Questioner: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (LAB - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will provide the information set out in figure 16 on page 55 of the NHS Resolution annual report and accounts 2020/21 in respect of clinical negligence cases only for the year 2020/21.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The information requested is shown in the following table.
Settlement type | Total number of clinical negligence claims | Number of claims settled with damages | Number of claims settled with No damages | Percentage of all claims settled, with damages | Percentage of all claims settled, no damages |
No proceedings | 8,941 | 4,568 | 4,373 | 37.94% | 36.32% |
Proceedings | 3,066 | 2,478 | 588 | 20.58% | 4.88% |
Trial | 34 | 10 | 24 | 0.08% | 0.2% |
Questioner: Philip Davies (CON - Shipley)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women receiving the covid-19 vaccination; and what steps he is taking to ensure that equal numbers of men and women receive that vaccination.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
No specific comparative assessment has been made on the number of men and women receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
The ‘UK COVID-19 vaccine uptake plan’ published in February sets out the Government’s approach to ensure that all groups have the opportunity to receive the vaccine. The plan is available at the following link:
Questioner: Lord Balfe (CON - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 13 July 2021 (HL1668), what progress they have made on the misapplication of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) orders; and what is their timetable for publishing more details on the Ministerial Oversight Group's (1) membership, (2) workings, and (3) decisions.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The first meeting of the Ministerial Oversight Group has now taken place and the Group has set out their commitment to driving forward improvements. A summary of the meeting has been shared with interested stakeholders. The membership, workings and decisions of the Ministerial Oversight Group were published on 23 July.
Questioner: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their response to their consultation on the New Plan for Immigration, published on 24 March; and what assessment they have made of their compliance with paragraph J of their Consultation Principles, published on 17 July 2012, in respect of their response to this consultation.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
This has been published already.
Questioner: Lord Birt (CB - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of COVID-19 infections transmitted via (1) the air, and (2) surfaces.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No specific assessment has been made.
Questioner: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GRN - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 8 June (HL Deb, col 1312), what assessment they have made of the report by Z2K #PeopleBeforeProcess, published on 25 May; and what steps they plan to take as a result.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Government acknowledges the report by Z2K published in May 2021 and will consider its findings as part of our consultation on the Health & Disability Green Paper, published on 20 July. The Green Paper explores how the benefits system can better meet people’s needs now and in the future by improving people’s experience of our services, enabling independent living and improving employment outcomes.
The Government is committed to improving the lives of disabled people and yesterday published the National Disability Strategy. The strategy takes into account the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled people and focuses on the issues that disabled people say affect them the most in all aspects of life.
Questioner: Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure safe and unimpeded humanitarian access in North-West and South-West Cameroon.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
During the Minister for Africa's visit to Cameroon in March, he met project partners to witness the impact of UK aid and called for unimpeded humanitarian access to those in need. The UK's representative reiterated these calls at the UN Security Council briefing on the UN Regional Office for Central Africa in June, and the British High Commission in Yaoundé continues to advocate for access alongside the diplomatic community and the UN.
Questioner: Lord Woolley of Woodford (CB - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the (1) guidance, and (2) duty being placed on colleges, to review local skills provision includes guidance on advancing race equality in further education.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Draft statutory guidance makes clear that in carrying their reviews, the governing bodies of colleges will need to ensure that they comply with their existing statutory obligations, including those related to equality law, under the Equality Act 2010.
Questioner: Baroness Cox (CB - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of an encroachment by the armed forces of Azerbaijan into the village of Yeraskh in Armenia on 19 July.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government is aware of the ongoing tensions along the Armenia and Azerbaijan border. We continue to urge both sides to refrain from rhetoric or actions which may exacerbate the situation and to engage in urgent discussions to ensure a peaceful resolution to the current tensions.
Questioner: Lord Woolley of Woodford (CB - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the (1) guidance, and (2) duty being placed on colleges, to review local skills provision, to include an explicit reference to ethnicity.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Draft statutory guidance makes clear that in carrying their reviews, the governing bodies of colleges will need to ensure that they comply with their existing statutory obligations, including those related to equality law, under the Equality Act 2010.
Questioner: Luke Pollard (LAB - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Ministry of Defence on their proposals to release untreated radioactive rainwater from HM Naval Base Devonport into the river Tamar.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency (EA) was in discussions with HM Naval Base (HMNB) Devonport on their proposals for the disposal of rainwater containing tritium (a radioactive isotope of hydrogen) between December 2020 and June 2021. At that point HMNB Devonport formally submitted an application to vary its Approval for the receipt and disposal of radioactive waste.
