Tag: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of requiring the use of sealed tamper-proof bags for duty-free alcohol sales at airports to prevent excessive drinking on board aircraft.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government welcomes industry’s commitment to tackling the issue of excessive alcohol consumption in airports and on-board aircraft. The use of tamper-proof bags for duty-free purchases is currently being trialled at a number of UK airports and as part of that trial industry will reach a view on the potential merits of this approach.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to reduce the rate of odometer mileage fraud and increase conviction rates of those who fraudulently adjust mileage and sell on adjusted vehicles.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Advice on second hand car purchases features regularly in consumer awareness campaigns led by Trading Standards and the Citizen’s Advice Service. Consumers should call the Citizen’s Advice consumer helpline, which receives its funding from Government, for advice on fraud and to report alleged offences of misleading advertising or mis-selling.

The Citizen’s Advice Service will refer clear breaches of consumer law to Trading Standards and advise on reporting suspected fraud to ‘Action Fraud’, the national fraud database led by The City of London Police. ‘Action Fraud’ has received 67 complaints of mileage fraud since 2010 and actively campaigns for more fraud cases to be reported, with viable lines of enquiry, to equip the police to convict the culprits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many charities in receipt of government grant funding were found to have engaged in activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government, or the European Commission, or attempt to influence legislative or regulatory action, in each of the past three years.

Lord Bridges of Headley

This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the Financial Conduct Authority’s oversight of anti-money-laundering regulations in the light of consumer complaints about enforced, unannounced and unexplained closures of bank accounts.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government encourages banks to take a risk based approach in its activities to ensure that measures they take are effective, proportionate and mitigate the risks that they face. In doing so the Government also encourages them to have due regard to financial inclusion.

Whilst it would be inappropriate for the Government to intervene in these decisions, individuals are able to request a review of the decision to close their bank account using the bank’s formal complaint procedure and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to implement the findings of the Waterson Review on secondary ticketing published on 26 May as required by section 94 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government is considering Professor Waterson’s Review and will publish its response in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reported comments by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 28 July that he would review the sale of alcohol in airports, (1) when that review will take place; (2) what its terms of reference will be; and (3) whether he plans to meet airlines to discuss the effect on the safety and comfort of passengers and cabin crew of excessive alcohol consumption on flights.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government strongly supports the industry and its efforts to find deliverable solutions to this issue. It is important to ensure that all air passengers have a safe and pleasant experience when flying.

The industry bodies have joined together to create the UK Aviation Industry Code of Practice on Disruptive Passengers, with the purpose of creating a common, consistent approach that co-ordinates and enhances existing efforts to prevent and minimise disruptive passenger behaviour.

At present there are no plans for the Government to review legislation in this area as I believe it is essential that the Code of Practice is given time to bed in and mature. We will continue to engage and meet with a broad range of operators in the aviation sector and managing disruptive behaviour is one of the issues we wish to discuss.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of how many public sector employees will be affected by the proposed £95,000 public sector exit cap.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government set out its proposals for the cap on public sector exit payments in the consultation document published on 31 July 2015 and confirmed the design of the cap in the consultation response document published on 16 September 2015. The consultation document gave details of the number of exits over recent years that cost the taxpayer more than £100,000.

The precise number of those affected by the public sector exit payment cap will depend on the number and type of exits in coming years. However, in recent years the large majority of exits in the public sector are below the level of the cap. For example, the Whole of Government Accounts states that, in 2013-14, 1,838 out of 72,445 pay outs were in excess of £100,000.

The exit payment clauses currently before the House of Lords in the Enterprise Bill set out how the cap is expected to apply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment has been made of the coalition document The Compact, and whether there are any plans to review or revise this.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Compact continues to be an important guide for effective engagement and collaboration between public bodies and voluntary, charitable and social enterprise sector organisations. An announcement on the next steps will be made in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the new Cabinet Office guidelines that no government grants may be used to lobby for new regulation or more government funding would preclude academics at publicly funded universities, or charities in receipt of grants for specific work, from giving evidence to parliamentary select committees drawing on such publicly funded research.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The new clause will not prevent recipients from performing activities that are part of the intended purpose of the grant. It makes sure that taxpayers’ money is not diverted from their intended purpose and wasted on political campaigning and political lobbying.
As indicated at the House of Lords Science Technology Committee, BIS and Cabinet Office are looking into how this new clause will apply to academic research.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they will hold with the Competition and Markets Authority and the National Trading Standards Board in the light of the recommendations of the Waterson Review on secondary ticketing published on 26 May.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government is considering Professor Waterson’s Review and will publish its response in due course.