Asked by: Lord Tanlaw (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to identify accurately the GPS Prime Meridian with a corresponding marker at the correct location in Greenwich Park.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
As the reference frame for the Global Positioning System (GPS) is established through a mathematical interpretation of satellite radio signals, rather than a physical meridian, it is not conceptually appropriate to represent it in the same way as other meridians have historically been marked at Greenwich.
Asked by: Lord Tanlaw (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to change the meaning of the acronym GMT from Greenwich Mean Time to Greenwich Meridian Time.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We consider that any attempt to change the meaning of the acronym GMT is likely to result in confusion.
Asked by: Lord Tanlaw (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the use of British Summer Time, and what assessment they have made of the possible impact of maintaining BST throughout the year.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government has no plans to review the use of British Summer Time.
In 2012, the Government published a review of the available evidence concerning the likely effects of moving to Central European Time (also known as Daylight Saving time) in the UK. This is attached, but is also available on the Government website at the following link.
Asked by: Lord Tanlaw (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for the civil timescale Greenwich Mean Time being renamed Greenwich Meridian Time, with a value of UT1 at longitude zero based on GPS rather than the historic location of the prime meridian.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
As the reference frame for the Global Positioning System (GPS) is established through a mathematical interpretation of satellite radio signals, rather than a physical meridian, it is not conceptually appropriate to represent it in the same way as other meridians have historically been marked at Greenwich.
We do not see any practical benefit in changing the reference point for UT1 even if it was a decision the UK Government could make unilaterally. Such a change could cause confusion as could use of the term “Greenwich Meridian Time”. In line with the International Telecommunication Union Radio Regulations, all time‑signal broadcasts in the UK transmit. the international timescale UTC, and so any change to UT1 or GMT would have no impact on the time-signal available to the UK public.
Asked by: Lord Tanlaw (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the prime meridian can be correctly identified and correlated with GPS by the construction (with permission) in Greenwich Park of a suitable marker located at zero longitude.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
As the reference frame for the Global Positioning System (GPS) is established through a mathematical interpretation of satellite radio signals, rather than a physical meridian, it is not conceptually appropriate to represent it in the same way as other meridians have historically been marked at Greenwich.
We do not see any practical benefit in changing the reference point for UT1 even if it was a decision the UK Government could make unilaterally. Such a change could cause confusion as could use of the term “Greenwich Meridian Time”. In line with the International Telecommunication Union Radio Regulations, all time‑signal broadcasts in the UK transmit. the international timescale UTC, and so any change to UT1 or GMT would have no impact on the time-signal available to the UK public.
Asked by: Lord Tanlaw (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to reschedule psilocybin from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 to enable its use for medicinal purposes, in particular with regard to alleviating the mental suffering of patients diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government has no plans to reschedule psilocybin. Drugs that are controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, such as psilocybin, are harmful and can damage people’s mental and physical health when misused. We will not circumvent the regulatory process by which drugs are assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for their safety and efficacy as medicines.
Asked by: Lord Tanlaw (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to devolve responsibility for time in order that the Scottish Parliament can select the best clock time for daylight saving during the winter months.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Tankerness
Devolution of time was not included in the Smith Agreement reached between the five parties in Scotland, and this Government has no plans to devolve it.
Asked by: Lord Tanlaw (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the 1968–71 experiment of continuous British Summer Time (GMT+1) will be repeated to obtain updated statistics in order to select the best clock time for daylight saving during the winter months.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We will not be repeating the 1968-71 experiment of continuous British Summer Time (GMT+1), as there is no consensus across the whole of the UK for this experiment to take place. There are both negative and positive effects, but until a UK wide consensus is confirmed we have no plans to change the clocks.