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House of Lords Business

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Questions for Written Answer for 4 December 2017

Tabled on 30 November 2017 and due for answer by 14 December 2017.

Lord Adonis to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for Transport on 29 November (HC Deb, col 344) that “Stagecoach will meet in full the commitments it made to the Government as part of this contract”, and to the remarks by Baroness Sugg on 29 November (HL Deb, col 688) that “as part of the bidding Stagecoach made a series of financial co… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Adonis to ask Her Majesty's Government what premium payments are due to be paid to them under the existing East Coast franchise, in each year until 2023.  HL3752
Answered
Lord Adonis to ask Her Majesty's Government what payments they expect to receive from (1) Virgin Rail Group, and (2) Stagecoach Group, in each year from 2020 to 2023 under the proposed East Coast Partnership; and whether those payments might be lower than those contracted under the existing franchise.  HL3753
Answered
Lord Adonis to ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport (1) asked for, and (2) was given, a ministerial direction before the Secretary of State announced the end of the current East Coast Franchise on 29 November; and if not, whether they are satisfied that their decision represents value for money and the efficient use of public… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of new free schools which would be opened if the 50 per cent cap on faith based schools were removed; and what discussions they have had with (1) representatives of the Catholic Church about the impact of that cap on faith-based admissions, and (2) representatives of non-religious in… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Earl Attlee to ask Her Majesty's Government what precedents there are for undertaking a consultation exercise before commencing a section of an act of Parliament, other than one dealing with secondary or delegated legislation under the relevant act.  HL3756
Answered
Lord Berkeley to ask Her Majesty's Government what capacity for rail freight is included in the remit for the reopening of East West Rail.  HL3757
Answered
Lord Berkeley to ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions (1) ministers, and (2) officials, have had with the Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission regarding rail freight.  HL3758
Answered
Lord Berkeley to ask Her Majesty's Government why the reopening of the Lewes Uckfield rail line was not included in the list of line reopenings contained in the Department for Transport’s document Connecting people: a strategic vision for rail, published on 29 November.  HL3759
Answered
Lord Berkeley to ask Her Majesty's Government how much premium they expect to receive from the franchisee of the East Coast Main Line as a result of shortening the franchise period by three years.  HL3760
Answered
Lord Blunkett to ask Her Majesty's Government whether any major infrastructure projects were invited to send a representative to the seminar on skills held by the Department for Education on 30 November; and if so, which.  HL3761
Answered
Lord Crathorne to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to make colonoscopies available through the NHS as a method of screening for pre-symptomatic cancers.  HL3762
Answered
The Earl of Dundee to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are planning to assist the actions of NGOs in relation to vulnerable populations by leading an international initiative to establish secure and protected licensed financial routes in order to finance humanitarian and reconstruction work in sanctioned areas, such as Syria.  HL3763
Answered
The Earl of Dundee to ask Her Majesty's Government which measures they intend to adopt to support the efforts in Syria and surrounding countries of small NGOs, particularly in relation to (1) the holding of bank accounts in the UK, and (2) the receipt or transfer of funds.  HL3764
Answered
The Earl of Dundee to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which sanctions have harmed humanitarian efforts to help civilian populations in countries such as Iraq and Syria; and whether they intend to report to Parliament on that matter on a regular basis.  HL3765
Answered
The Earl of Dundee to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to promote international harmonisation of licensing of NGOs through a system of mutual recognition and notification.  HL3766
Answered
Lord Elystan-Morgan to ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to the proposed independent Industrial Strategy Council referred to in their white paper, Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future, by what date they expect to have such a body appointed.  HL3767
Answered
Lord Elystan-Morgan to ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to the proposed independent Industrial Strategy Council, whether representatives from the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be appointed.  HL3768
Answered
Lord Elystan-Morgan to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will hold formal meetings with ministers for each devolved administration as to the background, experience and skills expected of any person appointed by the devolved administrations to enable industrial issues pertaining to each of those countries to be articulated effectively in the proposed independent Industrial… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Grocott to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 28 November (HL3261), whether the Answer indicated that they accept the calculations of the total annual UK contributions to the EU and its predecessors since 1973 in real (2016) prices set out in the House of Commons Library briefing paper The UK’s contribution to the EU Budget;… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Baroness Harris of Richmond to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to review the costs of Police and Crime Commissioners and to make a comparative assessment of the costs of the former Police Authorities, in order to ascertain whether Police and Crime Commissioners provide value for money to the taxpayer.  HL3771
Answered
Baroness Harris of Richmond to ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) police officers, and (2) police community support officers, in England and Wales, broken down by police force area.  HL3772
Answered
Lord Hay of Ballyore to ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of illegal immigrants living in the UK; and what action they are taking to address that problem.  HL3773
Answered
Lord Hay of Ballyore to ask Her Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with political parties in Northern Ireland about the UK leaving the EU.  HL3774
Answered
Lord Laming to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take in response to Home Office figures which show an increase in the number of deaths as a result of knife crime amongst under 19s.  HL3775
Answered
Lord Moonie to ask Her Majesty's Government what communications between the Department for Transport and (1) Stagecoach Group, and (2) Virgin Rail Group, took place prior to the development of the rail strategy announced on 29 November; and whether they will publish those communications in full.  HL3776
Answered
Lord Moonie to ask Her Majesty's Government whether new rolling stock planned for introduction on the East Coast Main Line from 2018 will come into service within the intended timescale.  HL3777
Answered
Lord Moonie to ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) Virgin Rail Group, and (2) Stagecoach Group, will be allowed to bid for (a) the new East Coast partnership from 2020, and (b) other rail franchises.  HL3778
Answered
Lord Moonie to ask Her Majesty's Government whether there any penalty clauses in the event of early termination in the franchise for the East Coast Main Line, which was to have run to 2023.  HL3779
Answered
Lord Moonie to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have given any consideration to banning the service of free alcoholic drinks on all rail services, in the interests of public health.  HL3780
Answered
Lord Moonie to ask Her Majesty's Government what franchise payments have been received each year from (1) Virgin Rail Group, and (2) Stagecoach East Coast Mainline; and what franchise payments were planned in each year until 2023.  HL3781
Answered
Baroness Morris of Yardley to ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to safeguard children in premises that have been confirmed by Ofsted as unregistered schools.  HL3782
Answered
Baroness Morris of Yardley to ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to identify the number of unregistered schools.  HL3783
Answered
Baroness Morris of Yardley to ask Her Majesty's Government what is the (1) shortest, (2) longest, and (3) average, time taken to determine an application to register a school.  HL3784
Answered
Baroness Morris of Yardley to ask Her Majesty's Government what checks are carried out on teachers working in unregistered schools to ensure that those teachers are suitable people to work with children.  HL3785
Answered
Baroness Morris of Yardley to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support local authorities in fulfilling their duties under section 436A of the Education Act 1996, in respect of children attending unregistered schools.  HL3786
Answered
The Earl of Sandwich to ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they have given, through the UN’s voluntary trust fund or other channels, to the Roma families who were victims of lead contamination while in UN camps during the civil war in Kosovo.  HL3787
Answered
The Earl of Sandwich to ask Her Majesty's Government, whether, during their current dialogue with the government of Sudan, they have raised issues of human rights and freedom of expression in (1) universities, (2) places of worship, and (3) non-governmental organisations; and what progress they have made in discussing those issues with the government of Sudan.  HL3788
Answered
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