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156522

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2014
	answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
	answering dept id	92
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Leader of the House what steps she takes to ensure the quality of answers to parliamentary questions; and what assessment she has made of the length of time taken to provide them.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2945
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>It is the responsibility of individual ministers to decide what answers they give to Questions for Written Answer (QWAs), and they are of course accountable to the House for those answers. That direct accountability is important: that is why Ministers in this House must provide personally signed answers to members. The Ministerial Code states that <em>“It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament”.<br><br></em>As Leader of the House I have a particular responsibility to encourage Ministers and their departments to be punctual in answering written questions. My office immediately approach departments who have not responded to questions after 10 working days, and remain in contact with them until the questions are answered. At the end of this Session I will publish data on the annual performance of departments on their promptness in dealing with QWAs.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Stowell of Beeston question first answered 03/12/2014 12:49:49 answering member 4205 label Biography information for Baroness Stowell of Beeston
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

101733

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2014
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Population
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what projection they have made of the size of the population of the United Kingdom in 2030, 2040, and 2050.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2542
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2014 answer text <p>The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire question first answered 11/11/2014 15:57:45 answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire attachment 1 file name HL2542 Lord Laird ONS.pdf title UK Statistics Authority Response
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

156523

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2014
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Written Questions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what instructions and training notes they provide to officials preparing answers to parliamentary questions; and whether they will publish any such documents.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2946
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p>Guidance on responding to written parliamentary questions is provided by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons. This guidance is published on the Gov.uk website at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-answers-to-parliamentary-questions-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-answers-to-parliamentary-questions-guidance</a>. A copy of the guidance is attached to this answer.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire question first answered 01/12/2014 16:18:17 answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire attachment 1 file name drafting-pq-responses.pdf title Drafting Answers Guidance
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

93699

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Romanians and Bulgarians have sought social security benefits that were inaccessible before 1 January 2014; and how many such nationals are currently in receipt of child benefit.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2128
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government does not record the nationality of the claimant receiving social security benefits including child benefit.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 20/10/2014 14:29:56 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

93700

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	National Insurance: Foreign Nationals
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many foreign nationals have been given national insurance numbers in the last eight quarters; how many were given numbers in total in those two years; and what were the top 20 nationalities of those given national insurance numbers in the last two years.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2129
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2014 answer text <p>The information requested for the number of foreign nationals registered for national insurance numbers is published and available at:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm" target="_blank">https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm</a></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">The number National Insurance numbers registered to foreign nationals in the last 8 quarters and the total number registered in the two year period from July 2012 to June 2014 is shown in Table 1.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">The top 20 nationalities for those registered with a National Insurance number in the same two year period is in Table 2.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>Table 1:</strong> Number of NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK, by quarter for the last two years.</ins></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Jul-12 to Sep-12</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">123,590</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Oct-12 to Dec-12</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">139,390</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Jan-13 to Mar-13</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">178,372</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Apr-13 to Jun-13</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">131,525</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Jul-13 to Sep-13</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">148,389</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Oct-13 to Dec-13</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">158,953</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Jan-14 to Mar-14</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">164,432</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Apr-14 to Jun-14</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">93,945</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>Total</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>1,138,593</strong></ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>Table 2:</strong> Total number of NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK for the top 20 nationalities in the last 2 years.</ins></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Poland (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">188,046</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Spain</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">88,388</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Romania (Joined EU in 2007)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">81,122</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Italy</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">74,374</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">India</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">56,694</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Portugal</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">50,257</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Rep of Lithuania (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">45,950</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Hungary (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">45,450</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">France</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">41,920</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Bulgaria (Joined EU in 2007)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">31,580</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Rep of Ireland</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">30,604</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Pakistan</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">25,979</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Rep of Latvia (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">22,845</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Slovak Rep (Joined EU in 2004)</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">22,361</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">China Peoples Rep</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">21,910</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Australia</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">20,788</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Germany</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">20,423</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Nigeria</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">19,965</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">Greece</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">17,260</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial">USA</ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial">16,767</ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Source: Stat-Xplore, Department for Work and Pensions</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Notes:</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">1. Statistical disclosure control has been applied to this table to avoid the release of confidential data.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">2. A change to the process of recording NINos during the quarter April-June 2014, means that the volume of NINo registrations recorded are lower in this quarter than would otherwise be the case (estimated to be around 15% - 25% lower in the quarter April - June 2014 and 2% - 5% lower for the year to June 2014). Therefore, comparisons of NINo registrations over time for the latest periods (quarterly and annually) should be viewed with caution. The process issues impact all nationalities i.e. the impact is not skewed to migrants from specific countries.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">3. Registration date is derived from the date at which a NINo is maintained on the National Insurance Recording and Pay as you Earn System (NPS).</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">4. Data is available up to June 2014, which is the latest information available.</ins></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 22/10/2014 14:51:46 question first ministerially corrected 06/11/2014 16:58:14 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud previous answer version 23638 answering member printed Lord Freud answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

106188

	registered interest
	date	04/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Cycling: Helmets
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to make it a legal requirement for cyclists to wear helmets; and if not, why not.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2659
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/11/2014 answer text <p>We have no plans to make it a legal requirement for cyclists to wear helmets.</p><p> </p><p>Government policy is that the cycle helmets offer a degree of protection for cyclists in the event of a fall from a cycle and some types of collisions. In line with the Highway Code rule 59, we encourage their use by all cyclists and in particular by children. However people and parents are free to choose whether to follow this advice and we have no plans to legislate to introduce mandatory enforcement of cycle helmet wearing.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Kramer question first answered 18/11/2014 12:44:45 answering member 1557 label Biography information for Baroness Kramer
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

106189

	registered interest
	date	04/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Cycling
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to make cycling road rules more enforceable; and if not, why not.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2660
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/11/2014 answer text <p>The enforcement of cycling offences is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police. Depending on the offence officers can issue verbal warnings, fixed penalty notices or report the road user for formal prosecution. We support any action taken by the police to deter and reduce the number of cycling offences.</p> answering member printed Baroness Kramer question first answered 18/11/2014 12:43:48 answering member 1557 label Biography information for Baroness Kramer
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

106190

	registered interest
	date	04/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Driving Licences: Northern Ireland
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, since the transfer of driver and vehicle licensing services for people in Northern Ireland from Coleraine to Swansea, how motorists in Northern Ireland obtain licenses; what is their assessment of the success of the new system; and what changes to that system they propose, if any.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2661
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2014 answer text <p>Driver licensing in Northern Ireland is a devolved issue. Responsibility for issuing driving licences in Northern Ireland remains with the Driver and Vehicle Agency, based in Coleraine, and there have been no changes in how motorists in Northern Ireland obtain driving licences.</p><p> </p><p>Vehicle registration and licensing in Northern Ireland is not devolved and is the responsibility of the UK Government. The operational responsibility for delivering vehicle registration and licensing services in Northern Ireland passed from the Driver and Vehicle Agency to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea on 21 July. For the first time, motorists in Northern Ireland now have access to the same range of services as those in Great Britain. This includes online vehicle licensing, a wider range of vehicle licensing services available at around 175 Post Offices in Northern Ireland and access to direct debit payments for vehicle excise duty.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Kramer question first answered 11/11/2014 11:55:32 answering member 1557 label Biography information for Baroness Kramer
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

156524

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Motor Vehicles: Registration
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how motorists in Northern Ireland obtain vehicle registration and licensing; what is their assessment of the success of the new system; and what changes to that system they propose, if any.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2947
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p>Vehicles in Northern Ireland can be first registered by motor dealers using the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s Automated First Registration and Licensing system. Alternatively, customers can send the relevant application form to the DVLA in Swansea. Any changes to the details of already-registered vehicles must be notified by the registered keeper completing the relevant part of the vehicle registration certificate and sending it to the DVLA.</p><p> </p><p>Vehicles in Northern Ireland can be licensed online or by telephone 24 hours a day, seven days a week or at one of 175 Post Offices that offer the service in Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>The changes to vehicle registration and licensing services for Northern Ireland motorists were implemented on 21 July when more than 1.7 million Northern Ireland vehicle records were automatically transferred to the DVLA. A small number of records required additional processing but these were in line with expectations and the DVLA’s systems have operated very successfully since the migration. While no formal assessment has been made, the Government is confident that Northern Ireland customers are benefiting fully from the enhanced services that are now available to them.</p><p> </p><p>The DVLA is planning a number of future changes to vehicle registration and licensing services. These include providing the facility for motorists to notify vehicle changes and carry out personalised registration transactions online. These services will be available to motorists throughout the UK when they are implemented.</p> answering member printed Baroness Kramer question first answered 01/12/2014 12:12:46 answering member 1557 label Biography information for Baroness Kramer
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

156525

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Motor Vehicles: Registration
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the written answer by Baroness Kramer on 11 November (HL2661) concerning vehicle registration and licensing in Northern Ireland, whether they will now answer the second and third limbs of the question.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL2948
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p>The changes to vehicle registration and licensing services for Northern Ireland motorists were implemented on 21 July when more than 1.7 million Northern Ireland vehicle records were automatically transferred to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). A small number of records required additional processing but these were in line with expectations and the DVLA’s systems have operated very successfully since the migration. While no formal assessment has been made, the Government is confident that Northern Ireland customers are benefiting fully from the enhanced services that are now available to them.</p><p> </p><p>The DVLA is planning a number of future changes to vehicle registration and licensing services. These include providing the facility for motorists to notify vehicle changes and carry out personalised registration transactions online. These services will be available to motorists throughout the UK when they are implemented.</p><p> </p><p>As driver licensing in Northern Ireland is a devolved issue, the Government is not in a position to comment on the success of the system or any potential changes.</p> answering member printed Baroness Kramer question first answered 01/12/2014 12:05:09 answering member 1557 label Biography information for Baroness Kramer
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird