The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the excess capacity on peak High Speed 2 services.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The HS2 Economic Case published in October 2013 indicates that the average all-day load factor for HS2 services in 2036 for the full network is expected to be 41%. Peak period load factors are expected to be significantly higher.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport (a) applications and (b) renewal applications were received by the Passport Office in each (i) month and (ii) year of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
The following table provides the requested information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have held talks with the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Justice Minister about the forthcoming parading season in Northern Ireland; when any such meetings occurred; and who was present at those meetings.
Baroness Randerson
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland met the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Chair of the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland and the Minister for Justice for Northern Ireland on Wednesday, 14 May 2014.
Also in attendance at this meeting were senior officials from the Northern Ireland Office and Department of Justice along with members of the PSNI Service Executive Team and the Secretariat of the Parades Commission.
This meeting provided participants with an opportunity to exchange general views on the parading season in Northern Ireland. No decisions were taken at this meeting and there were no discussions about operational matters relating to specific parades.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many estate agents since 1 April 2014 (1) have been, or (2) are being, considered for (a) a warning notice, and (b) a prohibition order, under the Estate Agents Act 1979 by the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
An order under the Estate Agents Act 1979 may be issued against both estate agents and individuals or businesses who are not currently involved in estate agency work. For example an order can be issued against someone who has formerly been an estate agent, or who has worked closely with an estate agent.
Since the 1st April 2014:
· Three individual orders (two prohibition and one warning) have taken effect. These orders were issued by the Office of Fair Trading but implemented by the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team.
· Four individual orders and one against a business – all prohibitions – are currently subject to appeals.
· Fifteen new cases are currently being processed by the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team. ‘Notices of proposal to prohibit’ have been issued for six of these cases and are awaiting representations from the individuals and businesses concerned. Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
· Additionally, the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team currently has fifteen cases on its books which are awaiting prosecution outcome or further investigation by local Trading Standards teams and which may lead to notices being issued at a later date.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce a measure enabling civil partners to marry.
Baroness Northover
Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 provides that civil partners may convert their civil partnership into marriage under regulations to be made by my Right Honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Her Majesty’s Government is working hard to ensure that couples wanting to convert their civil partnerships into marriages are able to do so as soon as possible. The aim is to do this before the end of 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have called in the approval of planning permission for a site for Travellers in Brighton, granted by the South Downs National Park; and if so, when they will make a decision.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
This application remains under consideration by the Secretary of State in response to a request by the hon. Member for Hove (Mike Weatherley) for the application to be called in. The consideration is being made against the Secretary of State’s policy, as set out in a Written Ministerial Statement on 26 October 2012, Official Report, Column 72W. The Secretary of State is very selective about calling in applications and will generally only do so if they raise issues of more than local importance. I will arrange for departmental officials to let the noble Lady know the outcome in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hoyle on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Royal Air Force aircraft flying to Gibraltar cannot fly over Spain; what cost that adds to the flight; and what representations they have made to the government of Spain about the restriction.
Lord Astor of Hever
All requests to Spanish authorities by any nation for a military over flight that has Gibraltar as a departure or arrival airfield, is routinely denied by Spanish authorities. We make clear to the Spanish government that this is not the sort of arrangement close allies should have to manage.
The military aircraft that routinely fly to Gibraltar are the Hercules C130 and C17 Globemaster. The difference in cost of a direct flight to Gibraltar from, for example, RAF Brize Norton and a route not overflying Spain is as follows.
C130 – £2,600 each way
C17 – £4,900 each way
It should be noted that Spanish authorities are swift and cooperative in allowing our military aircraft to pass through Spanish airspace to any other destination. The refusal to use their airspace to access Gibraltar is an irritant that we have managed since the 1980s, and is set against an otherwise productive defence relationship between our two countries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the reports that Joseph Kony and senior members of the Lords Resistance Army are hiding in a Sudanese-controlled area of a disputed enclave bordering the Central African Republic.
Baroness Warsi
We have not been able to assess the veracity of reports that Joseph Kony and senior members of the Lords Resistance Army are hiding in a Sudanese-controlled area of a disputed enclave bordering the Central African Republic. However, we are aware of reports that local authorities in south-eastern Central African Republic (CAR) have been in contact with a contingent of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who have expressed an interest in surrendering.
The British Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the atrocities carried out by the LRA. Although much reduced in numbers, the LRA remains an unprincipled, violent threat to civilians in the heart of Africa. The UK has consistently promoted a co-ordinated regional and international approach to defeating the LRA. We continue to encourage the UN and African Union to implement their counter-LRA strategies in full and bring Kony to justice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have issued guidance as to whether members of either House of Parliament are, or should be, considered as Politically Exposed Persons for the purposes of United Kingdom financial regulation; and, if so, what guidance.
Lord Deighton
The UK’s Money Laundering Regulations 2007 define Politically Exposed Persons [PEPs]. UK Members of Parliament are not currently considered PEPs for UK purposes. However, revised global standards require that they are treated as PEPs.
As similar definitions apply in other jurisdictions UK Parliamentarians are likely to be considered as PEPs in other jurisdictions. We are seeking a risk-based approach to the application of this requirement in negotiating the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.
Treasury Ministers have approved industry guidance which further confirms that UK Parliamentarians are not PEPs for UK purposes. Some UK banks may apply enhanced due diligence to UK Parliamentarians in accordance with their own risk appetite, and as part of global policies and procedures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote human rights in North Korea.
Mr Hugo Swire
The UK is deeply concerned by reports of widespread and systematic state sanctioned human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as I made clear in my Written Ministerial Statement following the publication of the UN Commission of Inquiry report into these violations. I have called publicly on the DPRK to take immediate steps to close political prison camps, to act on the Commission’s recommendations and to give full and unimpeded access to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other relevant parts of the UN. I also made clear the UK’s commitment to ensuring the Commission’s findings were a beginning and not an end.
Reflecting this commitment, the UK played an active role in ensuring a strong DPRK resolution at the March UN Human Rights Council. I lobbied personally on this issue during my visit to Geneva at the beginning of the Council. Since the resolution was passed we have continued to engage, supporting an informal briefing of the UN Security Council and pressing the DPRK during its recent Universal Periodic Review to respond to the Commission of Inquiry’s findings. In May, I met US Special Envoy on DPRK Human Rights, Robert King, to discuss next steps, and during a visit to Geneva next week I will have further discussions with Ambassador King and others.