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  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether, were the UK to leave the EU, they would be obliged to consider the case of an applicant for asylum who was known to have arrived directly from a safe country; and if so, as a result of which treaty or instrument.

    Lord Bates

    EU negotiations are ongoing and the UK is engaging with European partners to reach a positive outcome.

    The Government firmly supports the well-established principle that those seeking international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, a principle reflected within the Dublin Regulation.

    We are cooperating fully with the EU Commission’s review of the Dublin Regulation and will continue to make the case that its long – established principles should continue to be the basis for any future regulation.

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an EEA national residing in the UK who wished to bring a non-EU spouse into the country would, under the draft Decision by the European Council published on 2 February, have to meet the requirements for salary, and the spouse the conditions for language, as are required of a British citizen and set out under part 8 of the UK Immigration Rules.

    Lord Bates

    This is still a matter for negotiation. The European Commission has proposed bringing forward a legislative proposal to reverse the Metock judgment and prevent non-EU nationals from acquiring free movement rights simply by marrying an EU national. Instead, they will be subject to the domestic immigration controls of the first Member State they enter. In the UK, this means that they will need to meet language and income requirements.

  • Lord Willoughby de Broke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Willoughby de Broke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Payments Agency will receive a bonus payment this year.

    Lord Freud

    Universal Credit is a single, indivisible benefit. Universal Credit claimants receive a single monthly amount based on various criteria, including family size and the level of any housing or childcare costs and taking into account earnings and other household income. The final award is therefore a single amount and elements cannot be separated.

    The final agreed Decision of the Heads of State and Government adopted at the European Council on 20 February 2016 makes clear that the emergency welfare brake will apply to non-contributory in-work benefits. All EU workers arriving in the UK while the brake is in operation will have to wait for four years before getting full access to these benefits.

  • Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this session to ministers or senior officials in (1) HM Treasury, (2) the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, (3) the Department for Education, (4) the Department for Energy and Climate Change, (5) the Department for Health, and (6) the Department for Work and Pensions, about whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Details of the proposals for restricting in-work benefits for EU nationals will be subject to further negotiation and we cannot speculate on these.

  • Baroness Scott of Needham Market – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Scott of Needham Market – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are planning to take to ensure that council tax billing authorities pass on to parish and town councils the council tax support funding providing for those councils by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The patients with clinically actionable reports from the pilot phase are from rare diseases where improved knowledge of the causal mutation improves the management of the patient, their family members and possible future reproductive decisions. The patients diagnosed by whole genome sequencing had not been diagnosed using existing National Health Service panel tests. We are still evaluating the data from the 100,000 Genomes project to identify options for panel testing or other clinical sequencing strategies.

  • Baroness Quin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Quin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Quin on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the average waiting time is for a result to be given of a DEXA bone density scan in each NHS region in England; and what assessment they have made of the average waiting time for such results in (1) Scotland, and (2) Wales.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Genomics England has set an objective to deliver 8,000 clinical reports by the end of 2016. The precise details of the reports from the pilot and main phases will become clearer once the phenotypic data is collected and linked to the genome data.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have an agreement or understanding with the IRA that there will be no attempts to stop or bring to court its members on charges relating to tax fraud or tax terrorism in South Armagh.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Genomics England is familiar with the Broad Institute’s database and it is one of a number of data sources that will be included in their clinical interpretation process.

  • Lord Knight of Weymouth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Knight of Weymouth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Knight of Weymouth on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 1 February (HL5090 and HL5091), whether they will now provide the direct link to that information, and why they did not provide that link in those answers.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England is currently finalising the service specification for a forthcoming procurement for genomic laboratory services. The issues around sharing outcome data are under broader consideration as part of the wider genomics programme.

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an EEA national residing in the UK who wished to bring in a non-EU spouse into the country would, under the draft Decision by the European Council published on 2 February, have to meet the requirements for salary and the spouse the conditions for language as are required of a British citizen and are set out under part 8 of the UK Immigration Rules..

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The Government considers that it is important that the interests of energy consumers are represented on the SEC Panel. The current arrangements were consulted on in the Government’s Smart Energy Code Consultation in April 2012, and were concluded in the Government Responses in November 2012 and April 2013. The Government concluded that Consumer Futures, as the exclusive statutory consumer body in the energy sector, was best placed to nominate consumer representatives for the Panel. These statutory responsibilities were transferred to Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland when Consumer Futures was abolished in 2014.

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the proposed restrictions on access to in-work benefits mentioned in paragraph 2(b) of Section D of the draft Decision of the European Council published on 2 February will apply to Universal Credit, and if so, to which elements of Universal Credit those restrictions will apply.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    The number of statutory instruments laid before Parliament is recorded in the sessional returns. The House of Commons Library produce publications on this matter which show that the numbers peaked in the 2005-2006 session. The latest figures show that the number of UK statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons in each session since 1997 are as follows:

    • 1997-98: 1856

    • 1998-99: 1479

    • 1999-00: 1456

    • 2000-01: 868

    • 2001-02: 1788

    • 2002-03: 1474

    • 2003-04: 1281

    • 2004-05: 793

    • 2005-06: 1885

    • 2006-07: 1361

    • 2007-08: 1319

    • 2008-09: 1302

    • 2009-10: 823

    • 2010-12: 1809

    • 2012-13: 964

    • 2013-14: 1173

    • 2014-15: 1378

    • 2015-16: 540 (so far in this session)