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169314

registered interest
date	10/12/2014
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	China: Uyghurs
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what help they are providing to Uighur refugees.
tabling member printed	Lord Moonie
uin	HL3600
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/12/2014 answer text <p>We remain concerned by all restrictions placed on ethnic minority rights in China, including in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. We are also troubled by reports which suggest that large numbers of Chinese Uyghurs are arriving in neighbouring South East Asian countries and claiming asylum. We regularly raise our concerns with Chinese officials, such as during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in May 2014, and with officials from neighbouring countries. We highlight our broader concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 31/12/2014 11:22:12 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	621 label Biography information for Lord Moonie

169328

registered interest
date	10/12/2014
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	Holiday Accommodation: Greater London
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 8 December (HL Deb, col 1593–6), when the report of the full consultation results in respect of the Deregulation Bill will be published.
tabling member printed	Baroness Gardner of Parkes
uin	HL3614
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government has stated its clear intent to use the Deregulation Bill to help reform the outdated provisions of section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973.</p><p> </p><p>Londoners who want to rent out their homes for less than 90 consecutive days, such as through a service like Airbnb, technically still have to pay to apply for planning permission from their council – something that does not apply anywhere else in the country. These provisions caused controversy during the 2012 Olympics, and are irregularly enforced by different London boroughs leading to confusion.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We want to change this archaic system by giving Londoners the freedom to rent out their homes on a temporary basis, such as when they are on holiday, without having to deal with unnecessary red tape and the bureaucracy of paying of a municipal permit. The internet is changing the way we work and live, and the law needs to catch up.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The measure will not allow homes to be turned into hotels or hostels – this would still require ‘change of use’ planning permission, and measures will be put in place to prevent abuse of such reforms or the permanent loss of residential accommodation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Such reforms will benefit London’s strong tourism industry by expanding the pool of competitively priced accommodation, and allow families to earn some extra cash when they themselves go away on holiday.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Such reforms would follow changes introduced last year to make it easier for residents to rent out an unused home parking space to earn extra money, helping expand the availability of parking options for commuters and visitors.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We are planning to publish the Government’s formal response to the consultation on the <em>Review of Property Conditions in the Private Rented Sector</em>; we will also publish details of our proposed approach to the detail of the underlying secondary legislation ahead of Lords Report debate on the enabling primary legislation.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon grouped question UIN HL3615 HL3616 question first answered 07/01/2015 14:08:21 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	3596 label Biography information for Baroness Gardner of Parkes

169064

registered interest
date	09/12/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Private Equity
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to introduce any further transparency requirements for companies owned or substantially owned by private equity funds.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL3554
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/12/2014 answer text <p>Measures to create a central, public register of people with significant control over UK companies are contained within the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill. Where a private equity fund owns more than 25% of a UK company’s shares or voting rights – or otherwise exercises significant control over that company - the company will need to disclose information on the control of the fund in line with the requirements in Schedule 3 of the Bill.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government does not have any plans to introduce any further transparency requirements on such companies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 22/12/2014 14:52:51 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

169076

registered interest
date	09/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Freedom of Expression
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provisions they have put in place to safeguard the exercise of free speech in the United Kingdom.
tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
uin	HL3566
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The United Kingdom is bound by its obligations under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which makes clear that everyone has the right to freedom of expression. It also makes clear that this right carries duties and responsibilities and consequently can be restricted for the reasons set out in Article 10 where prescribed by law and necessary in a democratic society.</p><p> </p><p>In the Coalition Agreement the Government agreed that the obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, including Article 10, will continue to be enshrined in UK law.</p><p> </p><p>The removal earlier this year of the word “insulting” from the offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 is a concrete example of the Government keeping our legislation under review and ensuring it strikes the right balance in protecting freedom of speech.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 17/12/2014 17:46:31 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

169097

registered interest
date	09/12/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration: Poland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 2 December (HL3119), which department would have the authority to carry out an assessment of the contribution of Polish immigrants to the United Kingdom.
tabling member printed	Lord Patten
uin	HL3587
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/01/2015 answer text <p>No assessment of immigrants’ contribution to the United Kingdom on the basis of nationality has been conducted by Her Majesty's Government, but it would be open to a number of departments to do so.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 06/01/2015 15:43:06 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

169099

registered interest
date	09/12/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Telecommunications
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to introduce a communications data bill in this Parliament.
tabling member printed	Lord West of Spithead
uin	HL3589
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p>The Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill, which is currently before Parliament, includes provisions for data to be retained to enable the resolution of IP addresses.</p><p>The provisions in the Bill will not bridge all of the gaps we face in our communications data capabilities, including, in particular, those relating to so-called “weblogs”. This is something that will need to be addressed in the next Parliament.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 16/12/2014 15:24:51 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	3834 label Biography information for Lord West of Spithead

169106

registered interest
date	09/12/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Minimum Wage
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many visits were made to employers in each year from 2010 to 2013 and in the first nine months of 2014 to check that the minimum wage was being properly paid; and what were the results of those checks in each of those years.
tabling member printed	Lord Christopher
uin	HL3596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage very seriously and has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government will also bring in primary legislation as soon as possible so that the maximum £20,000 penalty can apply to each underpaid worker.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC reviews every complaint that is referred to it, investigating the complaint and, in addition, carrying out targeted enforcement where we identify a high risk of non-payment of NMW.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC record completed investigations but these do not include details of the numbers of visits. Some investigations may require several visits and others may be completed without any. HMRC completed 1455 investigations last year identifying record arrears of over £4.6 million. Full details for 2010 to 2014 are contained in the table below. We do not typically disclose results mid-way through a year; this is because the results have not been internally verified.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Arrears</strong></p></td><td><p>£3,818,396</p></td><td><p>£3,582,685</p></td><td><p>£3,974,008</p></td><td><p>£4,645,547</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Investigations</strong></p></td><td><p>2,904</p></td><td><p>2,534</p></td><td><p>1,693</p></td><td><p>1,455</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Cases with arrears</strong></p></td><td><p>1,140</p></td><td><p>968</p></td><td><p>736</p></td><td><p>680</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Deighton question first answered 22/12/2014 14:46:20 answering member 4262 label Biography information for Lord Deighton
tabling member	3395 label Biography information for Lord Christopher

168446

registered interest
date	08/12/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Pay
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the recent report of the International Labour Organisation on changes in real wages in the United Kingdom compared to those in other G20 countries.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL3476
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2014 answer text <p>Wage flexibility in the UK has helped support employment levels and household income. The government’s strategy for delivering sustainable increases in living standards is to support economic growth and get more people into work. Since the election the UK has had the fastest employment growth in the G7 (plus Australia). Employment has increased by 1.7 million since the Coalition came to power and this Government has taken decisive action to support working families, by raising the personal allowance, freezing fuel duty, and introducing tax-free childcare.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Deighton question first answered 19/12/2014 12:52:52 answering member 4262 label Biography information for Lord Deighton
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

168452

registered interest
date	08/12/2014
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	Local Government: Pensions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what fees have been paid (including management, performance and trading costs) by all the managers of funds in the Local Government Pension scheme.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL3482
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Communities and Local Government publishes statistics about the Local Government Pension Scheme each year, using data provided by each of the 89 administering authorities in England and Wales. In the financial year 2013-14, the authorities reported fund management costs to be £494 million and administration costs to be £133 million.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 15/12/2014 17:43:57 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

168471

registered interest
date	08/12/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Small Businesses: Non-domestic Rates
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to bring forward proposals to enable small businesses to claim a rates reduction to help them retain staff.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL3501
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2014 answer text <p>At Autumn Statement 2014, the government announced it would double Small Business Rate Relief in England for one year from April 2015, reducing business rates for 575,000 small businesses, with 385,000 paying no rates at all.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Further, businesses throughout the UK are entitled to a £2,000 Employment Allowance to reduce their employer National Insurance Contributions bill every year. 97 per cent of claimants for the Employment Allowance have been small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Deighton question first answered 19/12/2014 12:54:15 answering member 4262 label Biography information for Lord Deighton
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont