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Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the freeze on housing benefit rates, combined with an extended benefit cap and rising rents, on homeless families, and especially children, in particular in cases where local authorities have to place families in temporary housing far away from their local areas.

Lord Freud

The Government routinely publishes cumulative analysis of the impacts of its tax, welfare and public spending policies on households. The most recent assessment was published at Budget 2016 and is available on gov.uk. Nevertheless, such static analysis is limited in that it cannot robustly capture the behavioural changes encouraged by these policies. Considering welfare measures in isolation, such as Housing Benefit changes, would fail to recognise the impacts of tax and spending decisions such as the increase to the personal allowance and the provision of early years’ childcare, which are benefitting families up and down the country.

01/01/2023
Lord Naseby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Naseby on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide emergency funding from the international aid budget to help Sri Lankan citizens affected by the recent floods and landslides.

Baroness Verma

The UK provides substantial funding to international NGOs and UN agencies, enabling them to respond to disasters around the world, including Sri Lanka. This includes the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which was established by the UN and other leading donors to enable rapid emergency response. The CERF is doing an assessment of the situation following the rainfall and landslips in Sri Lanka. The UK, along with other leading donors, will provide support as required through this coordinated response mechanism.

The UK is the biggest contributor to the CERF, having provided in excess of $855m in the last 10 years. The UK also provides funding to the European Union humanitarian agency (ECHO) which is also undertaking an assessment.

01/01/2023
Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 23 May (HL174), what steps they are taking in particular to ensure that all employees at British airports with access to aircraft are vetted to ensure that they do not hold Islamist fundamentalist views.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

I would refer my noble friend to my Written Answer of 23 May (HL174) to his earlier question on this issue. Those staff undertaking aviation security duties are subject to additional security vetting following the minimum checks that must be completed. These arrangements, like our overall security regime, are kept under close review in light of all current threats. For security reasons, we would not comment on specific staff vetting arrangements.

01/01/2023
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the process is for ensuring that quick decisions are made about the treatment of critically ill infants suffering from hypophosphatasia in cases where effective drug treatment is available.

Lord Prior of Brampton

National Health Service commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Highly Specialised Technologies evaluations. If the drug is not recommended, and until NICE’s final guidance is issued, it would be for NHS England to decide whether to make it available to patients.

NICE is currently evaluating asfotase alfa (brand name Strensiq) for the treatment of paediatric-onset hypophosphatasia under its Highly Specialised Technologies programme, which looks at drugs for very small patient populations.

The Evaluation Committee’s preliminary recommendation, published in December 2015 for consultation, was not to recommended asfotase alfa, within its marketing authorisation, for long-term enzyme replacement therapy in paediatric-onset hypophosphatasia to treat the bone manifestations of the disease.

NICE makes its recommendations based on the available evidence and in consultation with stakeholders, including manufacturers and patient groups.

This is not NICE’s final guidance and its recommendations may change after consultation. NICE currently expects to publish its final guidance to the NHS in October 2016.

01/01/2023
Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 23 May (HL Deb, col 138), whether the same level of protection is given to storage sites for low-grade radioactive material as to nuclear power stations, and if not, what are the varying levels of protection given.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

In line with our international treaty obligations under the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Facilities, the UK adopts a graded approach to civil nuclear security. This takes into account the level and nature of the threat, the nature of the nuclear material and the potential consequences associated with the theft of the nuclear material and with sabotage against the nuclear material or nuclear facilities.

This means that for those sites holding nuclear materials; be they operating reactor sites, research sites, decommissioning sites, or low level waste storage sites, the level of protection provided is proportionate to the risks arising from theft or sabotage.

01/01/2023
Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to protect the Golan Heights from further Israeli settlement expansion, discriminatory policies against the native Syrian population, and the extraction of natural resources from the area.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government regards the Golan Heights – along with East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza – as Occupied Territory. We continue to call on Israel, as the Occupying Power, to uphold its obligations under international law in the Occupied Territories, including abiding by UN Security Council Resolution 497 (1981). We have been clear that Israel must comply with its obligations under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.

01/01/2023
Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel regarding the arrest of 13 Palestinian civilians at military checkpoints in the West Bank between 12 and 18 May.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have no plans to raise these arrests with the Israeli authorities.

01/01/2023
Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel regarding the demolition of Palestinian houses in al-Sowana neighbourhood and Shu’fat village.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Whilst we have not raised these specific demolitions, our Ambassador in Tel Aviv has raised our concerns on demolitions with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 15 May, and urged them to provide a legal route for Palestinians to obtain building permits.

01/01/2023

Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the annual cost of providing assessment and testing materials in primary schools in England in each of the last five years.

Lord Nash

The comprehensive net expenditure of the Standards and Testing Agency in each of the last five years was as follows:

Year ending	Cost
Year ending March 2015	£46.2m
Year ending March 2014	£45.9m
Year ending March 2013	£38.7m
Year ending March 2012	£28.8m
Year ending March 2011	£40.3m

01/01/2023

Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Public Duty Cost Allowances were in (1) 2013–14, (2) 2014–15, and (3) 2015–16.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The costs of the Public Duties Cost Allowance are published annually in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.

The cost of the PDCA in 2013-14 was £331,348 and in 2014-15 was £331,818.

Details of costs for 2015-16 will be included in the 2015-16 Annual Report and Accounts which will be published in due course.

01/01/2023