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173563

registered interest
date	14/01/2015
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Lyme Disease
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the rate and extent of the spread of Lyme disease in (1) the United Kingdom, (2) other parts of the European Union, and (3) other parts of the world.
tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
uin	HL4123
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>Public Health England monitors laboratory-confirmed Lyme disease (also known as Lyme borreliosis) in England and Wales, devolved administrations of Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate local arrangements in place.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The rate of laboratory-confirmed Lyme borreliosis and its regional distribution in England and Wales has not changed significantly in recent years, data for 2013 will be published shortly.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Assessment of Lyme borreliosis in other European Union (EU) countries is co-ordinated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Reporting systems and criteria are not standardised throughout EU countries and this data is not routinely collected by ECDC. Therefore as an assessment of Lyme borreliosis using routinely collected data across the EU is not available.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Reporting of Lyme borreliosis worldwide is co-ordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) based on the heterogeneous reporting systems and criteria adopted by individual countries.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 26/01/2015 13:01:20 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves

173564

registered interest
date	14/01/2015
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Lyme Disease
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the recorded number of occurrences of Lyme disease in the United Kingdom in each of the past 10 years; whether they have estimated the extent of under-reporting; and what assessment they have made of the number of cases of Lyme disease in (1) the United States, and (2) other member countries of the European Union, in the latest year for which they have information.
tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
uin	HL4124
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>The recorded number of occurrences of Lyme disease in the United Kingdom from 2004-2012 is shown in the following table:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year of report</p></td><td><p>2004</p></td><td><p>2005</p></td><td><p>2006</p></td><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>2012</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p><p>Lyme disease cases in UK</p><p> </p></td><td><p>586</p></td><td><p>693</p></td><td><p>940</p></td><td><p>1,027</p></td><td><p>1,098</p></td><td><p>1,093</p></td><td><p>1,213</p></td><td><p>1,189</p></td><td><p>1,163</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Data from 2013 is not currently available.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It is estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 additional cases of Lyme disease may occur each year in England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The recorded number of occurrences of Lyme disease in the United States in each of the past 10 years is shown in the following table:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2004</p></td><td><p>2005</p></td><td><p>2006</p></td><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>2013</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>TOTAL USA</p></td><td><p>19,804</p></td><td><p>23,305</p></td><td><p>19,931</p></td><td><p>27,444</p></td><td><p>28,921</p></td><td><p>29,959</p></td><td><p>22,561</p></td><td><p>24,364</p></td><td><p>22,014</p></td><td><p>27,203</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><em>Source:</em> CDC <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/index.html</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em>Notes:</em></p><p> </p><p>The recorded number of occurrences of Lyme disease are not systematically reported. A paper in 2009 provided an estimate of 65,000 cases (Hubalek 2009 <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19367096" target="_blank">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19367096</a>)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Data on the number of occurrences of Lyme disease in other European Union member states is not held.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 26/01/2015 15:02:12 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves

173571

registered interest
date	14/01/2015
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	Winter Fuel Payment
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many recipients of the Winter Fuel Payment are higher rate taxpayers.
tabling member printed	Lord Tyler
uin	HL4131
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments is based on female State Pension age. The latest estimates we have show that there are currently around 600,000 higher and additional rate taxpayers in Great Britain in 2014/15 who are above the female State Pension age and therefore qualify for Winter Fuel Payments<sup>1</sup>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We ask people who want to return their payment to do so by post so that it can be dealt with securely under existing Departmental financial processes and recorded against their Winter Fuel Payment account. We also ask for a covering letter indicating whether or not they wish us to continue to issue payments in future years.</p><p> </p><p>Returned payments should be sent to the address on the issuing letter or to the office that pays the claimant’s benefit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The latest estimates we have show that treating Winter Fuel Payments as taxable income would bring in around £250 million a year of additional revenue<sup>2</sup>.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. This estimate is based on the 2011/12 Survey of Personal Incomes using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s November 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.</p><p>The estimate uses ONS population projections at mid year 2012 adjusted for financial years.</p><p>The estimate is rounded to the nearest 100,000.</p><p> </p><p>2. This estimate is based on DWP modelling using HMRC taxpayer data from November 2012 and Winter Fuel Payment caseload data from Winter 2013.</p><p>This takes into account revenue from Basic, Higher and Additional rate taxpayers.</p><p>Winter Fuel Payment rates are assumed to be £200 per year for recipients under 80 and £300 a year for recipients aged 80 and over.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4132 HL4133 question first answered 26/01/2015 12:13:04 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	225 label Biography information for Lord Tyler

