Lord Banner

The United Kingdom has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of eventualities, including nuclear attacks. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years.

The scale of these capabilities is driven by classified planning assumptions derived from the United Kingdom’s National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA), which is a classified assessment of the most serious risks that could cause a national emergency in the UK. An external publication, the National Risk Register, which excludes some security-related risks, was last published in 2023, but is based on the NSRA.

GOV.UK/prepare, the Government’s website for resilience and emergency planning, is designed to help people plan for potential hazards and equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and resources to respond effectively.

Licences for badger culling are issued by Natural England under section 10(2)(a) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. The current round of licences, that is, licences that have already been issued, will be honoured. This gives us time to work closely and constructively with farmers and scientists to build an eradication package that will beat bovine TB.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is aware of several third-country airlines which continue to operate to and from Russia, while also separately operating services to and from the UK. The UK’s international connectivity benefits considerably from the operations of third-country airlines, particularly those operating to/from points beyond their home hubs. Any action, in respect of third-countries, must, therefore, be balanced against the consequences for the wider economy, which includes the needs of UK exporters and the travelling public, as well as considering potential reciprocal prohibitions against UK airlines. Where sanctions are specifically being considered, we must consider whether a proposed action meets the stated purposes of The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (“2019 Regulations”).

The Government’s position also has to be considered in the context of the UK’s international obligations under its portfolio of bilateral Air Services Agreements (ASA), which guarantee market access for UK airlines abroad, and for foreign airlines to/from the UK.

The Government remains committed to supporting Ukraine and exerting pressure, through the UK’s sanctions regime, on Russia to cease its war of aggression. The Department for Transport (DfT) is responsible for the enforcement of transport sanctions in place against Russia. Transport sanctions include prohibitions on the movement of aircraft and ships. In respect of the aviation prohibitions against Russia, this includes prohibiting Russian aircraft as defined in The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (“2019 Regulations”), from landing in the UK or using UK airspace. In addition, and as noted in our previous response to your WPQ (HL3716), under the Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Russian Aircraft) Regulations 2022 the Department has imposed a prohibition on any aircraft flying to and from Russian aerodromes from using UK airspace.

The UK has imposed one of the most substantive transport prohibitions under both UK sanctions and aviation law against Russia. This enabled the government to take significant enforcement action under the 2019 Regulations including the detention of aircraft and ships with links to Russia. The Government also prevented key Russian airlines from selling their unused landing slots at UK airports worth millions. Furthermore, ensuring ongoing compliance with UK transport sanctions remains a priority for the UK government and we continue to explore new ways to encourage compliance. These actions have had a material impact on Russia and its aviation sector and has prevented them from profiting from the UK’s aviation and maritime sectors.

We continue to balance these priorities and are working closely with our G7 partners, particularly the US and EU, in our engagement with a range of third-countries. However, this remains a deeply complex area. We continue to review the transport sanctions we have in place and explore additional ways we can support Ukraine.

There is currently a prohibition on any aircraft flying to and from Russian aerodromes from using UK airspace. This prohibition was implemented on 5 April 2022 under the Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Russian Aircraft) Regulations 2022 (the ‘RoF’). Specifically, the RoF prohibits (at regulation 2(1)(c)) flights by any aircraft flying in accordance with a flight plan filed after 8.49 p.m. on 5th April 2022 which includes an aerodrome in Russia.

In addition, the RoF and the UK’s aviation sanctions established under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the ‘Russia sanctions regulations’) imposes further restrictions on flights in UK airspace by certain Russian aircraft. These include aircraft; owned, chartered or operated by a ‘person connected with Russia’ (as defined in regulation 57O(3) of the Russia sanctions regulations), or which are registered in Russia.

The UK remains committed to applying pressure on Russia through sectors such as aviation and we continue to encourage all our international partners to match our actions and ensure their sanctions’ effectiveness and impact.

On 16 December in a call with the Georgian Foreign Minister, the Minister for Europe, the Americas and Overseas Territories stressed that police violence targeting peaceful demonstrators, opposition figures and journalists is unacceptable. The Foreign Secretary's statement of 9 December condemned the excessive use of force and outlined the suspension of programme support as a result of the violence. Protesters in Georgia are making clear their opposition to Georgian Dream's decision to stall the country's progress towards a European future, undermining the commitments in the Georgian Constitution. We continue to call on the Georgian authorities to realign with European values.

On 16 December Minister Doughty discussed Russian interference in Georgia with Georgian Foreign Minister Botcharishvili. Georgia remains at the forefront of Russian hybrid aggression with Russian military units stationed only 30 minutes from the capital Tbilisi. The UK has been consistently vocal at the UN and OSCE in our support of Georgian territorial integrity and sovereignty over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where Russia regularly exerts pressure. We continue to call on the Russian Federation to cease 'borderisation' activities and withdraw their troops from Georgian sovereign territory. We have consistently supported Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, which would support a more secure and stable future for the country.

This Government is clear that Russia must be held responsible for its illegal war. That includes its obligations under international law to pay for the damage it has caused in Ukraine. Working with allies, we continue to pursue all possible lawful avenues by which Russia is made to meet those obligations. Our agreement with G7 partners to provide approximately $50 billion in additional funding to Ukraine, repaid by the profits generated on sanctioned Russian sovereign assets, is an important step towards ensuring Russia pays. Our focus is on delivering this commitment, including the UK's £2.26 billion contribution, as soon as possible.

The government is committed to handling planning appeals more quickly, including ensuring there is sufficient resourcing in the Planning Inspectorate to support such activity. We currently have no plans to introduce appeal fees but we will continue to keep the issue under review.

The Government is committed to reforming the planning system, via the new National Planning Policy Framework and the Planning Infrastructure Bill. As part of these reforms, we are also considering which provisions from the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 we will implement and will present more detail on these in due course.