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  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the new Ministerial Code, whether the duty of ministers to comply with the law continues to include international law and treaties.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Ministerial Code is normally updated and reissued after a General Election. The updated Code makes clear that Ministers must abide by the law. The obligations of Ministers under the law including international law remain unchanged.

    Information relating to internal discussions and advice is not disclosed.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the removal of the reference in the Ministerial Code to having to comply with international law and treaty obligations alters the legal obligations of ministers.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Ministerial Code is normally updated and reissued after a General Election. The updated Code makes clear that Ministers must abide by the law. The obligations of Ministers under the law including international law remain unchanged.

    Information relating to internal discussions and advice is not disclosed.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to amend section 3(5A) of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to remove the requirement on the Secretary of State to lay the draft of an Order in Council for giving effect to the recommendations contained in the Boundary Commissions’ reports.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Government will outline its plans for constituency boundaries when it responds to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee’s report, What next on the redrawing of parliamentary constituency boundaries?, in due course.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the total cost to the public purse of their appeal against the High Court’s ruling in R v The Secretary of State for Justice [2014] EWHC 2365 (Admin).

    Lord Faulks

    As a matter of principle this Government believes that individuals should have a strong connection with the UK in order to benefit from the civil legal aid scheme. We believe that the residence test we have proposed is a fair and appropriate way to demonstrate that strong connection. We have therefore pursued an appeal against the High Court’s judgment in this case.

    The total costs to the public purse of pursuing this appeal can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) whether they consider the action of Network Rail in closing the level crossing in the East Sussex village of Plumpton Green acceptable, and (2) whether they will call on Network Rail to re-open the affected road running through the village as a matter of urgency; and what arrangements will be made for emergency vehicles, access for disabled people and parents trying to get their children to local schools.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Whilst Network Rail has an otherwise excellent record of completing works at the 6,200 level crossings which it manages with minimal disruption, it is highly regrettable that there appears to have been a lapse in project management in this particular case.

    The impact which the continued closure of the crossing is having on the lives of local residents and businesses is not acceptable. Ministers have raised this matter with Network Rail at the highest level to request that the company urgently re-doubles its efforts in partnership with local stakeholders to find a solution and ensure that the crossing can re-open as quickly as possible.

  • Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Leasehold Advisory Service about future demands on its services for free legal advice from leaseholders, landlords, professional advisers, managers and others as a result of expanding the right-to-buy scheme to Housing Association tenants.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    We are working collaboratively with the sector in implementing the Right to Buy extension; Ministers and senior officials continue to engage with partners.

  • Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect on the cost of housing benefit to the public purse of requiring local authorities to sell their housing stock.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Everyone needs to live within their means. People on benefits should have to make the same decisions and choices about where they can afford to live as people who are not on benefits, and should not expect to be housed in properties that most working households are unable to afford.

    The Housing and Planning Bill will require local authorities to make a payment to Government based on the estimated value of their high value housing that is expected to become vacant.

    This policy is about councils making best use of their housing stock – selling vacant high value housing to fund the building of new homes which reflect housing need and increase overall housing supply, and to increase home ownership, as set out in the Government’s manifesto.

    At the heart of this legislation is the building of more homes. A portion of receipts generated from sales of vacant high value local authority housing will be used to build homes that better meet housing need and increase overall housing supply. In addition to this, housing associations will retain the sales receipt from each home sold through Right to Buy to enable them to re-invest in the delivery of new homes.

  • Baroness Whitaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Whitaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the impact of air pollution on the lung function of children in the London Borough of Lambeth.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England has not made any estimate of the impact of air pollution on the lung function of children in the London Borough of Lambeth.

  • Baroness Whitaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Whitaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which authorities are responsible for the monitoring of urban air.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    In England, overall responsibility for monitoring ambient air quality lies with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In addition the Environment Agency is responsible for monitoring emissions from large and complex industrial processes in England. This function is undertaken by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency in Scotland, Natural Resources Wales in Wales and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland. Under the Local Air Quality Management System, local authorities are responsible for reviewing and assessing ambient air quality.

  • Baroness Whitaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Whitaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which European Union directives apply to urban air pollution; and how each is enacted in United Kingdom law.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    There are two main pieces of European legislation applicable to urban air pollution:

    • The Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe Directive 2008 (“the Directive”) applies to urban air pollution. It has been transposed in England by the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively, the Directive has been transposed by the Air Quality Standards (Scotland) Regulations 2010, the Air Quality Standards (Wales) Regulations 2010 and the Air Pollution and the Air Quality Standards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010. The regulations reflect the legally binding limits set by the Directive for concentrations in outdoor air of major air pollutants that impact public health such as particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The Directive requires the undertaking of air quality assessments and the reporting of findings to the European Commission annually. The UK has statutory monitoring networks in place to meet the requirements of the Directive, with air quality modelling used to supplement the monitored data.
    • The National Emission Ceilings Directive (2001/81/EC) (NECD) sets limits on total annual emissions of key air pollutants (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and ammonia) to help reduce transboundary air pollution. The NECD is transposed into UK law by the National Emission Ceilings Regulations 2002.

    There is also further legislation aimed at delivering specific reductions in emissions from certain areas of the economy, which for competitive or single market reasons has been set at European level. This includes:

    • The Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU)
    • The Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels Directive (1993/32/EC)
    • Petrol Vapour Recovery Directive (94/63/EC)
    • The Quality of Petrol and Diesel Fuels Directive (98/70/EC)

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