173572

registered interest
date	14/01/2015
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	Winter Fuel Payment: Repayments
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, and if so how, recipients of the Winter Fuel Payment may return their payment to the Treasury.
tabling member printed	Lord Tyler
uin	HL4132
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>Eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments is based on female State Pension age. The latest estimates we have show that there are currently around 600,000 higher and additional rate taxpayers in Great Britain in 2014/15 who are above the female State Pension age and therefore qualify for Winter Fuel Payments<sup>1</sup>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We ask people who want to return their payment to do so by post so that it can be dealt with securely under existing Departmental financial processes and recorded against their Winter Fuel Payment account. We also ask for a covering letter indicating whether or not they wish us to continue to issue payments in future years.</p><p> </p><p>Returned payments should be sent to the address on the issuing letter or to the office that pays the claimant’s benefit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The latest estimates we have show that treating Winter Fuel Payments as taxable income would bring in around £250 million a year of additional revenue<sup>2</sup>.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. This estimate is based on the 2011/12 Survey of Personal Incomes using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s November 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.</p><p>The estimate uses ONS population projections at mid year 2012 adjusted for financial years.</p><p>The estimate is rounded to the nearest 100,000.</p><p> </p><p>2. This estimate is based on DWP modelling using HMRC taxpayer data from November 2012 and Winter Fuel Payment caseload data from Winter 2013.</p><p>This takes into account revenue from Basic, Higher and Additional rate taxpayers.</p><p>Winter Fuel Payment rates are assumed to be £200 per year for recipients under 80 and £300 a year for recipients aged 80 and over.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud grouped question UIN HL4131 HL4133 question first answered 26/01/2015 12:13:04 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	225 label Biography information for Lord Tyler

173521

registered interest
date	13/01/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Banks
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their evaluation of progress in changing the culture in the banking sector in the United Kingdom.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL4103
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government has taken a substantial number of measures to change the culture in UK banking.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This Government supported the work of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards which reported in June 2013 on professional standards and culture of the UK banking sector. Legislation to give effect to its recommendations on banking standards and individual accountability were included in the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013. The Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Treasury worked through 2014 to prepare secondary legislation, regulatory rules and other detailed implementing measures.</p><p> </p><p>The Government expects to announce the final timetable for implementing these reforms shortly.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In the Financial Services Act 2012, this Government introduced a new criminal offence to address the issue of the manipulation of the LIBOR interest rate benchmark. In December 2014 the government announced that this offence would be extended to cover a further seven financial benchmarks from, subject to Parliamentary approval, 1 April 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We also recognise that there is more to do if the banking industry and global financial markets are to regain public trust. The Chancellor of the Exchequer therefore announced in his Mansion House speech in June 2014 a Treasury, Bank of England and FCA review of the operation of the foreign exchange, fixed income and commodity markets. The Fair and Effective Markets Review will examine how trust and credibility in these markets can be restored. The review will report in June 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In November 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in co-ordination with financial regulators in the US and Switzerland, announced the outcome of its investigations into attempted manipulation of foreign exchange markets by 5 banks. It imposed penalties on 5 banks totalling £1.11 billion. In addition the Director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_Fraud_Office" target="_blank">Serious Fraud Office</a> opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraudulent conduct in the foreign exchange market in July 2014. The Government does not comment on ongoing investigations, so as not to prejudice these inquiries.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ensuring that firms incentivise employees to behave in the right way is essential to restoring public trust in financial services. The Fair &amp; Effective Markets Review’s scope covers trading practices in markets, and drivers of behaviour including incentives for individuals. In November 2014 the Chancellor wrote to the Governor of the Bank of England to ask that the increasing levels of fixed remuneration in the financial sector following the introduction of the ‘bonus cap’ be considered as part of this work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Deighton grouped question UIN HL4096 HL4104 question first answered 27/01/2015 16:42:38 answering member 4262 label Biography information for Lord Deighton
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

