Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many estate agents since 1 April 2014 (1) have been, or (2) are being, considered for (a) a warning notice, and (b) a prohibition order, under the Estate Agents Act 1979 by the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team.

    Viscount Younger of Leckie

    An order under the Estate Agents Act 1979 may be issued against both estate agents and individuals or businesses who are not currently involved in estate agency work. For example an order can be issued against someone who has formerly been an estate agent, or who has worked closely with an estate agent.

    Since the 1st April 2014:

    · Three individual orders (two prohibition and one warning) have taken effect. These orders were issued by the Office of Fair Trading but implemented by the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team.

    · Four individual orders and one against a business – all prohibitions – are currently subject to appeals.

    · Fifteen new cases are currently being processed by the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team. ‘Notices of proposal to prohibit’ have been issued for six of these cases and are awaiting representations from the individuals and businesses concerned. Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

    · Additionally, the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team currently has fifteen cases on its books which are awaiting prosecution outcome or further investigation by local Trading Standards teams and which may lead to notices being issued at a later date.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce a measure enabling civil partners to marry.

    Baroness Northover

    Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 provides that civil partners may convert their civil partnership into marriage under regulations to be made by my Right Honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Her Majesty’s Government is working hard to ensure that couples wanting to convert their civil partnerships into marriages are able to do so as soon as possible. The aim is to do this before the end of 2014.

  • Baroness Whitaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Whitaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have called in the approval of planning permission for a site for Travellers in Brighton, granted by the South Downs National Park; and if so, when they will make a decision.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    This application remains under consideration by the Secretary of State in response to a request by the hon. Member for Hove (Mike Weatherley) for the application to be called in. The consideration is being made against the Secretary of State’s policy, as set out in a Written Ministerial Statement on 26 October 2012, Official Report, Column 72W. The Secretary of State is very selective about calling in applications and will generally only do so if they raise issues of more than local importance. I will arrange for departmental officials to let the noble Lady know the outcome in due course.

  • Lord Hoyle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Hoyle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hoyle on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Royal Air Force aircraft flying to Gibraltar cannot fly over Spain; what cost that adds to the flight; and what representations they have made to the government of Spain about the restriction.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    All requests to Spanish authorities by any nation for a military over flight that has Gibraltar as a departure or arrival airfield, is routinely denied by Spanish authorities. We make clear to the Spanish government that this is not the sort of arrangement close allies should have to manage.

    The military aircraft that routinely fly to Gibraltar are the Hercules C130 and C17 Globemaster. The difference in cost of a direct flight to Gibraltar from, for example, RAF Brize Norton and a route not overflying Spain is as follows.

    C130 – £2,600 each way
    C17 – £4,900 each way

    It should be noted that Spanish authorities are swift and cooperative in allowing our military aircraft to pass through Spanish airspace to any other destination. The refusal to use their airspace to access Gibraltar is an irritant that we have managed since the 1980s, and is set against an otherwise productive defence relationship between our two countries.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the reports that Joseph Kony and senior members of the Lords Resistance Army are hiding in a Sudanese-controlled area of a disputed enclave bordering the Central African Republic.

    Baroness Warsi

    We have not been able to assess the veracity of reports that Joseph Kony and senior members of the Lords Resistance Army are hiding in a Sudanese-controlled area of a disputed enclave bordering the Central African Republic. However, we are aware of reports that local authorities in south-eastern Central African Republic (CAR) have been in contact with a contingent of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who have expressed an interest in surrendering.

    The British Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the atrocities carried out by the LRA. Although much reduced in numbers, the LRA remains an unprincipled, violent threat to civilians in the heart of Africa. The UK has consistently promoted a co-ordinated regional and international approach to defeating the LRA. We continue to encourage the UN and African Union to implement their counter-LRA strategies in full and bring Kony to justice.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have issued guidance as to whether members of either House of Parliament are, or should be, considered as Politically Exposed Persons for the purposes of United Kingdom financial regulation; and, if so, what guidance.

    Lord Deighton

    The UK’s Money Laundering Regulations 2007 define Politically Exposed Persons [PEPs]. UK Members of Parliament are not currently considered PEPs for UK purposes. However, revised global standards require that they are treated as PEPs.

    As similar definitions apply in other jurisdictions UK Parliamentarians are likely to be considered as PEPs in other jurisdictions. We are seeking a risk-based approach to the application of this requirement in negotiating the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.

    Treasury Ministers have approved industry guidance which further confirms that UK Parliamentarians are not PEPs for UK purposes. Some UK banks may apply enhanced due diligence to UK Parliamentarians in accordance with their own risk appetite, and as part of global policies and procedures.

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote human rights in North Korea.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK is deeply concerned by reports of widespread and systematic state sanctioned human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as I made clear in my Written Ministerial Statement following the publication of the UN Commission of Inquiry report into these violations. I have called publicly on the DPRK to take immediate steps to close political prison camps, to act on the Commission’s recommendations and to give full and unimpeded access to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other relevant parts of the UN. I also made clear the UK’s commitment to ensuring the Commission’s findings were a beginning and not an end.

    Reflecting this commitment, the UK played an active role in ensuring a strong DPRK resolution at the March UN Human Rights Council. I lobbied personally on this issue during my visit to Geneva at the beginning of the Council. Since the resolution was passed we have continued to engage, supporting an informal briefing of the UN Security Council and pressing the DPRK during its recent Universal Periodic Review to respond to the Commission of Inquiry’s findings. In May, I met US Special Envoy on DPRK Human Rights, Robert King, to discuss next steps, and during a visit to Geneva next week I will have further discussions with Ambassador King and others.

  • Henry Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Henry Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will measure changes in the number of animals used in scientific procedures in the UK following publication of Working to reduce the use of animals in scientific research in July 2011.

    Norman Baker

    The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain
    for 2013 will be published on 10 July 2014.
    I will be publishing a progress report on the Coalition Commitment "Working to
    reduce the use of animals in research" in early 2015.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average weekly gross earnings of full-time (a) men, (b) women and (c) people in York has been in (i) cash terms and (ii) at constant prices in each year since 2006-07.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 10 April 2013, Official Report, column 1119W, on energy prices, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) wholesale and (b) retail cost of (i) electricity and (ii) gas in 2013.

    Gregory Barker

    The average GB wholesale electricity price in 2013 was 4.98 pence/kWh.[1] For gas, it was 2.32 pence/kWh.[2]

    These prices do not necessarily reflect the costs faced by energy suppliers, who typically buy their energy over a period of time using forward contracts – a practice known as hedging. The particular hedging strategies employed by different suppliers are commercially confidential and not known to Government.

    [1] Source: data received by DECC from commercial price reporting companies

    [2] Ibid