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  • Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they accept claims for hearing loss from former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment who served before 1986; and if not, why not.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    Section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 prevented service personnel, including former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment, from suing the Crown for alleged negligence which occurred before that section was repealed in 1987. The repeal was not retrospective. Depending on their level of hearing loss, they may, however, be eligible for a War Disablement Pension.

  • Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many claims for hearing loss they have received from former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    Claims for damages brought against the Ministry of Defence are not recorded in a manner that enables the specific regiment or unit of a claimant to be identified without incurring disproportionate cost. 10,148 such claims have been received in the last six years from current and former Service personnel serving in Northern Ireland. Around 7,500 such claims have been successful to date, and the total value of compensation paid as a result has been around £62.3 million.

  • Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they accept claims for hearing loss from former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    Yes, provided that the Department accepts that it would be likely to be found liable if the claim were to be considered by a court.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 7 April (WA 249), whether they have set a fixed date in September 2014 by which HM Prison The Verne will be re-designated to an immigration removal centre; if not, why not; and what action they will take if the re-designation has not been completed by the agreed date.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    HMP The Verne started taking immigration detainees as scheduled from 24 March 2014.

    Our current plans remain that by the end of September 2014, at the latest, HMP The Verne will be re-designated to an immigration removal centre

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent deaths in the Yarmouk section of Damascus, reported by Amnesty International in its report Squeezing the life out of Yarmouk: War crimes against besieged civilians, and, in particular, of that organisation’s attribution of the deaths to starvation and lack of medical care.

    Lord Bates

    DFID is deeply concerned by reports of Palestinian refugees in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus suffering and dying as a result of malnutrition and lack of medical care. Yarmouk has been under siege for some time and we are calling for unfettered access to all affected communities and for all sides to lift sieges to end this suffering.

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what amount of money, fraudulently, corruptly or criminally acquired and transferred to the United Kingdom from (1) Russia, and (2) Ukraine, has been frozen, confiscated or returned to its rightful owners, in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy sets out our commitment to making the UK a hostile environment for money laundering. The information you have requested is not centrally held, but the UK has taken a leading role in responding to allegations of corruption in Ukraine, promptly implementing European Union sanctions against individuals identified as responsible for the misappropriation of state funds, and posting a multi-agency team, comprising of the National Crime Agency, Metropolitan Police Service, and Crown Prosecution service, to Kiev to provide technical assistance and support to the Ukrainian authorities. All appropriate criminal justice and administrative routes to support the Ukrainian authorities are being pursued.

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to instruct the various investigative and regulatory authorities to give priority to suspect deposits, in particular laundered money and investments, originating from Russia and Ukraine.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Government is committed to tackling money laundering and ensuring that the UK is a hostile place for the proceeds of corruption.

    Prior to EU sanctions being agreed, the Treasury contacted anti-money laundering supervisors suggesting that they emphasise the increased risk in relation to Ukraine to their firms and remind them of the need to have appropriate systems and controls for due diligence, ongoing monitoring and reporting of suspicious transactions.

    It is not possible to comment on specific operational matters.

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they ensure that claimants of benefits who are subject to sanctions know that they may apply for hardship payments; and what is the median time between such applications being made and cash payments being received.

    Lord Freud

    Where a benefit doubt is identified and the case is being referred to a decision maker, claimants are given information (verbally and in writing) about the doubt in question, what happens next, what they can do if a sanction is applied and the availability of hardship provision. Once a decision is made and a sanction applied, a formal notification is issued to the claimant, which includes information about how to apply for hardship.

    The Department does not record information about the length of time it takes to make a Hardship payment following receipt of an application.

  • Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether 16 and 17 year olds registered to vote in Scotland for the referendum on the future of the United Kingdom will automatically be registered to vote in United Kingdom elections at their 18th birthday.

    Lord Bates

    There is no provision in UK electoral registration legislation for those who are included on the Register of Young Voters, which was created specifically for the referendum by Act of the Scottish Parliament, to be automatically included in the register of electors for those elections for which the UK Parliament has competence.

    Electoral Registration Officers will be conducting a full Household Enquiry canvass every summer from 2015. Provided that they are eligible, young people who appeared on the Register of Young Voters will be captured by the canvass and invited to register under Individual Electoral Registration.

  • Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the date of the electoral register to be the basis of the 2018 review of United Kingdom parliamentary constituencies by the Boundary Commissions, under the provisions of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011.

    Lord Bates

    The Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended, provides for the 2018 review to be based on the number of electors on the electoral register as at 1 December 2015.