173522

registered interest
date	13/01/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Financial Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has considered investigating the conduct or operation of the boards of any of the companies that have been fined for practices relating to LIBOR, gold price fixing or foreign exchange manipulation.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL4104
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government has taken a substantial number of measures to change the culture in UK banking.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This Government supported the work of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards which reported in June 2013 on professional standards and culture of the UK banking sector. Legislation to give effect to its recommendations on banking standards and individual accountability were included in the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013. The Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Treasury worked through 2014 to prepare secondary legislation, regulatory rules and other detailed implementing measures.</p><p> </p><p>The Government expects to announce the final timetable for implementing these reforms shortly.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In the Financial Services Act 2012, this Government introduced a new criminal offence to address the issue of the manipulation of the LIBOR interest rate benchmark. In December 2014 the government announced that this offence would be extended to cover a further seven financial benchmarks from, subject to Parliamentary approval, 1 April 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We also recognise that there is more to do if the banking industry and global financial markets are to regain public trust. The Chancellor of the Exchequer therefore announced in his Mansion House speech in June 2014 a Treasury, Bank of England and FCA review of the operation of the foreign exchange, fixed income and commodity markets. The Fair and Effective Markets Review will examine how trust and credibility in these markets can be restored. The review will report in June 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In November 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in co-ordination with financial regulators in the US and Switzerland, announced the outcome of its investigations into attempted manipulation of foreign exchange markets by 5 banks. It imposed penalties on 5 banks totalling £1.11 billion. In addition the Director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_Fraud_Office" target="_blank">Serious Fraud Office</a> opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraudulent conduct in the foreign exchange market in July 2014. The Government does not comment on ongoing investigations, so as not to prejudice these inquiries.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ensuring that firms incentivise employees to behave in the right way is essential to restoring public trust in financial services. The Fair &amp; Effective Markets Review’s scope covers trading practices in markets, and drivers of behaviour including incentives for individuals. In November 2014 the Chancellor wrote to the Governor of the Bank of England to ask that the increasing levels of fixed remuneration in the financial sector following the introduction of the ‘bonus cap’ be considered as part of this work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Deighton grouped question UIN HL4096 HL4103 question first answered 27/01/2015 16:42:38 answering member 4262 label Biography information for Lord Deighton
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

173523

registered interest
date	13/01/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Pensions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the practice in the life assurance and reassurance markets of pension buyouts and longevity swaps, what is their assessment of the expected growth of those markets and at what point it would require assessment of the market exposure to systemic risk.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL4105
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government recognises that pension buy-outs, buy-ins and longevity swap transactions provide an important means for pension schemes and firms to transfer longevity risk to a willing buyer. Factors that may lead to changes in the size and quantum of these markets and their ability to pose systemic risks to regulated firms is a matter for the Prudential Regulation Authority.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Deighton question first answered 26/01/2015 16:53:37 answering member 4262 label Biography information for Lord Deighton
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

173528

registered interest
date	13/01/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Syria
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Northover on 13 January, whether they will list by country how many Syrian refugees have been accepted by each of the European Union member states.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL4110
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2015 answer text <p>The resettlement pledges for all countries including those from European Union member states is listed on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) website. The direct link to this page is as follows: <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/52b2febafc5.html" target="_blank">http://www.unhcr.org/52b2febafc5.html</a></p><p>Ninety people were relocated to the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme between the first group of arrivals on 25 March and the end of September 2014. This is the latest publicly available figure, as numbers are released as part of the publication of Home Office official statistics each quarter; the number of arrivals under the scheme up to December 2014 will be published on 26 February.</p><p>Potential beneficiaries of the scheme are identified and referred to us by UNHCR. Given the serious vulnerability of the beneficiaries, our priority is to ensure that the support and accommodation they need is in place before they arrive in the UK. We are working closely with UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration and local authorities to achieve this as soon as practically possible as the circumstances of each particular case allow. In these circumstances it is not possible to provide information on the number of individuals in any part of the resettlement process at any given time.</p><p>Beneficiaries of the scheme are granted five years’ Humanitarian Protection with all the rights and benefits that go with that status, including access to public funds, access to the labour market and the possibility of family reunion.</p><p>As the scheme is based on vulnerability - including women and children at risk, people with medical needs and survivors of torture and violence - it would not</p><p>be appropriate for us to release specific details of where individuals are being placed, as this risks undermining their privacy and recovery.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates grouped question UIN HL4111 question first answered 21/01/2015 14:30:01 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

173529

registered interest
date	13/01/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Syria
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Northover on 13 January, how many Syrian refugees have been accepted in the United Kingdom; over what period they have arrived here; how many have been settled or are in the process of being settled; what settlement rights have been conferred on them; and in what areas of the United Kingdom they are living.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL4111
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2015 answer text <p>The resettlement pledges for all countries including those from European Union member states is listed on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) website. The direct link to this page is as follows: <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/52b2febafc5.html" target="_blank">http://www.unhcr.org/52b2febafc5.html</a></p><p>Ninety people were relocated to the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme between the first group of arrivals on 25 March and the end of September 2014. This is the latest publicly available figure, as numbers are released as part of the publication of Home Office official statistics each quarter; the number of arrivals under the scheme up to December 2014 will be published on 26 February.</p><p>Potential beneficiaries of the scheme are identified and referred to us by UNHCR. Given the serious vulnerability of the beneficiaries, our priority is to ensure that the support and accommodation they need is in place before they arrive in the UK. We are working closely with UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration and local authorities to achieve this as soon as practically possible as the circumstances of each particular case allow. In these circumstances it is not possible to provide information on the number of individuals in any part of the resettlement process at any given time.</p><p>Beneficiaries of the scheme are granted five years’ Humanitarian Protection with all the rights and benefits that go with that status, including access to public funds, access to the labour market and the possibility of family reunion.</p><p>As the scheme is based on vulnerability - including women and children at risk, people with medical needs and survivors of torture and violence - it would not</p><p>be appropriate for us to release specific details of where individuals are being placed, as this risks undermining their privacy and recovery.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates grouped question UIN HL4110 question first answered 21/01/2015 14:30:01 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

173539

registered interest
date	13/01/2015
answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Asylum: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish their response to General Recommendation No. 32 from the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, published on 14 November 2014, in particular those recommendations concerning female interviewers and interpreters for women asylum-applicants, and those relating to legal representation.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL4121
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2015 answer text <p>Unlike the concluding observations which the CEDAW Committee issues to the UK specifically after each of our periodic examinations, General Recommendations are issued by the Committee to all 188 States which are party to the Convention. That means that not all the General Recommendations will actually be relevant to the UK's circumstances and policies, and it is not the normal practice of the Government to respond specifically to the publication of General Recommendations.</p><p> </p><p>If a General Recommendation is relevant to the UK, then the Committee will assess us against it during our periodic examination. We will receive their evaluation and we will have the opportunity to respond fully at that stage. The Government has, however, noted the publication of General Recommendation No. 32 on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women by the Committee, and the content has been conveyed to the Home Office.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Home Office will of course be able to answer any specific questions the noble Lord has on female interviewers and interpreters for women asylum applicants.</p> answering member printed Baroness Garden of Frognal question first answered 22/01/2015 17:08:22 answering member 3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton