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1138564

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
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	Ministers: Languages
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what language training they provide to ministers with international portfolios.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL17122
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/08/2019 answer text <p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not provide language training to ministers with international portfolios as a matter of course, but ministers can apply for FCO language training if they need it to conduct Government business.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 21/08/2019 13:18:44 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill

1124438

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Electric Vehicles: Charging Points
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 number of electric car charging points in each county in England and Wales; and what plans they have to increase the number of such charging points.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL15487
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2019 answer text <p>Highways England has reviewed chargepoint provision within 20 miles of the strategic road network across relevant counties in England to determine the gaps in charge point availability and to identify locations of potential sites for new charge points to meet their commitment that motorists will be no more than 20 miles from a charge point on 95% of the strategic road network. Highways England has so far given grants to 5 local authorities (Mid Suffolk, Ryedale, South Somerset, Worthing and Shropshire) to deliver 19 chargepoints and is working with BP Chargemaster and Swarco to deliver a further 59, which will all be installed by Spring 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The UK now has over 17,000 publicly accessible chargepoints, including more than 1,700 rapid devices – one of the largest networks in Europe. Our vision is to have one of the best infrastructure networks in the world for electric vehicles, and we want chargepoints to be accessible, affordable and secure. In addition to the Highways England funding, the Government provides grants to fund chargepoints at homes, workplaces and on residential streets. These measures, along with the £400m public-private Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund, will see thousands more chargepoints installed across the UK.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 09/05/2019 13:10:29 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill

1124439

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Motorways
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 effectiveness of smart motorways; and how many penalty notices have been issued for non-compliance with smart motorway restrictions on each motorway.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL15488
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>Smart motorways are an important part of the modernisation of England’s motorways. The Government’s policy is to implement smart motorways on the busiest sections of motorway, as they provide a way to increase capacity and improve performance without the need to widen the road.</p><p> </p><p>Smart motorways have reduced congestion and improved journey time reliability, by making the hard shoulder available as a traffic lane and using variable speed limits to smooth traffic flow. Each scheme has to meet a strict safety objective, which is to be at least as safe as a traditional motorway.</p><p> </p><p>An assessment of the first two smart motorway ‘all lane running’ schemes, on the M25, shows that they are delivering the intended benefits. This assessment is detailed in the ‘M25 J5-7 Monitoring Third Year Report’ and the ‘M25 J23-27 Monitoring Third Year Report’, both published on 16 July 2018 by Highways England.</p><p><em><em> </em></em></p><p>The issuing of penalty notices is a matter for the police force in each area, since Highways England is not an enforcement body.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 16/05/2019 11:36:22 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill

1121616

registered interest
date	11/04/2019
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: Billing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the announcement in the Spring Statement that listed companies will be required to report on their payment performance in their annual report and accounts in order to tackle the issue of late payment, (1) how they intend to publish this information, and (2) when they will assess whether adequate improvement has been made.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL15267
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2019 answer text <p>At Spring Statement, my rt. hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that Government will require large company’s Audit Committees to review payments practices and report them in their annual accounts. We are in discussion on the best mechanism to implement this and further details will be published in due course as part of the Government Response to the Creating a Responsible Payment Culture Call for Evidence.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 29/04/2019 10:12:32 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill

1121638

registered interest
date	11/04/2019
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	Energy: Meters
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many smart meters have been installed in England and Wales, broken down by local authority area, in each of the past three years.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL15268
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2019 answer text <p>The latest data on the number of smart electricity and gas meters installed in Great Britain is published on a quarterly basis on Gov.UK. As of the end of December 2018, there were nearly 13.8 million smart and advanced meters currently operating in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>Data is published only at Great Britain level. Data is not collected from energy suppliers in a format that allows local authority counts to be produced.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 25/04/2019 14:18:02 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill

1111066

registered interest
date	10/04/2019
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	Renewable Energy
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of the UK’s energy mix by 2030 will be delivered by (1) marine renewable energy, and (2) solar energy; and what steps they (a) have taken, and (b) intend to take, to achieve the delivery of that percentage.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL15196
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/04/2019 answer text <p>On an annual basis BEIS publishes updated energy and emissions projections, which are located on the BEIS website. In the latest report published 11 April 2019, renewables are projected to form 59% of the UK's electricity generation by 2030 (under the reference scenario). Up to the early 2020s, the reference scenario reflects current power sector policies. Beyond the early 2020s, the reference scenario includes assumptions that go beyond current Government policy. The results do not indicate a preferred outcome and should be treated as illustrative.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2003 the Government has made £174m innovation and grant funding available to wave and tidal stream technologies with £80m of that since 2010. Wave and tidal stream projects benefitted from the highest level of support under the Renewables Obligation (5 RO Certificates/MWh) and are eligible to enter the forthcoming Contract for Difference allocation round. As set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, wave and tidal stream technologies could have a role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK, but they will need to demonstrate how they can compete with other forms of generation.</p><p> </p><p>Solar PV is a UK success story: under the RO and Feed in Tariff schemes, both of which have now closed, a total of 12.3GW of solar PV capacity was delivered. We are now exceeding our historic projections on solar PV deployment. In 2013 we estimated that solar capacity would reach 10-12GW by 2020, but latest figures indicate that we already have over 13GW of solar capacity installed in the UK; enough to power over 3 million homes. Subsidy-free deployment of solar PV may be a viable option for developers in future, with two such sites having already deployed in the UK, and the planned construction of two more large-scale subsidy-free solar projects was announced in February 2019.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 16/04/2019 14:13:50 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill

1111068

registered interest
date	10/04/2019
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Interserve
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the Cabinet Office designation of Interserve as a high risk supplier in June 2018, how that designation was communicated to all Government departments and agencies.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL15197
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>As stated in the Strategic Supplier Risk Management Policy that applied in June 2018, the Government does not publish whether or not a strategic supplier is designated as high risk. This Policy was withdrawn and replaced with a new approach to the monitoring and management of strategic suppliers through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the government and each of its strategic suppliers.</p> answering member printed Lord Young of Cookham question first answered 23/04/2019 08:48:56 answering member 57 label Biography information for Lord Young of Cookham
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill

1110701

registered interest
date	09/04/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Radicalism: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to create a new regulatory framework to ensure that online platforms take action to prevent extremist content.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL15165
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2019 answer text <p>On 8 April, the Government published the Online Harms White Paper, which sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to go online. Companies will be held to account for tackling a comprehensive set of online harms, including terrorist and extremist content.</p><p>We intend to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. This regulator will set clear safety standards, backed up by mandatory reporting requirements and effective enforcement powers.</p><p>The Government is consulting on a number of proposals in the White Paper and will bring forward legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 24/04/2019 14:25:40 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill

1110702

registered interest
date	09/04/2019
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Government Departments: Contracts
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 adequacy of their vetting procedures when awarding contracts for Government support services.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL15166
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Government requires that National Security Vetting is conducted to the same standard for all employees in sensitive roles, including those working for government support services. Vetting is conducted centrally by United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV). Vetting policy, which sits with the Cabinet Office, applies equally to government personnel and private-sector employees on government contracts.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Cabinet Office encourages all government departments to uphold a set of minimum personnel security standards and these may be applicable for certain industry roles. ‘Support services’ is a broad category and could include everything from cleaning and catering to IT provision, security and administration. In that context different roles will have very different requirements and approaches are flexed depending on the risk. It is the responsibility of individual government departments to determine their security needs for each contract that they enter into. The requirement for vetting will be decided based on a given role’s access to sensitive assets, facilities or materials.</p><p><strong><p><p></strong></p><p>The procedures by which a private-sector company or contractor can gain a vetting clearance are currently designed to prioritise security as opposed to ubiquity; individuals must be able to demonstrate they will be working on an active government contract before being granted a clearance. This ensures tighter control of who is cleared, for what purpose and for how long.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>A comprehensive, cross-government review of National Security Vetting is underway. This will examine potential reforms in vetting for the private-sector – including how we can improve the timeliness of security clearance and reduce the administrative burden of it for small and medium enterprises.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Young of Cookham question first answered 23/04/2019 08:50:00 answering member 57 label Biography information for Lord Young of Cookham
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill

1108870

registered interest
date	01/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Languages: Education
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote the teaching of modern languages in schools in England.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill
uin	HL14977
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>There are a number of initiatives in place to promote the teaching of modern languages in schools in England. The reformed national curriculum makes it compulsory for pupils in maintained schools to be taught a foreign language in key stage 2 and 3, and academies are required by their funding agents to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum. The government has introduced the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure, which includes languages and the proportion of GCSE entries from pupils in state-funded schools in a modern foreign language (MFL) has increased from 40% in 2010 to 46% in 2018.</p><p>Recruiting MFL teachers is a priority. Generous financial incentives are offered for languages teaching, including scholarships in modern foreign languages worth £28,000, and tax-free bursaries, typically worth up to £26,000. We are also working in partnership with Spain’s Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to deliver Spain’s Visiting Teachers programme. This will provide schools with access to a pool of qualified teachers from Spain who are able to teach MFL. For the 2019/20 academic year, the programme will be open to secondary schools and primary schools.</p><p>The Teacher Subject Specialism Training programme aims to improve the subject knowledge of non-specialist teachers and returning teachers in MFL and to increase the number of hours taught.</p><p>We have also recently launched the new Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, which will attract new teachers to all subjects, including MFLs.</p><p>A £4.8 million MFL Pedagogy Pilot commenced in December 2018. It is managed by the newly appointed MFL Centre for Excellence and is run through 9 school-led hubs, to improve uptake and attainment in languages at key stages 3 and 4. We have also launched a pilot project in MFL undergraduate mentoring for secondary school pupils to drive up participation in the subject, specifically targeting areas of high disadvantage to extend access to languages for all pupils.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 15/04/2019 13:41:17 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	3125 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill