House of Lords
Summer Recess 2014
Written Answers and Statements
Climate Change
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Baroness Verma) (Con): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Edward Davey MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Climate change is almost universally recognised as a serious threat to global prosperity, security and well-being. We are already experiencing the impacts of climate change within the UK. Extreme weather events at home and abroad already cause significant costs and disruption to UK businesses, and we are predicted to experience increasingly frequent and severe flooding and are vulnerable to predicted rise in heat waves, storms and gales, as well as rising sea levels which will cause increased encroachment on our coastal areas.
The world is not asking if we need to tackle climate change, but how. Over 90 countries, covering 80% of global emissions, have already pledged to cut their emissions by 2020 under the Copenhagen Accord. But this is not nearly enough to prevent global temperatures exceeding the globally agreed target of 2°C and, as a consequence, the world is increasingly experiencing the worst impacts of climate change. Action is needed on a coordinated global scale from every country in the world.
All countries of the UNFCCC agreed in 2011 to negotiate a global legally binding agreement by 2015, to come into force by 2020. These negotiations are progressing, and will conclude at the 21st UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Paris in December 2015. The UK is at the forefront of helping to shape and deliver this agreement. Paris will not be the end of the road in terms of tackling climate change, but an ambitious agreement would be a huge step forward which we can then build on in the future.
That is why today, I am publishing the UK Government’s view on why we need a global deal on climate change, why one is good for the UK and what such a deal needs to look like. ‘Paris 2015: Securing our prosperity through a Global Climate Change Agreement’ sets out:
• what the science says and what the direct and indirect climate impacts are for the UK and the world, some of which we are already seeing today;
• the benefits of low carbon action for our prosperity, security and well-being, and how many leading British businesses, including SMEs, are already realising the commercial gains from climate action;
• the scale of the challenge, the progress made so far and why we are better placed than we have been for a long time to reach a global agreement and;
• our vision for what a successful global agreement needs to include and the UK’s role in helping to deliver that.
The Government is not alone in advocating action. Featuring support from businesses, NGOs and organisations, the publication demonstrates that we are united in our call for global action.
Copies of the publication will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Correction to Lords Written Answer
Statement
An error has been identified in the written answer (HL1757) given on 08 Sep 2014. The correct answer should have been:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Baroness Verma) (Con): Energy suppliers provide direct bill support for low income households through the Government’s Warm Home Discount scheme. The Warm Homes Discount will increase to give eligible low-income bill payers £140 money off their energy bills, helping over 2 million people including 1.4 million of Britain’s most vulnerable pensioners.
There has been consideration of the role of differentiated tariffs as part of the Hills Review of Fuel Poverty, and in the development of Fuel Poverty: Framework for future action and Cutting the cost of keeping warm, the consultation to prepare for a new fuel poverty strategy.
We continue to monitor the impacts of the Ofgem’s Retail Market Review and wider Government action to ensure consumers are treated fairly in the energy market and are better able to the choose a deal that suits them. We expect to keep the case for further action under review as part of this.
Defence: Iraq
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Astor of Hever) (Con): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Michael Fallon) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am laying a departmental minute today concerning the gifting of military equipment to the Government of Iraq (GoI), including the Kurdish Regional Government. This is at the request of the GoI.
The UK is committed to assisting the GoI by: alleviating the humanitarian suffering of those Iraqis targeted by ISIL terrorists; promoting an inclusive, sovereign and democratic Iraq that can push back on ISIL advances and restore stability and security across the country; and working with the international community to tackle the broader threat that ISIL poses to the region and other countries around the world, including the UK. The Kurdish forces remain significantly less well equipped than ISIL and we are responding to help them defend themselves, protect citizens and push back ISIL advances
The initial gifting package is scheduled to arrive in Iraq on Wednesday 10 September and will consist of heavy machine guns and ammunition. The total cost is approximately £1.6 million plus an estimated £475,000 in transport costs.
