argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Immigration
Andrew Adonis (Labour, Centre-left): That is a very good question. My understanding—but I am not the Minister and he will have to tell us, since it is hard enough for us to understand without my trying to answer for him—is that the provisions of this statutory instrument give all the relevant regulatory bodies dealing with professional qualifications the power to determine whether those bodies will admit EEA and EU nationals and their qualifications. If the noble Baroness is right, it is much more complicated than I thought. I had thought that this one statutory instrument simply conferred all those powers, in so far as they are granted by the state, but if in fact further statutory instruments will be required that will be of huge concern to many professionals We are told that all these statutory instruments are technical. I emphasise that there is nothing technical about these issues at all. Indeed, the scale of the issues became apparent to me only on reading the debate in another place, which was referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Fox. If I may, I will read quite a chilling exchange between my honourable friend Chi Onwurah and Richard Harrington, the Business Minister, on this very important question of what will happen to UK nationals who have jobs on the continent which, at the moment, depend upon the automatic and mutual recognition of qualifications. We are saying, quite properly, that we are going to immediately roll over the recognition of qualifications of EU nationals here and we have the power to do so—of course, we have no power to do so and enforce this in respect of UK nationals who practise on the continent. The House can imagine the concerns that they have I will read the exchanges from the other place. My honourable friend asks the Minister, "given that British citizens living in the European Union will be required to regularise their professional qualifications, does the Minister envisage that there could be circumstances in which they would not be able to continue working without doing so?", to which the Minister replied: "I envisage that there could be those circumstances … the only way that that could not happen is for there to be no crashing out … the hon. Lady has made valid point; I would not say it was a ridiculous point".—[Official Report, Commons, Sixth Delegated Legislation Committee, 4/2/19; col. 11.] This is a matter of huge concern. This Parliament is not in a position to be able to guarantee that—we do not even know the number.
Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Adonis (Labour, Centre-left): The noble Lord makes a very good point, because, yet again, there has been no proper process of consultation. I am becoming a bit of a connoisseur of how consultation has been conducted under these statutory instruments and I can tell your Lordships that this one is unique in that it does not even have a paragraph that says what the consultation was. Paragraph 10 of the Explanatory Memorandum is simply headed: "Consultation outcome". It continues: "Consultation between Devolved Administration officials and Government officials, supported by Government Legal Advisers, took the form of regular meetings and engagement specific to the amendments made by this instrument" It does not say what that consultation was, with whom it was conducted, what the results were, or anything. However, I note that quoted by my assiduous honourable friend Chi Onwurah in the debate in the other place was the briefing given to her by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which said—I suspect there have been many such representations: "’Elements of the SI are open to interpretation. A UK regulator could refuse an EEA applicant by saying the EEA qualification is not equivalent in some way. There is a chance that EU members states will notice this and potentially do the same in their provisions for considering UK nationals/UK qualification holders’".—[Official Report, Commons, Sixth Delegated Legislation Committee, 4/2/19; col. 7.] That goes to the fundamental point made by the noble Lord, Lord Fox, which is that Her Majesty’s Government have no means of requiring our professional bodies to continue recognising the qualifications of EU nationals. Indeed, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, which represents one of the most numerous and significant professions in the country, says—it is not us scaremongering —that under these regulations regulators could choose to vary their requirements in respect of mutual recognition and that, if they do so, the legitimate expectation is that regulators on the continent do tit-for-tat responses in respect of their countries Let us be clear—we are debating this statutory instrument some six weeks before it comes into effect: we are talking about hundreds of professions, thousands of professional qualifications and 27 other countries, all of which will have discretion to act as they see fit in the matter of these regulations after 29 March. This is profoundly irresponsible. It is just one facet of the whole business of crashing out with no deal, but I could not conceivably be a party to agreeing it today. If the noble Lord, Lord Fox, chooses to divide the House on it, I shall certainly not support the regulations.
Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Adonis (Labour, Centre-left): I am very grateful to the Minister for giving way. He is talking about the consultation that took place with UK regulators and professional bodies. What consultation has there been with UK nationals who work on the continent, who could well be affected by the lack of reciprocal recognition of qualifications? It is their interests that are entirely unprovided for in the statutory instrument.
Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Reid (Labour, Centre-left): I am very grateful to the Minister. He mentioned that 12,000 UK citizens were awaiting professional recognition abroad and that 20,000 had thus far had their accreditation accepted in the European Union, as if to imply that that was an inevitable and inexorable acceptance which would continue. Does he accept that for all the 32,000 UK citizens working abroad, according to his estimates, should a reciprocal decision to that taken here be taken by European Union countries—to allow their professional organisations to make the decision—all those 32,000 UK citizens could be subjected to changes in the accreditation system in future, thus threatening the jobs, positions and livelihoods that they hold at present?
Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Immigration
Robert Maurice Lipson Winston (Labour, Centre-left): I remind the Minister that in 1938 that is exactly what we did in Britain. I had a number of colleagues who became great scientists and medics who were refused their qualifications when they came to this country as refugees. For example, my boss worked as a housemaid for three years before she was able to start looking down a microscope. This is a real issue, not just for ski instructors but for people who are highly qualified as well.
Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Immigration
Andrew Adonis (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister for giving way. These are extremely serious matters. These figures are huge: 20,000 professionals currently have their qualifications recognised, which means that many thousands more will want the same in due course. The Minister referred to what the Commission said. Richard Harrington, the Minister in another place, said: "In a no-deal scenario, the recognition of qualifications"— UK nationals’ qualifications on the continent— "will be assessed under host member state rules. In that scenario, after exit day, our nationals will not be able to provide temporary and occasional professional services as they previously could under the directive, but that will be subject to their host members state’s laws and regulatory frameworks".—[Official Report, Commons, Sixth Delegated Legislation Committee, 4/2/19; col. 11.] Those words could not be clearer. We have no basis whatever for being able to offer assurances, let alone guarantees, to UK nationals that their qualifications will continue to be recognised for the purposes of new employment after 29 March. I need hardly point out to the House that what the Minister, Richard Harrington, said will come to pass in six weeks’ time. Any responsible Government would not be putting regulations of this kind to the House unless they had made proper provision in that respect.
Seaborne Freight — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Richard Rosser (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. On 8 January, my noble friend Lord Tunnicliffe was told by the Government: "With Seaborne, the proposal was subject to technical, financial and commercial assurance".—[Official Report, 8/1/19; col. 2127.] What were the financial assurances received and from whom? Were the financial assurances given specific, firm, unqualified and in writing, or were they only in the form of an intention or a consideration of giving financial support, as the Statement suggests Why was no reference made in the Statement of 8 January to the extensive involvement on the financial side of the Irish company Arklow Shipping? The Government said it was for commercial reasons. What commercial reasons were so important that they overruled the public interest and transparency on a Brexit issue? Perhaps instead it was because the Secretary of State was so determined to have the involvement at all costs of a British shipping company, to avoid the embarrassment of having to rely exclusively on European companies to help us out of a no-deal mess, that he reached this questionable agreement with Seaborne Freight without competitive tendering and then knowingly did not disclose in the Statement that even British Seaborne Freight was dependent on financial backing materialising from an EU-based Irish company? If that is not the case, why was the agreement not reached directly with Arklow Shipping, one of Europe’s largest shipping companies and clearly the intended real power behind Seaborne Freight?
Seaborne Freight — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Dale Norman Campbell-Savours (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, the dredging started five weeks ago on 3 January, so accounts must have been submitted or Thanet Council will be aware of what the bill is. Have the Government been told how much that bill is? Will the Government pay that bill at the end of the day? How much is the bill to Slaughter and May, Deloitte and Mott MacDonald, to which the Minister referred, for the assessment of Seaborne’s business plans? Finally, in the Statement on 8 January, the Minister told us: "We are concerned that in the event of no deal, there will be disruption at the Port of Dover … which is why we are making these contingency plans".—[Official Report, 8/1/19; col. 2128.] What replacement contingency plans are now being considered to deal with the disruption at Dover, which the Minister herself predicted?
