Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many refugees from Ukraine have been settled in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

As of 5 March 2024, 201,400 people have arrived in the UK under the Ukraine visa schemes, rather than as refugees. 144,400 of them have been sponsored under the Homes for Ukraine scheme with 108,601 being in England, 1,500 in Northern Ireland, 5,847 in Scotland and 4,200 in Wales.

In addition to this, 20,882 Ukrainians have been sponsored by the Scottish Government and another 3,291 by the Welsh Government. Further information including a full breakdown of the data has been published on Gov.UK and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-visa-data-by-country-upper-and-lower-tier-local-authority.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage Tata Steel to minimise job losses in their steel works at Port Talbot.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government is providing a grant worth up to £500 million, as part of a wider £1.25 billion investment by Tata Steel. This will not only modernise Port Talbot but protect the majority of jobs for the long term.

Tata has a legal obligation to consult staff in a meaningful way, and this process is underway, led by the company. Whilst this is a process for the company to lead on, Ministers and officials are meeting regularly with both Tata Steel and Union representatives and will continue to hold Tata to account during the consultation process.

Regardless of the outcome of the consultation, we are working with Tata Steel to provide up to £100 million of funding for a dedicated Transition Board, with membership including representatives of the Welsh Government, to support impacted employees and the local economy. Tata has also announced that they will provide a £130 million comprehensive support package for affected employees.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of deposits of lithium in Wales and Scotland, and what discussions they have had with the respective devolved administrations to ensure they are aware of such information.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Critical Minerals Strategy committed to collate UK geoscientific data and identify areas of geological potential for critical mineral extraction. The Department for Business and Trade commissioned the British Geological Survey to undertake the study, “Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK”, delivered by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) and was published in 2023. It is a preliminary assessment of geological factors only, and its findings do not mean prospective areas identified will necessarily be targeted for exploration and mining. Mineral planning policy is also a devolved matter.

Areas of potential geological prospectivity for critical minerals were identified in both Scotland and Wales. Regarding the geological prospectivity for lithium, the report identified two areas in Scotland and no areas in Wales.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they gave, in deciding on introducing additional electricity generation by way of new gas facilities, to whether these requirements could have been met by accelerating the small modular reactors programme.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

A range of sources of generation contribute to system flexibility, especially when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining. In the case of nuclear, Great British Nuclear is running a Technology Selection Process for Small Modular Reactors. The Government’s aim is to run the fastest competition of its kind in the world, to identify technologies with the potential to deliver projects in the mid-2030s.

In the immediate term, to maintain security of electricity supply, a limited amount of new gas capacity is needed as the main mature technology capable of providing sustained flexible capacity.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Harlech on 6 March (HL3092), on how many occasions in the past 12 months has the Government failed to provide an official to attend a meeting arranged between (1) Welsh Ministers and (2) ministers of foreign governments; and whether the meetings were permitted to go ahead in those circumstances.

Answered by Lord Harlech - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Between March 2023 and March 2024, Welsh Ministers have conducted over 20 overseas visits. Close engagement between FCDO and Welsh Government officials ensured that Welsh Ministers were effectively supported on each visit. This included FCDO officials accompanying Welsh Ministers in their meetings with ministers of foreign governments, as appropriate. FCDO officials attended all such meetings.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the deposits of lithium in Wales and Scotland; and whether they will ensure that all such is conveyed to the respective devolved authorities.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Critical Minerals Strategy committed to collate UK geoscientific data and identify areas of geological potential for critical mineral extraction. The Department for Business and Trade commissioned the British Geological Survey to undertake the study, “Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK”, delivered by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) and was published in 2023. It is a preliminary assessment of geological factors only, and its findings do not mean prospective areas identified will necessarily be targeted for exploration and mining. Mineral planning policy is also a devolved matter.

Areas of potential geological prospectivity for critical minerals were identified in both Scotland and Wales. Regarding the geological prospectivity for lithium, the report identified two areas in Scotland and no areas in Wales.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had in the past 12 months with Welsh Ministers on issues relating to the trawling of the sea bed for rare minerals within territorial waters of the Welsh coast.

Answered by Lord Harlech - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

UK Government Ministers have regular discussions with Welsh Government Ministers on a wide range of issues. In addition, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs engages regularly at official level with the Welsh Government on areas of shared interest, including marine licensing.

The licensing regime for mineral extraction from the seabed within Welsh waters is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, and therefore the responsibility of Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to persuade the Tata Steel Company to minimise job losses in their steel works at Port Talbot.

Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

As announced on the 15th of September 2023, Tata Steel is investing £1.25 billion, including a UK Government grant worth up to £500 million, in a new Electric Arc Furnace. This support is expected to save at least 5,000 jobs in the company, and thousands more in the supply chain.

Where staff are affected by the transition to an Electric Arc Furnace, Tata has a legal obligation to consult staff in a meaningful way, and this process is underway, led by the company. Whilst this is a process for the company to lead on, Ministers and officials are meeting regularly with both Tata Steel and Union representatives, and will continue to hold Tata to account during the consultation process.

Regardless of the outcome of the consultation, we are working with Tata Steel to provide up to £100 million of funding for a dedicated Transition Board, with membership including representatives of the Welsh Government, to support impacted employees and the local economy. Tata has also announced that they will provide a £130 million comprehensive support package for affected employees.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many operational personnel of the British Army are currently based in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland, (4) Northern Ireland, and (5) overseas.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the Noble Lord to the below table which shows the number of Trade Trained Regular Army Personnel by Stationed Location, as of 1 January 2024.

Notes/Caveats:

1. The figures are for the Trade Trained Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but includes those personnel that have transferred from GURTAM to UKTAP.
2. Figures include all Trade Trained Regular Army personnel, regardless of whether they are currently deployed on operation. This also includes personnel regardless of their Medical Deployability Status.
3. Figures include both Officers and Soldiers.
4. The figures are based on service personnel’s stationed location and not their area of residence – where personnel work isn’t necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location.
5. There are approximately 20 personnel with an unallocated location as recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration System (JPA).
6. Figures have been rounded to 10 for presentational purposes; numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
7. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be a sum of their parts.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Pakistan regarding attacks on Ahmadiyya Muslim mosques.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK condemns the continued persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Pakistan and this is regularly raised in our meetings with the Pakistani authorities. On 22 March I met with Pakistan's newly-appointed Foreign Secretary Ishaq Dar to discuss the rights of religious minorities in Pakistan. I raised attacks on Ahmadiyya Muslim mosques with Pakistan's caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on 13 September and in a letter of 5 October in 2023. On 7 March, the UK formally registered concerns with the Pakistan High Commission, condemning all incidents of hate speech directed towards Ahmadi Muslims, the desecration of Ahmadi mosques, and violence against Ahmadi individuals. In my letter to the newly-appointed Human Rights Minister in March, I underlined the UK's commitment to protecting religious minorities and urged the government of Pakistan to condemn any instances of hate directed towards Ahmadi Muslims and other marginalised religious communities.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Argentina on greater support for the teaching of Welsh in the Chubut Province.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The British Council has delivered the Welsh Language Project (WLP), which promotes and develops the Welsh language in the Chubut region of Patagonia, Argentina, since 1997. Each year, Language Development Officers from Wales spend a full academic year teaching in Patagonia. They develop the language in the Welsh-speaking communities through both formal teaching and informal social activities. His Majesty's Ambassador to Argentina and the British Council Director for Argentina last discussed the programme with the Government of Argentina in mid-March.