Tag: Lord Stoddart of Swindon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 29 October (HL2815) concerning Severn Crossings tolls, why the cost of collecting tolls is not made available by the concessionaire, and whether they will now require them to make that information available.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

There is no contractual requirement for the Severn Crossings concessionaire to provide this cost. The Government has no plans to require that information to be made available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of poverty.

Lord Freud

Poverty is complex and affects different people in different ways throughout their lives. As such, the Government does not have one recognised definition, or measure, of poverty which applies to everyone’s stage of someone’s life. Our focus is on ensuring we have measures which drive the right approaches to tackling the root causes of poverty.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are aware of any proposals by the EU to prosecute charities and volunteers who give assistance to migrants arriving in Greece, and what assessment they have made of which articles of the EU treaties might provide authority for any such action.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government is not aware of any specific proposals by the EU to prosecute charities and volunteers who give assistance to migrants arriving in Greece. The European Commission is currently conducting public consultations as part of an on-going evaluation and impact assessment of the EU legislation on migrant smuggling, to gather views on what improvements could be made. We will consider any proposals if and when they are issued.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether parliamentary approval would be required for any decision to join the eurozone, and if so, why the Prime Minister has stated that the UK will never join the eurozone, in the light of the fact that one Parliament cannot bind its successor.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

As set out in Protocol 15, the United Kingdom is under no legal obligation to adopt the euro as its currency. Under the EU Act 2011, a decision by the UK under Protocol (No 15) leading to a decision by the Council under article 140 (3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union would require an Act of Parliament and a referendum result in favour before a Minister of the Crown could support it.

The Prime Minister has been clear that Britain will never join the euro.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to encourage public bodies, including the BBC, to recruit and promote individuals based on merit alone, and to move away from any affirmative action policies that may be in use.

Lord Bridges of Headley

All public appointments to the boards of public bodies are made on merit and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the Rt Hon Peter Riddell. The boards of non-departmental public bodies should ensure that the body’s rules for recruitment and management of staff provide for appointment and advancement on merit. These requirements also apply to the BBC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-09-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in each of the last five years, how many (1) tourists, and (2) non-tourists, from the UK visited the EU, and how many (1) tourists, and (2) non-tourists, from countries in the EU visited the UK.

Baroness Mobarik

In May 2016, ONS released data detailing the movements of tourists between the UK and the EU in their 2015 Travel Trends report, we have highlighted the requested information below. This Department does not hold information for non-tourists.

Number of Visits to the UK from the EU (millions)	Number of Visits to the EU from the UK (millions)
2011 – 20.3	2011 – 40.5
2012 – 20.6	2012 – 40.8
2013 – 21.6	2013 – 42.0
2014 – 23.0	2014 – 43.8
2015 – 24.2	2015 – 48.1

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their plans to deal with the increase in the United Kingdom population to 70 million within 12 years and 74.3 million by 2030, as projected by the Office for National Statistics, and what estimate they have made of the cost of those plans.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The recent 2015 Office for National Statistics projections predict the United Kingdom population to reach 70 million in 2027. This is consistent with their previous 2013 projections which also predicted the UK population would reach 70 million in 2027. The new projections forecast the population to increase to 71 million by 2030, as did the previous projections.

Population growth does not necessarily cause an equivalent increase in demand for all public services, because at different points in their lives people will use different services. For instance, population increases caused by people living longer than previously, might increase demand for health services but probably would not increase demand for classroom places.

However, as these increases are largely consistent with the previous population projections, they are well covered by existing plans and planning processes. Public services are provided local authorities and central departments. Local Government and Departmental budgets are set in advance through multi-year Spending Reviews. This allows the Government to make decisions on all areas of public spending in the context of projected demand and available resources while ensuring the public finances remain sustainable in the long term. Departments are responsible for deciding how this money is then allocated, subject to strict Treasury rules on the proper management of public funds. This allows money to flow to where it is most needed, given demographic pressures and other considerations.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility produce 50-year forecasts of the sustainability of the public finances in the biannual Fiscal Sustainability Report. For instance, the most recent report highlighted pressures from growth in health spending, state pension costs, and the costs of long-term social care. In response to these pressures, the Government introduced reforms that will save £500 billion over the next 50 years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-12-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 4 December (HL3456), what urgent action they are taking to remedy the shortage of male teachers and teaching assistants.

Lord Nash

We value diversity in the workforce but want the best people in the classroom, regardless of their gender; evidence shows that the quality of teaching is the single most important factor in determining how well pupils achieve. We are pleased that the quality of entrants to initial teacher training, as measured by degree class, remains high, with 18 per cent of postgraduate entrants, a new record, holding a first-class degree. Recent figures show that 26 per cent of teachers in publicly funded schools in England are male. The proportion of men starting initial teacher training programmes in 2015/16 is 31 per cent. The proportion of entrants to the School Direct (salaried) scheme in 2015/16 who are male is 34 per cent.

Given this performance, the government does not feel that top-down targets for the recruitment of men into initial teacher training would be appropriate. Similarly, it is schools that employ teaching assistants and they are best placed to decide who are the most appropriate for that role regardless of gender.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the criticism of the European Commission by Robert Stack, the US Treasury Official in charge of international tax policy, for disproportionately targeting US companies; and under what articles of the EU treaties the EU can tax foreign enterprises.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

While corporate taxation is a matter for Member States, under the EU Treaties the European Commission has competence to conduct State aid investigations in order to prevent unlawful distortion of competition and to safeguard the internal market. Investigations into tax rulings issued by EU Member States to multi-national companies were opened by the Commission in 2013. While the Commission has found illegal aid has been provided by some Members States (not including the UK) relating to some US companies, rulings under investigation also relate to a number of non-US undertakings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of food poverty or insecurity that is caused by state benefits being used for purposes other than to provide necessities.

Lord Freud

There has been no such assessment.