argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-28
Topic: Public Lands
Ian Duncan (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, this order is necessary as a consequence of the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018, which received Royal Assent on 1 May 2018, having been passed by the Scottish Parliament on 20 March 2018. I will refer to this as the 2018 Act. Section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998 allows for "necessary or expedient" legislative provision in consequence of an Act of the Scottish Parliament. In this case, a Section 104 order is required in consequence of the 2018 Act. Both the UK and Scottish Governments have agreed to this order being taken forward, following an initial request from the Scottish Government The 2018 Act is the final stage in a programme of work to devolve responsibility for the management of forestry, which started with the Scotland Act 1998. The 2018 Act, which will commence on 1 April, provides for the powers and duties that are held by the forestry commissioners, in so far as they relate to Scotland, to be transferred to Scottish Ministers. Two orders must be laid by the Government following the 2018 Act to transfer the relevant powers. One order is subject to the negative procedure, and was made under Sections 90 and 93 of the Scotland Act 1998. The order we discuss today has been made under Section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998 and is subject to the affirmative procedure.
Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-28
Topic: Public Lands
Ian Duncan (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Lord makes a point of some interest regarding the Scottish Government. One might almost say they could not see the wood for the trees—sorry, it has been a long day. I will come back to some related points once I have completed my opening speech Some functions will continue to operate across Great Britain in relation to forestry science and research, tree health, and common codes and standards. When the 2018 Act comes into force, the forestry commissioners will no longer have a role in Scotland. Management of forestry will instead become the sole responsibility of the Scottish Government. This order enables the 2018 Act to be implemented in full. It provides new powers to Scottish Ministers and makes several consequential amendments to UK legislation, with a particular focus on the Forestry Act 1967 Articles 3 and 4, along with similar provision in the Section 90 order, will enable cross-border arrangements to be entered into between the Scottish Ministers, the forestry commissioners and various other bodies. While forestry functions and management of the national forest estate will be fully devolved, the order will allow Scottish Ministers to enter into arrangements with the other bodies so that each may deliver certain functions on the other’s behalf Article 5 will confer powers upon Scottish Ministers to promote, develop, construct and operate installations for or in connection with the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity produced from renewable sources and to use electricity produced by virtue of those powers. These powers are currently exercisable by the Forestry Commission in Scotland. When the Forestry Act 1967 is repealed as it relates to Scotland, it will be necessary to transfer these functions to the Scottish Ministers to ensure they have the same powers as the forestry commissioners have under the current arrangements Finally, the order makes a number of consequential amendments to the Forestry Act 1967, related statutory instruments and other primary legislation to reflect the removal of the forestry commissioners’ functions in or as regards Scotland We have worked closely with the Scottish Government at all levels to ensure that this order makes the necessary amendments to relevant UK legislation in consequence of the 2018 Act. It represents the final stage of devolving forestry to the Scottish Government. I commend the order to the House, and I beg to move.
Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-28
Topic: Public Lands
Ian Duncan (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Lord speaks of Silvan House. He is absolutely right about the value of the work undertaken by the staff of the Forestry Commission in Scotland, and I understand that this will have no material effect on their well-being or conditions. I do not know about the building itself, but if the noble Lord will permit, I shall write to him once I have an answer, because I am not familiar with the situation there.
Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Duncan (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Baroness makes an important point. It would be very difficult for us to look at the islands of the British Isles as a whole as anything other than one biogeographic unit. We cannot lose sight of that: the borders themselves are broadly meaningless, including the sea borders. I suspect, however, that that question requires a more detailed answer than I can give just now. If the noble Baroness will permit me, I will commit to writing with a very detailed answer to her question I am conscious that my opening remarks were slightly waylaid by the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, asking a very sensible question: are the Scottish Government ready to exercise these powers? We have assurances that they are, but this House and the other place must be vigilant in our scrutiny of this: we cannot take our eye off it for a moment. We must make sure that there is no diminution whatever in the way that we treat our forestry estate and our forestry more widely. I am conscious that the noble Lord will remain vigilant, and we can rest assured that he will not let anything slip by. On that basis, I hope that noble Lords will allow this to move forward.
Commonwealth — House of Lords, 2019-03-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Dolar Amarshi Popat (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad the noble Lord, Lord Judd, is in his place and I hope he recalls that we went to see the Speaker and the President of Uganda during the IPU conference to speak on this subject. Every time I see President Museveni, I mention this. Quite often with African leaders, we have to mention it gradually and more or less educate them and explain to them. Same-sex marriage came up in our Parliament not long ago. Uganda is a young, small democracy and a strict Catholic country. There is no new legislation in Uganda to punish these people; the legislation is what Uganda inherited from the colonial time.
UK’s Ambassador to the USA: Resignation — House of Lords, 2019-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Annabel Goldie (Conservative, Centre-right): I cannot comment further on the arrangements for the appointment of a successor; I have already indicated what they are. My noble friend asked a number of questions. It is vital that the inquiry lifts the drains to find out who was responsible for this completely unacceptable conduct. It is also right that if the miscreant is identified and found, appropriate proceedings should follow.