At present this low level contaminated rainwater passes through the effluent treatment plant operated by the neighbouring nuclear site, Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd. HMNB Devonport now wants to release the rainwater directly into the River Tamar/Hamoaze. This would result in a very minor increase in dose to the public – equal to less than five minutes of the average annual background radiation dose in the UK. The total dose from all pathways and sources of radiation from the Dockyard was less than 0.005 mSv in 2019, which was less than 0.5 percent of the dose limit. Overall this is a very low level of radioactivity that will be discharged to the environment. The environmental impact of the tritium discharge is therefore minimal.
Discussions included the EA giving pre-application advice to the dockyard to ensure that the application would contain sufficient information to allow the EA to assess the application in a timely manner. The EA consulted with the public until 27 July about this application and will now work to determine the application. The consultation can be found here: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/nuclear/application-to-vary-the-radioactive-substances-app/
The radioactive substances provisions of the Environmental Permitting Regulations do not apply to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). However, there is a Memorandum of Understanding between the EA and the MoD which provides for equivalent administrative arrangements. The Approval held by the MoD for HMNB Devonport is the equivalent of a Permit that would be held by a civilian operator.
The EA will continue to monitor pollution in the River Tamar/Hamoaze and the potential impact of the HMNB discharge if the application is approved.
Questioner: Lord Hylton (CB - Excepted Hereditary)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend the Nationality and Borders Bill (1) to protect children who have been trafficked twice or more, (2) to support children who may have committed offences while suffering exploitation, and (3) to protect exploited foreign children by providing leave to remain of sufficient length to guard against further harm.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford
Within the Nationality and Borders Bill, we are proposing modern slavery measures to deliver a decision-making process and support system that is fair and provides support for those who genuinely need it.
We recognise that some victims of modern slavery may have had periods of high vulnerability and can have multiple, complex needs, with some individuals experiencing multiple forms of exploitation at different points in time. The proposed measures within the Bill therefore rightly allow for protection and support for individuals subject to repeated exploitation, including child victims whilst seeking to ensure that further support is only provided where needed.
We remain committed to tackling exploitation in all its forms. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 gives law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery, including a maximum life sentence for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims. Where children are found to be potential victims of human trafficking or modern slavery their safety and welfare are addressed as a priority. Local authorities are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, including child victims of modern slavery. In addition to this statutory support, the Government has rolled out Independent Child Trafficking Guardians (ICTGs), an additional source of advice and support for all potentially trafficked children, in two thirds of all local authorities in England and Wales.
We will seek to put into legislation for the first time the commitment that all confirmed victims, including children, without immigration status will be considered for a grant of temporary leave to remain in line with specific criteria.
This will bring clarity to decision makers and victims on the process for temporary leave to remain. We will continue to comply with our duties under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship, and Immigration Act 2009 to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Questioner: Lord Bowness (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 7 December 2018 (HL11885), whether the UK Space Agency has yet developed options for a UK Navigation Satellite System; if so, (1) what those options are, and (2) whether their costs are within the £92 million set aside for the Engineering and Design studies.
Answered by Lord Callanan
The Space-Based Positioning Navigation and Timing Programme (SBPP) is on track and is continuing to explore innovative ways of delivering space-based Position Navigation and Timing (PNT) services to the UK. The programme will advise on options to Government for a space-based solution to improve our PNT resilience, as part of a mix of technologies, in November this year.
SBPP follows on from the work of the UK Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Programme, which concluded in September 2020. The cost of this programme was contained within the £92m allocated. In conjunction with industry, the GNSS programme developed detailed designs for a Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) PNT satellite system. SBPP is now looking at a broader set of innovative concepts for securing global space-based PNT services, to meet the resilience needs of our Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and wider economic and domestic users.
Questioner: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (LDEM - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the recommendations of the report of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic, published on 5 May; and in particular, what plans they have to support a political declaration on pandemic planning at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
It is vital to learn lessons from a global health emergency, particularly one as complex and far-reaching as COVID-19, so that we can be better prepared for future pandemics. We need to take this moment to deliver concrete improvements that allow the international system to respond better in the future. The findings and bold recommendations of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response, as well as the other reviews into this pandemic, will play an important role in this process. We are carefully considering these recommendations as we approach key discussions, including at the G20, the United Nations General Assembly, and the World Health Assembly Special Session later this year.
Questioner: Florence Eshalomi (LAB - Vauxhall)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he or any of the Ministers of his Department use personal email addresses to conduct Government business.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I refer the hon. Member for Vauxhall to the answer I gave on 5 July 2021 to Questions 23184 and 23186.