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225338

registered interest
date	04/03/2015
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	Ethiopia: Eritrea
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 "Leaked Memo, Ethiopia’s Destabilizing Policy Against Eritrea" issued by the Permanent Mission of Eritrea to the United Nations on 2 July 2014.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL5463
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2015 answer text <p>We remain concerned about relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia. We have called on both sides to engage in dialogue and to respect the commitment they made in the December 2000 Algiers peace agreement to refrain from using force against each other. We will continue to encourage both Eritrea and Ethiopia to engage bilaterally and internationally to resolve their differences, particularly on the ongoing border dispute. We hope progress can be made towards demarcation in accordance with the decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 16/03/2015 12:14:50 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

222727

registered interest
date	23/02/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Primary Education: Free School Meals
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the success of the free school lunch programme for the under-sevens.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL5068
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2015 answer text <p>The universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) programme is a great success. Evidence collected from local authorities and multi-academy trusts in August 2014 suggested that 98.5% of schools would be providing hot meals from the start of the autumn term; and the Department for Education is not aware of any schools which are not offering free meals to all their infant pupils. Over 1.6 million infant pupils (85.2% of all infant pupils) took a free school meal on autumn census day in October 2014 – 1.3 million more than were estimated to have taken a free school meal in the January 2014 school census, prior to the introduction of UIFSM. We know from pilots run between 2009 and 2011 that the introduction of universal free school meals helps to improve social skills, increase attainment and encourage healthy choices, as well as saving hard-working families money.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 03/03/2015 18:00:18 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

222728

registered interest
date	23/02/2015
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	Eritrea
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the statement by His Excellency Mr Girma Asmerom, Permanent Representative of Eritrea to the United Nations, on agenda item 68 (b,c): Promotion and Protection of Human Rights during the Interactive Dialogue of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea at the Third Committee of the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL5069
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2015 answer text <p>We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Eritrea, including shortcomings in the rule of law, reports of arbitrary detention, and limits on the freedom of speech. We have made clear to the Eritrean government that they should invite the Special Rapporteur to the country and engage constructively with the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea.</p><p>We have also asked Eritrea to clarify its plans to implement the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, the importance of which the Eritrean Permanent Representative highlighted in his statement.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 06/03/2015 12:15:21 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

222729

registered interest
date	23/02/2015
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	Surveillance
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 Anelay of St Johns on 20 February (HL4795), whether there have been any instances where such surveillance equipment has been used by any foreign government to monitor opposition parties.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL5070
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2015 answer text <p>The Government does not disclose the detail of operational cooperation with foreign partners</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 09/03/2015 16:24:16 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

178644

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Avoidance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they consider to be the difference between tax avoidance and aggressive tax avoidance.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL4794
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2015 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) distinguish between tax avoidance and tax planning. Tax avoidance is bending the rules of the tax system to gain a tax advantage that Parliament never intended. It often involves contrived, artificial transactions that serve little or no purpose other than to produce a tax advantage. It involves operating within the letter – but not the spirit – of the law. Tax avoidance is not the same as tax planning. Tax planning involves using tax reliefs for the purpose for which they were intended. For example, claiming tax relief on capital investment, saving in a tax-exempt ISA or saving for retirement by making contributions to a pension scheme are all legitimate forms of tax planning. While such actions may reduce the total amount of tax paid, they are not tax avoidance, because they involve using tax reliefs in the way that Parliament intended when it passed the relevant legislation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Deighton question first answered 25/02/2015 17:37:02 answering member 4262 label Biography information for Lord Deighton
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

178645

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
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	Panama
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether surveillance equipment has been provided by the United Kingdom to the government of Panama; and if so, for what purpose.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL4795
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/02/2015 answer text <p>The United Kingdom provides bilateral assistance on tackling organised crime to a range of international partners in line with the UK’s Serious and Organised Crime Strategy. It does so to tackle international organised crime and minimise the threat it poses to the UK. In order to maintain operational security the UK does not disclose the detail of such operational cooperation.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 20/02/2015 14:40:07 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

172311

registered interest
date	06/01/2015
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	Social Security Benefits: Fraud
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 quality of service and value-for-money provided by Capita in operating the National Benefit Fraud Hotline.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL3894
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/01/2015 answer text <p>The National Benefit Fraud Hotline is one of 10 service lines delivered by Capita on behalf of DWP as part of the Network Services Directorate Call Off. There are multiple performance requirements within the contract to assure DWP that Capita are delivering a quality value for money service, the key ones being that Capita answer 90% of customer calls offered to them, and that they maintain a quality score of 89% for these calls against key quality criteria. These requirements are consistent with those in in-house DWP contact centres.</p><p> </p><p>Capita are consistently achieving both of the above metrics with calls answered scores as high as 98% and quality scores as high as 97% in recent weeks.</p><p> </p><p>DWP regularly audit the Capita quality team and undertake activities to ensure that scoring is in alignment with that of DWP.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 12/01/2015 15:15:05 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

172312

registered interest
date	06/01/2015
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	Diego Garcia
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 17 June 2014 (HL126), with regard to the use of Diego Garcia for rendition flights, what is the latest situation in relation to such flights.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL3895
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/01/2015 answer text <p>I can confirm that the answer given by the former Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Warsi on 17 June 2014 still stands.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 13/01/2015 14:04:11 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

172313

registered interest
date	06/01/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Entry Clearances: Nepal
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bates on 8 December 2014 (HL3326) and 18 December 2014 (HL3645), how many applications from Nepal were received in 2014 in Delhi and how many of these were approved.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL3896
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2015 answer text <p>There were 7,022 Visa applications made in Nepal and processed in New Delhi between Jan - Sep 2014. Of these, 5,251 were approved.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 15/01/2015 15:03:45 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

172314

registered interest
date	06/01/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Military Decorations
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 Astor of Hever on 15 December 2014 (HL3258), whether any gallantry medals have been awarded but not gazetted in the last 15 years.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL3897
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>Unless precluded on National Security grounds all gallantry medals awarded are a matter of public record via an announcement in the London Gazette.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Astor of Hever question first answered 20/01/2015 16:18:33 answering member 3428 label Biography information for Lord Astor of Hever
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft