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  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 12 May (HL8031), how many times in (1) 2014, and (2) 2015, HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) specialist embassy team carried out risk assessment activities and identified individuals who had not notified their employment to HMRC, and subsequently took action to ensure they paid the tax that was due.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Embassy team in 2014 and 2015 didn’t undertake any specific risk assessment activities with regards to individuals who had not notified their employment. However the team arranged for one of our Central Compliance Teams to undertake a project to review the National Insurance Contributions (NICs) position of various embassies employees using our Risk Profiling system. We reviewed 697 cases and opened checks into 258 of these. Of these 150 were found to be compliant. The checks covered the tax years 2009/10 to 2014/15.

    In the current year we are expecting to open further checks in relation to both tax and NICs on a number of employees.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the drivers of rickshaws that carry paying passengers have to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the requirements for other taxi service providers.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The legislation covering rickshaws, or pedicabs, is different across England.

    In London they are classified as stage coaches, and therefore are exempted from taxi licensing and do not need a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The Government however is looking to bring forward legislation to regulate pedicabs in London.

    Outside London they fall under taxi licensing, and drivers must therefore pass the ‘fit and proper person’ test mandated by whichever local authority they are licensed in.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many LGBTIQ people applied for refugee status in the UK on the basis of homophobic, biphobic or transphobic laws in their home countries in the last five years, and what was the percentage success rate of those applications.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Further to the response provided to Lord Scriven on 25 March 2015, (HL5725) the process of quality assuring the data held on the Home Office’s Case Information Database, relating to sexuality based asylum claims is currently being undertaken by Home Office officials.

    As such, the Home Office has not yet reached a point where it can provide an accurate picture of the number of asylum claims based on sexuality and no statistical data on this subject has hitherto been published.

    Information where the detail of the asylum claim basis relates to gender identity issues is not routinely recorded on Home Office databases in a way that can be easily aggregated. No published data exists relating to gender identity based asylum claims.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards they have put in place to ensure that, if the student loan book is sold on, students are not faced with increased rates of interest on their student loans.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    As stated in the March 2016 Budget, the Government is continuing to prepare for the sale of the pre-2012 income contingent repayment student loan book, with a first sale expected in 2016-17.

    Purchasers would have no direct relationship with borrowers, and would have no power to amend the terms of repayment. Government would still finance student loans and continue to collect repayments.

  • Lord Teverson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Teverson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to promote the development of energy storage.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    DECC published a document ‘Towards a smart energy system’ in December 2015, and we are investigating the potential barriers to deployment of energy storage and possible mitigating actions, focussing in the first instance on removing policy and regulatory barriers. DECC plans to issue a call for evidence on a smart systems routemap in the near future.

    Since 2012, public sector support (including Ofgem innovation funding) for storage has topped £80m.

  • Lord Teverson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Teverson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that the consumer energy storage market is properly regulated so that consumers are not miss-sold inappropriate systems, and to protect  responsible manufacturers in the sector.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    DECC has provided funding for the development of a Good Practice Guide on Electrical Energy Storage, which was published in December 2014. DECC officials are also involved in ongoing discussions led by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and by the British Standards Institution (BSI) on technical guidance and standards for electrical energy storage systems. Independent, professional bodies, such as the IET and BSI, are well-placed to lead development of relevant technical guidelines or standards.

    The BRE Trust, a charity dedicated to research and education in the built environment, has published this year the “BRE Solar Storage Consumer Guide” which provides guidance for domestic and small commercial consumers considering a battery system to work alongside an existing or new solar PV system.

    DECC aims to level the playing field for the storage market, removing policy and regulatory barriers in the first instance. We will be publishing a call for evidence on a smart systems routemap, including storage, in the near future.

  • Lord Teverson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Teverson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to increase international student numbers from India, in the light of the publication of Indian Student Mobility Report 2016 by M M Advisory Services. which points out that, despite the high growth in overseas students from India, the number of students coming to the UK has declined steeply in recent years and is likely to be overtaken by Germany.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    We welcome international students from all countries to study at our world-class universities. There is no cap on the number that can come here and the UK remains the second most popular destination for international students.

    The Government is working closely with India to strengthen education ties with the UK. In November 2015, the Indian and UK Prime Ministers’ jointly announced the ‘2016 UK-India Year of Education, Research and Innovation’ and the following month my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Minister of State for Universities and Science led a delegation to India, accompanied by 28 vice-chancellors and college leaders to increase sector-to-sector partnerships.

    We are funding major bilateral agreements, including: the UK India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) which supports partnerships in education and research; the Newton-Bhabha Fund, bringing together science and innovation partners to tackle economic development challenges; and supporting the Generation UK-India programme which is increasing the number of UK students taking placements in India. We are also promoting recruitment to the UK through the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to support the women reportedly imprisoned in Rwanda for terminating their pregnancies after rape.

    Baroness Verma

    The Department places the empowerment of girls and women at the heart of its programme in Rwanda. We mainstream women and girls across our programme, and deliver targeted interventions where needed to address particular constraints faced by women. For example, we are providing up to £4.6m over 4 years (2014-2018) for a programme that will work with women and men, opinion leaders and members of the community to tackle the triggers of gender-based violence. The programme will reach over 1.7 million people. We are also supporting a Girls Empowerment Programme which is enabling 92,000 girls over three years to meet in safe spaces across the country. The girls are mentored and guided through a curriculum that includes sexual and reproductive health, prevention of violence and guidance on staying safe and healthy.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Clinical Commissioning Groups’ midwifery workforce planning has taken into consideration the impact on the workload of midwives of an increase in the number of older mothers.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    At a national level, it is Health Education England’s (HEE) responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient future supply of staff, including midwives, to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system taking in to account issues such as demographic changes, for example, increases in older mothers.

    The Workforce Plan is built upon the needs of local employers, providers, commissioners and other stakeholders who, as members of its Local Education Training Boards (LETBs), shape the 13 local plans.

    The Workforce Plan is predominately an aggregate of the local LETB plans, but the final national plan is only agreed with the advice and input of its clinical advisory groups and Patients’ Advisory Forum, as well as the royal colleges and other stakeholders.

    At a local level, it is ultimately the responsibility of National Health Service trusts, working with their clinical commissioning groups, to ensure they have sufficient staff on their wards with the right skills to treat patients in their care and this would include taking account of changes in patient condition profile, for example, any rise in non-communicable diseases, in their workforce planning.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Clinical Commissioning Groups’ midwifery workforce planning has taken into consideration the impact on the workload of midwives of the rise in non-communicable diseases.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    At a national level, it is Health Education England’s (HEE) responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient future supply of staff, including midwives, to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system taking in to account issues such as demographic changes, for example, increases in older mothers.

    The Workforce Plan is built upon the needs of local employers, providers, commissioners and other stakeholders who, as members of its Local Education Training Boards (LETBs), shape the 13 local plans.

    The Workforce Plan is predominately an aggregate of the local LETB plans, but the final national plan is only agreed with the advice and input of its clinical advisory groups and Patients’ Advisory Forum, as well as the royal colleges and other stakeholders.

    At a local level, it is ultimately the responsibility of National Health Service trusts, working with their clinical commissioning groups, to ensure they have sufficient staff on their wards with the right skills to treat patients in their care and this would include taking account of changes in patient condition profile, for example, any rise in non-communicable diseases, in their workforce planning.