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1124887

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Furniture: Fire Resistant Materials
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they taking to comply with the Stockholm Agreement and other agreements on the control of hazardous chemicals for any UK upholstered furniture containing a number of persistent organic pollutants with no available information or register of their chemical composition, in particular, flame retardants.
	tabling member printed	The Countess of Mar
	uin	HL15562
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The UK has some of the most rigorous chemical regulations in the world. The Government implements the Stockholm Convention through EU Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Chemicals in use also have to go through assessments under the REACH Regulation (No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals). All furniture placed on the market in the UK must comply with these regulations.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to improving traceability of chemicals in products and waste and are working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on this.</p><p> </p><p>Specifically, the Government is reviewing the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 and has consulted on whether to introduce a specific requirement for furniture labels to stipulate any flame retardants used in their manufacture. The Government’s response to the consultation will be published in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 20/05/2019 16:03:49 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	1861 label Biography information for The Countess of Mar

1125844

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Furniture: Fire Resistant Materials
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety of the use of decabromodiphenyl ethane in UK furniture; and what advice, if any, they have received from (1) the European Chemicals Agency, (2) the Health and Safety Executive, and (3) the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment on the risks of using decabromodiphenyl ethane.
	tabling member printed	The Countess of Mar
	uin	HL15634
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government is currently reviewing the operation of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 and is taking account of evidence and advice from external sources such as academic papers as well as the views of experts from across government, including Chief Scientific Advisors.</p><p> </p><p>All furniture must also comply with the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and be safe before it can be placed on the market.</p><p> </p><p>DecaBDE is a persistent organic pollutant. The UK ceased production of this substance in 1996 and its use has declined sharply since then. Many other countries have also phased out its use. It was banned under the UN Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants in December 2018 and under the European chemical regulation regime, REACH, in March 2019. It will not be present in household soft furnishings and mattresses purchased after this ban comes into effect.</p><p> </p><p>Chemicals, including brominated flame retardants used in UK furniture, are regulated under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). REACH aims to provide a high level of protection for health and the environment from the use of chemicals including those used in products.</p><p> </p><p>In order to comply with REACH, companies must identify and manage the risks linked to the substances they manufacture and market in the EU. They have to demonstrate how the substances can be safely used, and they must communicate the risk management measures to the users. If the risks cannot be managed, authorities can ban or restrict the use of substances.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 20/05/2019 16:06:25 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
	tabling member	1861 label Biography information for The Countess of Mar

1125523

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Monuments: Construction
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in deciding where to build public monuments, they consider their visual, aesthetic and environmental impact.
	tabling member printed	Lord Truscott
	uin	HL15618
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the guidelines by which planning decisions should be made. There is no separate national policy specifically relating to public monuments.</p> answering member printed Lord Ashton of Hyde question first answered 20/05/2019 13:50:07 answering member 4247 label Biography information for Lord Ashton of Hyde
	tabling member	3682 label Biography information for Lord Truscott

1124894

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Business
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Business Confidence Monitor Q2 2019, published in May, which suggests a decline in confidence of UK businesses due to ongoing Brexit uncertainty.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL15569
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The latest ICAEW Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) shows that business confidence has not fallen significantly this quarter.</p><p> </p><p>According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK economy picked up in the first three months of the year - Growth was 0.5% in the quarter, up from 0.2% in the previous three months. The employment rate (16-64) remained at 76.1%– at a record high. Employment increased by 99,000 on the quarter, standing at 32.7m – remaining broadly unchanged on the last labour market statistics release.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 20/05/2019 16:08:29 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1124895

