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1658857

registered interest
date	06/09/2023
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	Microplastics: Pollution Control
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent microplastic fibre pollution.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9923
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2023 answer text <p>The UK Government has taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (eg. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic micro-beads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products.</p><p> </p><p>Defra have been working closely with industry to understand the costs of installing microfibre filters on washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine dependant on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or re-useable. Defra’s Plan for Water includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon grouped question UIN HL9924 question first answered 15/09/2023 12:17:18 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1658858

registered interest
date	06/09/2023
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	Washing Machines: Microplastics
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the costs of installation of microplastic fibre capture filters on domestic washing machines; and what engagement they have had with industry regarding the feasibility of installing such filters.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9924
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2023 answer text <p>The UK Government has taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (eg. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic micro-beads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products.</p><p> </p><p>Defra have been working closely with industry to understand the costs of installing microfibre filters on washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine dependant on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or re-useable. Defra’s Plan for Water includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon grouped question UIN HL9923 question first answered 15/09/2023 12:17:18 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1658859

registered interest
date	06/09/2023
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	Water Companies: Microplastics
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to work with water companies to explore the management of microplastics in sewage sludge.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9925
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to safeguarding the natural environment from harms. We have been collaborating with water companies on the investigation of microplastics in wastewater treatment through the National Chemical Investigations Programme.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency have published their strategy for safe and sustainable sludge use. This strategy explores options for modernising and harmonising the regulatory framework with the aim of ensuring the management and use of sludge supports healthy and productive land and soil. The Government is currently examining the strategy’s impact on our environmental outcomes and water and farming industries.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 15/09/2023 12:16:37 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1657658

registered interest
date	04/09/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Australia
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had last year with the government of Australia, if any, on the issue of frozen state pensions.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9747
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>His Majesty's Government did not have any discussions on this issue last year with the Government of Australia.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 12:40:39 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1657659

registered interest
date	04/09/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Uprating
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pension's Estimated costs of uprating State Pension in frozen rate countries: 2024 to 2028, published on 19 July, whether they can publish the background workings to the estimated costs of uprating the State Pension in frozen rate countries.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9748
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>The methodology is relatively straight forward and is contained within the publication but quoted below for ease:</p>Estimates of projected costs<p>1. The estimate is based on the latest available data (March 2022) from the 5% extract of DWP’s State Pension administrative data, the Quarterly Statistical Enquiry (QSE).</p><p>2. The QSE is used to estimate the volume of individuals in frozen rate countries and their State Pension amounts.</p><p>3. The State Pension amount, for all current and future recipients, is uprated (using the relevant indices) to the level they would have been if they had never been frozen.</p><p>4. To estimate the costs for subsequent financial years we make adjustments to the underlying caseload and associated costs by:</p><ul><li>applying mortality rates to existing cases, based on age and gender;</li><li>adding forecasts of future State Pension claims, which are based on historical trends and expected changes in the population, and are adjusted for mortality; and</li><li>uprating State Pension amounts using economic assumptions from the Office for Budget Responsibility at Spring Budget 2023.</li></ul><p>5. The total cost for a given financial year is the difference between the uprated State Pension amounts and the frozen State Pension amounts.</p><p>As with all estimates of projected costs, there is a degree of uncertainty, however where possible we have taken steps to try to minimise any significant measurement error.</p><p>Links for the relevant data sources publicly available are:</p><p>- OBR economic assumption for the relevant uprating indices <a href="https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/Long_term_economic-determinants_March_2023_EFO-2.xlsx&amp;wdOrigin=BROWSELINK" target="_blank">here</a></p><p>- Mortality projections <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/datasets/mortalityratesqxprincipalprojectionenglandandwales" target="_blank">here</a></p><p>- Benefit expenditure and caseload tables (table State_Pension) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2023" target="_blank">here</a></p><p>- Stat-Xplore SP outturn data from Nov 20 <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml" target="_blank">here</a></p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 12:44:56 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1657660

registered interest
date	04/09/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Uprating
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Work and Pension's Estimated costs of uprating State Pension in frozen rate countries: 2024 to 2028, published on 19 July, whether there is any precedent where, when pensions were once frozen but started being uprated as a result of an international agreement, the pensions concerned were raised to the level they would have been had they never been frozen.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9749
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2023 answer text <p>There is no standard model for international agreements on social security, which are agreed on a case-by-case basis between countries or groups of countries. The UK's international agreements on social security which include State Pension provisions are included here:</p><p><a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.listResults?p_lang=en&amp;p_country=GBR&amp;p_count=3017&amp;p_classification=23.01&amp;p_classcount=160" target="_blank">https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.listResults?p_lang=en&amp;p_country=GBR&amp;p_count=3017&amp;p_classification=23.01&amp;p_classcount=160</a></p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 14/09/2023 13:26:40 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1657661

registered interest
date	04/09/2023
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	Water Abstraction
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to end the over-abstraction of water supplies by water companies; what deadlines have been set for the end of such over-abstraction; and what plans they have made to restore levels of over-abstracted reservoirs.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9750
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2023 answer text <p>The Plan for Water sets out the actions we are taking to make abstraction sustainable. Since we published our abstraction plan (see attachment) in 2017, the Environment Agency has reduced damaging abstraction by returning 48 billion litres of water a year to the environment and removed the risk to the environment of the potential abstraction of 1.9 trillion litres of water.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies are told by the Environment Agency about what abstractions are deemed unsustainable through the Water Industry Environment Programme (see attachment) and the statutory water resources management plans (see attachment) and take action to remove or reduce these abstractions. In some cases, removal or reduction of abstraction licences will reduce the security of water supply for people and businesses, so water companies will have to take appropriate steps to reduce demand or develop new supplies of water to ensure they can still provide water supplies.</p><p> </p><p>The deadlines water companies are given vary, as some may require investigations into the level of reductions required. The Plan for Water shows water companies have to take action to reduce a gap between how much water they could supply when compared to future demand. The gap is 4 billion litres of water per day, which includes reductions in abstractions to protect the environment and accounts for the impacts of climate change on water sources. Water companies have recently produced new water resources plans showing how they will address this gap and the Environment Agency has produced a summary of how water companies (see attachment) will increase supply and reduce demand over the next 25 years.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 12/09/2023 17:03:42 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon attachment 1 file name HL9750 Attachments 1-4.pdf title Water gov.uk attachments
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1657662

registered interest
date	04/09/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Diplomatic Service
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of risk facing refugees who are resident in the UK who encounter difficulties abroad; and what plans they have to ensure they receive consular assistance at the same level as UK citizens.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9751
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2023 answer text <p>The Government provides consular assistance to British nationals travelling or living abroad.</p><p>We may also help Commonwealth nationals in non-Commonwealth countries where they do not have any diplomatic or consular representation. We cannot help other nationalities, even if they live in the UK or have close connections to the UK.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 18/09/2023 15:44:40 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1657663

registered interest
date	04/09/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Drugs: Safety
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quality and safety of (1) imported, and (2) home produced generic drugs; and whether they plan to step up testing following the decision of the US military to introduce a new testing programme.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9752
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2023 answer text <p>Before a medicine can be placed onto the market in the United Kingdom, it must first receive approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) via the granting of a Marketing Authorisation, commonly known as a product licence. Each medicinal product is assessed for its safety, quality, and efficacy. For a generic medicine, an assessment of whether the medicinal product is equivalent to the proprietary medicine will also be performed.</p><p>Manufacturers of all medicines, including generics, are required to perform testing for each batch before it is released to market to ensure that it meets the specifications as set out in the product licence. There are currently no plans to amend these testing processes. If the UK product is manufactured in a third country there is an additional requirement for testing after importation i.e., after shipping, but before release to the market. This extra control measure is not a requirement for supply to the market in the United States of America.</p><p>It should be noted that medicines, including generics, must comply with the same Good Manufacturing Standards which are applicable for domestic and third country manufacturers. The MHRA’s medicines inspectorate conduct inspections to ensure that those manufacturing medicines meet these stringent Good Manufacturing Practice standards. These standards are also applicable to the testing facilities, which are also the subject of inspections to ensure the appropriate standards are being met.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham question first answered 13/09/2023 13:45:45 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1655111

registered interest
date	25/07/2023
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	Clothing: Recycling
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of garment recycling offered by retailers; and what regulations and checks of compliance apply to such services.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL9674
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2023 answer text <p>As announced in the Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste programme on July 28th, we will develop and consult on policy options for reducing textiles waste, including requiring businesses over a certain size to provide a customer take back systems for used textiles.</p><p> </p><p>There is anecdotal evidence that garment recycling schemes can be effective, and we will assess this further as we develop the new policies. As these are voluntary initiatives, there are currently no regulations and checks of compliance that apply to the retailers.</p><p> </p><p>The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) produced a guide for businesses on setting up takeback schemes, funded in part by Defra: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwrap.org.uk%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F2021-02%2FRetailer-clothing-take-back-guide-Feb21.pdf&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqtransfers%40defra.gov.uk%7C8972244c76524860feef08db8f507469%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638261347925610001%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=bGVrviFcsyGxtEZGz95j4npi%2Fyo9Ne%2BVuFRw4ejrQAA%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Retailer-clothing-take-back-guide-Feb21.pdf (wrap.org.uk)</a>.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 31/07/2023 11:49:25 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon attachment 1 file name Retailer-clothing-take-back-guide-Feb21.pdf title guide for businesses on setting up takeback scheme
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle