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  • – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 25 February (HL6124), what is their definition of political campaigning and lobbying”

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Cabinet Office’s interim guidance on applying the new clause in government grant agreements can be found online at:
    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/interim-guidance-on-applying-a-new-clause-in-government-grant-agreements

    Grant agreements are routinely subject to conditions, as well as a monitoring/audit process. The new grant clause builds on those existing processes

    The new clause has successfully been trialled by the Department for Communities and Local Government over the last 12 months.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 19 January (HL4885), whether the dates given in fact show that the time from laying down to operational handover for HMS Astute was nine years and seven months, and that for HMS Artful it will be 11 years.

    Earl Howe

    The build time of a submarine is measured between the start of manufacture and operational handover to the Royal Navy. Using this metric, the build time of HMS Astute was 170 months and for Artful was 137 months.

    Keel laying and commissioning have no bearing on the build programme. These are ceremonial milestones only: commissioning can happen before or after operational handover. Using these milestones, however, the time taken from keel laying to commissioning was nine years and seven months for HMS Astute and 11 years for Artful.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 February (HL5864), whether the term UK troops includes members of 13 Squadron, based at RAF Waddington, and of 39 Squadron, based at Creech Air Force Base in the US.

    Earl Howe

    This Government has demonstrated its commitment to the war powers convention by its willingness to hold Parliamentary debates in relation to air strikes in Iraq and Syria in 2013, 2014 and 2015. However, we have no intention of defining the precise circumstances, including the identity of specific military units, capabilities or types of operation, under which we might be obliged to act first and to notify Parliament afterwards, in order to avoid presenting our adversaries with opportunities to exploit that definition against the UK or our interests.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to work with the UK members of parliament who are attending the forthcoming World Humanitarian Summit in May.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK is committed to making the World Humanitarian Summit a success and recognises that this requires coordination with a large number of interested parties.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their priorities are at the forthcoming World Humanitarian Summit in May.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has four objectives for the Summit. Most importantly we want to see a renewed commitment to the protection of civilians in conflict, but also more effective financing, a new approach to building resilience to natural hazards before they take place, and a stronger focus on protecting and empowering women and girls. The global community – humanitarian, development and political actors – must come together to address these challenges.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will represent them at the forthcoming World Humanitarian Summit in May.

    Baroness Verma

    Final decisions on who will be in the delegation will be taken nearer the time.

  • Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of Libyan refugees currently residing in Tunisia.

    Baroness Verma

    Since 2014, UNHCR has co-ordinated inter-agency efforts to prepare for a possible influx of refugees and asylum-seekers from Libya, at the request of the Tunisian government and in close cooperation with UN agencies and partners. Its most recent assessment reported that there were 928 people of concern residing in Tunisia, mostly from Syria.

  • Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are funding training for the Tunisian tourism industry in order to improve their security arrangements, and if so, by how much.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Following the terrorist attacks in Sousse the British Government made a commitment to help the Tunisian government improve its security arrangements. This includes helping them improve their counter-terrorism capacity and ability to protect tourists, including British nationals. The UK continues to lead on providing expertise and mentoring for protective security with support from international partners. We do not release details of specific counter-terrorism activities for operational and security reasons.

  • Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings they have had recently with the government of Tunisia to discuss the current travel advice for UK citizens intending to travel to Tunisia; and whether they have any plans to amend that advice.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Ministers and officials are in regular contact with the Tunisian authorities, including on the matter of Travel Advice. The most recent discussions were in February 2016 when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), met the Tunisian Ambassador in London, and the Chargé d’ Affairs in Tunis met the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Tourism and Interior.

    We keep our travel advice for Tunisia under constant review, taking into account the current terrorist threat and the Tunisian capacity to deter and respond to that threat. The safety of British nationals abroad remains our priority.

  • Lord Smith of Clifton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Smith of Clifton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Smith of Clifton on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the average speeds of traffic flows recorded in central London for the years 2008 to 2015 inclusive.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The average speeds are as set out in the table below. This information is based on material published on the Transport for London website.

    Average traffic speeds (miles per hour) by functional sector of London. Working weekdays, by time period. TfL’s ‘network of interest’.

    Area and time period

    2007 speed (mph)

    2008 speed (mph)

    2009 speed (mph)

    2010 speed (mph)

    2011 speed (mph)

    2012 speed (mph)

    2013 speed (mph)

    2014 speed (mph)

    2015 speed (mph) first 6 months only

    Central am peak

    9.4

    9.1

    9.4

    9.4

    9.3

    9.3

    9.4

    8.9

    8.3

    Central inter-peak

    8.5

    8.3

    8.8

    8.7

    8.5

    8.5

    8.5

    8.1

    7.3

    Central pm peak

    9

    8.9

    8.9

    8.7

    8.6

    8.8

    8.6

    8.3

    7.8

    Inner am peak

    12.6

    12.4

    12.9

    12.7

    12.7

    12.6

    12.4

    11.9

    11.1

    Inner inter-peak

    13.1

    13

    13.3

    13.4

    13.3

    13.2

    13.2

    12.8

    12.2

    Inner PM peak

    11.4

    11.4

    11.2

    11.5

    11.4

    11.4

    11.2

    10.6

    10.3

    Outer am peak

    19.3

    19.6

    20.1

    20

    20.1

    19.9

    19.5

    18.6

    17.7

    Outer inter-peak

    21.3

    21.4

    21.4

    21.6

    21.6

    21.7

    21.8

    21.1

    21

    Outer pm peak

    18.3

    18.6

    18.3

    18.5

    18.5

    18.5

    18.1

    17.1

    16.9