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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Simon Kirby on Communities and Local Government.

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Brandon Lewis

The council tax referendum principles are proposed annually by the Government and subject to the approval of the House of Commons. We are open to representations on the principles for 2015-16 and how local residents can continue to be protected from unwanted council tax rises.

A further council tax freeze offer is available for local authorities in 2015-16, and we would encourage all local authorities, including Brighton and Hove, to take up that opportunity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on Justice.

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Lord Faulks

The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 provides the necessary enabling powers to put in place the funding arrangements for the Legal Ombudsman to deal with complaints against claims management companies. These provisions were commenced on 21 March 2014. They include a power for the Lord Chancellor to make Regulations to charge fees to recover the costs he has incurred in meeting the expenditure of the Legal Ombudsman in relation to claims management complaints.

The Government consultation on the proposed structure of the Lord Chancellor’s cost recovery fee ended on 6 June and the responses are being analysed. Once the fee structure is finalised, the Fee Regulations will be laid in Parliament for approval and the consultation response will be published at that time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by col 970).” on Energy and Climate Change.

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Baroness Verma

We anticipate that some generators will seek to establish the terms of any PPA and financing arrangements before they participate in the CfD allocation round, in order to understand better their likely costs. Such conditional PPAs could take a number of forms, from indicative terms to a signed contract.

In 2013, DECC officials established an industry Market Readiness group to prepare the market for offering CfD PPAs. There are now a number of PPA providers discussing terms with potential developers but these discussions are commercially sensitive.

The Offtaker of Last Resort will allow generators to develop their projects using shorter-term PPAs with smaller suppliers. We are on track to introduce enabling regulations to have the OLR mechanism in place ahead of the first CfD allocation in Autumn 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by what steps they will take to ensure that the current proposals (1) to introduce auctioning of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) for only one particular group of technologies in October 2014 on Energy and Climate Change.

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Baroness Verma

The EU ‘Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020′, which were adopted in principle on 9 April 2014, set out a requirement to introduce technology neutral competition for renewable technologies, including a transitional phase, with a number of derogations. In May 2014 the Government confirmed proposals to move straight to competition for more established technologies. For less established technologies, if there is insufficient budget in a CfD allocation round to satisfy all bids, a competitive auction will apply. We believe our proposals are consistent with the guidelines.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Liam Byrne on Business, Innovation and Skills.

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Mr David Willetts

No estimate of retention rates at alternative providers has yet been made. The designation conditions that apply from 2014/15 onwards require alternative providers to provide a data return to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). This data once available will help inform BIS decisions on designations and enable the Department to estimate retention rates across the sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Ian Murray on Justice.

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Mr Shailesh Vara

The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly official statistics on the tribunals which come under it, including Employment Tribunals. These are produced by statisticians in the Analytical Services Division using data produced by HM Courts and Tribunals Service. There are no plans for a review of the statistics at this time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Luciana Berger on Health.

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Norman Lamb

NHS England recognises that the number of adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) is gradually increasing over time. The growth in numbers is taken into account by NHS England as part of its annual commissioning process and will be considered in the ongoing development of its five year specialised commissioning strategy.

Information concerning the number of people living with CF in each of the last four years is not available. In the following table we have provided the number of CF patients (adults and children) cared for by specialist centres in England in each of the last three years. This data has only been collected since the introduction of the tariff for CF services in 2011.

Year	Patients
2011	7,291
2012	7,620
2013	7,778

We would expect all CF patients to have a CF specialist in charge of their care and, as part of the ongoing support they receive, to be assessed at specialist centres.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Chi Onwurah on Cabinet Office.

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Mr Francis Maude

The Taskforce has recently been reconstituted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Sharon Hodgson on Justice.

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Simon Hughes

I have not discussed the legal status of Islamic marriages with any of the organisations listed.

There are no plans to change the law to recognise in English law Muslim marriages and divorces which do not conform to the Marriage Act 1949.