Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research by the Environment Department at the University of York which found that worms, maggots and flies at sewage treatment plants contain traces of many drugs, including anti-depressants.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Researchers at the University of York have published in a peer reviewed journal that earthworms collected at sewage treatment plants contained mean concentrations of 26.20±4.70 ng/g of the anti-depressant fluoxetine (trade name Prozac) (Bean et al. 2017). In a recent paper concerning the effects of low, environmental relevant, concentrations of Prozac on the courtship of starlings (Whitlock et al. 2018), they also refer to work by other researchers showing earthworms at sewage treatment plants to contain other contaminants including pharmaceuticals (Markman et al. 2007 & 2008). There are many other studies globally showing uptake of pharmaceuticals into a variety of invertebrate species.
The uptake of pharmaceutical residues from sewage, sewage effluent and sewage sludge has been shown to negatively impact invertebrates themselves and provides a clear route of exposure to many species of wildlife including birds and bats. The full significance of this is still being assessed.
References
Bean, T. G., Arnold, K. E., Lane, J., Bergstrom, E., Thomas-Oates, J. E., Rattner, B., & Boxall, A. B. A. (2017). Predictive framework for estimating exposure of birds to pharmaceuticals. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. DOI: 10.1002/etc.3771
Markman S,Guschina I,Barnsley S,Buchanan K,Pascoe D,et al. (2007) Endocrine disrupting chemicals accumulate in earthworms exposed to sewage effluent. Chemosphere 70: 119–125.
Markman S, Leitner S, Catchpole C, Barnsley S, Müller CT, Pascoe D, et al. (2008) Pollutants Increase Song Complexity and the Volume of the Brain Area HVC in a Songbird. PLoS ONE 3(2): e1674. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001674
Sophia E. Whitlock, M. Glória Pereira, Richard F. Shore, Julie Lane, Kathryn E. Arnold. Environmentally relevant exposure to an antidepressant alters courtship behaviours in a songbird. Chemosphere, 2018; 211: 17 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.07.074
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Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of low concentrations of anti-depressants on the courtship and breeding of starlings.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The experiments conducted by University of York in collaboration with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) demonstrated that exposing starlings to a maximal environmentally relevant concentration of an anti-depressant (fluoxetine) altered courtship behaviour in wild-caught starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). The males sang less and were more aggressive towards females that had been dosed with an anti-depressant than to the untreated females and in addition the treated females were also initially more aggressive towards males than the untreated females. However there were no effects on female courtship behaviour or on circulating female hormones in treated females. These findings suggest that exposure to this dose of anti-depressant reduced female attractiveness to the male but the reasons why are not clear. Whether these levels of anti-depressants in the environment would have a significant effect on an individual’s fitness or the population as a whole requires further investigation.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which ministers have resigned their Government appointments since the Chequers Summit meeting on 7–8 July; and what Government positions each of those ministers held.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The following ministers have resigned from Government after the Chequers Summit:
Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Rt Hon David Davis MP, former Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
Guto Bebb MP, former Minister for Defence Procurement
Steve Baker MP, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
Andrew Griffiths MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government at what time the White Paper The Future Relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union (Cm 9593) was made available to (1) Members of the House of Lords, (2) Members of the House of Commons, (3) the BBC, (4) the EU, and (5) heads of other governments.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The White Paper on the Future Relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union was published on the GOV.UK website and shared in a letter to the Chairs of the European Union Committee and the Commons Exiting the European Union and European Scrutiny Committees at the moment the Secretary of State stood up to make his statement.
Copies of the White Paper were put in the libraries of both Houses at 0930 on 12 July but due to an administrative error, the White Paper was not distributed to Members of the House of Commons ahead of the debate. There was no intent on the Government’s part to withhold information from the House and the Secretary of State has apologised for this oversight.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been charged with terrorist offences connected with Northern Ireland since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Information on charges for terrorist offences with a connection to Northern Ireland is held by a number of agencies. Northern Ireland Office officials are currently undertaking a consolidation exercise to confirm the answer to this question and I will write to the Noble Lord once this exercise has been completed.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) members, and (2) former members of the security forces have been charged with offences relating to their duties in Northern Ireland since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Government does not hold figures on prosecutorial decisions as this is a matter for the prosecuting authorities (in this case the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland) who act independently of Government.
We are aware, however, that since 2011 the following decisions have been taken in relation to offences connected to the security situation in Northern Ireland that took place prior to the signing of the Belfast Agreement on 10 April 1998.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or intend to have, with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police about the cost of the police and security operations concerning the demonstrations in Old Palace Yard in support of the EU.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government has not had any discussions with the Metropolitan Police Service in respect of this protest.
We are clear that the public have the right to peaceful protest, and that police forces should make reasonable contingencies within their budgets to cover the cost of these and other unexpected events in their area. Police and Crime Commissioners have the option to apply for funding through the Police Special Grant to assist with the cost of any significant events which might otherwise threaten the financial stability of the police force.
However, we also acknowledge that there are additional demands in policing the national capital and centre of Government, and provide the Metropolitan Police with additional funding called the National and International Capital City (NICC) Grant to help cover those costs. For 2018/19, the NICC Grant was £174m.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 26 July 2017, how many people were killed by individuals who had previously been convicted of murder or manslaughter, in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office Homicide Index holds data on the number of people in England and Wales who have been killed by persons who have been previously convicted of homicide. The information is given in the table.
Table 1: Number of homicides in England and Wales known to have been committed by suspects who had been previously convicted of homicide1,2,3 , 2007/08 to 2016/17 | ||||||||||
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| 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 |
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Number of homicide victims | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
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1. Source: Homicide Index, Home Office |
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2. Homicide Index data are designated as National Statistics |
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3. As at 16 November 2017; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. | ||||||||||
The figure excludes persons who have been killed by those who may have been convicted outside England and Wales (for whom there is incomplete information), and persons who have been killed by those not previously convicted of homicide by reason of their mental state.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many offenders with previous convictions for homicide were convicted of homicide in (1) 2014, (2) 2015, (3) 2016, and (4) 2017.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The table below provides the number of offenders who were convicted of a further offence of homicide* between 2014 and 2017 and who were subject to probation supervision for a previous homicide conviction at the time.
Year | Total number of people convicted of homicide offences at both index offence and SFO |
(1) 2014 | 3 |
(2) 2015 | 3 |
(3) 2016 | 0 |
(4) 2017 | 3 |
Serious further offences by supervised offenders are rare, but each one is taken extremely seriously and investigated fully to identify any necessary actions when managing other cases.
Data is not available on offenders with a previous conviction for homicide who have completed their sentence and associated supervision by probation and then go on to commit a further homicide.
*Answer interprets homicide to include offences of murder, manslaughter, death by dangerous driving and death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 11 April (HL6665), whether the commitment to provide lifetime tenancies in social housing extends to holders of tenancies in Grenfell Tower who had sublet their property and so were not resident at the time of the fire.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea committed that all households who were living in Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk as their main home immediately before the fire will be offered a lifetime tenancy in social housing, and the Council has made clear this includes:
Council introductory or secure tenants;
Resident leaseholders;
Subtenants or lodgers of the above; and
Tenants of non-resident leaseholders.
The Government continues to support the Council to deliver this commitment.