ECOFIN
Statement
The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Deighton) (Con): My right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
An Informal meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council will take place in Milan on 12-13 September 2014. This follows immediately after the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) of Finance Ministers, which will prepare input into the ASEM Summit in mid-October.
At ECOFIN the following working sessions will take place:
Working Session 1:
Ministers will discuss a strategy for the Finance for Growth agenda. The Government looks forward to an exchange of views on measures to improve the financing of the real economy.
Working Session 2:
There will be the usual discussion on the economic outlook and financial stability issue, which will likely consider the euro area’s outlook, developments on inflation and growth and potentially issues relating to the ongoing situation in Ukraine.
In preparation of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting and the IMF-WB Annual Meetings, Council will be asked to endorse Terms of Reference.
The Commission will present to Council a note for discussion on international cooperation in financial services.
Working Session 3:
There will be an update on the Asset Quality Review and Stress Tests as part of the ECB's comprehensive assessment prior to its assumption of responsibility for banking supervision under the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) in November 2014.
In addition the Commission will update on national arrangements and communication issues on backstops flowing from the comprehensive assessment.
Subsequently, a discussion will take place on the appointment, by Countries signed up the SSM, of members of the Mediation Panel of the ECB.
Finally, Council will be updated on work on the implementing legislation that will determine the contributions to be paid by banks to resolution funds established under the Directive on Bank Recovery and Resolution and the Regulation on the Single Resolution Mechanism.
Working Lunch:
Following discussions by Employment Ministers in July, Finance Ministers will hold an exchange of views on measures to enhance the resilience of the EU and stabilise the euro area economy, including the potential for a common unemployment insurance scheme.
Higher Education: Student Support
Statement
Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con): My Rt Hon Friend the Minister of State for Universities, Science and Cities (Greg Clark) has today made the following statement.
In a Written Ministerial Statement on 7 April 2014 the then Minister for Universities and Science announced proposed changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances which are available to Higher Education students from England.
Disabled Students’ Allowances are non-repayable grants that assist with the additional costs incurred by disabled students in relation to their study in higher education. Disabled Students’ Allowances finance a range of support, including the purchase of computers and specialised equipment, assistance with travel costs and the provision of support workers where necessary. In 2011/12 Disabled Students’ Allowances provided support of over £144 million to 61,000 students, funded from the Higher Education Budget. Disabled Students’ Allowance continues to be available to support disabled students studying in higher education.
During the Summer I and the Minister of State for Disabled People have listened carefully to suggestions from representatives of disabled students. I have also listened to the views and concerns of representatives across the higher education and disability sectors, as well as receiving representations from Honourable Members.
We are determined to ensure that disabled students should be able to make use of and develop their talents through higher education and that there should be no cap on their aspirations.
There was widespread agreement that universities should discharge their duties under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled students, as other organisations do. However, concern was conveyed that some universities may not be able to meet their obligations in full by the beginning of the 2015/16 academic year, given their need to invest in additional support for their students.
With students applying now for places at the beginning of that year it is important that any disabled student should be confident that an institution to which they are considering applying will be able to meet their needs satisfactorily.
Accordingly we have agreed to give Higher Education Institutions until the beginning of the 2016/17 academic year to develop appropriate mechanisms to fully deliver their statutory duty to provide reasonable adjustments, in particular non-medical help, and to improve the processes by which disabled students can appeal against a Higher Education Institution’s decision that an adjustment would not be reasonable. We will explore how this might be supported in institutions’ Access Agreements with the Office for Fair Access for 2016/17.
For the academic year 2015/16, we will continue to provide Disabled Students’ Allowance funding to help with the additional cost of a computer and assistive software if needed solely because of the student’s impairment. This will be subject to the student contributing the first £200 of the computer’s cost – broadly equivalent to the cost of a basic computer. For future academic years we will explore a bulk purchasing scheme for such computers to keep costs down.
Additional items such as printers and consumables will not be automatically provided, with alternative provision in the form of university provided services such as printing services and books and journals in electronic format to be considered as alternatives.
Funding will remain available towards the additional costs of specialised accommodation for disabled students, other than where the accommodation is provided by the institution or an agent of the institution.
A number of commentators made proposals to streamline the assessment process for Disabled Students’ Allowance to reduce the burden for students, universities and the taxpayer. The Minister of State for Disabled People and I will invite representatives to consider how that might be achieved.
The changes summarised in this Statement other than non-medical help changes will apply to all full-time, full-time distance learning, part-time and postgraduate students applying for Disabled Students’ Allowances for the first time in respect of an academic year beginning on or after 1 September 2015. This provides sufficient time for us to work with institutions and stakeholders to ensure the changes are introduced effectively. All changes are subject to the ongoing Equality Analysis.
Continuing students already claiming Disabled Students’ Allowances and students claiming for 2014/15 entry will remain on the current system of support for 2015/16.
We are grateful to universities, students and their representative bodies for their assistance in informing these changes.
Immigration Act 2014: Fees
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bates) (Con): My honourable friend the Immigration and Security Minister (James Brokenshire) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am today announcing some changes to fees for immigration and nationality applications made to the Home Office. The government reviews these fees on a regular basis and makes appropriate changes as necessary. The amended regulations are for fees set at or below the cost of processing the relevant applications.
We are making some targeted amendments to support the implementation of provisions in the Immigration Act 2014, including expanding the list of application routes required to pay a fee for the enrolment of biometrics. We are also taking the opportunity to amend one other fee to support economic growth.
Further details of the changes are provided in the Explanatory Memorandum for the regulations. The government intends to bring most of these amendments into force from 1 October, though some of the new fees will come into effect later in the year to align with changes to processes. An updated fees table can be found on the Home Office website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table
Full details on how to apply for all of the Home Office’s products and services will be provided on the Home Office website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration
Infrastructure: UK Guarantees Scheme
Statement
The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Deighton) (Con): My right honourable friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Act 2012 requires the government to report any financial assistance given under the UK Guarantees scheme. The scheme provides a sovereign-backed guarantee to help infrastructure projects raise debt finance. A commercial fee is charged to the borrower for the guarantee, determined by the nature of the guarantee and the risk inherent in the project.
The Government can confirm it has approved guarantees under the UK Guarantees Scheme for Ineos Grangemouth Ethane Import and Storage Facilities (£230/€285million) and Speyside CHP Plant (£48.2million).
Ineos Grangemouth will be constructing new port facilities, a new ethane tank and associated modifications to the KG ethylene cracker. This will reduce dependency on feedstock from the North Sea through the import and storage of ethane from the US. The guarantee issued to Speyside will be used for the construction of a combined heat and power plant which will generate both electricity and heat.
Legislation: Recall of MPs Bill
Statement
Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD): My right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister (Nick Clegg) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Today the Government is introducing the Recall of MPs Bill to the House of Commons, with explanatory notes and an impact assessment.
The Bill puts in place a recall mechanism for MPs which is transparent, robust and fair. It strikes a fair balance between holding to account those who do not maintain certain standards of conduct, while giving MPs the freedom to do their job and make difficult decisions where necessary.
The Bill takes account of a number of helpful recommendations from the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny report on the draft Bill which was published in 2011.
Under the Bill, there are two conditions for the opening of a recall petition; firstly that an MP is convicted in the UK of an offence and receives a custodial sentence of 12 months or less, or secondly that the House of Commons orders the suspension of the MP for at least 21 sitting days (or at least 28 calendar days if the motion is not expressed in terms of sitting days).
Where one of these triggers is met, an MP’s constituents will have an opportunity to sign a recall petition, calling for a by-election. If 10% of parliamentary electors in the constituency sign the petition, the MP’s seat will become vacant and a by-election will be held. The recall petition process does not prevent the unseated MP from standing in the by-election.
The Bill also sets out the framework for the regulation of campaign expenditure and donations at recall petitions.
A copy of the Bill and explanatory notes can be found on the website:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/
Local Authorities: Public Health Funding
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health (Jane Ellison) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Today I am announcing public health allocations for local authorities in England for 2015-16 and details of a new health premium incentive pilot scheme.
After the significant increases in 2013-14 and 2014-15, in real terms funding for local authorities will remain at £2.79 billion for 2015-16. This funding will remain ring-fenced for use exclusively on public health measures, and we are confident of local authorities’ continuing ability to sustain and improve the quality of their services in the coming financial year.
Taken together over the period 2013-14 to 2015-16 we have increased public health spending by 4.7 per cent in real terms and over 10 per cent in cash terms. This represents a major investment in health and the prevention of illness.
We will also allocate an additional £5 million towards a new health premium incentive pilot scheme in 2014-15, meeting our commitment to introducing a health premium that will encourage local authorities to improve the health of their populations and will reduce health inequalities. Local authorities are invited to give us their views on this scheme.
Health Premium incentive scheme 2014- 15 and public health allocations – a technical consultation, which contains details of the allocations and the incentive scheme, has been placed in the Library. Copies are available to hon Members from the Vote Office and to noble Lords from the Printed Paper Office.
Railways: Franchises
Statement
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Baroness Kramer) (LD): My Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport (Claire Perry), has made the following Ministerial Statement:
I can announce today (11th September 2014) the successful conclusion of negotiations for a new directly awarded franchise agreement with London & South Eastern Railway Limited (LSER, trading as Southeastern), a subsidiary of Govia. This agreement will see LSER continue to run passenger rail services on the South Eastern franchise for 3 years and 9 months until the start of the services on the next competed franchise, which is expected in the summer of 2018.
LSER will provide continuity of management and experience of the complexities of the routes during the major works at London Bridge, taking place as part of the Thameslink Programme between January 2015 and January 2018, which will affect services throughout the franchise period.
I recognise that LSER has not always met the expectations of passengers and so this agreement contains rigorous satisfaction and performance targets, with financial penalties if they are not met. I am determined that this contract will ensure an improvement for passengers on the franchise. To support this more customer facing staff, including over 100 new staff members, will be provided across the network that will be able to provide advice and assistance for passengers at stations where their presence will be much appreciated.
This agreement sees over £70 million invested by the operator in increased and improved staffing and other improvements for passengers across the franchise. This includes £5.7 million spent on a deep cleaning programme and general improvement works at stations. LSER will increase passenger capacity on the franchise with 95,000 new seats introduced on services, including 1,050 on High Speed trains. They will also strengthen train services and improve performance and reliability through the reduction in splitting and joining of services.
This new contract includes improvements for passengers and better train performance at a reduced subsidy to Government. I am confident that this will secure the long term value of the franchise and deliver real value for passengers and taxpayers.
Statutory Register of Lobbyists
Statement
Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD): My honourable friend the Minister for the Constitution (Sam Gyimah MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Part 1 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 provides for a statutory register of consultant lobbyists, which the Government is committed to introducing in good time before the end of the Parliament. The statutory register of consultant lobbyists will increase transparency by requiring those who lobby on behalf of a third party to disclose the names of their clients on a publicly available register.
Today the Cabinet Office is publishing a consultation document on the draft regulations which will provide for certain practical aspects of the register.
The consultation seeks views on draft regulations on: limitations on the duty to supply information to the Registrar; the charging structure; the supply of VAT-registration information to the Registrar by HMRC; and the detail of the information that lobbyists will be required to submit in information returns. The Cabinet Office is also seeking information from lobbyists that will allow the level of the charge in the draft regulation to be set at an appropriate level in the first year.
I have placed copies of the consultation document in the Libraries of both Houses and online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/statutory-register-of-consultant-lobbyists.
