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1315915

registered interest
date	18/05/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Passports: Dual Nationality
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government why dual country nationals are required to send their original foreign passport to the Home Office when applying to renew their UK passport; and what consideration they have given to allowing those individuals to instead supply a certified copy.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL327
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2021 answer text <p>Where a dual national holds a passport issued by another country, HM Passport Office requires this to be provided in support of a British passport application as part of its range of checks to confirm the applicant’s identity and eligibility. This includes ensuring the British passport is issued in the same identity the holder uses for all official purposes.</p><p>We ask customers to send their original document to allow physical checks ensure it is genuine, and we can return it during the application process if requested. In countries where legal restrictions prevent a customer submitting their passport as part of their application, a ‘local service’ is in place to submit the application so officials can check the original document and send a copy to HM Passport Office in the UK.</p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 02/06/2021 15:11:18 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1314959

registered interest
date	17/05/2021
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	Spaceflight: China
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 landing of a Chinese rover on Mars; and what plans they have, if any, to support the 1979 Moon Agreement, and in particular its principle that the resources of space should not be appropriated by any commercial or state interest.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL253
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/06/2021 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Government has noted with interest the successful landing of the Zhurong rover on Mars and we welcome the increased scientific research and understanding of Mars that it will enable.</p><p> </p><p>Her Majesty’s Government is not a signatory to the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies; therefore, its principles do not apply to the United Kingdom.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Government continues to support the principle that all nations operating rovers on Mars and other celestial bodies abide by the provisions of the UN Outer Space Treaty. The UK actively participates in the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its Subcommittees to define best practice and associated guidelines.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Callanan question first answered 01/06/2021 11:14:17 answering member 4336 label Biography information for Lord Callanan
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1314960

registered interest
date	17/05/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration: EEA Nationals
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that British citizens who are also EU/EEA citizens do not receive communications asking them to apply for settled status; and what estimate they have made of the number of such citizens who have been contacted to apply for settled status.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL254
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2021 answer text <p>The Government is using every possible channel to encourage everyone who may be eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to apply. The Home Office has worked extensively to promote awareness of the EUSS. Since 2019, we have delivered a major EUSS paid advertising campaign, and worked closely with employers, local authorities, stakeholders and charities to raise awareness and support applications.</p><p>The Home Office is currently working with HMRC and DWP to send letters to EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who receive benefits, but it appears are yet to apply to the EUSS. These letters seek to encourage recipients to apply to the EUSS to protect their existing rights in the UK before the deadline of 30 June 2021.</p><p>In trying to reach as many people as possible, there may be a small number of instances where these letters are sent to recipients who are naturalised as a British citizen. The letter may also be received by a small number of individuals who have already applied to the EUSS, for example because they applied after the initial exercise with DWP or HMRC was completed, but before the letter was sent out. The letter makes clear anyone who is a British citizen or already has EUSS status does not need to take any action.</p><p>As of 30 April 2021, 4.9m grants of status had been made. The Home Office urges anyone eligible for the EUSS to apply before the 30 June deadline to ensure their rights are protected following the end of the grace period.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 02/06/2021 12:42:24 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1311215

registered interest
date	21/04/2021
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	Gulf Strategy Fund
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their Gulf Strategy Fund Programme summary, published on 30 March, what human rights (1) due diligence, and (2) safeguarding, procedures are applied to Gulf Strategy Fund (GSF) projects; what are the objectives of GSF funded projects in Bahrain aimed at (a) building the capacity of oversight bodies, (b) police reform, and (c) developing counter-terrorism capabilities; which organisations receive funding through the GSF; and how much has so far been (i) spent by, and (ii) allocated to, the GSF in the 2021/22 financial year.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL15129
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The Gulf Strategy Fund allocation for 2021/22 is £10m. Individual country allocations are under consideration. Projects will be delivered through Government Departments and Agencies, commercial contracts and staff recruited on local contracts.</p><p>Due diligence around human rights considerations is considered through the use of Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessments.</p><p>The objectives of the Bahrain projects are a) to support local oversight bodies to develop a complaints management system to ensure greater police accountability and enhance public confidence in Bahrain's transparency procedures, b) to contribute towards the Bahraini-led reform programme which includes promoting evidence-based police investigations in line with best international standards and c) to help develop Bahrain's thinking and capability around the prevention of extremist violence.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 29/04/2021 12:38:27 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1311216

registered interest
date	21/04/2021
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	Trees
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 by the Woodland Trust State of the UK's Woods and Trees 2021, published on 14 April; and what steps they are taking to ensure that there is sufficient UK and Ireland Sourced and Grown trees to meet demand.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL15130
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The Government welcomes the State of the UK’s Woods and Trees 2021 report which is the first to present important facts and trends focusing predominantly on native woods and trees, and trees in towns and cities within the UK.</p><p> </p><p>We are working to increase tree production in our domestic nursery sector. This will build on current facilities and explore innovative ideas and technologies to improve production capacity. This is necessary to create a resilient, healthy, and genetically diverse planting stock, which is ready for our future climate. We have taken a number of steps to ensure domestically sourced and grown trees meet demand:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Supporting activities to enhance production, processing and supply of UK tree seeds from a wider range of species and provenances.</li><li>Transforming Forestry England seed processing and nursery facilities, at the same time providing capital grants to allow private nurseries to enhance productivity.</li><li>Working with the industry to increase the uptake of the ‘Plant Healthy’ assurance scheme which helps improve biosecurity and reduce the risk of planting unhealthy stock.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Over the last three years, 100 percent of trees planted by Forestry England are UK grown, meaning all trees supplied to Natural Resources Wales and Forestry and Land Scotland are UK grown.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 29/04/2021 11:42:25 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1311217

