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  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to impose large extra tax rises or spending cuts at short notice in order to meet their target of cutting the deficit by 2019–20.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government has set out a fixed target to achieve a surplus on the headline measure of public sector net borrowing by the end of 2019-20. This is a transparent commitment showing the government’s resolve to complete the repair of the public finances. The Spending Review and Autumn Statement set out the action required to return the country to surplus over the course of this Parliament and on the basis of the latest Office for Budget Responsibility forecast in their November 2015 ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’ the government is forecast to achieve a surplus of £10.1bn by the end of 2019-20.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the light of the number of cyber attacks against them in 2015.

    Baroness Shields

    The Government’s National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) aims to tackle cyber crime and make the UK the safest place in the world to do business in the world. This includes the Cyber Essentials Scheme to protect businesses against common cyber threats and the cyber streetwise campaign which offers simple cyber security advice to small businesses and consumers. In addition to the £860 million investment under the NCSP between 2011-2016, in November 2015 the Chancellor announced a new five year £1.9 billion investment in cyber security to make the UK one of the best protected countries in cyber space.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for £50 notes no longer being issued by central banks in order to help tackle crime.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government is fully committed to fighting all forms of financial crime, including money laundering and terrorist financing. In 2010, UK banks voluntarily withdrew the €500 note from sale in this country on the basis of analysis from our law enforcement agencies regarding its use by criminal groups. Such high denomination notes are attractive to criminals due to their high-value to low-volume ratio.

    By contrast, the highest denomination note issued by the Bank of England is the £50 note whose value is far less than that of truly high denomination notes. Furthermore, the £50 note plays an important role as a reliable store-of-value and enables financial inclusion.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to clarify the tax rules relating to fines imposed on banks.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Fines imposed as a punishment by regulators are non-deductible for UK Corporation Tax purposes, while compensation expenditure arising from trading activity is in principle deductible.

    However, the government took steps in Finance Act (No2) 2015 to make compensation associated with bank misconduct and mis-selling non-deductible and offset the deductibility of administrative costs associated with this compensation through a taxable receipt. This action is forecast by the OBR to increase banks’ tax payments by around £1bn over the next 5 years.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 26 January (HL5024), what assessment they have made of whether the specialist software Turnitin is able to detect whether a whole essay was not written by the person submitting, such as if that essay had been paid for from an essay mill.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Government has made no such assessment. The selection of particular types of software is an academic matter for individual institutions.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government,  further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 26 January (HL5024), whether the Quality Assurance Agency requests data from higher education institutions regarding the number of cases of plagiarism and how those cases were handled each year.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    There is no centrally held set of data on the number of recorded plagiarism cases in higher education. This is an institutional matter and cases are handled by individual institutions.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 26 January (HL5024), what systems are in place to ensure that a standardised approach is taken by higher education institutions in relation to dealing with cheating, and to encourage best practice relating to plagiarism.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    Higher education institutions are independent and autonomous bodies and are required to comply with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, which requires that ‘assessment is equitable, valid and reliable’. As such, institutions are expected to have clear policies on cheating and plagiarism.

    As part of its cyclical review of UK universities and colleges, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) reports publicly on its findings, including if there are concerns relating to plagiarism.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support the British Embassy in Doha, Qatar, has given, or plans to give, the Patterson family whose daughter Lauren Patterson was murdered in Qatar in 2013, in the light of the decision by the Court of Cassation in Doha on 1 February 2015 to reject the guilty verdict against Badr Hashim Khamis Abdallah Al-Jabar.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Consular officials have been in regular contact with Ms Patterson’s family, and have provided assistance since her death in 2013, including raising the case with the Qatari authorities and accompanying the family to meetings and court. Since the hearing on 1 February, officials have been in contact with Mrs Patterson and her Qatari lawyer, who is awaiting written copies of the court’s judgment before advising the family on next steps. We will continue to provide support to the family and raise the case with the Qatari authorities as appropriate.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 26 January (HL5024), what is the timeframe of the discussions about the legality of essay mills between the Consumer and Markets Authority and the Quality Assurance Agency.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Quality Assurance Agency have now met with the Competition and Markets Authority and are considering further how to take this forward.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any restrictions on the number of Freedom of Information requests an individual can make.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Freedom of Information Act does not place a specific limit on the number of requests an individual can make. However, a request or series of requests for similar information may be refused where they exceed the cost limit, or are vexatious or repeated requests.