Religious Persecution — House of Lords, 2019-07-11
Topic: Civil Rights
William Garel-Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I know the whole House will be extremely grateful to the noble Lord for raising the important matter of religious persecution. Has it occurred to him that very frequently religious persecution happens when one religion opposes another, and consequently that religious faith can be one of the principal causes of religious persecution?
Religious Persecution — House of Lords, 2019-07-11
Topic: Immigration
Rodney Elton (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I add my thanks to everybody who has spoken, both those whom I pressed to join and those who volunteered. I am glad to see them all and to hear and learn so much. I am sorry only that my noble friend Lord Ahmad is not here to receive the credit he is due. I had wished to say, and will say, that the report that we have all been discussing is sprinkled with congratulatory and supportive comments about his role in the world One answer that I wish to hear followed through is to the question raised by the noble Lord, Lord Green of Deddington, about the filter between the refugees and their safety in this country. The rather disastrous conditions in the refugee camps leave them with a hurdle they cannot climb in order to get here I take on board my noble friend’s strictures about the dangers of definition. We need to listen very seriously. We must not be narrow or point at one slot. A definition is a good definition when it says what is wrong, not when it says who is wrong I do not want to go on, because I have been flashed at once already. I will just conclude by saying that I am delighted that the response will be cross-governmental; that is crucial. I recognise an elephant in the room—mentioned only once—which is the way a humanitarian approach to life is inhibited by our commercial interests. That is very serious. We in our faith recognise that our Lord taught us and showed that helping those who need it is expensive and can cost lives. We must be ready to accept some burdens in support of others who are infinitely worse off than we are Eventually, peace comes from compromise and conversation, and the example of St Francis of Assisi at the siege of Damietta, and his determination to get through to Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil, is an example to us all I thank all noble Lords from the bottom of my heart. I knew I was inadequate to this task, but you have ensured that the task has been done nevertheless. I beg to move.
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Consequential Modifications and Repeals and Revocations) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Martin Callanan (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I would like to address a point made by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, during the debate on this SI on 4 March. I am happy to confirm that my department consulted the Scottish Government, and sought and secured their agreement to make the proposed amendments to the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, as set out in Part 3 of the regulations. My department also consulted the Northern Ireland Civil Service in the absence of an Executive, securing its agreement on the proposed amendment to the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, as set out in Part 4 of the regulations. Officials in the Scottish Government agreed that the regulations do not require the formal consent of the Scottish Parliament. In November 2018, my colleague, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, wrote to Michael Russell MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations in the Scottish Government, regarding the proposed amendments. No concerns were raised. I beg to move.
Common Agricultural Policy and Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-21
Topic: Other
John Eric Gardiner (Conservative, Centre-right): That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 21 January, 13 February and 4 and 11 March be approved Relevant document: 18th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (Sub-Committee A). Considered in Grand Committee on 20 March.
Common Rules for Access to the International Market for Coach and Bus Services (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Elizabeth Sugg (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Baroness is right: we are grateful that it is only a two-day gap. Should we not leave on 29 March, we may have a longer gap to contend with. However, we are working closely with the Commission and are very optimistic about getting a solution. Our preferred approach is to deposit a note verbale with the General Secretariat of the Council, stating that we propose that our accession be treated as coming into effect on the first day of exit. Once we have resolved that, we hope that we will be covered regardless of the length of the gap. That is particularly important for Northern Ireland, as I believe there are some major sporting events going on which will require lots of cross-border travel The Interbus agreement provides for liberalised occasional coach services—holidays, school trips and private tours between contracting parties. As I mentioned in my opening speech, those parties are the European Union and seven eastern European members. We intend to accede to the protocol of the agreement in our right regarding the international regular and special regular carriage of passengers by coach and bus. The protocol to expand the service to regular services is in progress The noble Baroness points out that the process has been quite slow. It opened on 16 July 2018. As of 13 March, no contracting parties had signed the protocol. We need only four contracting parties; obviously we will be able to sign it once we become a contracting party. We think we will see other signatories join but, if it is not in place by 31 December, we could either negotiate an extension for regular and special regular passenger services with the EU, which are covered under the current EU regulation, or seek to put bilateral agreements in place. At the moment, we think Interbus is the best solution to provide regular services, but we have options if that is not the case.
Financial Services (Miscellaneous) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the noble Baroness and the noble Lord for their scrutiny and questions on these points. I shall do this in reverse order because I am waiting for a little further inspiration about fintech—it is arriving. The noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, is always assiduous in these matters and drifts easily between bus operations in Northern Ireland and financial services across the European Union in his scrutiny of SIs. He raises a very serious point: the first of these documents runs to some 26 pages, and 26 pages of Explanatory Memorandum, while the second has 11 pages and 14 pages of Explanatory Memorandum, so there is an awful lot of detail During this process—we are now nearing the end of it—we have worked on some 52 statutory instruments and have been grateful for the way the noble Baroness and the noble Lord have engaged with us very constructively over the past four to five months. During that process, of course, there will be consequential amendments that were not foreseen, because some of the 48 affirmative statutory instruments that have gone through this House were laid after the previous ones were made, and therefore changes need to be made. We envisaged, when we began this, what we call an onshoring process to ensure seamless activity, so that there is no disruption for UK financial services. We always envisaged the need for some instrument such as this at the end that corrected any errors and dealt with consequential changes. All the amendments are being made to ensure a functioning financial services regulatory regime in the UK, in any scenario, when the UK leaves. These amendments ensure continuity and clarity The noble Lord asked me to make the very specific commitment that no policy changes are involved in these: that is certainly the case. To make policy changes would be in contravention of the letter and spirit of the withdrawal Act and we certainly would not do it. The approach has been consistent. He asked about the number of errors. Around eight drafting errors in previous EU exit financial services SIs are being corrected in this measure The noble Baroness raised some issues around fintech and I appreciate her expertise in this area. Fintech is very much a jewel in the crown of the UK. We have some of the most amazing financial services firms in fintech, including start-ups in places, such as Shoreditch, around the City of London: it is a quite incredible and burgeoning industry and certainly one that we want to see continuing to expand. UK providers of online services to the EEA countries will need to continue to comply with a range of EEA countries’ individual legal requirements relating to online activities. The exclusion we are referring to here is limited to online-only activities. We expect that firms will use passporting rights rather than this exclusion; therefore, we estimate the number of fintech firms will be very small.
Financial Services (Miscellaneous) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): I was just coming to that precise point, because the noble Baroness raises a serious point which is worthy and very important for us to look into further. I undertake to do that and to write to her, to copy in the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, and to place a copy in the Library. It is very important that we ensure that there is no unintended, deleterious impact on such an important sector of the UK financial services industry. With that, I commend the regulations to the House.
Nutrition (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Zahida Manzoor (Conservative, Centre-right): My apologies to the noble Lord. I was saying on infant formula, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, that if there are any changes, we will continue to mirror the regulations and, if there are any new initiatives, we will introduce new regulations in the usual way The noble Lord, Lord Rennard, and my noble friend Lady McIntosh also asked whether we would continue to be a member of EFSA. As I said, the nature of the UK’s future relationship with EFSA will be subject to negotiation with the EU. However, this SI provides for the appropriate expert committee or authority to assume EFSA’s function in a no-deal scenario, and this will guarantee certainty for business I hope that that answers most of the questions that noble Lords asked. I conclude by again reassuring all stakeholders that it is our policy intention to mirror the existing regulations as closely as possible. Guidance will be published shortly, and industry should be further reassured that stakeholders who we have consulted believe it covers all necessary aspects of the legislation and is fit for purpose from exit day. I commend the Motion.
Health Services (Cross-Border Health Care and Miscellaneous Amendments) (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Zahida Manzoor (Conservative, Centre-right): That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 11 February be approved Relevant document: 18th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (Sub-Committee A). Instrument not yet reported by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.
National Health Service (Cross-Border Healthcare and Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-21
Topic: Other
Zahida Manzoor (Conservative, Centre-right): That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 11 February be approved. Relevant document: 18th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (Sub-Committee A). Special attention drawn to the instrument by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, 53rd Report. Motion not moved.
Chemicals (Health and Safety) and Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peta Buscombe (Conservative, Centre-right): That is a yes The noble Lords, Lord Fox and Lord McKenzie, asked about data. In a no-deal scenario, following EU exit it is not expected that the UK would be granted any permission to access confidential information held by the European Commission or the European Chemicals Agency, so any information previously submitted via these processes would not be available for the Health and Safety Executive to refer to. Such data must therefore be resubmitted to the HSE where necessary for it to continue operating the regulatory regime The specific circumstances in which data resubmission would be required are set out in the Biocidal Products Regulation transitional arrangements. The HSE appreciates that the requirement for applicants to resubmit their data packages may result in some increase in cost to business. However, this increase is expected to be minimal, on the basis that any data the HSE requests will be the same information as previously submitted and can be submitted in electronic format The technical data requirements needed to support an approval of an active substance or an authorisation of a biocidal product would be the same as those specified under the EU regime. In the immediate period following exit day, the necessary processes will be in place such that applicants can submit data to and correspond with the HSE as the competent authority. Such processes and systems will be sufficient to process applications and permit the necessary communications to take place in the weeks following EU exit, with the intention that a more streamlined, efficient process will be developed in due course. More information on what systems will be used will be made available to applicants as soon as it is available As I have been corrected to an extent, I return to a point I made a few moments ago on taking decisions on active substance approvals nationally and whether we would just do what the EU has done and accept a ban. To clarify, we would always make our own assessment of EU conclusions, so we would not just accept them at face value. Perhaps that is helpful.
Privileges and Conduct — House of Lords, 2019-04-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Douglas Hogg (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Baroness has identified a very considerable problem. It has been addressed by the regulatory authorities, which have a concept of impairment of fitness to practise. In the case of Grant, Mrs Justice Cox gave a very clear indication of what would constitute impairment of fitness to practise. That is a model that this House might care to reflect on, to address the point that the noble Baroness has just made.