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 Bridges of Headley on 21 July (HL1392), whether, in the light of the collapse of Kids Company, they will now publish a list of charities receiving significant donations from government departments or the National Health Service.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The 2014/15 government Grants Register will be published in the coming months by the Grants Efficiency Programme in the Cabinet Office. The Register includes high level details on all central government grant schemes, not just those to charities. It does not include details of all recipients or grants made by the NHS or local authorities. To improve sharing of information on grant awards, the Grants Efficiency Programme is developing a grants data repository.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the joint investigation by the British Medical Journal and The Times which found that contracts made by the Clinical Commissioning Groups with providers could financially benefit board members of the group.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) have legal duties under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to manage conflicts of interests when deciding which health services to procure. CCGs must manage any actual or perceived conflicts in a way that is transparent, fair, and protects the integrity of their decision making.

NHS England publishes guidance for CCGs on their responsibility to manage conflicts of interest. CCGs must have regard to this.

Monitor must ensure that CCGs follow National Health Service regulations on procurement, patient choice and competition, and have powers of investigation if these are not followed.

In their recent report ‘Managing conflicts of interest in NHS clinical commissioning groups’ (a copy of which is attached) the National Audit Office found that CCGs generally had arrangements in place to manage conflicts of interest to reduce the risk of commissioners’ decisions being improperly influenced.

The NAO made recommendations to the Department, NHS England, Monitor and CCGs to strengthen current arrangements and we would expect the bodies concerned to consider these carefully and take appropriate action in response.

Action is already being taken by NHS England including:

‒ strengthening its CCG assurance processes;

‒ commissioning an independent audit of conflicts of interest management in ten primary care co-commissioning arrangements, with a review to using the learning to strengthen current arrangements;

‒ providing training to CCG lay members on management of conflicts of interest in 2015, with more training planned for next year; and

‒ reviewing its own internal rules on conflicts of interest and the statutory guidance it issues to CCGs on management of conflicts of interest to ensure that arrangements are robust.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the nuclear agreement with Iran, they plan to make representations to the government of Israel to accede to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and agree to the same level of inspection now accepted by Iran.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is the cornerstone of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and for peaceful uses of nuclear energy. All state parties should be pushing for universality of the treaty. In that regard, the Government continues to call on all states that are not parties to the NPT, including Israel, to accede to it, and we also continue to call on Israel to agree a full scope Comprehensive Safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 10 February (HL5712), what other mechanisms are available to the EU to intervene on, or influence, taxation in individual member states.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Direct tax is a Member State competence. Under the Treaties, any Directives on tax are agreed by unanimity, the effect of which is to give each Member State a veto power.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to contest the European Commission’s decision to open an infringement case against the UK over time-based road charges for heavy goods vehicles.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Commission has requested information prior to reaching a considered view about the UK’s HGV Levy and its compatibility with EU Directives. The Government considers that the levy is justified and consistent with the free movement of goods, and will respond to the Commission in due course.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the accident rate on the M4 motorway between junctions 10 and 12 is equivalent to the average rate for all motorways; and how many accidents in the last year on that part of the motorway involved heavy lorries.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The accident rate for 2012-2014 on the M4 between junctions 10 and 12 is below the average rate for all motorways. There were 7 personal injury accidents in 2014 involving heavy lorries on this section of the motorway.

This is based on the latest validated accident data Highways England holds for the Road Network for 2014, with the 2015 data due to be released in October 2016.

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.