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
tabling member	label

Search

1200291

registered interest
date	03/06/2020
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	Droughts
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government what plans they have put in place to deal with any long spring and summer drought, in particular in relation to the potential impact of such a drought on food supplies and public health.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL5195
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2020 answer text <p>This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has a range of policies in place to mitigate the impacts of drought, including the impact on food supplies and public health:</p><p> </p><ul><li>The Environment Agency, which has responsibility for managing water resources and protecting the environment, chairs the National Drought Group (NDG). The NDG consists of representatives from regulators such as Public Health England (PHE), the agricultural sector and water companies. This group ensures that all sectors work together and take action to manage any impacts of dry weather and drought.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Water companies have the legal duty to supply adequate quantities of wholesome water. To fulfil their duties, water companies maintain statutory drought plans, which set out the short-term actions they will take should a drought develop. Water companies’ drought plans are published on their websites.</li></ul><p> </p><p>The impacts of drought on food supply are mitigated by the UK’s robust and reliable food industry, which is experienced in dealing with scenarios that can affect food supply, from adverse weather damaging crops to transport issues abroad. The size and diversity of the industry is a key factor in enabling the food sector to remain resilient to food supply chain disruptions. The expertise, capability, levers and resilience to plan for and respond to food supply disruption lies within the industry.</p><p> </p><p>The health effects of drought are primarily indirect, including: injury, risk to public and private water supply; dust-related problems for those with pre-existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease; and impacts on mental health and wellbeing. PHE specifically plans for the risks of hot weather, including drought, in the Heatwave and Summer preparedness programme of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heatwave-plan-for-england" target="_blank">Heatwave Plan for England -</a> which became operational in June 2020.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 17/06/2020 13:13:41 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1200292

registered interest
date	03/06/2020
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Coronavirus: Disease Control
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they intend to have with the most economically developed countries, the World Bank, and the IMF, about effective cooperation to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences; and whether they intend to include conditional debt relief in any such discussions.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL5196
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2020 answer text <p>The UK Government continues to engage very closely and regularly with the international community, the World Bank, and the IMF, to respond to the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. G7 Finance Ministers continue to convene on a regular basis to work together on critical economic issues, and G20 Finance Ministers will next meet on 19 July to continue to coordinate the international response to the pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>The UK recently led the development of the G20 Action Plan, which brings together ambitious and wide-ranging commitments to address the economic impact of the virus. As part of this, the Chancellor and his G20 counterparts, in close consultation with the World Bank and the IMF, agreed to a temporary suspension on debt service repayments from the poorest countries. We are working closely with G20 partner countries and international organisations (including the IMF and World Bank) to monitor the implementation of the Action Plan and ensure it maintains efficacy. The UK Government will also work through the G20 and Paris Club of official creditors to monitor sovereign debt vulnerabilities in developing countries closely.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure that the most vulnerable are able to successfully respond to the crisis, the UK has also committed up to £150m to the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust. This will suspend upcoming IMF obligations for the poorest countries, allowing them to better respond to Covid-19.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 17/06/2020 16:35:14 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1200293

registered interest
date	03/06/2020
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	Abune Antonios
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Eritrea about the house arrest of Patriarch Antonios of the Eritrean Orthodox Church; and what responses they have received
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL5197
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2020 answer text <p>We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Eritrea, including the arrests of religious figures such as Patriarch Abune Antonios who has been detained for over 12 years. On 25 July 2019, we issued a tweet specifically calling attention to his apparent excommunication and his ongoing detention. We also raised his case in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's 2018 Annual Human Rights Report. There has been no response from the Government of Eritrea.</p><p>The UK Government, along with partners in the international community, have taken every opportunity to voice our concern about arbitrary arrests and detentions in Eritrea, and have called for their release. On 26 February, the UK's International Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, delivered a statement during the 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council expressing concern at continuing human rights abuses. Although welcoming Eritrean acceptance of Universal Periodic Review recommendations and offering UK assistance in support of their implementation, she said that the UK would continue to press for the release of arbitrarily detained individuals, and call for respect for freedom of religion or belief, especially for worshippers of unregistered religions.</p><p>Our Ambassador in Asmara raised arbitrary detentions of members of the Christian community with the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 20 May 2019 and with the President's senior adviser on 14 August 2019. During visits to Eritrea, the FCO's Head of East Africa Department, in November 2019, and the Home Office International Director, in February, both raised human rights issues with senior members of the Eritrean government. Eritrea remains a priority country for the FCO under our annual human rights reporting, and we will continue to monitor the situation there.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sugg question first answered 15/06/2020 13:18:48 answering member 4584 label Biography information for Baroness Sugg
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1200294

registered interest
date	03/06/2020
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: Arrests
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia following the reported arrest of the brother and two adult children of Saad al-Jabri, who is in exile.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL5198
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2020 answer text <p>We are aware of reports concerning the detention of Saad Al-Jabri's brother and two of his children. We remain concerned over the detention of a number of individuals in Saudi Arabia. We continue to raise our concerns about individual cases and are monitoring this case closely.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 15/06/2020 13:09:26 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton