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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards they have put in place to ensure that, if the student loan book is sold on, students are not faced with increased rates of interest on their student loans.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

As stated in the March 2016 Budget, the Government is continuing to prepare for the sale of the pre-2012 income contingent repayment student loan book, with a first sale expected in 2016-17.

Purchasers would have no direct relationship with borrowers, and would have no power to amend the terms of repayment. Government would still finance student loans and continue to collect repayments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many LGBTIQ people applied for refugee status in the UK on the basis of homophobic, biphobic or transphobic laws in their home countries in the last five years, and what was the percentage success rate of those applications.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Further to the response provided to Lord Scriven on 25 March 2015, (HL5725) the process of quality assuring the data held on the Home Office’s Case Information Database, relating to sexuality based asylum claims is currently being undertaken by Home Office officials.

As such, the Home Office has not yet reached a point where it can provide an accurate picture of the number of asylum claims based on sexuality and no statistical data on this subject has hitherto been published.

Information where the detail of the asylum claim basis relates to gender identity issues is not routinely recorded on Home Office databases in a way that can be easily aggregated. No published data exists relating to gender identity based asylum claims.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the drivers of rickshaws that carry paying passengers have to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the requirements for other taxi service providers.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The legislation covering rickshaws, or pedicabs, is different across England.

In London they are classified as stage coaches, and therefore are exempted from taxi licensing and do not need a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The Government however is looking to bring forward legislation to regulate pedicabs in London.

Outside London they fall under taxi licensing, and drivers must therefore pass the ‘fit and proper person’ test mandated by whichever local authority they are licensed in.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 12 May (HL8031), how many times in (1) 2014, and (2) 2015, HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) specialist embassy team carried out risk assessment activities and identified individuals who had not notified their employment to HMRC, and subsequently took action to ensure they paid the tax that was due.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Embassy team in 2014 and 2015 didn’t undertake any specific risk assessment activities with regards to individuals who had not notified their employment. However the team arranged for one of our Central Compliance Teams to undertake a project to review the National Insurance Contributions (NICs) position of various embassies employees using our Risk Profiling system. We reviewed 697 cases and opened checks into 258 of these. Of these 150 were found to be compliant. The checks covered the tax years 2009/10 to 2014/15.

In the current year we are expecting to open further checks in relation to both tax and NICs on a number of employees.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 12 May (HL8031), what percentage of diplomatic missions in the UK issued with the annual letters on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office requesting staff lists with details of all locally engaged staff and private servants replied with full information in 2015.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Embassy team issued 279 letters to the various Embassies and their different sections requesting staff lists for the 2014-15 tax year in September 2015. The requests also ask for details of private addresses and Remuneration. As a result of that letter we received 24 responses. That is an 8% return.

Article 10 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) outlines a mission’s responsibility to keep the host State informed of the arrival and departure of staff. Embassies therefore only have a legal obligation to notify HM Government of their leavers and new starters so we rely greatly on the goodwill of Embassies to supply us with this additional information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the specific criteria for selecting and deselecting target countries for the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government has pursued or supported Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative activity in a wide range of countries over the last four years, including Burma, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Mali, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and Syria. The criteria used for selecting and deselecting these target countries take into account a number of factors. These include the extent and impact of sexual violence in the country under consideration, the national and international response to date and the particular role the UK can play in reinforcing or complementing existing efforts.