My Lords, I have it on command from His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to acquaint the House that they, having been informed of the purport of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, have consented to place their interests, so far as they are...

My Lords, I have it on command from His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to acquaint the House that they, having been informed of the purport of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, have consented to place their interests, so far as they are...

Lords consideration of Commons amendments and reasons. Lords amendment 58 not insisted on and Commons amendments 58C, 58D and 58E in lieu agreed to. Lords amendment 72B not insisted on and Commons amendments 72C and 72D in lieu agreed to. Lords amendments 73, 74B, 74C, 74D, 74E, 74F, 74G and 87 insisted on, Lords disagreement to Commons amendments 74A, 87A, 87B, 87C, 87D, 87E and 87F insisted on, and Commons amendments 73C and 87H disagreed to on division (177 to 138). Lords amendment 80 insisted on, Lords disagreement to Commons amendments 80A, 80B, 80C, 80D, 80E and 80F insisted on, Commons amendment 80H disagreed to, Lords amendment 80G not insisted on and amendment 80J in lieu agreed to on division (163 to 151). Committee appointed to propose reasons. Reasons agreed to. Bill returned to the Commons with reasons and an amendment.

Lords consideration of Commons amendments and reasons. Lords amendment 58 not insisted on and Commons amendments 58C, 58D and 58E in lieu agreed to. Lords amendment 72B not insisted on and Commons amendments 72C and 72D in lieu agreed to. Lords amendments 73, 74B, 74C, 74D, 74E, 74F, 74G and...

Moved by

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Moved by

Baroness Williams of Trafford

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will also speak to Motions B and D.

Amendments 58C to 58E respond to the tenacious and clever campaign by the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, to confer appropriate police powers on the Food Standards Agency to enable it more effectively to tackle...

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will also speak to Motions B and D.

Amendments 58C to 58E respond to the tenacious and clever campaign by the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, to confer appropriate police powers on the Food Standards Agency to enable it more effectively to tackle...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. I thought I would start by talking about time on debates. This House does spend time on debate. We have gone on until 2 am, 3 am and, once, 4 am in debate. We do not curtail...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. I thought I would start by talking about time on debates. This House does spend time on debate. We have gone on until 2 am, 3 am and, once, 4 am in debate. We do not curtail...

My Lords, it is intended to be helpful. Going back to something the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, said at Second Reading, which seems like an age ago now, we must provide clarity to the police. I totally agree with the points he made then.

Given the findings of HMICFRS and the...

My Lords, it is intended to be helpful. Going back to something the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, said at Second Reading, which seems like an age ago now, we must provide clarity to the police. I totally agree with the points he made then.

Given the findings of HMICFRS and the...

Moved by

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Moved by

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Moved by

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Moved by

Baroness Williams of Trafford

I beg to move.

Motion C1 (as an amendment to Motion C)

I beg to move.

Motion C1 (as an amendment to Motion C)

Moved by

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Moved by

Baroness Williams of Trafford

I beg to move.

Motion D1 (as an amendment to Motion D)

I beg to move.

Motion D1 (as an amendment to Motion D)

My rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Priti Patel) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:

Following the announcement made by the Prime Minister in his statement on Thursday 24 February in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Government is today introducing the Economic...

My rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Priti Patel) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:

Following the announcement made by the Prime Minister in his statement on Thursday 24 February in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Government is today introducing the Economic...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the equality of treatment between different groups in respect of the enforcement of lockdown regulations by the police since spring 2020.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the equality of treatment between different groups in respect of the enforcement of lockdown regulations by the police since spring 2020.

My Lords, we are clear that nobody should ever be subject to police enforcement based on their race, gender, ethnicity, age or any other protected characteristic. That is why the NPCC—the National Police Chiefs’ Council—has commissioned an independent analysis of fixed penalty notices issued to different demographic groups during the pandemic. The findings from this analysis will be published in due course.

My Lords, we are clear that nobody should ever be subject to police enforcement based on their race, gender, ethnicity, age or any other protected characteristic. That is why the NPCC—the National Police Chiefs’ Council—has commissioned an independent analysis of fixed penalty notices issued to different demographic groups during the pandemic. The findings from this analysis will be published in due course.

As I said to the noble Baroness in my first Answer, there is going to be more analysis of FPNs issued to different demographic groups. The outcome will be very interesting in all sorts of contexts—social and otherwise. Like her, I look forward to the findings from the analysis. In parallel to that, the HAC has published its report, The Macpherson Report: Twenty-two Years On, which raised the same concerns over disproportionality of FPNs.

As I said to the noble Baroness in my first Answer, there is going to be more analysis of FPNs issued to different demographic groups. The outcome will be very interesting in all sorts of contexts—social and otherwise. Like her, I look forward to the findings from the analysis. In parallel to that, the HAC has published its report, The Macpherson Report: Twenty-two Years On, which raised the same concerns over disproportionality of FPNs.

My Lords, I was not there, I am afraid.

My Lords, I was not there, I am afraid.

My Lords, my noble friend asks a pertinent question—that there is a disparity is not disputed. I know that the Ethnicity Subgroup of SAGE has done some work on this, both the year before last and last year. Factors include people’s jobs, and therefore their exposure to risk; household circumstances, such as more people in the house interacting; and financial difficulty in isolating. Vaccine hesitancy is an undoubted factor. The Government are giving financial help with things such as Covid support payments, but I think there is more to be gleaned. On people’s responses to Covid, maybe there is something in the physiology or make-up of different types of people—such as the cytokine storms that we talk about and inflammatory responses—that make them susceptible to more serious illness. I think some of that is yet to be uncovered.

My Lords, my noble friend asks a pertinent question—that there is a disparity is not disputed. I know that the Ethnicity Subgroup of SAGE has done some work on this, both the year before last and last year. Factors include people’s jobs, and therefore their exposure to risk; household circumstances, such as more people in the house interacting; and financial difficulty in isolating. Vaccine hesitancy is an undoubted factor. The Government are giving financial help with things such as Covid support payments, but I think there is more to be gleaned. On people’s responses to Covid, maybe there is something in the physiology or make-up of different types of people—such as the cytokine storms that we talk about and inflammatory responses—that make them susceptible to more serious illness. I think some of that is yet to be uncovered.

My Lords, the Government are obliged, when they do anything, to make sure that there is not a disproportionate effect on different communities. That requirement is placed on them under the public sector equality duties set

out in Section 149 of the Equality Act and covers decisions with respect to the Government’s response to Covid-19.

My Lords, the Government are obliged, when they do anything, to make sure that there is not a disproportionate effect on different communities. That requirement is placed on them under the public sector equality duties set

out in Section 149 of the Equality Act and covers decisions with respect to the Government’s response to Covid-19.

I think I answered the noble Lord’s question. I was not there; I was not witness to any events that may or may not have happened. As the noble Lord will know—and yes, I do speak for the Government—Sue Gray is doing her review, and the outcome of that will be known in due course.

I think I answered the noble Lord’s question. I was not there; I was not witness to any events that may or may not have happened. As the noble Lord will know—and yes, I do speak for the Government—Sue Gray is doing her review, and the outcome of that will be known in due course.

The noble Lord asks a perfectly legitimate question. To that I would say that the police are operationally independent of government, but the review and the investigation will take their course.

The noble Lord asks a perfectly legitimate question. To that I would say that the police are operationally independent of government, but the review and the investigation will take their course.