Answers can be viewed at www.parliament.uk

 

16 June 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their stated intention to require both ministerial and judicial authorisation for warrants under the Investigatory Powers Bill, why they consider it necessary to include a provision limiting judicial scrutiny to judicial review principles.

6 June 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the total cost of Trident renewal over the lifespan of the Successor-class submarines, including in-service costs and decommissioning.

27 May 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pregnant women are currently held in detention under the Immigration Act 2014.

5 May 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for the future of the pilot Access to Elected Office Fund.

25 April 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether waste operators can distribute Landfill Communities Fund monies directly to projects, or must do so through an environmental body.

10 March 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total budget for the National Benefit Fraud Hotline in 2014–15; how many allegations of suspected benefit fraud were reported via that hotline or the online reporting form in 2014–15; what was the total cost of investigating those allegations; and how much was identified in recoverable overpayments by those investigations.

22 February 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how much revenue would be raised if aviation fuel were subject to the same rate of tax as fuel for motor vehicles.

22 February 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how much revenue would be raised if all air fares for aircraft departing from UK airports were subject to a tax at 20 per cent.

22 February 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of how much revenue will be raised from Air Passenger Duty this financial year, and how much would need to be raised to compensate for the loss of fuel tax and VAT on air fares.

15 February 2016

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Carbon Airports Commission calculated that air fares would need to rise in order to comply with the capped model, and what estimate they have made of the increase in air passenger duty that would be necessary to achieve that increase.

17 December 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the reasons for the increase in the contract target costs of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road.

17 December 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what process was used to assess the value-for-money that would be achieved from the additional Department for Transport funding provided to Norfolk County Council in relation to the Norwich Northern Distributor Road project.

17 December 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions since 2010 they have provided additional funding to local authority road building schemes.

16 December 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the scientific evidence regarding the incidence of cancer in those living near nuclear reactors and large spikes in radioactive gaseous emissions during the refuelling of those reactors.

14 December 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 25 November (HL3610), whether UK nuclear power plants are required to report to ONS hourly or half-hourly radioactive gaseous emissions.

14 December 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 25 November (HL3609), whether they plan to require nuclear power plants to collect and publish hourly or half-hourly radioactive emissions statistics, and if not, why not.

9 December 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the grant from Viridor Credits to All Saints Church in Kingston was audited by ENTRUST, and what assessment they have made of environmental objectives that grant fulfils.

30 November 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of research on the links between the risk of cancer and radiation spikes during the refuelling of nuclear power plants, whether they plan to carry out a meta-analysis of European epidemiology studies about incidences of leukaemia in children under five living within five kilometres of nuclear power plants.

25 November 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 9 November (HL3457), what specific steps they are taking to help Syrian refugees in the “Jungle” camp at Calais who wish to claim asylum in the UK.

25 November 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of research on the links between the risk of cancer and radiation spikes during the refuelling of nuclear power plants, whether nuclear power plants are currently required to report hourly or half-hourly radioactive emissions, and if not, whether they plan to require nuclear power plants to collect and publish hourly or half-hourly…

19 November 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to help Syrian refugees in the “Jungle” camp at Calais who are in need of advice about applying to the UK for asylum.

30th October 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people currently receive Universal Credit, and at what cost to the public purse.

27th October 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether in the light of the recent advice from the Bank of England they are considering giving any urgent advice to local authorities about the case for divesting from fossil fuels.

21st October 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they carried out a full economic impact assessment of their cuts to subsidies for solar power; and if so, what conclusions they drew about (1) the number of jobs that would be lost, and (2) the number of companies that would fail, as a result of those cuts.

15th October 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people were killed or injured in crashes where the driver failed to stop at the scene of the crash since 2010, and how many of those crashes resulted in a prosecution.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people were killed or injured as a result of driving offences in 2014; what was the victim’s road user mode in each case; and where those statistics are reported.

13th October 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to extend their definition of a notifiable crime to include (1) all driving offences, or (2) all driving offences that cause injury.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, with regard to the proposal to extend the definition of “victim” to include all victims of criminal offences so that all victims of road traffic crime will qualify for the services provided under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, whether road crash victims will be treated as victims of road traffic crime from the time of the crash, or after a charge has been laid.

