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79592

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Gibraltar: Spain
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 Warsi on 10 July (WA 78), when they intend next to raise within the European Union the issue of unlawful incursions by Spanish vessels into British territorial waters.
tabling member printed	Lord Patten
uin	HL1488
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2014 answer text <p>The Government regularly raises Gibraltar with EU partners and the EU institutions. We have made it clear to Spain that unlawful incursions are unacceptable. We have not asked the European Commission or any other Member State to take any specific action in relation to incursions into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters because they have no locus on this issue.</p><p>The main focus of our lobbying within the EU remains Spain’s unlawful, unjustified and disproportionate action at the border. The Government is pleased that a second border monitoring mission was sent to Gibraltar on 2 July 2014, following concerted lobbying of the European Commission. We have also been very clear to the Commission and other Member States that Spain’s attempts to suspend Gibraltar from EU aviation legislation are unacceptable. We lobby on other Gibraltar issues within the EU as required.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Warsi question first answered 30/07/2014 12:02:54 answering member 3839 label Biography information for Baroness Warsi
tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

79593

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Derelict Land
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure there is clear and transparent information about the availability of brownfield land for development.
tabling member printed	Lord Patten
uin	HL1489
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The National Land Use Database is available online and provides statistical information for national and local authority trends in previously developed (brownfield) land.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The newly updated Local Government Transparency Code will require local authorities to publish details of all land and building assets annually, helping increase accountability over the use of council assets and the scope for disposing of surplus brownfield land for regeneration and new homes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is releasing for development its own surplus and redundant land and property. As part of this comprehensive programme, the Government Property Unit has recently launched a new application on Gov.uk, which can be accessed by the public and developers, which provides details of all government land and property assets.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To help meet the Government’s ambitions to have planning permission for housing in place on 90% of suitable brownfield sites by 2020, we are currently considering how we can further improve the published information that is available on brownfield land suitable for housing. We will report on this in due course.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The associated website links are as follows:</p><p> </p><p><em>National Land Use Database:</em></p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/datasetList.do?JSAllowed=true&amp;Function=&amp;%24ph=60&amp;CurrentPageId=60&amp;step=1&amp;CurrentTreeIndex=-2&amp;searchString=land+use&amp;datasetFamilyId=1235&amp;Next.x=14&amp;Next.y=2&amp;nsjs=true&amp;nsck=false&amp;nssvg=false&amp;nswid=1366" target="_blank">http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/datasetList.do?JSAllowed=true&amp;Function=&amp;%24ph=60&amp;CurrentPageId=60&amp;step=1&amp;CurrentTreeIndex=-2&amp;searchString=land+use&amp;datasetFamilyId=1235&amp;Next.x=14&amp;Next.y=2&amp;nsjs=true&amp;nsck=false&amp;nssvg=false&amp;nswid=1366</a></p><p> </p><p><br> <em>Local Government Transparency Code:</em></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/308185/Local_Government_Transparency_Code_2014_Final.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/308185/Local_Government_Transparency_Code_2014_Final.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em>Find government property:</em></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property</a></p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 18/08/2014 09:34:07 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

79594

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Charity Commission
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish the responses to their consultation on extending the Charity Commission’s powers to tackle abuse in charities; and if so, when.
tabling member printed	Lord Patten
uin	HL1490
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Government has carefully considered the responses to the consultation on extending the Charity Commission’s powers to tackle abuse in charities.</p><p> </p><p>The intention is to publish a summary of consultation feedback in the usual manner after the summer recess, followed by a draft bill for pre-legislative scrutiny.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire question first answered 11/08/2014 11:41:45 answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire
tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

79595

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
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	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
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 reasons why, according to their recent <i>Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy: Interim Report</i>, 4.5 per cent of people affected have downsized to smaller accommodation, compared with the 25 per cent estimated in the impact assessment <i>Housing Benefit: Under occupation of social housing</i>,<i></i>published in 2012.
tabling member printed	Lord German
uin	HL1491
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Across the social sector as a whole there are a total of around 1.4 million one-bedroom properties (GB). Managing that stock efficiently is part of the challenge that social landlords must embrace. Landlords were given three years notice to start to prepare for this change and during that time were encouraged to take account of local needs and demographic trends when allocating properties and developing their building programmes.</p><p> </p><p>There is turnover of properties in the social sector, and with suitable management and prioritisation by social landlords this should provide a means of allowing many of those affected by the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy to move to suitable properties over time.</p><p> </p><p>The 2012 Impact Assessment: stated there was little robust evidence on which to base an assessment of behavioural responses and so did not predict the likely extent of downsizing. The 25 per cent figure within the Impact Assessment reflected research which asked a hypothetical question about what people thought they might do in response to a reduction, but this was undertaken some time before the full details of the policy were finalised.</p><p> </p><p>The Impact Assessment did look at the potential sensitivity of the estimated savings to moves by affected claimants. This sensitivity testing was based on an assumption that around 50,000 affected claimants moved (around 8 per cent). This was not a prediction, but both the interim evaluation report and ad-hoc analysis show that people are downsizing. The ad-hoc report shows around 19,000 had downsized in the Social Rented Sector between May and December 2013, broadly within the bounds of the Impact Assessment sensitivity analysis.</p><p> </p><p>It was never assumed that downsizing was a remedy for everyone and we were not in a position to predict how many people would choose to move.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 28/07/2014 13:16:26 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4163 label Biography information for Lord German

79596

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
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	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their recent <i>Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy: Interim Report</i>, what incentives they intend to make available to social landlords to encourage offers of alternative housing to be made to people affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy.
tabling member printed	Lord German
uin	HL1492
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Government has already taken steps to support mobility of tenants in the social rented sector.</p><p>Our social housing reforms have given social landlords, including councils, much more flexibility when allocating housing. Our statutory guidance on social housing allocations stresses the importance of giving under-occupying social tenants appropriate priority for a transfer. It also encourages authorities to re-consider the parameters of their allocation schemes which may prevent under-occupiers from being able to move.</p><p>The introduction of the national <em>HomeSwap</em> Direct scheme has made it easier for tenants wanting to move to find a suitable property. A guide was issued in February 2014 to support landlords seeking to facilitate mutual exchanges; highlighting various steps landlords can take to make mutual exchange a more attractive and viable proposition for tenants.Indeed, many social landlords are helping affected tenants by holding “mutual exchange fairs”, where tenants who want to downsize can meet those looking for larger properties.</p><p>The 2015-18 Affordable Housing Programme also encourages housing providers to build appropriately sized social homes to meet local need, 77% of successful bids have been for 1 and 2 bedroom homes, increasing the stock of housing available for those working to downsize.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 29/07/2014 11:10:40 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	4163 label Biography information for Lord German

79597

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Army: Parachuting
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the British Army last inserted forces for combat operations by means of parachute drop at greater than platoon strength other than under the control of the Director of Special Forces.
tabling member printed	Earl Attlee
uin	HL1493
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p>The last time the British Army inserted troops not under the control of the Director of Special Forces for combat operations, by parachute, was on 5 November 1956 during the Suez crisis.</p> answering member printed Lord Astor of Hever question first answered 11/08/2014 10:39:23 answering member 3428 label Biography information for Lord Astor of Hever
tabling member	3425 label Biography information for Earl Attlee

79598

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
hansard heading	Eurogroup
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the United Kingdom has ever been offered the opportunity to attend Eurogroup meetings; and if so, on how many occasions and what was their response.
tabling member printed	Lord Harrison
uin	HL1494
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text In the context of the Euro Area Sovereign Debt Crisis the Eurogroup has met in an extended format on occasion, including in May 2011 and January 2012. Chaired by the Eurogroup President, these meetings were attended by Ministers from non-Euro area Member States including the United Kingdom. answering member printed Lord Deighton question first answered 11/08/2014 10:45:23 answering member 4262 label Biography information for Lord Deighton
tabling member	2488 label Biography information for Lord Harrison

79578

registered interest
date	23/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Russia
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they are using to assess the impact and effectiveness of current European Union sanctions on Russia.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL1476
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text We judge the impact and effectiveness of sanctions based on a range of economic and political factors. Sanctions are designed to impose a cost for Russia’s actions in Ukraine, deter further escalation of this crisis, and support the wider diplomatic effort. EU measures already announced have exacerbated negative trends in Russia’s economy; capital flight in the first half of 2014 was greater than for the whole of 2013; and we have seen a significant reduction in expected growth. Russian access to western financial markets will be severely constrained as lenders consider the risks of Russian exposure in the current climate. The strengthening of sanctions should signal clearly to the Russian leadership that their policy of trying to destabilise Ukraine will have a cost for the Russian economy. The EU’s measures have in-built review mechanisms. The sanctions implemented on 31 July are in force for one year, with a review of implementation after three months. answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 11/08/2014 10:28:37 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

79579

registered interest
date	23/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Iran
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what extent the E3/EU+3 talks with Iran have been affected by the situations in (1) Iraq, and (2) Ukraine.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL1477
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2014 answer text <p>E3+3 negotiations with Iran on a comprehensive solution to the nuclear issue have not been affected by either Iraq or Ukraine. These negotiations focus purely on the nuclear issue: regional and other issues are not discussed. The E3+3 remain united in their objectives and approach to the negotiations. All of the E3+3 agreed on 19 July to extend the Joint Plan of Action until 24 November. We will continue to work constructively with our E3+3 partners to reach our goal by 24 November.</p> answering member printed Baroness Warsi question first answered 30/07/2014 11:42:34 answering member 3839 label Biography information for Baroness Warsi
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

79580

registered interest
date	23/07/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether ISIS is actively recruiting in the United Kingdom; and what action they are taking to prevent such recruitment.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL1478
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2014 answer text <p /> <p>It has been the longstanding policy of successive governments not to comment on intelligence matters. However, Islamic State of Syria and the Levant also known as the ISIS was proscribed as a terrorist organisation with effect from 20 June. Proscription means that an organisation is outlawed and is unable to operate in the UK. It is a criminal offence for a person to belong to or invite support for a proscribed organisation. It is also a criminal offence to arrange a meeting in support of a proscribed organisation or to wear clothing or to carry articles in public which arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of the proscribed organisation. Penalties for proscription offences are a maximum of ten years in prison and/or a £10,000 fine.</p><p /> answering member printed Lord Taylor of Holbeach question first answered 30/07/2014 15:17:01 answering member 3787 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Holbeach
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian