Tag: Lord Birt

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of vehicles operated by central Government, or the wider public sector, are wholly electrically powered.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

We do not have detailed numbers on the information requested.

According to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) statistics some 133 public transport buses, coaches and minibuses are wholly electrically powered. There are no purpose built electric taxis recorded on the DVLA records, although electric cars are used as minicabs and private hire vehicles, and a number of plug-in hybrid purpose built taxis are in development.

This Government has a comprehensive £600 million package of measures over the course of this parliament to keep Britain at the forefront of the ultra-low emission vehicle technology. This includes grants encouraging low emission buses and taxis.

The proportion of wholly electric vehicles operated by central Government is not recorded by the DVLA. However, the total number of central government electric vehicles that have been purchased via the Crown Commercial Service framework is 20. Just over 300 ultra-low emission vehicles are being integrated into public sector fleets under the ULEV readiness project; with over 70% being fully electric.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for not taxing the income from interest-bearing savings whilst interest rates are low.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Since April 2016 savers have benefitted from a new Personal Savings Allowance of up to £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers, and £500 for higher rate taxpayers. They can also save up to £15,240 tax-free in ISAs this tax year. Together these measures mean that 95% of taxpayers have no savings tax to pay at all.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 30 November 2015 (HL3832), what assessment they have made of Eurostat’s figures for comparative police numbers in EU countries; whether they accept that police numbers in England and Wales per head of population are at 64 percent of the average of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain; and whether they consider police numbers in England and Wales to be at an appropriate level.

Lord Bates

Comparisons of police numbers between different EU countries should be made with extreme caution. This is because different countries have different legal systems, police responsibilities vary considerably, and there are differences in definitions used.

Decisions on the size and composition of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities. What matters is how officers are deployed, not how many of them there are. All forces need to look at the way frontline services are delivered to ensure that the quality of service provided is maintained or improved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 12 September (HL1480), how they will establish whether the Football Association is adhering to the new Code of Governance.

Lord Ashton of Hyde

The new Governance Code for Sport in the UK will be published shortly. It will build on the existing governance requirements of UK Sport and Sport England and set out new governance standards that will be expected of all sports bodies seeking public funding. It will be for UK Sport and/or Sport England to determine compliance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-03-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider exempting traditional windmills producing high-quality artisan flours from any obligations to introduce additives.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

In the UK iron, niacin and thiamin are added back by law to all UK milled flour (except wholemeal) to restore nutrients lost in milling. Flour milled in the UK is also fortified with calcium to reduce the risk of calcium deficiency, a condition associated with poor bone health and osteoporosis. The Government is currently considering requests to exempt certain minor flour uses from these mandatory fortification requirements. This exercise could be extended to consider exempting traditional stoneground mills producing low volumes of flour should a case be made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what experience the Secretary of State for International Trade has had of working inside British business.

Lord Price

My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade’s CV is available on gov.uk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest estimate of (1) the number of instances of internet frauds committed annually in the United Kingdom, and (2) the level of financial loss that is caused annually in the United Kingdom by internet fraud.

Lord Bates

The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of internet frauds committed annually in the United Kingdom. The Office for National Statistics recently published a provisional estimate of 5.1 million fraud offences a year in England and Wales, based on trial data from a survey of 2,000 people. This did not include details of how many frauds were internet related.

The ONS also published the number of frauds referred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) in the year to June 2015 – 599,689. It is not possible to establish exactly how many of these were internet related.

The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the level of financial loss caused annually in the UK by internet fraud. The Home Office ‘Costs of cyber crime’ working group seeks to agree on the best available data for formulating any estimates and develop an agreed model for assessing the social and economic costs of cyber crime. Working group members are drawn from a field of multi-disciplinary academics, industry representatives and other experts involved in cyber crime and cyber security

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2014-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the ratio of the aggregated value of sovereign, corporate and personal debt to gross domestic product is higher in the United Kingdom than in other leading economies.

Lord Deighton

The aggregate value of general government, non-financial corporations and household sector debt (as a proportion of GDP) for all G7 countries are shown below:

Country	Debt as a proportion of GDP in 2012
Canada	347%
France	335%
Germany	248%
Italy	329%
Japan	476%
UK	309%
US	320%

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider introducing identity cards for all United Kingdom residents.

Lord Bates

The Government has no plans to introduce an identity card system for British Citizens. The Biometric Residence Permit is issued to non-EEA nationals staying in the UK for more than six months. These provide evidence of the holders’ immigration status in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect of the Digital Economy Act 2010 in reducing copyright theft via the internet.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The online infringement of copyright provisions within the Digital Economy Act 2010 have not yet been implemented, and so no such assessment has been carried out. The delay is due to a number of factors, including legal challenge and ensuring compliance with Government “Managing Public Money” principles. In the meantime the Government has encouraged the industry to investigate a voluntary copyright alert programme, which should produce similar results in a significantly shorter timescale. I am grateful to the industry for the energy with which they have picked up this challenge. Nevertheless, unless an effective alternative is put in place, Government continues to be committed to implementation of the provisions with the Digital Economy Act.