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167612

registered interest
date	03/12/2014
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	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the comments by Lord Freud in the Grand Committee debate on the Child Poverty Act 2010 (Persistent Poverty Targets) Regulations 2014, that the facts Lord McAvoy had quoted were "simply not true" (HL Deb, 25 November, col GC 263), how they were not true.
tabling member printed	Lord McAvoy
uin	HL3387
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>I wrote to the Noble Peer on this issue on 4<sup>th</sup> December 2014. I have placed a copy of this letter in the library of the House and have also attached it to this response.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 15:43:27 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud attachment 1 file name Letter to Lord McAvoy 4.12.14.PDF title Letter to Lord McAvoy 4th Dec 2014
tabling member	4158 label Biography information for Lord McAvoy

166089

registered interest
date	25/11/2014
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	Workplace Pensions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the basis on which projections of potential returns are used by the investment management industry in communications with pension holders.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL3147
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Since 6 April 2003, certain money purchase pension arrangements have been required to provide members with Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (SMPIs). Legislation requires that statutory illustrations are produced in accordance with guidance prepared by a prescribed body approved by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and by the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland.</p><p>The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the prescribed body and has been since 6 April 2007. The FRC fulfils its obligations through the publication of Actuarial Standard Technical Memorandum AS TM1: Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (AS TM1). It reviews AS TM1 regularly and the last completed review was carried out in 2013 following the introduction of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/2734) which came into force on 6 April 2014. The AS TM1 specifies that the investment return should take into account the current and anticipated future investment strategy of the member’s funds over the period to retirement and be consistent from year to year, with the rationale documented and made available to members on request.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require a projection at point of sale for contract based pensions. The investment return must reflect the investment potential of the (expected) underlying assets, subject to an overall cap of 5%pa. Flanking projections must be provided using returns which vary by +/- 3%. The FCA has a public commitment to review the basis every 4 years and the next review is due in 2015. The FCA do not require further projections during the lifetime of the contract as pension scheme members will receive statutory statements prepared under DWP legislation. However, where a provider chooses to provide additional projections, they must follow the same basis as point of sale projections.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:26:30 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

166087

registered interest
date	25/11/2014
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	Workplace Pensions: Fees and Charges
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are measuring the impact of auto-enrolment on fees charged by the investment management industry; and what plans they have to track any changes.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL3145
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government’s Command Paper, ‘Better Workplace Pensions: Further measures for savers’, published in March, set out a range of measures including a cap on charges in default fund arrangements, a ban on inappropriate charges and proposals to introduce minimum governance standards and improve transparency across workplace defined contribution schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Following this, Government launched its consultation on draft regulations on governance and charges in occupational pension schemes in October 2014. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the majority of this legislation will come into force from April 2015, alongside Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules in relation to workplace personal pension schemes where appropriate. From April 2015, the Government intends to introduce a charge cap on the default funds of qualifying schemes, set at 0.75 per cent of funds under management and the first phase of enhanced transparency with trustees and Independent Governance Committees (IGCs) being required to report on costs and charges for the first time.</p><p> </p><p>In 2015 Government will consult on regulations under duties in the Pensions Act 2014 requiring information about transaction costs to be disclosed to members and others, and the publication of costs and charges information. The FCA also intends to consult on amending their own rules to introduce equivalent enhanced transparency provisions for workplace personal pension schemes during 2015. The Government has also set out its plans to review the level of the default fund charge cap, to see if it should be lowered, and also whether it should include some or all of the transaction costs that are ultimately borne by members within a cap. This review will take place in 2017.</p><p> </p><p>Taken together the combined effect of these measures on charges, governance and transparency and the Government’s commitment to a review should ensure that savers are being enrolled into workplace schemes that are well run and in members’ interests.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:19:52 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

166851

registered interest
date	01/12/2014
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 what effect they expect the Prime Minister’s proposals for curbs on welfare benefits for European Union migrants to have if implemented.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL3269
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>In his speech on 28 November, the Prime Minister announced a number of proposals to restrict EU migrants’ access to welfare benefits. He made clear that the intention of his proposals was to make the immigration system fairer and reduce the current high level of migration from within the EU into the UK.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:14:09 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

166642

registered interest
date	27/11/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government by what date they expect that departments and the devolved administrations will have completed their consideration of extra-territorial jurisdiction in respect of offences established in accordance with the Istanbul Convention.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
uin	HL3233
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>This government takes its international obligations very seriously. That is why we signed the Istanbul Convention on 8 June 2012, to show our strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has some of the most robust laws in the world against violence towards women and girls. We have criminalised forced marriage but primary legislation will also be needed to comply with the extra-territorial jurisdiction provisions in Article 44 of the Convention before it can be ratified.</p><p> </p><p>Justice Ministers are currently considering the extent to which we need to amend the criminal law of England and Wales for compliance with Article 44 prior to ratification of the Convention.</p><p> </p><p>Any changes necessary to the criminal law in Scotland and Northern Ireland prior to ratification are matters for the devolved administrations. We will consult Ministers in the devolved administrations about whether legislative changes in England and Wales should extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 08/12/2014 15:40:28 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

166121

registered interest
date	25/11/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	UK Membership of EU
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in a referendum on the United Kingdom membership of the European Union, those United Kingdom citizens who live in other European Union countries will be allowed a vote.
tabling member printed	Lord Laird
uin	HL3179
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p><strong>The franchise for any referendum is set out in primary legislation which establishes that referendum. It will therefore be for Parliament to agree the franchise to be used in any future referendum on UK membership of the European Union. </strong></p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire question first answered 08/12/2014 17:56:09 answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire
tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

167283

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Admissions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take to ensure that transparent criteria are set out in advance of admissions processes for all schools, including academies.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL3384
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>All state-funded schools must comply with the School Admissions Code. The Code requires that the criteria which are used to decide the allocation of school places must be ‘fair, clear and objective’. Parents should be able to look at a set of arrangements and understand easily how places for that school will be allocated.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Code also requires all schools to publish their admission arrangements significantly in advance of parents applying for a place. Ministers permit specific derogations from compliance with the Code within the funding agreements of free schools and academies where to do so would support fairness.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 08/12/2014 17:49:45 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

167256

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Army: Northern Ireland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people from Northern Ireland were recruited to the Army in each of the last five years.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL3357
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>Annual recruitment to the Army from Northern Ireland over the last five years is as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Northern Ireland</p></td><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>2014-15</p><p>(to 31 October)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Regular</p></td><td><p>250</p></td><td><p>290</p></td><td><p>270</p></td><td><p>200</p></td><td><p>180</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Reserve</p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>380</p></td><td><p>280</p></td><td><p>90</p></td><td><p>90</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Figures have been rounded to 10. Numbers ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Astor of Hever question first answered 08/12/2014 16:40:37 answering member 3428 label Biography information for Lord Astor of Hever
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

164517

registered interest
date	24/11/2014
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	A1
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the status of proposals to improve the A1 by making it all dual-carriageway.
tabling member printed	Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
uin	HL3110
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>As part of the Government’s £15 billion investment commitment for the strategic road network announced on the 1<sup>st</sup> December, the Department for Transport’s Road Investment Strategy includes committed funding to dual the single carriageway sections of the A1 from Morpeth to Ellingham, providing 13 more miles of dual carriageway and tripling the amount of continuous dual carriageway north of Newcastle.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will continue to consider the case for improvements to the remaining single carriageway sections of the A1 between Ellingham and the Scottish border - the only elements of the 330 mile A1 outside London that is not dual carriageway or motorway standard.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Kramer question first answered 08/12/2014 12:13:32 answering member 1557 label Biography information for Baroness Kramer
tabling member	3733 label Biography information for Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington

164534

registered interest
date	24/11/2014
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Afghanistan
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the level of equipment available to British military personnel who served in Afghanistan to enable them to detect or neutralise improvised explosive devices.
tabling member printed	Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
uin	HL3127
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>During the Afghanistan campaign the capability of our counter-Improvised Explosive Device equipment evolved significantly. It is now amongst the best available of its type in the world.</p> answering member printed Lord Astor of Hever question first answered 08/12/2014 16:37:38 answering member 3428 label Biography information for Lord Astor of Hever
tabling member	4214 label Biography information for Lord Palmer of Childs Hill