The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take to end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
Baroness Warsi
The British Government still sees negotiations towards a two state solution as the best way to meet the national aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians and lead to a sovereign, viable and contiguous Palestinian state, living in peace and security alongside a safe and secure Israel.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how often ministers of the Department of Health visit local communities across the country to verify that the figures in relation to health and social care on which policy is based equate with the facts that people experience on the ground.
Earl Howe
Ministers in the Department frequently undertake visits to a wide range of health and social care settings across the country during which they meet a large numbers of staff, service users and patients.
Since May 2010 Ministers in the Department have undertaken a total of 646 official visits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many meetings have taken place in 2014 between British and French authorities to discuss homeless people living in the Calais area who seek unlawfully to board British vehicles travelling to Dover; and what has been the outcome of any such meetings.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The UK works closely with the French authorities on matters of border security and cross border criminality to maintain the integrity of our joint border controls.
The Home Office and Border Force regularly meet the French at Ministerial, official and operational level to enhance our effectiveness in tackling irregular migration and organised immigration crime, including between Calais and Dover.
Recent collaboration has resulted in a grant of £2 million from the UK to replace and upgrade the Passive Millimetre Wave Imaging (PMMWI) equipment currently deployed in the ports of Calais and Coquelles.
In respect of the UK response to increase our impact on Organised Immigration Crime in France (especially northern France) Border Force have established a UK Task Force (Op Groundbreaker) and assembled Intelligence /Investigation Officers from Immigration Enforcement, Border Force, National Crime Agency and Kent Police. The Task Force is able to provide a robust response to OIC and work closely with French colleagues in Police Aux Frontiéres (PAF) nationally and in particular with OCRIEST (Office Central de Répression de l’Immigration Irrégulière et de l’Emploi d’Etrangers sans Titre – a specialist PAF Unit dedicated to tackling organised crime groups in France and abroad).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the progress of the roll-out of high speed broadband, and in particular of the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government’s programme is making good progress and has now made available superfast broadband to over 0.5 million premises in the UK. The pace of deployment has increased from 10,000 premises a week gaining availability of superfast broadband in early 2014 to 20,000 a week now and this will increase to 40,000 per week by the Summer of 2014.
With respect to impact on SME’s, the Broadband Impact Study – Impact Report, an expert report by analysts SQW (with Cambridge Econometrics), revealed the Government’s investment in superfast broadband will deliver a major boost to the UK economy; for every £1 the government is investing in broadband, the UK economy will benefit by £20 by 2024. It also demonstrated that the benefits will be shared across the UK, helping the rebalancing of our economy; approximately 89 per cent of the benefits will be in areas outside London and the South East of England with rural areas set to benefit most.
The report focussed on impacts of mass market broadband services – i.e. ‘affordable broadband’ for SMEs and households – and estimated that by 2024, net annual GVA impacts attributable to intervention include:
· £0.8 billion from safeguarding local enterprise employment,
· £5 billion from productivity growth for broadband-using firms,
· £0.3 billion from improved teleworker productivity, and
· £0.2 billion from increased labour force participation.
The majority of these benefits will be to SMEs, and over half to rural areas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to the predicted increase in tick-transmitted diseases such as Lyme disease.
Earl Howe
Public Health England (PHE) and the National Health Service have public information on tick-borne diseases on their websites, and PHE works with patient groups to promote the recognition and prevention of Lyme disease. PHE also provides information for health professionals, and wrote to all general practitioners last spring to alert them to the risks. A new leaflet for the public will be released later this month and advertised through social media sites and the PHE website. National parks and other organisations also offer advice to visitors on avoiding tick bites and awareness of Lyme Disease, and PHE will work with these groups to enhance the information available over the summer season. PHE is also developing national guidance for the management of Lyme disease, and a research programme through the Health Protection Research Unit at Liverpool with NHS partners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Smith of Finsbury on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 6 May (WA 443) on the treatment of newspaper products, what plans they have in relation to a zero rate of VAT on books provided in digital format.
Lord Deighton
The Government has no plans to change the VAT treatment of books provided in digital format. Legal advice obtained by the Government indicates there is no scope to do so under EU law.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Uddin on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provisions exist to safeguard monies identified by the Independent Living Fund (ILF) as needed to meet the critical and substantial need of recipients; and whether such funds will be ring-fenced by local authorities to ensure monies are used exclusively for continuation of care when the ILF ceases.
Lord Freud
All the funding that would have been allocated to the ILF in 2015/16 to support its users from July 2015 onwards will be transferred to local authorities in England and to the devolved administrations in other parts of the UK. Local government social care funding is not ring-fenced, allowing local authorities the flexibility to manage their budgets locally in line with local needs and priorities. Local authorities have a statutory duty to assess and fund the eligible care needs of all disabled people, including former users of the Independent Living Fund. The Public Sector Equality Duty applies to local government in the same way as it does to central government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House all risk assessments into standardised tobacco packaging undertaken by HM Revenue and Customs.
Earl Howe
The Government continues carefully to consider all issues relevant to the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products.
The Government will be holding a final, short consultation including draft regulations in which Ministers will ask, in particular, for views on anything new since the last full public consultation that is relevant to the development of this policy.
A further, developed consultation stage Impact Assessment (IA) will be published alongside the upcoming public consultation. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has contributed to the revised IA.
The Department of Health will continue to work with other government departments on the development of proposals for standardised packaging of tobacco products.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why European Union solidarity funding was not sought to assist with damage caused in the recent floods and cliff falls.
Lord Deighton
EU Solidarity Fund money is available to eligible States suffering from large-scale natural disasters but is subject to a number of eligibility requirements, including on the level of direct damages.
Comparing the recent damage in the UK to the 2007 floods, and following contact with the Commission, the Government’s assessment is that we did not meet these conditions.
However, the Government continues to explore external mechanisms, including through discussions with EU institutions such as the EIB, to support the existing package of UK Government support, which includes £130 million for flood recovery in the South West.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any current or planned assessments of coastal erosion following recent cliff falls near residential areas in East Sussex.
Lord De Mauley
The management of coastal erosion along the East Sussex coastline is the responsibility of the Coast Protection Authorities under the Coast Protection Act 1949. Coast Protection Authorities regularly monitor and assess the condition of the coastal cliffs in their areas. The Coast Protection Authorities for the East Sussex coastline will continue to monitor the coast line following the cliff falls during the last winter.