Asked by: Baroness Seccombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The government does not have any current plans to amend the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995.
Asked by: Baroness Seccombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to enable magistrates to imprison offenders for up to 12 months.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government has no immediate plans to increase the custodial sentencing powers of magistrates but will continue to monitor the position to ensure we provide magistrates with appropriate and proportionate powers to deal with the cases that come before them.
Asked by: Baroness Seccombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made or are aware of any assessment of the average cost of taking a case to the European Court of Human Rights; who bears those costs; and in what proportion of cases costs are incurred by (1) private concerns, and (2) the United Kingdom public purse.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The applicant has to pay the costs of making the application. However if the Court finds a violation against a state, it can then make an award of costs against the state as part of its judgment. The costs to the Government vary significantly depending on the complexity of the case.
Legal aid is not available from the UK for an application to the European Court of Human Rights. However, the European Court has its own legal aid scheme, to which the UK contributes via its national contribution to the costs of Court.
Asked by: Baroness Seccombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 9 March (HL5216), whether they will place in the Library of the House a breakdown of the 220 individual transactions in 2006–07 in the Economic Secretary to HM Treasury's departmental private office, in the light of the previous Government's response to the House of Commons Procedure Committee Report on Written Parliamentary Questions on 7 December 2009 which stated "The Ministerial Code makes it clear that Ministers should refuse to provide information which they hold only when disclosure would not be in the public interest, which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000".
Answered by Lord Deighton
I refer the noble Lady to my answer of 9 March (HL5216) on the same topic.
Asked by: Baroness Seccombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 13 May 2014 (WA 473–74), whether they will place in the Library of the House a breakdown of the 220 individual transactions in 2006–07 in the Economic Secretary to HM Treasury's departmental private office.
Answered by Lord Deighton
It would not be appropriate to give specific details of the costs incurred by ministers in pervious administrations.
Asked by: Baroness Seccombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the annual cost of paying the Living Wage across the public sector.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The Government does not have an estimate of the cost of applying the living wage across the public sector.
The Government supports all employers who choose to pay the living wage and encourages businesses to pay the living wage where it is affordable.
For the pay review body workforces and central government the majority of pay scale points are above the living wage.
Asked by: Baroness Seccombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the annual budget of Cycling England in 2010/11 or the last financial year for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The annual budget provided by the Department for Transport to Cycling England in 2010-11 was £63 million.
Asked by: Baroness Seccombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the annual Bikeability budget for the current and next financial year.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The annual budget set by the Department for Transport for its Bikeability programme is: £11.7 million in 2014-15; and £11.9m in 2015-16.
Asked by: Baroness Seccombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated cost to the Exchequer of holding the Cabinet meeting in Aberdeen on 24 February.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
The central cost of holding Cabinet in Aberdeen was £1,800. This is a considerable reduction from the cost of regional Cabinet meetings under the previous administration, which were reported through Parliamentary Questions to have cost between £50,000 and £100,000.
As was the case under previous administrations, Departments and agencies may also have incurred costs in terms of travel, staff time and other support. The cost of police security is a matter for the relevant police force.