Vol. 813 Thursday No. 28 1 July 2021 PARLIAMENTARYDEBATES (HANSARD) HOUSE OF LORDS OFFICIAL REPORT ORDEROFBUSINESS Retirement of a Member: Lord Sainsbury of Turville.........................................................................921 Questions Children’s Rights: Digital Environment ...........................................................................................921 Channel 4: Funding and Governance ..............................................................................................925 Crown Dependencies: Contributions ...............................................................................................928 Government Departments: Non-Executive Directors ......................................................................931 Deprived Areas Private Notice Question....................................................................................................................934 Certificate of Loss Bill [HL] First Reading ....................................................................................................................................938 Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 Motion to Approve............................................................................................................................939 Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (Disability Assistance, Young Carer Grants, Short-term Assistance and Winter Heating Assistance) (Consequential Provision and Modifications) Order 2021 Motion to Approve............................................................................................................................939 Space Industry (Appeals) Regulations 2021 Space Industry Regulations 2021 Spaceflight Activities (Investigation of Spaceflight Accidents) Regulations 2021 Contracting Out (Functions in Relation to Space) Order 2021 Motions to Approve ..........................................................................................................................939 Covid-19: Education Attendance Commons Urgent Question ...............................................................................................................939 Emergency Covid Contracts Commons Urgent Question ...............................................................................................................944 International Travel Commons Urgent Question ...............................................................................................................947 EU Settlement Scheme Commons Urgent Question ...............................................................................................................952 Military Personnel Overseas: Vaccinations Commons Urgent Question ...............................................................................................................956 UK Foreign Aid Programme Motion to Take Note ........................................................................................................................959 UK Government Union Capability Motion to Take Note .......................................................................................................................995 Lords wishing to be supplied with these Daily Reports should give notice to this effect to the Printed Paper Office. No proofs of Daily Reports are provided. Corrections for the bound volume which Lords wish to suggest to the report of their speeches should be clearly indicated in a copy of the Daily Report, which, with the column numbers concerned shown on the front cover, should be sent to the Editor of Debates, House of Lords, within 14 days of the date of the Daily Report. This issue of the Official Report is also available on the Internet at https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2021-07-01 In Hybrid sittings, [V] after a Member’s name indicates that they contributed by video call. The following abbreviations are used to show a Member’s party affiliation: Abbreviation Party/Group CB Cross Bench Con Conservative DUP Democratic Unionist Party GP Green Party Ind Lab Independent Labour Ind SD Independent Social Democrat Ind UU Independent Ulster Unionist Lab Labour Lab Co-op Labour and Co-operative Party LD Liberal Democrat LD Ind Liberal Democrat Independent Non-afl Non-affiliated PC Plaid Cymru UKIP UK Independence Party UUP Ulster Unionist Party No party affiliation is given for Members serving the House in a formal capacity, the Lords spiritual, Members on leave of absence or Members who are otherwise disqualified from sitting in the House. © Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2021, this publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 921 Oaths and Affirmations[1 JULY 2021] Children’s Rights: Digital Environment 922 House of Lords TheParliamentaryUnder-Secretaryof State,Department for Education and Department for International Trade Thursday 1 July 2021 (Baroness Berridge) (Con): My Lords, I am delighted that the UN committee has formally recognised how The House met in a hybrid proceeding. children’s rights in the convention apply to the digital world. The strongest protections in the Government’s Noon landmark online safety Bill are for children and reflect Prayers—read by the Lord Bishop of Gloucester. the general comments provisions, such as the new duty of care. The age-appropriate design code informed by Oaths and Affirmations theprinciplesintheconventionwillalsoprovideprotection for children’s personal data when it comes into force 12.06 pm this September. Lord Altrincham took the oath, following the by-election under Standing Order 9, and signed an undertaking to Baroness Kidron (CB): I thank the Minister for her abide by the Code of Conduct. response and declare my interest, particularly as chair LordLondesborough took the oath, following the by-election of 5Rights and its role as consultant to the Committee under Standing Order 9, and signed an undertaking to on the Rights of the Child in drafting the general abide by the Code of Conduct. comment. As the Minister said, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its associated protocols provide Arrangement of Business the international benchmark for all government action Announcement regarding children, and the UK has an exceptional record on this question. So will the Minister say 12.08 pm whether the Department for Education as the lead The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith): My reporting department will take note of the general Lords, the Hybrid Sitting of the House will now begin. comment when it reports to the committee later this Some Members are here in the Chamber, others are year? Since so many noble Lords wish to see specific participating remotely, but all Members will be treated reference to children’s rights in the online safety Bill, equally. I ask all Members to respect social distancing will she agree to convene a meeting between those and to wear face coverings while in the Chamber noble Lords, her department and DCMS Ministers? except when speaking. If the capacity of the Chamber is exceeded, I will immediately adjourn the House. Baroness Berridge (Con): I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her reference to the exceptional record Retirement of a Member: Lord Sainsbury this country has in protecting and promoting the of Turville rights of children, and I am delighted to confirm that Announcement a meeting will be arranged for noble Lords, which will be led by my noble friend Lady Barran. 12.09 pm The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith): My The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, the online Lords, I should like to notify the House of the retirement safety Bill talks about protecting with effect from today of the noble Lord, Lord Sainsbury “rights to freedom of expression”, of Turville, pursuant to Section 1 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014. On behalf of the House, I thank the but nowhere does it refer to children’s rights to grow noble Lord for his long and much-valued service to up in a healthy digital environment. Can the Minister the House. give assurance that this will be addressed? Arrangement of Business Baroness Berridge (Con): My Lords, the key point Announcement around the protections we are putting in place and why the strongest protections are for children, reflected 12.09 pm in the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance, is The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith): Oral that we want children to benefit and flourish using Questions will now commence. Please can those asking digital technology but to be kept safe online. supplementary questions keep them to no longer than 30 seconds and confined to two points? I ask that Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Con): I refer to my entry in Ministers’ answers are also brief. the register of Members’ interests, particularly my work with Common Sense Media. I gather that last night Children’s Rights: Digital Environment a US Senator and two Congresspeople recommended Question that the age-appropriate design code be incorporated 12.10 pm into US legislation. That is because the Convention on the Rights of the Child is incorporated within the Asked by Baroness Kidron age-appropriate design code here in the UK, thanks to To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps the work of the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, and this they plan to take in response to General Comment House. Can the Minister assure us that the convention No. 25 (2021) on children’s rights in relation to the will appear