Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed question first answered answering member label attachment file name title
tabling member	label

Search

1123739

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are approaching the upcoming replenishment period and strategy review with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
tabling member printed	Lord Crisp
uin	HL15377
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>The UK is delighted to be hosting the Gavi Replenishment in 2020. Gavi has immunised over 700 million children, saving 10 million lives from preventable diseases. The UK is proud to have played a significant role in delivering these extraordinary results.</p><p> </p><p>As hosts of the Replenishment Conference, our priority will be to help Gavi secure the funding it needs to further deliver its life-saving work. The replenishment period is also a terrific opportunity to demonstrate the impact of the UK’s contribution to Gavi for the world’s poorest and to recognise the extraordinary work done by British innovators, academics and health advocates to support Gavi’s mission.</p><p> </p><p>The next strategic period for Gavi is critically important and the UK will continue to press for further improvements. This includes promoting equitable coverage of immunisation to leave no-one behind and ensure vaccines are available for the most vulnerable. The UK will also prioritise ensuring our investment in Gavi is sustainable and delivers maximum value for money by supporting countries to effectively transition from Gavi support to increased domestic funding.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sugg question first answered 07/05/2019 15:36:36 answering member 4584 label Biography information for Baroness Sugg
tabling member	3783 label Biography information for Lord Crisp

1123740

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Developing Countries: Vaccination
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in ensuring price transparency of vaccines.
tabling member printed	Lord Crisp
uin	HL15378
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>The UK recognises the importance of ensuring vaccines are affordable for the poorest nations and the role price transparency has in supporting this. Our significant investment in Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and support for global initiatives helps progress on increasing the transparency of vaccine prices and ensuring vaccines remain affordable to the world’s poorest nations.</p><p> </p><p>Gavi provides vaccines for 60% of the annual global birth cohort, providing it with significant purchasing power which it uses to foster competition and broaden suppliers of vaccines. This approach ensures vaccines are available at sustainable and affordable prices and has helped reduce the cost of immunising a child with three key vaccines by 17% since 2016. Gavi procures vaccines through UNICEF, which publicises historic, current and future prices for vaccines. Our strong investment in Gavi therefore helps to provide full transparency of vaccine costs for 68 of the world’s poorest countries.</p><p> </p><p>Outside of Gavi supported countries, the UK has helped make progress on vaccine pricing transparency by supporting the World Health Organisation’s Global Strategy and Plan of Action and Roadmap for Access to Medicines. This plan helps increase global price transparency whist protecting the innovation that is crucial for future vaccine development. UK support for the Access to Medicines Index also helps increase transparency on efforts by pharmaceutical companies to improve the affordability and availability of their medicines.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sugg question first answered 07/05/2019 15:37:29 answering member 4584 label Biography information for Baroness Sugg
tabling member	3783 label Biography information for Lord Crisp

1123741

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Developing Countries: Vaccination
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support poorer countries and emerging economies to (1) secure fair vaccine prices, (2) increase coverage of vaccine availability, and (3) save more lives.
tabling member printed	Lord Crisp
uin	HL15379
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>The UK is a world leader in improving global immunisation. The UK is the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which provides immunisation support to 68 of the world’s poorest countries.</p><p> </p><p>Gavi provides vaccines for 60% of the annual global birth cohort, providing it with strong purchasing power that Gavi then uses to ensure vaccines prices are affordable to low income countries. This model is extremely successful and has reduced the cost of immunising a child with three key vaccines by 17% since 2016. By advocating with vaccine manufacturers to retain affordable prices, Gavi also supports countries transitioning from its support, with every transitioned country since 2016 procuring vaccines at the same or lower price.</p><p> </p><p>Gavi’s scale also enables it to increase coverage and availability of vaccines in the poorest nations. By significantly reducing vaccine prices, Gavi has reduced a principal barrier that has enabled it to support the introduction of 380 vaccines. To ensure these reach the most marginalised, Gavi’s support focuses on areas with the lowest coverage and helps develop strong health systems capable of delivering vaccines.</p><p> </p><p>The effectiveness of Gavi’s model has seen 10 million lives saved from vaccine preventable diseases. In 2020, the UK will proudly host the replenishment of Gavi, providing a strong opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of Gavi to increase access to vaccinations and save lives in the world’s poorest nations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sugg question first answered 07/05/2019 15:38:34 answering member 4584 label Biography information for Baroness Sugg
tabling member	3783 label Biography information for Lord Crisp

1123742

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Developing Countries: Vaccination
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to address equal access to vaccines to ensure that the most marginalised children are immunised.
tabling member printed	Lord Crisp
uin	HL15380
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>The UK believes all children should have access to lifesaving vaccines, no matter where they live. Equitable vaccine coverage is therefore a key priority for the UK’s support for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. This investment provides immunisation to the poorest children in 68 of the world’s poorest countries. Gavi will vaccinate an additional 76 million children by 2020, preventing 1.4 million deaths from vaccine preventable diseases.</p><p> </p><p>As well as providing support to strengthen the overall health system, Gavi focuses on improving access and equity by identifying the populations and geographical areas most likely to be under immunised and at risk of outbreaks. Gavi have also adapted their model to include a Fragility, Emergency and Refugees policy which provides a more quick and flexible response in fragile countries. This has helped reach unimmunised children in places like Syria and in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.</p><p> </p><p>As a Gavi Board member, the UK advocates for equitable coverage as a core priority both now and in the future.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sugg question first answered 07/05/2019 15:39:03 answering member 4584 label Biography information for Baroness Sugg
tabling member	3783 label Biography information for Lord Crisp

1123747

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
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	Saudi Arabia: Capital Punishment
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Saudi Arabia following the execution of 37 persons there on 23 April; and in particular, whether they will ask for publication of an independent investigation of allegations of torturing in the cases of Mujtata Al-Sweikat and Abdulkarim al-Hawaj and others.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL15385
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>We are very concerned by the 37 executions in Saudi Arabia on 23 April and about allegations of torture. The Foreign Secretary raised this matter directly with the Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, HE Minister Al Jubeir. The British Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, including in Saudi Arabia. We regularly raise human rights concerns, including the use of the death penalty, at the highest levels with the Saudi Arabian authorities. We consistently and unreservedly condemn torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to challenge it wherever and whenever it occurs.​</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 07/05/2019 16:01:38 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1123757

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
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	Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in securing the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, following the recent statements by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL15395
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>​Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif publicly clarified on 24 April that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case was not linked to his offer of a prisoner exchange to the US. He is quoted as saying, &quot;The offer that I made was people who have been in prison either in the United States or elsewhere in the world on American request… But the Iranian-British woman is a separate case.&quot; The UK has not been approached for a prisoner exchange by Iran. In our bilateral discussions with Iran we regularly request consular access to all our dual national detainees, including Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Under the auspices of diplomatic protection, we will continue to do so to ensure her wellbeing.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 07/05/2019 16:07:11 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

1123294

registered interest
date	25/04/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Private Rented Housing: Social Security Benefits
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking, or plan to take, to stop landlords and lettings agents from not offering properties to people who are on benefits.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL15350
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government recently announced its intention to tackle the issue of private letting advertisements that specify ‘no DSS’ tenants. Over the coming months, the Government will meet industry representatives to discuss what action can be taken to end this practice. We will also be working with colleagues in other government departments, including the Department for Work &amp; Pensions, to explore how we can drive this change across government.</p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 07/05/2019 15:49:15 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

