Tag: Lord Kennedy of Southwark

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Indonesia concerning the death penalty.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We raise our concerns at the highest level and will continue to do so. The former Prime Minister (the Right Hon. Mr David Cameron) reiterated our position to Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in April. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Mr Sharma) has expressed his concerns about the executions that took place in July.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking with local government to promote green infrastructure.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The government is committed to developing a 25 year plan to improve the environment and this will include the importance of green infrastructure as a key underpinning of both the economy and well being.

The government is spending more than £600 million by 2020 to support the development, manufacture and uptake of electric ultra low emission vehicles in the UK. Part of this includes assisting local authorities by providing grant funding through the On Street Residential Scheme and Workplace Chargepoint Scheme to help meet the cost of installing electric vehicle chargepoints on streets in residential areas without access to off-street parking. Under the Go Ultra Low City Scheme the government is supporting a variety of infrastructure programmes for both public and domestic chargepoints across eight cities/regions of Bristol/West of England, London, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, York, Dundee, Oxford and the North East.

The government has made £1.5 million available to communities to create ‘Pocket Parks’, turning unused spaces into sensory gardens, wildlife habitats and food growing areas. The government has also submitted written evidence to the Select Committee inquiry on the future of public parks and will respond to any recommendations made as a result of this inquiry in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the net level of borrowing by the public sector in October 2015.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The government has made significant progress to date in reducing borrowing – the deficit has more than halved as a share of GDP since 2009-10 and as the latest Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast shows, the national debt as a share of GDP is forecast to be falling this year for the first time in over a decade. October public sector finance figures show government borrowing is falling, down £6.6 billion so far this year compared to last year. However, the job is not yet done. The government is committed to eliminating the deficit and returning the public finances to a more sustainable path. To achieve this, the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 sets out the action required to return the country to surplus over the course of this Parliament.
On the basis of these plans, the latest OBR forecast estimates that borrowing in 2015-16 will be on a like-for-like basis £73.5bn, £0.6bn lower relative to Summer Budget. The forecast also shows the government is on track to meet its fiscal targets, with a budget surplus of £10.1bn by 2019-20 and debt falling as a percentage of GDP in 2015-16 and for each year in this Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have made no assessment of the number of people experiencing food insecurity.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

There is no single definition of food insecurity. The factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is therefore very difficult and potentially misleading to attempt to develop a single classification of food insecurity.

Defra publishes statistics annually to show the proportion of household income spent on food by (a) all households and (b) the lowest income 20% of households.The most recent statistics are in the Food Statistics Pocketbook 2015 on the GOV.UK website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many homeowners and businesses have received a grant from the Repair and Renew Grant fund, and what is the average payment.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Over 6,000 home and business owners have benefitted from the Repair and Renew Grant scheme to help protect their property against future flooding events. The average payment was £3,918.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the situation in Gaza.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain deeply concerned by the situation in Gaza. There is an urgent need for all the parties to reach an agreement that addresses the underlying causes of conflict in Gaza and to take the necessary steps to ensure Gaza’s reconstruction and economic recovery. Any agreement should ensure that Hamas and other militant groups permanently end rocket and other attacks against Israel; the Palestinian Authority resumes control of Gaza and restores effective governance; and that Israel lifts its restrictions to ease the suffering of ordinary Palestinians. Through the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, over 96,000 people have now been able to buy materials to repair homes that were damaged during the conflict. The UN reports that more than 90 percent of damaged schools and hospitals have been repaired while repairs have either been completed or are ongoing on about half of all partially damaged homes. We continue to raise Gaza in our meetings with the Israeli government. On 10 September, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), emphasised the importance of improving daily life for the people of Gaza with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. On 24 November our Deputy Head of Mission in Tel Aviv met the Head of Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories’ Civil Administration department. He stressed the urgency of Israel coming forward with a transformative package for Gaza and the West Bank, setting out in particular our concerns about power supply and movement and access restrictions. We are also urging Egypt to show maximum flexibility in opening the Rafah crossing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment, consultation and other work was carried out to establish the Pay to Stay thresholds at £30,000 and £40,000, outside and in London, respectively.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The starting gross income threshold of £30,000 nationally is above the median average household income figure, which is just over £26,000 based on evidence from the Family Resources Survey – this figure represents gross income of the ‘household reference person’ plus a partner. It is only fair that social tenants who can pay more should pay more. There are more than 40,000 tenants in social housing who benefit from subsidised rents but where the annual household income is over £50,000. The Government consulted in October 2015 on a proposal for a taper which, if introduced. would ensure that rent rises are affordable for those households above the thresholds and protect the incentive to find and keep work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review and consolidate landlord and tenant legislation.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government has already introduced important reform to landlord and tenant legislation through the Housing and Planning Bill. Legislation is always kept under review given the complexity of issues in this area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Chairman of Committees what plans are there to support Fairtrade fortnight.

Lord Laming

Catering and Retail Services stock a range of Fairtrade products, including tea, coffee, cake, biscuits and bananas. Catering and Retail Services raised awareness of these lines during Fairtrade Fortnight this year and ran related promotions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of the Philippines concerning drug trafficking.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK has a regular and productive law enforcement dialogue with the Philippine authorities relating to serious crime, including drug trafficking, though we have no intelligence to suggest that drugs are being trafficked from the Philippines to the UK or vice versa. All of our engagement in this area is subject to scrutiny under the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessment process.