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Biodiversity
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to remain closely aligned with the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy after Brexit; and if not, what plans they have to implement a long-term post-Brexit strategy on biodiversity.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL15570
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that, when the UK leaves the EU, our existing environmental protections are maintained and, where possible, enhanced. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act ensures that the whole body of existing EU environmental law, including the Habitats and the Wild Birds Directives, continues to have effect in UK law following our departure from the EU.</p><p> </p><p>The EU Biodiversity Strategy implements commitments to halt biodiversity loss agreed in 2010 by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.</p><p> </p><p>Biodiversity policy is devolved in the UK. In England, those same international commitments to halt biodiversity loss are implemented through the Biodiversity 2020 Strategy and related documents such as the National Pollinator Strategy.</p><p> </p><p>In the 25 Year Environment Plan, we committed to developing a new strategy for nature to replace Biodiversity 2020. Our intention is to publish this strategy in early 2021 to take forward the new international commitments for biodiversity, in particular the new global biodiversity framework, to be agreed under the Convention on Biological Diversity, in 2020. It will also set out in more detail how we intend to take forward the ambitions for nature in the 25 Year Environment Plan.</p><p> </p><p>Under the new strategy, the Government will continue to work towards, among other things, clean, safe, healthy, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas; and on land, restoring 75% of our protected sites to favourable condition by 2042 and establishing a Nature Recovery Network. The Nature Recovery Network will expand and connect wildlife rich habitat by developing landscape scale partnerships to manage land in a way that supports the recovery of our much loved wildlife.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 20/05/2019 16:09:40 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1126329

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Navy: Recruitment
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to increase staff recruitment in the UK Royal Navy; and if so, what steps they are taking to increase skills and training of such staff.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL15689
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>Plans are already in place to increase recruitment as part of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Personnel Recovery and Growth Programme.</p><p>All training delivered to Naval Service personnel, from recruitment and throughout their career, is regularly reviewed to maximise talent and ensure that people have the appropriate skills to allow the Navy to continue to meet their operational commitments.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 20/05/2019 16:47:24 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1126730

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Research: Finance
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help increase investment in UK research and development.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL15747
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Universities and Science to the hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow on 27 March 2019 to Question 230812.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 20/05/2019 16:04:38 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1125857

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Bahrain: Capital Punishment
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of concerns expressed by the UN and other international actors that Ali Al-Arab and Ahmed Al-Malali were convicted and sentenced to death in Bahrain based on confessions they gave under torture; and (1) what representations they have made to the King of Bahrain, and (2) what other steps they are taking, to prevent their execution.
	tabling member printed	Lord Scriven
	uin	HL15647
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>We are closely following the cases of Mr Almalali and Mr Alarab and have raised the cases with the Bahraini Government. The UK's position on the use of the death penalty is longstanding and clear; we oppose its use in all circumstances and countries. The Government of Bahrain are fully aware of our position. The British Government consistently and unreservedly condemns torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to combat it wherever and whenever it occurs. We urge allegations of this nature to be reported to the appropriate national human rights oversight bodies and continue to encourage these oversight bodies to carry out swift and thorough investigations into any such concerns or allegations.​</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon grouped question UIN HL15648 question first answered 20/05/2019 13:41:06 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	4333 label Biography information for Lord Scriven

1125858

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Bahrain: Capital Punishment
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the failure of oversight bodies in Bahrain to investigate allegations of the torture and coerced confessions of Ali Al-Arab and Ahmed Al-Malali.
	tabling member printed	Lord Scriven
	uin	HL15648
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>We are closely following the cases of Mr Almalali and Mr Alarab and have raised the cases with the Bahraini Government. The UK's position on the use of the death penalty is longstanding and clear; we oppose its use in all circumstances and countries. The Government of Bahrain are fully aware of our position. The British Government consistently and unreservedly condemns torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to combat it wherever and whenever it occurs. We urge allegations of this nature to be reported to the appropriate national human rights oversight bodies and continue to encourage these oversight bodies to carry out swift and thorough investigations into any such concerns or allegations.​</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon grouped question UIN HL15647 question first answered 20/05/2019 13:41:06 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	4333 label Biography information for Lord Scriven

1126326

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Land
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps are being taken, if any, to make surplus Ministry of Defence land available to local authorities for the provision of affordable and social housing.
	tabling member printed	Lord Porter of Spalding
	uin	HL15686
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government ensures that local authorities have the opportunity to express an interest in surplus Ministry of Defence land.</p><p> </p><p>In accordance with Her Majesty’s Treasury guidelines, once a site is declared surplus to Defence purposes it is placed on the cross-Government database managed by the Office of Government Property within the Cabinet Office. This database provides an opportunity for other public bodies including local authorities to express an interest in acquiring sites before they are placed on the open market. Sites stay on the data base for 40 working days.</p><p> </p><p>Treasury guidelines state that transactions such as sales between Departments should generally be at full market value even if transferred to other public sector bodies (including publicly sponsored housing associations).</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 20/05/2019 16:48:14 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	4555 label Biography information for Lord Porter of Spalding