The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will introduce a duty on shareholders of a significant size to address executive pay and company performance and increase those shareholders’ reporting requirements to pension trustees.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the noble Lord.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bird on 2016-06-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Office for National Statistics report on the levels of (1) persistent, and (2) overall, poverty rates in the United Kingdom, what new actions they intend to take to eradicate poverty and the causes of poverty in this Parliament.
Lord Freud
This Government’s welfare reforms are focused on supporting people to find and keep work whilst ensuring that we are protecting the most vulnerable. At the end of the Parliament we will be spending over £60bn – 3% of GDP – supporting people on low incomes.
We know that work is the best route out of poverty. Evidence shows that almost three-quarters of poor workless families who found full employment escaped poverty; and that the highest poverty exit rate of 75% was for families that moved from part to full employment. The number of children living in workless households is down by 449,000 since 2010
Our new life chances approach to poverty and disadvantage will include a set of indicators to measure progress in tackling the root causes of poverty such as worklessness, educational attainment and family stability.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-09-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to support all businesses in the UK to best take advantage of the opportunities presented by the EU referendum result.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
We remain committed to making Britain the best place in Europe to start and grow a business and build an economy that works for all. The best way of supporting business is to ensure that the economic fundamentals are strong. Employment is at a record high, there are almost a million new businesses in our country since 2010, and the budget deficit has been reduced by almost two thirds.
The BEIS ministerial team have during the summer met businesses, investors, workers and local leaders in all four home nations, as well as travelling to India, China and Japan.
Furthermore, and for the first time, each local enterprise partnership area and each of the devolved Administrations will have a specific Minister in my Department assigned to them. Personal relationships matter in business, and that should start with the Business Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the date that the first phase of High Speed 2 will be completed and open to the public.
Andrew Jones
The hybrid Bill for HS2 Phase One is proceeding through Parliament and we are aiming to achieve Royal Assent by the end of 2016, with construction starting in 2017 and the first trains running by the end of 2026.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many lone parent households not in receipt of housing benefit will be affected by changes to universal credit work allowances in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.
Priti Patel
The information requested is not available.
The number of people on benefits is driven by a range of factors. Because of this, the programme measures progress by the successful achievement of its delivery plan rather than numbers of claimants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), what specific recommendations the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has made in order to resolve any conflict between the demands of research and the best interests of patients, in particular regarding (1) a demand for sufficient numbers of human embryos at the single-celled zygote stage in order successfully to perform genome editing by means of CRISPR-Cas9, and (2) the usual practice of transferring embryos to the uterus after assessing their potential to develop further after either two to three days or five to six days.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that it requires, through its Code of Practice, that embryo donors will be recruited in a manner compliant with standard licence conditions. These conditions prevent conflict between the demands of research and the best interests of patients.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many legacy continuing health care cases are more than two years old and have payments outstanding (a) in England, (b) in the West Midlands and (c) at Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Group.
Alistair Burt
At the end of March 2013, the National Health Service had received approximately 59,000 requests to assess previously unassessed periods of care for NHS Continuing Healthcare eligibility.
NHS England collects information on the number of these cases which are awaiting a decision on eligibility.
As at 31 January 2016:
(a) There were 15,716 requests to assess previously unassessed periods of care in England;
(b) there were 848 requests to assess previously unassessed periods of care in the West Midlands; and
(c) there were 260 requests to assess previously unassessed periods of care in Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Group.
It is not possible to assess how many of these individuals may be entitled to redress payments until a full assessment of eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare is undertaken, in line with the principles and processes set out in the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care (November 2012) (revised).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gary Streeter on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that public bodies under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 comply with their duty to pick up roadside litter.
Rory Stewart
The Government is committed to localism and the transfer of power to local communities. This is particularly relevant in dealing with litter, which requires a local approach, tailored to the characteristics of the area and the community in which the problems occur.
It is up to councils to decide how best to meet their statutory duty to keep their relevant land clear of litter and refuse and how to prioritise this against other local services.
Councils are responsible for keeping their “relevant land” clear of litter and refuse, including local roads. Highways England (formerly the Highways Agency) is responsible for clearing litter from motorways and some trunk roads. Standards of cleanliness for litter and refuse are set out in the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse, which provides a practical guide to the discharge of councils’ cleansing duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA).
If a litter authority which is responsible for publicly-accessible land fails to keep land clear of litter and refuse, it can be taken to court. If the court agrees that the complaint is justified, it can issue a Litter Abatement Order (LAO) requiring the litter authority to clear land of litter within a certain time. The litter authority can also be ordered to pay the complainant’s costs.
It is a criminal offence not to comply with an LAO – anyone not complying can be fined up to £2,500. They can also get further fines of up to £125 a day for each day the offence continues after conviction. Court action can be avoided if litter authorities clear the land within five days of being notified of the complainant’s intention to seek a Litter Abatement Order.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Chairman of Committees how much the Members’ Personal Safety and Security pamphlet cost to produce and distribute to members.
Lord Laming
The Lords Members’ Personal Safety and Security booklets cost £673.02 to design and print. We take the security of Members extremely seriously and regularly update our advice and guidance on the steps they can take to help keep themselves, their staff and their families safe. This was a longstanding, routine update on a booklet which has previously existed in a number of different editions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-06-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the current Commissioner for Birmingham City Council’s children’s social care services started work; how long his appointment is for; what progress reports he has provided to the Secretary of State; and whether those reports are in the public domain.
Lord Nash
Andrew Christie was appointed Commissioner for children’s social care services in Birmingham in December 2015. The statutory Direction that appointed him lasts until September 2016. He reports regularly to the Secretary of State. These reports are not in the public domain.