25th September 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to make provision in the spending review for five per cent of transport spending to be for cycling and walking, in order to encourage those undertaking short journeys, in particular children going to school, to cycle or walk.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to (1) investigate options, and (2) consult on proposals, to widen the A303 between Amesbury and Berwick Down following the A303/A30/A358 corridor feasibility study last year, and which organisations and individuals they plan to consult during each exercise.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to implement a tunnel for the A303 in order to avoid the entire surface area of the Stonehenge part of the World Heritage Site.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the cost of a twin-bored A303 road tunnel at Stonehenge of length (1) 2.9 kilometres, (2) 4.5 kilometres, and (3) at least 7 kilometres, in order to avoid the entire surface area of the Stonehenge part of the World Heritage Site and its setting.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have sought, or intend to seek, funding outside their own resources (1) in Europe, and (2) globally, for a road-widening solution for the A303 that avoids the entire surface area of the Stonehenge part of the World Heritage Site by the use of a tunnel.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have sought, or been given, the advice of the National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites concerning proposals for dualling the A303 through the Stonehenge part of the World Heritage Site; and if so, what advice they received.

23rd September 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend fully to honour Article 4 of the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World’s Heritage in respect of any future A303 dualling scheme at Stonehenge; and if not, whether they intend to withdraw as a signatory to the World Heritage Convention.

21st September 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether charities that distribute Landfill Communities Fund money should be wholly independent of waste companies bidding for contracts with waste authorities.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the decision to give Landfill Communities Fund contributions by Viridor regarding the Beddington landfill site to the Wilton Music Hall in Tower Hamlets and All Saints Church in Kingston, which are not situated in the communities affected by that site.

17th September 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the current Code of Practice on the Police use of Firearms and Less Lethal Weapons specifically prohibits the Metropolitan Police Service from deploying water cannons; and whether that Code of Practice is binding upon chief constables.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what current legal controls are in place to prevent police forces from deploying weapons that are not officially authorised for use by the Home Office.

16th September 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to designate roads that form part of strategic cycle networks in London, such as the Cycle Superhighways, as Greater London Authority roads.

29th July 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what independent peer-reviewed scientific studies have been conducted on whether it is safe to carry out flow-testing, small-scale fracturing operations and acid washing 10 metres from any watercourse and 200 metres from the nearest residents.

24th July 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the consultation on new standard rules relating to onshore oil and gas activities was held over the period of the General Election, in the light of the Consultation Principles, which state that consultations should not generally be launched during local or national election periods; whether they sought advice from the Propriety and Ethics team in the Cabinet Office prior to running the consultation, and if not, why not; and whether they now intend to rerun the consultation.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent consultation on new standard rules for onshore oil and gas activities related to offering standardised permits to oil and gas companies, what assessment they have made of the safety of flaring which suggests that flow-testing, small-scale fracturing operations and acid washing should only take place 10 metres from any watercourse and 200 metres from the nearest residents.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for continuing to apply individual scrutiny to applications for permits for unconventional oil and gas exploration, in the light of the variation in the conditions of possible sites and the levels of public concern regarding unconventional oil and gas exploration projects.

23rd July 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the official monthly rate of sanctions applied to Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants is calculated.

21st July 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the annual rate of sanctions applied to Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in each of the years from 2010 to 2014 inclusive, calculated by dividing the number of all those sanctioned in each year by the total number who claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance in each year.

17th June 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that 16 and 17 year-olds presenting as homeless receive a seamless joint assessment from Children’s Services and Housing Services.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to legislate to prevent under-18s from being considered intentionally homeless and therefore having state support withdrawn.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by The Children’s Society Getting the house in order, which found that few 16 and 17 year-olds are being properly assessed and supported when they present as homeless.

10th June 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, with regard to the number of days elapsing between the end of housing support from the UK Border Agency, or their contractors, for asylum seekers, and the first receipt of other forms of state housing support from the Department for Work and Pensions, across all cases between 1 January and 31 December 2014, how many cases there were in which the number of days was greater than zero; and what were the figures for (1) the minimum and maximum, (2) the mean and median, (3) the first and third, and (4) the fifth and 95th percentiles.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, with regard to the number of days elapsing between the end of financial support from the UK Border Agency for asylum seekers, and the first receipt of other forms of state financial support from the Department for Work and Pensions, across all cases between 1 January and 31 December 2014, how many cases there were in which the number of days was greater than zero; and what were the figures for (1) the minimum and maximum, (2) the mean and median, (3) the first and third, and (4) the fifth and 95th percentiles.

