'ar, and he plans to speak to Palestinian PM Mustafa shortly.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they recognise the term "scholasticide".
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK Government does not recognise the term "scholasticide". "Scholasticide" is not a standalone international crime, though certain breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) involving schools and educational facilities may be war crimes. Promoting IHL compliance is central to the Government's humanitarian policy, and IHL compliance provides protections for civilian objects, such as schools.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they last assessed whether Israel has breached the humanitarian criteria for arms sales from the UK to that country.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We regularly assess Israel's compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and our assessments continue to raise concerns about possible breaches of IHL in the areas of humanitarian access and treatment of detainees.
The UK's robust export licensing criteria state that the Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law. On 2 September 2024 we took decisive action, suspending relevant licences for the Israeli Defense Forces that might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of IHL in Gaza. Further to the suspension decision in respect of the Gaza conflict, there are no extant licences for items that might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of International Humanitarian law. Our International Humanitarian Law assessments continue.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they define the difference between the right to defend and an offensive action by a state.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As recognised in Article 51 of the UN Charter, States have the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence against armed attack. Self-defence permits States to use necessary and proportionate force to repel such armed attacks. States’ uses of force outside of self-defence or absent some other legal basis such as a Chapter 7 UN Security Council Resolution, consent or humanitarian intervention would be unlawful as a matter of international law.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for re-classifying sexual violence in conflict offences under international law to be prosecuted under existing torture laws.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to strengthening justice for all survivors and victims of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and holding perpetrators to account. CRSV is prohibited under international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international criminal law. Some forms of CRSV, such as rape, can also be classified as torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Torture is defined and prohibited by multiple human rights treaties. We continue to work closely with partners to eradicate the use of torture and end all forms of CRSV.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what new trade agreements they are discussing with the government of the United States of America.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-US relationship is very strong, with trade of around £300 billion, and shared investment of over £1.2 trillion at the end of 2023. The Prime Minister and President Trump met on 27 February and agreed to deepen this relationship and to work together on a trade deal focused on tech. The Trade Secretary has also been engaging with the US Administration including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, to make the case for stronger UK-US trade that benefits both our countries, and will continue to make every effort to support British business.