The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2014-03-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when Lord Wills will receive a response to his email to the Cabinet Office of 6 November 2013 (Cabinet Office reference IR317467) about Freedom of Information requests.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
I apologise for the delay. The Noble Lord has received a reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2014-03-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 10 February (WA 95), whether, in calculating the Local Government Finance Settlement, they have made any assumptions of the likely expenditure on electoral registration.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
Funding for electoral registration is included within the local government finance settlement, and it is for the Local Authority to manage the non-ring fenced funding it provides to deliver statutory obligations, including electoral registration.
The Government is funding the net additional costs to local authorities of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration in financial years 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 via grants to local authorities in England and Wales and on invoice for the Valuation Joint Boards in Scotland.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2014-04-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in calculating the non-ring-fenced funding provided to local authorities to deliver statutory obligations, they make any assumptions about the proportions of that funding likely to be used in fulfilling each of those obligations; and if so, what assumptions they have made of the likely expenditure on electoral registration.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
The total amount of funding provided through the local government finance settlement in England is set at the time of the appropriate Spending Review. In setting this amount the Government considers the likely pressures and efficiency savings that can be made on a range of services, together with the overall fiscal environment, including the need to tackle the deficit left by the last Administration. This amount may be subsequently amended either through Budgets or Autumn Statements.
It is up to local authorities to decide how to set their budgets, taking into account local spending priorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2014-04-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they calculate the local government finance settlement.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
The method of calculating the local government finance settlement is set out in the Local Government Finance Report (England) for each year. The report for 2014/15 was approved by Parliament on 12 February. A copy of this report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-finance-report-2014-to-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2014-04-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the average charge-out rate of pension advisers in calculating the quantity and quality of advice that will be available to people retiring under the new pension arrangements announced in the 2014 Budget.
Lord Deighton
At Budget the government announced a new guarantee that everyone with a defined contribution pension will be offered free and impartial face-to-face guidance on their financial choices in retirement when they retire. The government is consulting on how best to deliver this guidance as part of its consultation, ‘Flexibility and Choice in Pensions’.
In addition, the government will work with the FCA to explore the extent to which regulated advice can be made more affordable through more cost effective delivery, such as through the development of online delivery channels.