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  • Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what locations they considered for their new offices in the USA focused on international trade.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The USA is the UK’s single largest trade and investment partner, and the decision to open three new Government Offices in 2016 reflects our ambition to expand this economic partnership even further.

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office considered a number of factors when deciding where to open these offices. The cities of Raleigh, North Carolina; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and San Diego, California were judged to have the best combination of policy, research and trade and investment potential.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 1 August (HL1311), what progress has been made so far in relation to the consultation on the future of Sure Start; whether they intend to publish the result of that consultation; and if so, when.

    Lord Nash

    The Prime Minister has been clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, will be a priority for this Government. We will consider future policy on children’s centres as part of this. We will provide further detail in due course and will make clear how stakeholders and members of the public can contribute.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received an evaluation of the Troubled Families programme from the consultancy firm Ecorys; when they received that evaluation; whether they plan to publish it; and if so when.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    I can confirm we have received a draft evaluation of the original Troubled Families Programme from Ecorys. The original draft report was received last autumn. The evaluation comprises several different strands. The evaluation is not yet ready to publish as there have been methodological issues with one of the strands. We expect the contractors to complete the reports shortly and in line with protocol, the Government will publish them soon after.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish the report they received in December 2015 from the Scientific Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons on the use of less-lethal weapons such as tasers; and if not, why not.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Scientific Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons’ report was provided on request by the Home Office and police. It is not a formal assessment and was never intended as a public report and therefore has not been published. The key conclusions were communicated to all police forces in England and Wales by DAC Neil Basu.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much tax has accrued to the Exchequer from the reported removal of £6.1 billion from pension funds since the new pensions flexibility rules were introduced, and how much they estimate will accrue by 2020.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The latest estimate of the tax revenue consequences of the introduction of pensions flexibility was set out in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook in March 2016. This stated, in paragraph 4.40, that: “tax from pension withdrawals relating to the pension flexibility measure is expected to be around £0.9 billion for the whole of 2015-16, around £0.2 billion higher than assumed in the original costing”.

    The estimated longer term tax impacts of the pensions flexibility measures announced at Budget 2014 were set out in Chart 1.11 (page 45) of the Budget 2014 document.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the total cost, by 2020, of the discounts available under the starter homes scheme created by the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The 2015 Conservative manifesto had the clear objective to build affordable homes, including Starter Homes to support young people into home ownership. They will be sold at a minimum 20 per cent discount on open market value and for no more than the price cap of £250,000 (£450,000 in London). The amount of discount will vary according to local property prices.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the total untaxed capital gains that will accrue to the beneficiaries of the starter homes scheme by 2020, taking into account the discount and any anticipated rise in house values.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The 2015 Conservative manifesto had the clear objective to build affordable homes, including Starter Homes to support young people into home ownership. They will be sold at a minimum 20 per cent discount on open market value and for no more than the price cap of £250,000 (£450,000 in London). The amount of discount will vary according to local property prices. No separate assessment on capital gains has been made.

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

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have given the rail industry an exemption that allows that industry a year longer than the aviation industry to comply with the provisions of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in respect of compensation for delays or cancellations to services; and whether they plan to extend that exemption to providers of bus and coach services.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government has decided that the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) should apply in full to all transport services, including mainline passenger rail services, from 1 October 2016.

    The 12 month exemption from one of the compensation provisions in the Consumer Rights Act was originally proposed to allow time for train operators to move to a consistent compensation scheme. However, the Government is now of the view that rail customers should not be denied any consumer rights or protections even for a temporary period while the rail industry works to put in place more consistent compensation arrangements between train operators. The Government has therefore withdrawn the draft statutory instrument which was to have been debated by Parliament and which, if approved, would have put this exemption in place.

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

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether consultants working for HS2 Ltd will be prevented from participating in any tender for main contractor roles in the design and delivery of HS2 in order to avoid any conflict of interest and to ensure a fair tender process.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    HS2 Ltd has a Conflicts of Interest Panel that considers actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest on a case-by-case basis. This Panel is chaired by HS2 Ltd’s General Counsel. This Panel is supported by an in-house Compliance team.

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

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the station to be built at Euston in accordance with Additional Provision 3 to the High Speed Rail (London–West Midlands) Bill will be designed in such a way that Regulation 3 of the Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) (England) Regulations 2009 applies.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Regulation 3, of The Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) (England) Regulations 2009, provides a definition for whether a railway station is classified as a sub-surface railway station. The definition is based on the extent of enclosed/below ground platforms and tracks within a public railway station. When the definition is met the Regulations apply.

    The high speed station at Euston is defined as a sub-surface railway station (as per Regulation 3). The Regulations are applied to the design of the high speed station, and the existing LU Station.

    The Regulations have not been applied to the existing conventional station, which is not currently classified as a sub-surface railway station.