Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that energy customers who refuse to have smart meters installed in their premises are not disadvantaged by their energy suppliers.
Answered by Lord Henley
Smart meters will give consumers the data they need to take control of their energy consumption, allowing them to cut their energy bills. Smart meters will also help make the overall energy system more efficient and cheaper to run. While smart meters are voluntary for consumers they will benefit from having one.
Ofgem’s existing regulations will continue to apply, which require energy suppliers to treat all consumers fairly. In addition the Government has acted to protect consumers regardless of meter type, by capping poor value standard variable and default tariffs.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have estimated the additional electricity capacity needed to meet their target for diesel and petrol engine vehicles to be phased out by 2040; whether they will publish any such estimates; and what plans they have to ensure any additional electricity demand is met.
Answered by Lord Henley
National Grid published their 2018 Future Energy Scenarios on 12 July (attached) and previously produced a bespoke note on the electricity system impacts of electric vehicles (attached). The level of impact that National Grid presents is readily manageable by the electricity system, and shows the benefits that can be provided through smart charging of electric vehicles. Therefore, the Government has taken powers in the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act to mandate that all charge points sold or installed in the UK must be smart enabled, and we are planning to consult on secondary regulations in the new year. In addition, the Government has established an Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce in order to consider these issues, including the underpinning industry standards and practices that may be required.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to classify misogyny as a hate crime; and if so, whether they intend also to classify misandry as a hate crime.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government has asked the Law Commission to undertake a review of the coverage and approach of current hate crime provisions, to ensure the criminal law is working effectively. This includes consideration of whether there should be additional protected characteristics such as gender. Once the Law Commission review is complete, the recommendations will be looked at in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will encourage urban stage carriage operators to re-introduce trolleybuses as part of their plans to meet their vehicle emission reduction targets.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
£220 million is available through the Clean Air Fund for local authorities with a nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exceedance to help them fund measures to reduce harmful emissions, including measures to reduce emissions from vehicles. The re-introduction of trolleybuses is a matter for local authorities and operators to decide, should local authorities see them as a suitable measure to reduce vehicle emissions.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they anticipate the UK's financial settlement with the EU will be as a result of Brexit; and whether they will publish details of the basis for that figure.
Answered by Lord Callanan
We have agreed a fair financial settlement with the EU as part of the draft Withdrawal Agreement. Our estimate, based on reasonable assumptions and publically available data, falls within the range of £35bn-£39bn, and the National Audit Office confirmed in April 2018 that these assumptions were reasonable. Details of the basis on which that figure was reached can be found in the EU-UK Joint Report, published on December 8th, 2017. The Chancellor of the Exchequer provided further details to the Treasury Select Committee in January 2018.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Transport for London about when the closure of sections of Chelsea Embankment to traffic is likely to end.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and delivered by Transport for London (TfL). The Government has regular discussions with TfL on a range of issues, however, road closures and traffic management on TfL roads is a matter for TfL.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the UK population identifies as being LGBT or transgender.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger CB, National Statistician, to The Lord Stoddart of Swindon, Lord, dated 9 July 2018.
Dear Lord Stoddart,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of the UK population identifies as being LGBT or transgender (HL9192).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that 2% of the UK population aged 16 and over in 2016 identified as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual (LGB). LGB refers to sexual orientation, which is an umbrella concept encompassing sexual identity, attraction and behaviour.
Trans or Transgender are terms used to refer to people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth.
ONS does not currently collect any information on gender identity on any of our social surveys.
In the 2021 Census Topic Consultation, data users showed a clear requirement for gender identity for policy development and service planning; especially in relation to the provision of health services. In addition, respondents also identified a requirement for the protected characteristic of gender reassignment in relation to fulfilling equality duties under the Equality Act 2010. The Gender Identity topic report[1] on the consultation findings provides further information.
ONS is currently undertaking work, research and testing to inform our position on this topic and help us to determine whether and how best to meet user needs for information on gender identity. Plans and current work are detailed on our website[2].
The Government Equalities Office (GEO) have recently published an LGBT action plan following the Government’s national survey of LGBT people. The action plan and results from the survey can be found on their website[3].
Yours sincerely,
John Pullinger
[2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/measuringequality/genderidentity
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there are any adverse effects on humans and animals of ingesting folic acid; and if so, what they are.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The current Tolerable Upper Level (TUL) of intake for folic acid is based on the observation that folic acid can mask or delay the diagnosis of pernicious anaemia. At their meeting on 3 July 2018, the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) reviewed the available human and animal data. An interim position detailing the COT’s arguments and recent discussions will be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) mandating the fortification of flour and flour-based products with folic acid, and (2) informing pregnant women of the benefits of ingesting folic acid by other means.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The United Kingdom Government has made no formal assessment of the impact of mandating the fortification of flour and flour-based products with folic acid or of informing pregnant women of the benefits of ingesting folic acid by other means.
Women who are trying to conceive or who are likely to become pregnant are advised to take a daily supplement of 400 micrograms of folic acid until the 12th week of pregnancy to help prevent neural tube defects in their unborn babies. They are also advised to increase their daily intake of folate by eating more folate-rich foods, for example spinach and broccoli, and foods voluntarily fortified with folic acid such a wide range of breakfast cereals. Health education messages on folic acid as part of a range of pregnancy advice are provided in various settings targeted at women of childbearing age such as family planning clinics and general practitioner surgeries. Additionally, NHS Choices provides information online on healthy lifestyle advice during pregnancy including the importance of folic acid supplementation. The NHS Start4life Information Service for Parents provides parents-to-be and new parents with advice and information about pregnancy and the first few months with a baby, using free emails, videos and text messages.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether attendance at meetings of the EU Council of Ministers and the European Council by UK ministers and the Prime Minister will cease following 29 March 2019.
Answered by Lord Callanan
As the Prime Minister set out in her Florence speech last year, the UK will cease to be a member of the European Union on 29th March 2019. Following this date we will no longer sit at the European Council table or in the Council of Ministers.