Social Security (Contributions) (Rates, Limits and Thresholds Amendments and National Insurance Funds Payments) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Margot Aline (Labour, Centre-left): I am sorry to interrupt, and I am sorry that I missed the beginning of the Minister’s statement. Before we move on to the more general question about spending, I do not think he has addressed my noble friend’s point. Given that paid work is supposed to be the best route out of poverty, why are the Government freezing the tax credits paid to people in paid work?
Solvency 2 and Insurance (Amendment, etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Jean Lesley Patricia Drake (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I rise to comment on the Solvency 2 and Insurance (Amendment, etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations, applying in the event of a no-deal departure from the EU. My concern is from the perspective of the policyholder. Unlike the noble Lord, Lord Deben, I am keen to keep hold of some of the gold-plating that may exist in the current regulatory framework The driving intent of the Solvency II directive was policyholder protection, achieved by insurers complying with risk and capital requirements. The benefits are so important to both businesses and individuals that it is not surprising that the Government believe that provisions need to continue after Brexit The statutory instrument transfers responsibility for important technical functions from the EU authorities to the UK. The PRA will assume hugely important decision-making powers. Significantly, the risk-free rate—the rate that insurance and reinsurance firms must use to value their liabilities—will be transferred from the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority to the Prudential Regulation Authority The PRA will take on responsibility for making binding technical standards. There must be robust checks and balances on how it exercises those functions. Similarly, the Treasury will be given power to make regulations dealing with the system of governance and risk management and methods and assumptions used in valuations and risk modules The UK insurance market attracts business from across the world. An efficient UK insurance sector is essential to businesses and individuals, allowing them to manage their risks. The sector is of systemic importance to the functioning of the real economy and individuals’ ability to manage their lives, but in a no-deal scenario there is a risk of the sector moving into uncertain territory Given the systemic importance of the insurance industry, continued confidence that capital requirements are sufficient to protect insurers and policyholders against insolvency is essential. There is a risk, and a growing fear, that in a no-deal scenario the Government will allow regulatory standards to drop in this area. My question is simple: can the Minister give an assurance that there will be no weakening of the standards of regulation, governance and capital requirements on exit from the EU?
Solvency 2 and Insurance (Amendment, etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Denis Tunnicliffe (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these three SIs. However, once again, it gives me no pleasure to be here; these various SIs have ruined yet another weekend and are in pursuit of an outcome which all sane people believe is stupid and potentially catastrophic. It need not have been this way. Even with the excuse of taking responsible action in case of a no-deal scenario, had we started the whole process earlier we could have been considering these SIs at a more modest rate and perhaps giving them more scrutiny than they are inevitably able to receive—certainly, from me Before turning to my own concerns, I want to comment on what other noble Lords have referred to. The noble Baroness, Lady Drake, and the noble Lord, Lord Deben, spoke of responsibilities presently held by EU bodies being transferred to UK bodies. There are two problems here. One is that the sheer complexity necessarily involved in doing that leaves the possibility of unintended mistakes having been made in the transfer. Secondly, the noble Lord mentioned costs. I am not too worried about costs; I am much more worried about resources. Do the FCA and the PRA have the resources to take on this burden? It has been explained to me that they will get their money from the industry and so on, but will the people involved be good enough, given the complexity of the situation that we are addressing The noble Baroness, Lady Bowles, talked about the generality of Solvency II. From my standing-start understanding of this area, which began on Friday night, I accept that there is some debate about Solvency II. On the solution suggested by the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, that the changes be introduced through this instrument, the Minister knows that I would be the first person to jump down his throat if he tried to do that.
Financial Services Contracts (Transitional and Saving Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-02-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Denis Tunnicliffe (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, it may have been exhaustion, but when I got to this SI, I concluded that it was all really quite straightforward. Having listened to the previous speeches, I am not so sure The SI seems to be summed up in paragraph 2.8, and it seems to me to be about run-offs in various areas. As far as I could see, the promises in paragraph 2.8 were carried through in the references to the various areas I, too, have some second-order questions about why the time limits were different, but I must admit that I comforted myself with the sure and certain knowledge that if any of them became in the least bit difficult, the Government would introduce an SI to change them anyway, so I did not overburden myself with that Paragraph 12.6 states that an impact assessment will be published alongside the Explanatory Memorandum. It has escaped me if it has, so I should be grateful if the Minister would tell me whether one has been published. If it has, I suppose it is my responsibility to find it; if it has not, a further apology on this matter will be gratefully received.
Trade Bill — House of Lords, 2019-01-30
Topic: Other
Robert Stevenson (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, what is now Clause 6 was an amendment introduced by a Conservative Back-Bencher in the other place. Did I hear the Minister correctly when she said that it was still the Government’s contemplation that this might be amendable? I point out to her, in case she is in any doubt, that this would require a government amendment, which I have not seen on the Marshalled List so far. Is she saying that this is something they are actively considering for Report?
Trade Bill — House of Lords, 2019-01-30
Topic: Civil Rights
Dorothea Glenys Thornton (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I will intervene on the Bill, which is not my normal territory, although I have 20 years’ experience of working on equalities issues in your Lordships’ House. I will speak in support of Amendment 32, in the name of my noble friend Lord Stevenson, which requires the Government to lay before Parliament a qualitative and quantitative assessment, after five years, of the impact of new international trade agreements on human rights standards and people with protected characteristics under domestic equality law, among other things. It also provides transparency on the impact of such agreements on fundamental rights. As far as I can tell, the UK Government are a party to all the bodies mentioned in this amendment, so this should not be an issue and there should be no question about it. I should like some assurance from the Minister that, over the next five years, we will comply with all these international treaties on human rights and equalities I agree with noble Lords who said that compliance with equalities has to be judged by an independent body—I certainly know that. It should not be judged by the Government themselves. I thank the Equality and Human Rights Commission for its briefing on this subject. Its concern is that we, "retain the UK’s equality and human rights legal framework as we leave the EU", and we ensure that, "the UK remains a global leader on equality and human rights", after we leave the European Union. That is consistent with the UK being an open and fair place to live and do business. Certainly, if the Government do not accept the length of this amendment, I hope that they will accept the spirit of it, and that that will be expressed at the next stage of the Bill.
Trade Bill — House of Lords, 2019-01-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Stevenson (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, it is pretty much an open secret that amendments of the type we have just spoken to are usually tabled by Oppositions when they have very little to say about a topic. You call for a review and that usually ties up the civil servants for days trying to work out what that is supposed to do. It gets the Minister into a knot and allows you to have a relatively easy passage, especially if the Bill is a bit boring at that particular point. That is not what has happened today, and indeed we have been reminded that it has worked in the past. I recall the discussion during the passage of the Intellectual Property Act and it has worked out well There is a case here for thinking really hard about what we want to see happen as a review. I accept absolutely that my amendment is ridiculously overspecified and gold-plated. I am happy to learn from noble Lords who have served as Ministers and those who have experience of this on the other side. We could probably with advantage put together quite a sensible, minimalised amendment which would cover the ground. The Minister spoke about wanting to meet to discuss this; that would be worth while. If we can get sensibility, scale and scope in a reasonable approach, we can make some progress here I do not think this can just be left to the passage of time. It is true that the Bill as currently drafted has considerations of reviews, but these were late additions and are not well drafted. We have already noted earlier in Committee that while Clauses 3 and 5 make provision for reports to be provided, Clause 4 provides an opportunity for Ministers to duck out of that; and they deal with the process of agreement, not of review. I therefore think there is a bit of a lacuna here in the Government’s approach. We may be able to resolve it by statements in the House, but there may be a case for having at least something in the Bill to cover it Other points were made in this very rich debate. I do not think we need to look too hard—I was going say to the noble Lord, Lord Lilley, but he is not in his place. The EU model, although it exists and operates, is not perfect, and there is already much documentation on how it needs to be improved if it is to be effective. The question of independence is not dealt with in the current drafting of the Bill. I think there is a sense around the Committee of a coming together on this issue. We should take advantage of that—a meeting would be very useful—and I look forward to being able to make some progress on this in a relatively easy way. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.