12th March 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of asylum seekers being detained under powers in the Immigration Acts, what access they have to statutory, free and independent forms of advocacy on an individual basis, excluding legal representation.

9th March 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 10 February (HL4536), whether they will now answer the original question, including why it is necessary to consider the use of the more recent 1950’s rail tunnel for high voltage cables, when overhead lines are used for the remainder of the route.

25th February 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Local Government Association’s assessment of the impact of spending reductions on the long-term financial sustainability of adult social care services.

10th February 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they are considering the use of high voltage power cables in the Woodhead rail tunnel, when overhead transmission lines are used for the scenic part of the valley.

24th November 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to couple any expansion of airport capacity with the carbon pricing mechanism proposed by the Davies Commission which aims to ensure that demand remains below the level that can be supplied by the new capacity across the United Kingdom.

20th November 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to couple any expansion of airport capacity with steps to ensure that targets for the reduction of domestic carbon dioxide emissions from homes, workplaces and ground transport are increased to ninety per cent, as recommended by the Committee on Climate Change.

19th November 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the investor-state dispute settlement system in the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will not be dealt with by United Kingdom courts.

29th October 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was their reason for dividing responsibility for London between three regional school commissioners.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the recommendation of the London Assembly Education Panel, in its report London learners, London lives published on 16 September, that London should be covered by a single London-wide, London-only regional school commissioner.

28th October 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to make funding available under the Access for All programme to make Streatham overground station accessible; whether matched funding has been promised; and if so, by whom.

13th October 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risks to (1) blind and partially sighted people, (2) wheelchair users, and (3) parents with pushchairs, from cars parked on pavements.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the total cost of damage caused by cars parking on pavements in the United Kingdom.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have received from (1) local authorities, (2) disability groups, and (3) other organisations, about cars parking on pavements.

12th May 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the Forest of Dean’s protection from disposal by the Forestry Act 1967, they will (1) review plans by the Homes and Communities Agency to submit a planning application for a major development of the Cinderford Northern Quarter, and (2) ensure it is subject to a public access agreement until 2032.

6th May 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Astor of Hever on 27 March (WS 49–50) regarding a contingent liability for nuclear indemnity, whether, in the light of the statement in the Departmental Minute that “the value of the contingent liability is unquantifiable due to the potentially catastrophic nature of a nuclear incident”, they have any plans to halt the process and review the basis of the indemnity.

9th April 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 6 March (HL Deb, col. 1522), whether the proposed judge-led public inquiry into undercover policing will be a statutory one that falls within the Inquiries Act 2005.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 6 March (HL Deb, col. 1522), whether the proposed public inquiry into undercover policing will look into (1) the use of sexual relationships by undercover police, and (2) the stealing of identities of dead babies by undercover police.

13th March 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much they have spent to date on their legal cases against the European Commission in respect of (1) the Financial Transaction Tax, and (2) the bankers’ bonus cap.

15th January 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are in place to evacuate populations from (1) within the three-mile designated emergency planning zone, and (2) the wider thirty-mile zone, around nuclear power plants, in the wake of significant radiation release from an accident in cases where roads within both zones are impassable due to (a) widespread flooding, or (b) heavy snow cover.

8th January 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an investigation has been carried out into allegations that students have been recruited as informers on fellow students involved in demonstrations.

8th January 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have received in respect of (1) the possibility of restrictions on leisure activities such as skateboarding, and (2) the possibility of bans on peaceful demonstrations, that local authorities might impose under a public spaces protection order provided for by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill.

8th January 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether plans have been developed by police forces in the south of England to recruit special investigations managers to prepare court cases against protestors at sites planned for shale gas fracking investigations.

8th January 2014

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evaluation they have made of the way in which Police and Crime Commissioners have overseen the implementation of sustainability plans by police forces; and what steps have been taken to reduce the carbon footprint of policing.