registered interest
date	21/04/2021
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	Agriculture: Forests
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the Woodland Trust State of the UK's Woods and Trees 2021, published on 14 April, what plans they have to promote agroforestry, particularly the growing of fruit and nut crops; what assessment they have made of the impact of such promotion on (1) the level of food security, (2) the quality of diets, (3) fodder crops for animals, (4) the diversion to animals of food that could be eaten by humans, and (5) the use of anthelmintics.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL15131
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>Agroforestry has a significant role in helping the Government commitment to increase tree planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025, in line with the annual rate recommended by the Committee on Climate Change in 2019 to help us meet net zero. We know our mechanisms for woodland creation must be more wide reaching and bold. This requires a transformative change for government and the sector. That is why the Nature for Climate Fund announced in the March 2020 Budget provides significant funding for tree planting, including agroforestry systems. The Committee on Climate Change has also recommended agroforestry on 10% of arable and grassland by 2050 to contribute to net zero emissions targets.</p><p> </p><p>We know that agroforestry systems can play an important role in addressing some of the key issues of climate and land use change in England, through the wide range of ecosystem services it provides.</p><ul><li>Providing food, fuel, fodder, timber, shade</li><li>Regulating soil, water, air quality and sequester carbon</li><li>Improving animal health and welfare</li><li>Supporting biodiversity and habitat creation</li></ul> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 29/04/2021 11:42:05 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1309901

registered interest
date	16/04/2021
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	Germany: British National (Overseas)
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that officials in Germany have declined to recognise the status of British National (Overseas) passport holders; and what steps they intend to take to ensure the status of the passport is recognised by (1) the authorities in Germany, and (2) the authorities in other countries.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL14989
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>We are aware that the Hong Kong SAR Government recently wrote to several foreign Consulates urging them not to accept BN(O) passports for visa applications. The Hong Kong Government has no authority to dictate which passports foreign governments recognise as valid. We will continue to issue BN(O) passports, which remain valid travel documents. We are in contact with relevant Government authorities, including the German authorities, on this issue.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 29/04/2021 10:08:29 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1307720

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Crown Representatives
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the collapse of Greensill Capital, what assessment they have made of the Crown Representative programme.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL14689
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>Crown Representatives act as independent advisors to support the Government’s relationships with strategic suppliers. They help the Government to act as a single customer and work across departments to:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>ensure a single and strategic view of the government’s needs is communicated to the market</p></li><li><p>identify areas for cost savings</p></li><li><p>act as a point of focus for cross-cutting supplier-related issues.</p></li></ul><p> </p><p>Crown Representatives cover all sectors of service provision including small and medium enterprises, voluntary sector organisations, mutually owned organisations, large suppliers and specific sectors. All Crown Representatives complete Conflict of Interest declarations every six months.</p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 29/04/2021 13:04:52 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1307722

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Meat: Labelling
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) ban the "fake farm" labelling of meat, (2) bring forward legislation for consumers to be informed about the age and breed of animal meat, and (3) prevent the use of terms to market such meat as "natural", or (b) "traditional".
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL14690
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2021 answer text <p>It is already against the law for the label to mislead consumers and this overriding principle, set out clearly in food information legislation, applies to each of the noble Baroness’s questions. Each label must be taken on its merits, including whether the origin declared for the food meets origin labelling rules, and if a label is found to be misleading then local enforcement authorities can issue improvement notices to the Food Business Operator to correct the misleading information.</p><p> </p><p>It is completely unrealistic to require mandatory labelling as to the breed and age of an animal on meat, however if such information is provided on a voluntary basis for marketing reasons, as with any other information provided with food, it must not be misleading to consumers. There is already an age-based distinction between lamb and mutton, beef and veal and chicken and boiling fowl.</p><p> </p><p>The use of the terms ‘natural’ and ‘traditional’ are not regulated but, again, when used, should not mislead consumers.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 26/04/2021 15:56:22 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1307723

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Offshore Industry: Tax Havens
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reports of the financial trading of oil and gas companies being routed through tax havens, what assessment they have made of the loss of tax revenue.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL14691
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2021 answer text <p>HMRC estimate that the tax gap across Large Businesses – which is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid by the UK’s largest businesses across all sectors – has continued to fall over the last five years and was under 1% for 2018-19 (reported by the NAO in ‘Tackling the Tax Gap’ in July 2020).</p><p> </p><p>The UK has led international efforts to tackle avoidance by all multinationals through the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) Project which looks at aggressive tax planning strategies that exploit tax rules to artificially shift profits to low tax jurisdictions where there is little or no economic activity.</p><p> </p><p>This international collaboration has led to the introduction of:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Hybrid mismatch rules that prevent multinationals exploiting differences in the tax systems of different countries;</li><li>a requirement for UK-headed large businesses to provide HMRC with a country-by-country report, detailing their global profits, tax and assets to ensure they are paying the correct tax on all their UK activity; and</li><li>a Corporate Interest Restriction that protects against companies using intra-group loans to shift profits overseas.</li></ul><p> </p><p>The introduction of robust UK domestic rules has reinforced these multilateral efforts.</p><p> </p><p>In April 2015, the UK government introduced the Diverted Profits Tax (‘DPT’). DPT was designed to counter contrived arrangements used by multinational corporations to shift their profits offshore and avoid paying tax in the UK on their economic activities here. The UK secured £6 billion in the five years following its introduction.</p><p> </p><p>In January 2019, HMRC launched a new Profit Diversion Compliance Facility (‘PDCF’) to encourage businesses to stop diverting profits and pay what is due. About two-thirds of the large businesses targeted so far have decided to use the facility to bring their tax affairs up to date quickly and efficiently, enabling HMRC to focus even more resources on investigating businesses which continue to divert profits.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 26/04/2021 13:03:46 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle