Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision has been made to vaccinate British Army Gurkha veterans living in Nepal.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Nepal during this pandemic. The UK has an enduring defence relationship with Nepal and their Armed Forces.
We were one of the first countries to send life-saving medical equipment to Nepal, including 260 ventilators and thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment, to help the country’s fight against Covid-19. The UK is also one of the leading donors to COVAX, having committed £548million to the scheme. COVAX has allocated 2,000,000 vaccine doses to Nepal, of which 348,000 have already been delivered and we understand another tranche will arrive by August.
UK aid to the Gurkha Welfare Trust has also ensured access to life-saving support and supplies to Gurkha veterans and their communities throughout the pandemic. Their distinguished service is a source of immense pride in both our countries.
The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation that those who serve, or have served, in the Armed Forces, and their families, will be treated fairly and will not be disadvantaged in accessing public and commercial goods and services in the UK as a result of their military service.
The Covenant is there for the Armed Forces Community as a whole, which includes everyone who has previously served in the UK Armed Forces. But the purpose of the Covenant is to address disadvantage that is attributable to the effects of someone’s time in service. Disadvantage in this context principally concerns access to goods and services available in the UK, and it is usually measured in comparison to the levels of access enjoyed by the local civilian population
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether British Army Gurkha veterans living in (1) the UK, and (2) Nepal, are covered by the Armed Forces Covenant.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Nepal during this pandemic. The UK has an enduring defence relationship with Nepal and their Armed Forces.
We were one of the first countries to send life-saving medical equipment to Nepal, including 260 ventilators and thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment, to help the country’s fight against Covid-19. The UK is also one of the leading donors to COVAX, having committed £548million to the scheme. COVAX has allocated 2,000,000 vaccine doses to Nepal, of which 348,000 have already been delivered and we understand another tranche will arrive by August.
UK aid to the Gurkha Welfare Trust has also ensured access to life-saving support and supplies to Gurkha veterans and their communities throughout the pandemic. Their distinguished service is a source of immense pride in both our countries.
The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation that those who serve, or have served, in the Armed Forces, and their families, will be treated fairly and will not be disadvantaged in accessing public and commercial goods and services in the UK as a result of their military service.
The Covenant is there for the Armed Forces Community as a whole, which includes everyone who has previously served in the UK Armed Forces. But the purpose of the Covenant is to address disadvantage that is attributable to the effects of someone’s time in service. Disadvantage in this context principally concerns access to goods and services available in the UK, and it is usually measured in comparison to the levels of access enjoyed by the local civilian population
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce a roadworthiness test for vehicles over 40 years old.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are currently no plans to introduce a roadworthiness test for vehicles over 40 years old.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what overseas development assistance compliant bilateral financial support they intend to give Nepal over the next five years, broken down by project.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is one of the leading donors to COVAX, committing £548 million to the scheme, which will provide more than a billion vaccines to developing countries including doses for almost a fifth of Nepal's population. The UK has also funded a new £180,000 duplex oxygen generation plant at the Nepal Police Hospital in Kathmandu to help address oxygen shortages to treat COVID19 patients. On 27 May the UK sent a further package of support to Nepal to help the country's fight against coronavirus. This included 260 ventilators and personal protective equipment.
As the Foreign Secretary set out in his Written Ministerial Statement on 21 April, we have prioritised our aid to be more strategic and remain a force for good across the world. The Foreign Secretary's statement set out seven core priorities for the UK's aid budget in the overarching pursuit of poverty reduction. These principles combined with a strategic approach will ensure that every penny we spend, including to Nepal, goes as far as possible and makes a world-leading difference
The details of UK bilateral assistance programmes are set out in FCDO's DevTracker. This provides each project's allocation, the amount spent to date, and the end date for each project. Full budgets per country and a final audited spend for 2020/21 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development website and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what requests for bilateral support they have received from the government of Nepal to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic; and what their response has been.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is one of the leading donors to Covax, committing £548m to the scheme, which will provide more than a billion vaccines to developing countries including doses for almost a fifth of Nepal's population. The UK has also funded a new £180,000 duplex oxygen generation plant at the Nepal Police Hospital in Kathmandu to help address oxygen shortages to treat COVID19 patients. The UK is also providing £15m of support to international NGOs and the UN to provide shelter, nutrition and other critical needs in Nepal - including cash and voucher assistance to 220,000 vulnerable people's basic needs, nutrition support to 120,000 pregnant and lactating women and infants, 400,000 people with WASH (UNICEF's water, sanitation and hygiene) support, and 210 truckloads of relief supplies to 52 different destinations.
On Friday 28 May, a plane carrying the UK’s donation of 260 ventilators and 2,000 visors arrived in Nepal, in response to an urgent request for medical supplies from the Government of Nepal. Moreover, since the beginning of the pandemic, British Embassy Kathmandu has helped Nepal respond to COVID-19 by reprioritising over £40m of its aid budget. This support has included the construction of an oxygen plant in a Kathmandu hospital; technical advice to local government on managing the impact of COVID-19; water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to support around 300,000 people; safe spaces for women in isolation centres; cash and voucher assistance for the most vulnerable; and nutrition support for pregnant and lactating women.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is one of the leading donors to Covax, committing £548m to the scheme, which will provide more than a billion vaccines to developing countries including doses for almost a fifth of Nepal's population. The UK has also funded a new £180,000 duplex oxygen generation plant at the Nepal Police Hospital in Kathmandu to help address oxygen shortages to treat COVID19 patients. The UK is also providing £15m of support to international NGOs and the UN to provide shelter, nutrition and other critical needs in Nepal - including cash and voucher assistance to 220,000 vulnerable people's basic needs, nutrition support to 120,000 pregnant and lactating women and infants, 400,000 people with WASH (UNICEF's water, sanitation and hygiene) support, and 210 truckloads of relief supplies to 52 different destinations.
On Friday 28 May, a plane carrying the UK’s donation of 260 ventilators and 2,000 visors arrived in Nepal, in response to an urgent request for medical supplies from the Government of Nepal. Moreover, since the beginning of the pandemic, British Embassy Kathmandu has helped Nepal respond to COVID-19 by reprioritising over £40m of its aid budget. This support has included the construction of an oxygen plant in a Kathmandu hospital; technical advice to local government on managing the impact of COVID-19; water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to support around 300,000 people; safe spaces for women in isolation centres; cash and voucher assistance for the most vulnerable; and nutrition support for pregnant and lactating women.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the false positive rate from rapid lateral flow test carried out on asymptomatic school children.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Public Health England and Oxford University have estimated the false positive rate among asymptomatic school children is fewer than one in every 1,000 lateral flow tests.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of impact of false positive results from a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test on the number of children who will not be permitted to attend school.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department has confidence in the value and accuracy of lateral flow tests. The tests are highly specific, with low chances of false positives.
More than 130 types of lateral flow devices (LFDs) have been assessed and over 20,000 evaluations completed. Results indicate that LFDs are effective at detecting COVID-19 in an individual and registering an appropriate positive result, including for the current variants.
The speed and convenience of the tests supports the detection of the virus in asymptomatic individuals, who would not otherwise have been tested. LFD tests are approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for home use.
The Government has temporarily removed confirmatory PCR testing for Lateral Flow Tests taken at test sites, such as those situated in some workplaces, universities, secondary schools and colleges. This follows advice from Public Health England that, when COVID-19 prevalence rates are high, the performance of lateral flow devices and PCRs are broadly comparable when used at test sites, significantly reducing the need for routine confirmatory testing. In line with clinical advice, confirmatory PCR testing will remain in place, for pupils, students, and staff for whom testing is done at home to reduce the risk of false positives.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 22 February (HL13107), when they expect the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to be complete in (1) UK Overseas Territories, and (2) Crown Dependencies.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to the Crown Dependencies and all of the inhabited Overseas Territories with airports. Arrangements are now being made to deliver the vaccines to Tristan da Cunha and the Pitcairn Islands. The smaller Overseas Territories will complete their vaccination programmes soon and deliveries to the other Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies continue on a population proportionate basis alongside the domestic roll out in the UK. The Government only publishes data on vaccine administered in the UK, the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies are regularly publishing data on their vaccination programmes.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 22 February (HL13107), how many COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to (1) UK Overseas Territories, and (2) Crown Dependencies.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to the Crown Dependencies and all of the inhabited Overseas Territories with airports. Arrangements are now being made to deliver the vaccines to Tristan da Cunha and the Pitcairn Islands. The smaller Overseas Territories will complete their vaccination programmes soon and deliveries to the other Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies continue on a population proportionate basis alongside the domestic roll out in the UK. The Government only publishes data on vaccine administered in the UK, the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies are regularly publishing data on their vaccination programmes.