House of Lords Business

Lord Aberdare to ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to increase (1) the availability, and (2) the take-up, of part-time apprenticeships.  HL4524

Lord Aberdare to ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to consult with employers and other stakeholders regarding the flexibility that apprenticeship levy payers have in spending their apprenticeship vouchers.  HL4525

Lord Aberdare to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the current cap of 10 per cent on the proportion of apprenticeship levy funds that can be transferred by levy-paying employers to other employers; and if so, when the results of such a review will be published.  HL4526

Lord Ahmed to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rise of death sentences and executions being used to combat alleged terrorism in Egypt.  HL4527

Lord Ahmed to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to make representations to the government of Egypt that there should be a moratorium on all death sentences in Egypt, especially in cases where confessions have been obtained through torture.  HL4528

Lord Ahmed to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any recent representations to the government of Egypt regarding human rights and rule of law.  HL4529

Lord Ahmed to ask Her Majesty's Government what is the breakdown of financial support for (1) Ethiopia, (2) Sudan, and (3) Somalia, in the past three years.  HL4530

Lord Ahmed to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of UK funding being spent on masters of science degrees for security officials in Ethiopia.  HL4531

Lord Ahmed to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will encourage the government of Ethiopia to free political prisoners.  HL4532

Lord Blencathra to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use by the CPS of the phrase “insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction” in cases where there is no evidence at all against the accused; and what guidance they have given, or intend to give, to the CPS in respect of such use.  HL4533

Lord Blencathra to ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that police forces adopt and implement a consistent definition of what constitutes use of a mobile phone whilst driving; and whether they intend to introduce legislation to clarify the law in this regard.  HL4534

Lord Blencathra to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to review the criminal law relating to the use by drivers of satellite navigation apps on mobile devices, and to introduce legislation to clarify the law if necessary.  HL4535

Lord Blencathra to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to review the criminal law relating to the use of all in-car devices which could act as a distraction to drivers, and to introduce legislation to clarify the law if necessary.  HL4536

Lord Blencathra to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the management of HM Government Communications Centre, in particular of whether (1) clear management guidelines and objectives are issued, (2) employees are enabled to work towards those objectives without undue bureaucracy, (3) financial management is adequate and ensures minimal waste of public mon… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Blencathra to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 21 December 2017 (HL4228), whether they have made any assessment of the finding of the report by Quilliam, Group Based Child Sexual Exploitation – Dissecting Grooming Gangs, published in December 2017, that 84 per cent of child sexual exploitation offenders w… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Blood to ask Her Majesty's Government, following the Brexit referendum result, what assessment they have made of the case for training overseas port health officers to UK standards, especially those in developing countries; and what part the Association of Port Health Authorities will play in delivering such training.  HL4539

Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted to ask Her Majesty's Government why the Memorandum of Understanding between the Financial Reporting Council and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills dated July 2010 describes the Financial Reporting Council as a private body.  HL4540

Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted to ask Her Majesty's Government for how long the Financial Reporting Council has been classified by the National Accounts Classification Committee as a central government public body.  HL4541

Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted to ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Financial Reporting Council has met all the obligations required of public bodies, in particular relating to (1) procurement, (2) recruitment, (3) remuneration, and (4) the Freedom of Information Act 2000, since its establishment; and if not, for how long, if at all, it has met all the obligations in each c… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted to ask Her Majesty's Government who receives the proceeds of successful legal actions brought by the Financial Reporting Council against any of the Big Four accountancy firms; and whether any of those proceeds are allocated to accountancy firms trade associations.  HL4543

Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have given any guarantees to the Financial Reporting Council to cover legal costs for cases brought against accountancy firms.  HL4544

Baroness Campbell of Surbiton to ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to consult disabled people regarding the separate strands of work on social care for disabled working-age adults that parallel those in the Social Care Green Paper for Older People.  HL4545

Baroness Deech to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the usefulness of the EU legal concepts of reverse solicitation and indirect clearing arrangements in the event of a no-deal Brexit in financial services.  HL4546

Baroness Deech to ask Her Majesty's Government what legal analysis they have made of the structures that would permit ongoing provision of services from London to EU customers in the event of a no-deal Brexit in financial services.  HL4547

Baroness Deech to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of re-shaping UK financial services laws and regulations by, for example, removing parts of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II and the Solvency II Directive, with the aim of protecting UK business in the event of a no-deal Brexit in financial services.  HL4548

Baroness Deech to ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value of tax incentives to cushion the transition to a no-deal Brexit in financial services should that occur.  HL4549

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken an impact assessment of a refundable deposit scheme for glass bottles, plastic bottles and metal cans; if so, what was the outcome; and at what levels refundable deposits would need to be set to make such a scheme cost-effective.  HL4550

Lord Greaves to ask Her Majesty's Government, following the change of name of the Department for Communities and Local Government to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, what is their estimate of the cost of the resulting changes to signs, badges, stationery, and other matters.  HL4551

Lord Greaves to ask Her Majesty's Government, following the change of name of the Department for Communities and Local Government to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there have been any changes to the responsibilities of the Department.  HL4552

Lord Greaves to ask Her Majesty's Government which of the lines and stations used by services included in the East Coast franchise will be included in the proposed partnership arrangement between Network Rail and the operator from 2020, and which will be excluded.  HL4553

Lord Greaves to ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to the East Coast partnership arrangement that is proposed to be set up from 2020, what proportion of the current paths are allocated to each of the train operating companies including the open access services and the freight operators, by (1) the number of services, and (2) the number of route miles.  HL4554

Lord Hain to ask Her Majesty's Government how many times the Trustees of the Mineworkers Pension Scheme have asked Ministers for meetings to re-negotiate the surplus sharing arrangements of the Scheme since privatisation of the industry; what were the responses to those requests; and what was the reasoning behind the response in each case.  HL4555

Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to use all possible means, including cooperation with Russia, to achieve full humanitarian access to Eastern Ghouta, Syria.  HL4556

Lord Hylton to ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have for international cooperation to make good the deficit on the current budget of the UN High Commissioner For Refugees; and in particular, how they intend to ensure that measures are taken to prevent deaths of refugees in Lebanon, from cold or starvation, this winter.  HL4557

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will nominate a candidate to the UN Committee for Ending Discrimination Against Women.  HL4558

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering to ask Her Majesty's Government how many residential care beds there were in England in (1) 2005, (2) 2010, and (3) 2015.  HL4559

Lord Myners to ask Her Majesty's Government whether officials prepared any estimates for the Secretary of State for Transport of the value transferred, or to be transferred, to the franchisees of the East Coast rail franchise as a result of terminating that franchise; and if so, when.  HL4560

Lord Norton of Louth to ask the Senior Deputy Speaker how many items of correspondence were received in the Palace of Westminster in 2017; and of those, what proportion was received in the House of Lords.  HL4561

Lord Norton of Louth to ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) sections of, and (2) Schedules to, Acts of Parliament passed since 2010 have not been commenced.  HL4562

Lord Norton of Louth to ask Her Majesty's Government what checks have taken place to ensure that Permanent Secretaries have mechanisms in place to ensure that civil servants who advise Ministers are aware of the constitutional significance of Parliament and of the conventions governing the relationship between Parliament and Her Majesty's Government, as required by section 3(6) of… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Ouseley to ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to redress resource deficits faced by local authorities in deprived areas resulting from relatively weaker tax bases and having to respond to greater demands for social care provision, as evidenced by the most recent data from the official Health Survey for England.  HL4564

Lord Patel of Bradford to ask Her Majesty's Government, following research by Release in regard to variation in the provision of, and access to, the potentially lifesaving drug naloxone, what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the response from local authorities; and whether they will take action to implement a nationally coordinated and monitored take-home naloxone prog… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Patten to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 6 December 2017 (HL3948), what is their assessment of the value of Catholic schools.  HL4566

Lord Patten to ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the commitment by Westminster City Council to retrofit sprinklers in all of their blocks of flats over 30 metres in height.  HL4567

Lord Patten to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 20 December 2017 (HL3949), what evidence they have, if any, of why some Muslim parents send their children to Catholic, or other faith, schools.  HL4568

Lord Porter of Spalding to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to market English tourist destinations in 2018.  HL4569

Lord Rooker to ask Her Majesty's Government when the Prime Minister intends to reply to the letter from Lord Rooker to the Prime Minister dated 21 November 2017 in respect of the duty of care towards Government employees, with reference to the case of the late Dr Matthew Puncher.  HL4570

Lord Storey to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 21 December 2017 (HL3983), whether they have any plans to seek to ensure that there is an agreed international standard brace position for use on standard passenger aircraft.  HL4571

Lord Storey to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 8 January (HL4167), which youth programmes the £475 million is to be spent on.  HL4572

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 21 December (HL4170), what action they intend to take to protect the rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.  HL4573

Baroness Tonge to ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel concerning reports that Israeli and Palestinian children are being treated differently by the Israeli criminal justice system.  HL4574

Lord Truscott to ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to tackle the use of trust funds (1) to avoid tax, and (2) to claim benefits which would not otherwise be available.  HL4575

Lord Vinson to ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 6 December 2017 that she would write to the Director of Public Prosecutions (HL Deb, col 1051), whether she has done so; and if so, what was the response.  HL4576

Lord West of Spithead to ask Her Majesty's Government whether a decision regarding the future of HMS Ocean has been put on hold until the work of the National Security Adviser is complete.  HL4577