1123302

registered interest
date	25/04/2019
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	Cyprus: Peace Negotiations
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 of the Secretary-General on his mission of good offices in Cyprus, submitted to the UN Security Council on 16 April; and whether (1) it reflects the ongoing embargo of the Turkish Cypriot community on the island, or (2) recognises the impact of the Greek Cypriot approach to the negotiations since the rejection of the Annan Plan by the Greek Cypriot electorate and the failure of the Crans-Montana talks.
tabling member printed	Lord Maginnis of Drumglass
uin	HL15358
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>​The UK is grateful for the ongoing work of the Secretary-General and his good offices on the island, as we are to Ms Jane Holl Lute for her ongoing consultations with the parties. We endorse the Secretary-General's view that prospects for a settlement remain alive as reaffirmed in his April report. We welcome his continued willingness to work with the parties to conduct further consultations on a way forward and hope that they will lead to a return to negotiations. We echo the UN's view that the status quo is not sustainable and, like the Secretary-General, we encourage all sides to engage constructively, creatively and with the necessary sense of urgency, demonstrating they are committed to making progress towards a settlement. A settlement continues to represent the most sustainable means of addressing the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community on the island.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 07/05/2019 15:57:22 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	648 label Biography information for Lord Maginnis of Drumglass

1123313

registered interest
date	25/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Plagiarism
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many essay mill and contract cheating companies have been (1) prosecuted, and (2) closed.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL15369
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>The use of companies that sell bespoke essays to students who pass the work off as their own undermines the reputation of the education system in this country, and devalues the hard work of those succeeding on their own merit.</p><p> </p><p>While it is not currently a criminal offence to operate an essay mill, we are keeping the need for legislation under review. We are mindful however, that countries who have introduced legislation to make the operation of essay mills illegal, appear to have had limited success in pursuing successful prosecutions using that legislation.</p><p> </p><p>In 2016, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) found there were approximately 17,000 instances of academic offences per year in the UK.</p><p> </p><p>Our current focus is on non-legislative measures and we expect educational institutions to do everything in their power to prevent students being tempted by these companies. In a university context, that may be through making sure their students are aware of the severe consequences they face under the terms of their student contract if they are caught cheating. The most recent guidance from the QAA highlights the importance of severe sanctions of suspension or expulsion if ‘extremely serious academic misconduct’ has been discovered.</p><p> </p><p>On 20 March 2019, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education challenged PayPal to stop processing payments for essay mills. PayPal is now working with businesses associated with essay writing services to ensure its platform is not used to facilitate deceptive and fraudulent practices in education. Google and YouTube have also responded by removing hundreds of advertisements for essay writing services and promotional content from their sites.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the department published an education technology strategy on 3 April, attached, which challenges technology companies to identify how anti-cheating software can tackle the growth of essay mills and stay one step ahead of the cheats.</p><p> </p><p>We are determined to beat the cheats who threaten the integrity of our higher education system.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 07/05/2019 16:52:05 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie attachment 1 file name HL15369_Education_Technology_Strategy.pdf title HL15369_PDF
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

1122882

registered interest
date	24/04/2019
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	Mexico: Schools
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Mexico about ensuring that teachers and school administrators at all state schools are trained in freedom of religion and belief; and whether they will encourage that government to put in place mechanisms to (1) respond swiftly to cases of forced displacement on account of faith, and (2) take action to ensure that, during the period of their displacement, any children involved are not deprived of their right to an education.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL15273
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2019 answer text <p>​Officials in our Embassy in Mexico City have regular contact with the Government of Mexico on a range of human rights issues, including freedom of religion or belief; I discussed these matters with the former Mexican Ambassador to the UK in October 2018. In Mexico, we engage with civil society groups, including Christian Solidarity Worldwide, to help inform our understanding of the human rights situation on the ground. Mexico has close to universal access to basic education. We will continue to work with civil society to identify when rare exceptions do occur. We will also continue to engage regularly with the Mexican authorities at ministerial, official and state levels to discuss human rights, and other freedoms, and to support a broad human rights agenda in the country.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 07/05/2019 15:49:47 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool