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1055100

registered interest
date	05/02/2019
answering body	Department for Exiting the European Union
answering dept id	203
answering dept short name	Exiting the European Union
answering dept sort name	Exiting the European Union
hansard heading	Overseas Trade: Republic of Ireland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to any special arrangements for trade between the Republic of Ireland and the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
uin	HL13432
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to upholding the Belfast Agreement and will do everything in our power to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. We have been clear, as have the EU, it is not enough to simply assert this. We recognise that we would need to take forward discussions with the Irish Government and the Commission in the event of a no deal on the best way to achieve this.</p> answering member printed Lord Callanan question first answered 18/02/2019 11:33:16 answering member 4336 label Biography information for Lord Callanan
tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1055103

registered interest
date	05/02/2019
answering body	Department for Exiting the European Union
answering dept id	203
answering dept short name	Exiting the European Union
answering dept sort name	Exiting the European Union
hansard heading	Borders: Northern Ireland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what scenario planning has been conducted by Government departments responsible for security, immigration control, and food security and safety in relation to the EU–UK border in the island of Ireland.
tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
uin	HL13434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>The best way to guarantee no hard border remains delivering a deal with the EU, which means people on either side of that border will be able to live their lives as they do now. Both the UK and Ireland have said they will do everything in their power to avoid a hard border in any scenario, but in the event of there being a “no deal” we recognise we would need to take forward discussions with the Irish Government and the Commission on how to achieve this.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Callanan question first answered 18/02/2019 11:42:27 answering member 4336 label Biography information for Lord Callanan
tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1056500

registered interest
date	06/02/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Environmental Stewardship Scheme
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there have been delays in payments from the Rural Payments Agency and DEFRA to participants in the Higher Level Stewardship scheme for 2018; and if so, why.
tabling member printed	Lord Willoughby de Broke
uin	HL13547
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>While just under 50% of agreement holders have received their 2018 advance payment, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has been working hard to ensure that remaining payments are issued as quickly as possible. The RPA took on administration of Environmental Stewardship in October 2018 and is continuing to simplify the administration of the scheme as far as possible under the current EU system, streamlining processes and boosting the workforce to speed up processing.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 18/02/2019 11:44:15 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	1775 label Biography information for Lord Willoughby de Broke

1056501

registered interest
date	06/02/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Environmental Stewardship Scheme
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all participants in the Higher Level Stewardship scheme have received the payments due to them in 2016 and 2017.
tabling member printed	Lord Willoughby de Broke
uin	HL13548
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>Over 99% of Environmental Stewardship agreement holders have received their 2016 advance and final payments. For 2017 just under 98% have received their advance payment and 80% have received their 2017 final payment. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has been working hard to ensure that remaining payments are issued as quickly as possible. The RPA took on administration of Environmental Stewardship in October 2018 and is continuing to simplify the administration of the scheme as far as possible under the current EU system, streamlining processes and boosting the workforce to speed up processing.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 18/02/2019 11:44:47 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	1775 label Biography information for Lord Willoughby de Broke

1056502

registered interest
date	06/02/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Countryside Stewardship Scheme
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether payments to participants in the Countryside Stewardship scheme have been delayed; and if so for what reason.
tabling member printed	Lord Willoughby de Broke
uin	HL13549
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>Over 99% of Countryside Stewardship participants have received their payment for 2017 claims and payments for 2018 claims are underway. The Rural Payments Agency took on administration of Countryside Stewardship in October 2018 and is continuing to simplify the administration of the scheme as far as possible under the current EU system, streamlining processes and boosting the workforce to speed up processing.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 18/02/2019 11:44:31 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	1775 label Biography information for Lord Willoughby de Broke

1056812

registered interest
date	07/02/2019
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	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of moving the start date of a universal credit claim to the point when a claimant sets up as universal credit account for assessment purposes.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	218204
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit, in common with other benefits, has a start date that is set out in regulations (The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013).</p><p> </p><p>This is a fixed start date and marks the beginning of the award and assessment period. It is necessary to have a fixed start date to be able to assess entitlement and determine the amount of payment due. To do otherwise would create uncertainty for claimants and would be impractical to administer.</p><p> </p><p>The effective start date of a claim for Universal Credit is normally the date on which the claim is submitted by the claimant and received by the Department.</p><p> </p><p>However, in certain circumstances, where we have had direct contact with a claimant who has requested assistance in helping them make their claim, for example through requesting a home visit, the date of contact becomes the start date of their claim.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 218211 question first answered 18/02/2019 11:35:20 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Frank Field

1056822

registered interest
date	07/02/2019
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	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit claimants have (a) been informed of, (b) applied successfully for, and (c) applied unsuccessfully for twice monthly payment options.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	218208
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit provides an unprecedented level of personalised support, which is tailored and managed through Work Coaches. Unlike the legacy system Universal Credit Work Coaches know each person’s case and have more tools than ever before to help people prepare for work and get a job.</p><p> </p><p>Personal Budgeting Support aims to prepare claimants for the financial changes Universal Credit brings. It provides support to help them manage their monthly payments and prioritise essential bills, such as rent and utilities, as they move over to Universal Credit.</p><p> </p><p>In response to question part (a), the Personal Budgeting Support process includes a conversation at their initial work search interview to gauge their potential support needs – meaning all claimants are informed of support that includes alternative payment arrangements and more frequent payments.</p><p> </p><p>In response to question part (b), the available information on the number of households on Universal Credit that receive More Frequent Payments or Scottish Choices More Frequent Payments is published and can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>Please be aware that as the statistics are based on whether a household has actually been paid a More Frequent Payment, it will not include households that had a More Frequent Payment set up but were not actually paid more frequently, for instance because they cancelled the More Frequent Payment before they were paid.</p><p> </p><p>For question (c), the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/02/2019 10:56:45 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Frank Field

1056824

registered interest
date	07/02/2019
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	Universal Credit: Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will consider enabling universal credit claimants to choose a payment schedule that aligns their assessment periods and payment dates with earnings patterns and the payment of housing costs.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	218210
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit seeks to take earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent. The amount of Universal Credit paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period, including any earnings reported by the employer during the assessment period, regardless of when they were paid, or which month they relate to.</p><p> </p><p>Assessment periods allow for Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, ensuring that if a claimant’s income falls, they do not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit award.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants can always discuss the implications of this with their case managers and work coaches and can be referred to Personal Budgeting Support to help them manage their budgeting.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is working with employers to ensure that they use the most appropriate payment practices and comply with RTI guidelines in order to minimise the incidence of erroneous or late reporting by employers. HMRC have updated the guidance to reiterate to employers the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles.</p><p> </p><p>More guidance on this is available at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments-payment-cycles" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments-payment-cycles</a></p><p /><p><strong> </strong></p><p /><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/02/2019 11:25:11 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Frank Field

1056825

registered interest
date	07/02/2019
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	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing greater flexibility on start dates for assessment periods to claim universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	218211
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit, in common with other benefits, has a start date that is set out in regulations (The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013).</p><p> </p><p>This is a fixed start date and marks the beginning of the award and assessment period. It is necessary to have a fixed start date to be able to assess entitlement and determine the amount of payment due. To do otherwise would create uncertainty for claimants and would be impractical to administer.</p><p> </p><p>The effective start date of a claim for Universal Credit is normally the date on which the claim is submitted by the claimant and received by the Department.</p><p> </p><p>However, in certain circumstances, where we have had direct contact with a claimant who has requested assistance in helping them make their claim, for example through requesting a home visit, the date of contact becomes the start date of their claim.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 218204 question first answered 18/02/2019 11:35:20 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Frank Field

1058690

registered interest
date	11/02/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water: Pollution Control
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce water pollution from industry.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	219438
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>This is a devolved matter and the below relates to England only.</p><p> </p><p>Water pollution from industry is controlled by permits issued under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2015. In England, these permits are issued by the Environment Agency (EA) and control the levels of pollution in effluent discharges by setting limits on the chemical concentration and volume of the effluent. The limits are set to protect waters from the adverse impacts of pollution and to meet the appropriate environmental standards for river, ground water and bathing water quality. Operators must comply with the permit and it is an offence to breach a permit condition. Enforcement action may be taken dependant on the nature and severity of the offence.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to controlling pollution from discharges using permits, the EA receives around 40,000 water pollution incident reports per year. Most have little or minor impact but there are around 250 incidents per year which are classified as significant or serious. Very few of these are deliberate acts and are caused accidentally after spillage or system failure. Most significant or serious pollution incidents come from the water industry and agriculture. The remainder are spread across other sectors such as transport, retail, manufacturing, domestic and residential or are a result of natural causes.</p><p> </p><p>The EA responds to all serious incidents and follows them up with appropriate action including warning letters, formal caution, civil sanctions and prosecution. In 2014 the sentencing guidelines were revised so that fines are now related to the level of culpability and the company’s turnover. This has seen a steep rise in the value of fines which is now a much greater deterrent to causing pollution.</p><p> </p><p>Working to control discharges through environmental permits and by taking decisive action in response to pollution offences has led to significant reductions in pollution and improvements in water quality over recent years. Plans for continued improvement in this area are included in the Government's 25 Year Environmental Plan.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 18/02/2019 11:06:26 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon