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 grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1713989

registered interest
date	25/04/2024
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Balkans: Security
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 recent reports indicating that Iran has exported Shahed drones and drone technology to Serbia; and of the impact of this on peace and stability in the Western Balkans.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL4096
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>We have seen no evidence that Iran has exported Shahed drones and drone technology to Serbia. We are counselling Serbia to approach its defence procurement with care, as it sensibly seeks to diversify and modernise its defence capabilities. When the Foreign Secretary met President Vucic in Munich in February, he underlined the importance of Serbia supporting efforts to build and support regional stability.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 10/05/2024 10:40:46 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

1713990

registered interest
date	25/04/2024
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	Hares: Animal Welfare
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for introducing legislation to introduce a closed season for hares in England, following the publication of DEFRA’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare in 2021; and what consultations they have had with stakeholders in that regard.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL4097
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government has no current plans to legislate to introduce a close season for hares in England. The Action Plan for Animal Welfare in 2021 made a commitment to consider such legislation and it remains an option. An industry-led, non-statutory code of practice to protect hares in England is already in place which states that lethal control to prevent damage to crops should only be carried out in the winter months of January and February when vegetation is low and hares are easily visible. These months avoid the main breeding season and thereby reduce risks to dependent young.</p><p>The Government has had no formal consultations with stakeholders on this issue since the publication of the Action Plan for Animal Welfare but we have heard representations from interested parties, both in support of and opposed to a close season for hares.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 02/05/2024 13:58:18 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

1702338

registered interest
date	18/04/2024
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Balkans: Security
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 security situation in and stability of the Western Balkans, following the testimony of the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, before the US House Committee on Armed Services on 10 April.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL3949
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>We share General Cavoli's assessment over rising tensions in the Western Balkans, and Russia's malign role in exacerbating those tensions. Working bilaterally and with partners, and drawing on over £40 million of programme activity, the UK is driving forward efforts to build resilience to external threats, strengthen democracy, prevent a return to conflict and tackle migration and serious organised crime. Government Ministers are engaging actively in support of these goals. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary met the Prime Ministers of Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro to discuss greater UK investment in the Western Balkans.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 02/05/2024 15:12:27 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

1698276

registered interest
date	25/03/2024
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Israel: Gender Based Violence and Sexual Offences
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports by UN experts on 19 February of “credible allegations of egregious human rights violations” against Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank by Israel Defence Forces; and whether they have offered practical support for investigating these alleged crimes, and for caring for survivors and witnesses.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL3580
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/04/2024 answer text <p>The UK condemns human rights abuses and sexual violence unequivocally and without exception. As I [Lord Ahmad] said to the UN Security Council during the 11 March debate following the release of Special Representative Pramila Patten's report, it is vital that all reports of sexual violence are fully investigated to ensure justice for all victims and survivors and perpetrators are held to account.</p><p>The FCDO continues to closely monitor the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and stands ready to further utilise our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) expertise and tools to ensure victims and survivors of CRSV, both Israeli and Palestinian, receive the holistic and survivor-centred support they need.</p><p>Through our PSVI programmes and dedicated funding totalling £60 million since 2012, we are leading work internationally to prevent conflict-related sexual violence and strengthen justice and support for all survivors.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 22/04/2024 13:03:32 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

1698214

registered interest
date	22/03/2024
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Ethiopia: Crimes against Humanity
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what specific action they have taken to mitigate risk factors, and prevent atrocity crimes, in response to the conclusion of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia in October 2023 that “eight of the Common Risk Factors for atrocity crimes are present in Ethiopia and that there is evidence to suggest that certain indicators of majority of the Specific Risk Factors for atrocity crimes are also present”; and what steps they are taking to support continued international scrutiny and independent investigations into past and ongoing violations in Ethiopia.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL3555
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2024 answer text <p>The UK has repeatedly called for those responsible for atrocities in Ethiopia to be held to account. The UK was strongly supportive of the establishment of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE). The UK has deployed an expert to support the drafting of Ethiopia's national Transitional Justice Policy and we are working to promote a survivor-centred, gender-sensitive approach. We fund UNOHCHR to deploy international human rights monitors and build early warning networks of CSOs and human rights defenders. Through our Human Rights and Peacebuilding Programme, we are supporting the investigative capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and facilitating dialogue between groups from across Ethiopia.  We regularly convene with likemindeds to coordinate support and ensure accountability for atrocities and human rights violations and to ensure the effective, full implementation of the Tigray peace agreement and the Transitional Justice Policy once finalised.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/04/2024 11:06:14 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

1698215

registered interest
date	22/03/2024
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Tigray: Armed Conflict
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of efforts since the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in November 2022 to achieve justice and accountability for conflict-related sexual violence in Tigray, and what support they are providing to those efforts.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL3556
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2024 answer text <p>The UK is committed to preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence in Ethiopia. We have consistently called for an end to the appalling gender-based violence committed across Ethiopia, including sexual violence, particularly during the Tigray conflict. We therefore welcome the recent agreement to implement a comprehensive national Transitional Justice policy aimed at accountability, redress for victims, reconciliation, and healing. The UK has called for the perpetrators to be held to account and the importance of a victim-centered, gender-sensitive approach. We will work with the Ethiopian Government and civil society in their efforts to hold perpetrators to account, including building the capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission through the UK's Human Rights and Peacebuilding programme (HARP).</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/04/2024 11:06:23 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

1698216

registered interest
date	22/03/2024
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Ethiopia: Armed Conflict
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Team of Experts have been deployed to Ethiopia since 2020; for what purposes; how long each deployment lasted; and what assessment they have made of the impact of its work.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL3557
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2024 answer text <p>The UK is committed to preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), including through the PSVI Team of Experts. Since its launch, the UK has deployed experts over 90 times globally to enhance UK and international efforts.</p><p>From June to August 2021, an expert was deployed to Ethiopia to identify opportunities for scaling up the response to CRSV. We worked with partners to implement recommendations, including enhancing support for survivors, commissioning research into the dynamics of CRSV and deploying longer-term Gender expertise. From June to October 2022, another expert provided capacity-building training to civil society on CRSV. These deployments have provided the foundation for the UK's ongoing work on CRSV in country.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/04/2024 11:06:32 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

1697321

registered interest
date	19/03/2024
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	Hares: Conservation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 12 July 2023 (HL9069), which stated that “Introducing a close season for brown hares remains an option”, what indicators they are using to assess the necessity of this option, and how frequently they review it.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL3392
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2024 answer text <p>The proposal to introduce a close season for the brown hare, referred to in HL9069, was set out in the Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare. In terms of the necessity of a close season from a wildlife conservation perspective, the brown hare is one of the indicator species for our legally binding targets in England to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and then reverse declines by 2042. We know that in order to meet these targets we will need large-scale habitat creation and restoration and improved connectivity but this will be supplemented where appropriate by intelligence on individual species. While there are no immediate plans to undertake a national mammal population review as was conducted in 2018, we should get an idea of trends in our brown hare population from published surveys, for example from the British Trust for Ornithology’s mammal recording, which it has been conducting since 1995 with a view to helping improve our knowledge of the distribution and population trends of some of our commoner mammals.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 04/04/2024 12:57:33 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

1697322

registered interest
date	19/03/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Hare Coursing and Poaching
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many instances of violent crime or intimidation related to hare coursing or poaching were recorded by police in each of the past five years.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL3393
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2024 answer text <p>Official figures are not held on the number of instances of violent crime or intimidation related to hare coursing or poaching. Hare coursing or poaching are not crimes which the police are required to notify to the Home Office. However, where violence or intimidation is used in connection with an incident of hare coursing or poaching this would be recorded under the relevant violence against the person or public order offence classification. However, it is not possible to separately identify those that are connected to hare coursing or poaching in the data held centrally by the Home Office.</p><p>It is standard practice for primary legislation to be subject to a post-implementation review after sufficient time has passed to assess its impact.</p><p>The National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy aims to target hare coursing through better preventative action, improved intelligence, and enforcement activity.</p><p>The Government is committed to driving down rural crime and the Home Office continues to work closely with the National Rural Crime Unit to help ensure an effective police response to rural crime.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom grouped question UIN HL3395 HL3396 HL3397 question first answered 04/04/2024 12:54:35 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

1697323

registered interest
date	19/03/2024
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	Hare Coursing: Organised Crime
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 links between hare coursing and organised crime, and what assessment they have made of the economic impact of hare coursing and poaching.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL3394
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government recognises the impact which hare coursing has on rural communities. The Government has considered evidence from a wide range of stakeholders and the police on the problems caused by hare coursing, including with organised crime.</p><p> </p><p>That is why we have introduced new measures to strengthen law enforcement and increase the powers of the courts through the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Act. They have been widely welcomed. The new offences and higher penalties introduced by the Act are all being used and imposed by the courts.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 04/04/2024 12:56:52 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic