Tag: Lord Storey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Chairman of Committees how many agency staff are employed by the House of Lords; and whether those staff are paid the London Living Wage.

Lord Laming

The House currently employs approximately 34 agency staff in each sitting week. The majority of these staff are deployed in Catering and Retail Services.

The House of Lords is accredited by Citizens UK (CUK) as a London Living Wage Employer. The terms of its accreditation licence require that contractors and sub-contractors with dedicated staff who are based on parliamentary premises are paying those staff at least the London Living Wage.

In accordance with the terms of the accreditation licence, all agency staff are paid at least the London Living Wage rate from day 1 of week 9 if they are working on parliamentary premises and employed for at least two hours of work in a week, for 8 consecutive weeks in a year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any restrictions on the number of Freedom of Information requests an individual can make.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Freedom of Information Act does not place a specific limit on the number of requests an individual can make. However, a request or series of requests for similar information may be refused where they exceed the cost limit, or are vexatious or repeated requests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 29 January (HL5640), whether they request and collate statistics from each local authority about pupils who are regularly absent from school, or who have been deleted from the admission register in certain circumstances.

Lord Nash

Pupil absence information is collected by the Department at an enrolment level through the School Census.

Absence information, including figures relating to those pupils who are persistent absentees, is published three times a year in the following National Statistics releases:

• Pupil absence in schools in England: autumn term

• Pupil absence in schools in England: autumn and spring term

• Pupil absence in schools in England: full academic year

The Department does not collect information on pupils who have been deleted from the admission register for specific circumstances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-04-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they ascertain the number of local staff at a foreign embassy who are liable to pay tax.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Letters are issued annually on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Diplomatic Missions in the UK (Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates) requesting staff lists providing details of all locally engaged staff and private servants.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a specialist team (the Embassy team) in place to deal with enquiries from locally engaged staff employed at Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations in the UK as detailed in ‘The London Diplomatic List’. In December 2015 HMRC wrote to all these bodies to ensure they held full and up-to-date contact information for the team.

Locally engaged employees and private servants are expected to contact the Embassy team to notify their employment as soon as they are engaged.

The Embassy team determines the employee’s liability to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions. The team also carries out risk assessment activity and where it identifies individuals who have not notified their employment to HMRC, it takes action to ensure they pay the tax that is due.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Public Duty Cost Allowances were in (1) 2013–14, (2) 2014–15, and (3) 2015–16.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The costs of the Public Duties Cost Allowance are published annually in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.

The cost of the PDCA in 2013-14 was £331,348 and in 2014-15 was £331,818.

Details of costs for 2015-16 will be included in the 2015-16 Annual Report and Accounts which will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to ensure widespread access to reasonably priced accommodation for students in London and other metropoles.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government recognises the need for a diverse housing stock, providing students with a choice of accommodation to suit their individual needs. Our national planning guidance encourages local authorities to plan for sufficient student accommodation whether it consists of communal halls of residence or self-contained dwellings, and whether or not it is on campus.

The key to improving affordability is to build more homes. We are working to increase supply by accelerating the development of a new market for private renters, including our £1 billion build to rent fund and the £3.5 billion private rented sector debt guarantee scheme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policies are in place to ensure that refugees face no barriers to assimilation within the education system.

Lord Nash

The government is wholly committed to ensuring that refugees who are resettled in the UK receive appropriate support and have a positive experience while they remain in the UK. Children with refugee or humanitarian protection status have access to the education system in the same way as citizen children.

A key factor in the successful integration of children from overseas into UK schools is their access to English language provision. Local authorities can include an ‘English as an additional language’ (EAL) factor in their funding formulae. Funding allocated through this factor forms part of the school’s core budget and it is for school leaders to determine how best to use their whole budget so that all children can reach their full potential.

Schools will need to demonstrate to Ofsted that any special educational needs of refugee children, as with all other children, are addressed satisfactorily.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-10-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to change the rules on VAT applicable to sixth form colleges.

Lord Young of Cookham

The Government has no plans to change the rules on VAT applicable to sixth form colleges.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 22 July (HL1498), whether they plan to bring forward regulations regarding rickshaws in London in order to protect tourists from excessive charges.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government is continuing to consider the Law Commission’s recommendations for reforming taxi and private hire legislation, including the proposal that rickshaws in London are brought within the regulatory regime for taxis and private hire vehicles.

We are already engaged with the Mayor of London in discussing the implementation of the recommendations from the Law Commission.

The Government will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce its intentions once this scrutiny is completed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which City Region bids have been (1) successful, and (2) unsuccessful.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

In response to the Government’s invitation we have received 38 proposals from places seeking Devolution Deals with the Government.We have secured deals with Greater Manchester, Cornwall, Sheffield City Region, the North East and Tees Valley. The Government will continue to work with the other places to develop their proposals, and will continue to consider any new proposals