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387751

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>Proscription is an important means of disrupting terrorist organisations in the UK. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) also known as The Islamic State of Iraq al-Sham (ISIS) was proscribed as a terrorist organization in the UK with effect from 20 June 2014.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 provides that a person commits an offence if he, in a public place, wears an item of clothing or wears, carries or displays article in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation. Flags would come within the definition of “article”. This is a summary only offence carrying a maximum of six months imprisonment or a fine.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To date there have been no prosecutions in England and Wales as a result of displaying a flag in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that the person displaying it is a member or supporter of ISIL. A black flag of the type associated with ISIL has featured in a number of prosecutions of individuals for more serious terrorist offences.</p><p> </p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

174957

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The Prime Minister discussed Mr Aamer’s case with President Obama in Washington on 16 January. As the White House spokesperson subsequently confirmed, the President made clear that he understood why Mr Aamer’s case is of great interest to the United Kingdom, and committed to prioritise it, while making that sure any action taken is consistent with US national security.</p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

91874

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The most recently available figures estimate that across England and Wales around 3.1 billion litres of water leaks each day. Ofwat, as the economic regulator, agrees maximum leakage targets with water companies and has the powers to issue penalties to companies that fail to meet these. In the last decade Ofwat has entered into legal agreements with water companies that have missed their targets, committing them to investing more than £230m in improvements on leakage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government and Ofwat have worked together to raise the issue of leakage and have worked with the water companies to reduce total leakage by one third since its peak in the mid-90s. Over the next five years, across England and Wales, companies are proposing further work to reduce leakage further. Innovative changes in leak detection technology and large scale programmes of customer engagement have allowed companies to improve their understanding of the problems across their networks and how their customers expect them to respond, allowing the companies to take a much more proactive approach to leakage reduction. Companies are obliged to publish and explain their annual leakage figures on their websites and outline what steps they intend to take to meet their targets in future.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In its current price review Ofwat has made it clear that it expects to see companies achieve a balance between keeping customers’ bills down and reducing leakage where it makes sense, such as in water stressed areas where customers are willing to pay.</p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

224964

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	International Development
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The UK has disbursed £5 million of our £20 million pledge and we are working hard to disburse the remaining funds over the course of the coming financial year. Gaza’s economy will only recover, however, if reconstruction efforts form part of a process of meaningful political change that will address the underlying causes of the conflict and transform the situation in Gaza. The need for political progress from all parties has never been more apparent. In the meantime, we are engaging with the World Bank’s new mechanism to track donor pledges committed at the Cairo conference and we are urging that all major International donors make good on their pledges.</p><p> </p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

347247

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	International Development
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The UK is providing more than £33 million to the earthquake response in Nepal – making us the largest donor to the relief operation. Assistance from the UK Government has provided thousands of needy people and affected communities with water purification jerrycans and essential shelter, and has transported a huge volume of boxes of food rations and lanterns. A new health programme, announced by the Secretary of State during her visit in May, will ensure that children can continue to be immunised, women can deliver babies safely and work can commence on rebuilding up to 1,000 damaged health facilities. Our pre-positioned water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies have also reached thousands of people.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

391295

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	International Development
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>There are an estimated 7.6 million internally displaced persons within Syria, and there are now over four million refugees from Syria in neighbouring countries. According to the UN, there have been over 278,000 Syrian asylum applications in Europe between April 2011 and May 2015.</p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

92825

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	Transport
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Government has significant plans for the East Coast Main Line and the InterCity East Coast franchise. The competition for the franchise is expected to provide a number of material improvements for passengers, many of which are set out in the Prospectus and Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the franchise. These include the delivery of the new state-of-the-art Class 800/801 trains from the Intercity Express Programme, which will both improve the environment for passengers and reduce journey times.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s Rail Investment Strategy for the period 2014-2019 includes £240million for improving the East Coast Mainline with the aim of providing a material reduction in journey times between London and Edinburgh by 2020. The ITT for the new franchise seeks to build on this by specifying that the maximum journey time between London and Edinburgh reduces from 4hours 26 minutes in 2013, to 4 hours 17 minutes in 2020 to ensure that benefits from our investments in the IEP fleet and infrastructure are delivered. It does not specify a reduction in journey times to Newcastle but it is expected that these will also reduce to achieve the overall reductions to Edinburgh. As the ITT sets out our minimum requirements for the franchise, we expect that bidders will strive to improve upon these times.</p><p> </p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

383722

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	Transport
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>In line with the Government’s devolution agenda, it is for local transport authorities to consider in the first instance whether the re-opening of a closed railway line is the best way to meet local transport needs and, if so, whether they would wish to prioritise any such re-opening in bidding for funding from the Government’s Local Growth Fund.</p><p> </p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

387750

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	Transport
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Government is not able to make an estimate of the amount of new railway line to be laid by 2020. However, the Government is supporting £38billion of Network Rail spend from 2014/15 to 2018/19 and this includes £13billion on enhancements and £12billion on renewing life expired parts of the network.</p><p> </p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

155697

	registered interest
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney(Mr Cameron), discussed the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and related issues including securing peace in Syria when he met President Rouhani in September at the UN General Assembly. We have also used our expanding bilateral relationship with Iran over the last year to discuss ISIL and other regional issues. We hope that the Iranian government will respond to the shared threat from ISIL by aligning their approach with the international community’s efforts to bring stability to Iraq and Syria.</p>
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian