Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
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.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
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.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
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.
Answered by Lord Freud
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.
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.
DWP regularly audit the Capita quality team and undertake activities to ensure that scoring is in alignment with that of DWP.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to Written Answer by Lord Bates on 8 December (HL3326), whether the staff who actually carry out the application reviews for entry clearance applications made in Nepal are aware of that policy, and whether checks are carried out to ensure that is so.
Answered by Lord Bates
All visa applications are considered under the Immigration Rules. As the Immigration Rules do not state that there needs to be a demand for specific graduates in the students’ home country, the degree subject is not a consideration for the Entry Clearance Officer.
Any student application refused under PBS Tier 4 of the Immigration Rules can be subject to an Administrative Review (AR). The AR is conducted by an official at a more senior grade than the original decision maker.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there has been any decline in stamp duty receipts on higher priced properties since public talk of a "mansion" tax began.
Answered by Lord Deighton
Statistics on Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts by consideration band can be found in Table 3.1 of the ‘UK Stamp Tax Statistics 2013-14’ publication. The following table provides data, from that publication, for the estimated yield attributable to residential property within the £1 million to £2 million and above £2 million consideration bands for 2012-2013 and 2013-2014:
£1,000,001-£2,000,000 | Above £2,000,000 | ||
Non-corporate bodies | Corporate bodies | ||
2012-2013 | 585 | 800 | 70 |
2013-2014 | 805 | 1,010 | 70 |
Amounts: £ million. Figures may not sum due to rounding conventions
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are aware of the calculations used by the European Commission as a basis for the recent demand of £1.7 billion; and, if so, what is their assessment of those calculations.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The European Commission are responsible for calculating Member State contributions to the EU Budget using data provided by Eurostat, who collate and validate the data from Member States’ national statistical institutions, including for the UK the Office for National Statistics.
The Prime Minister has been clear that it was completely unacceptable for the European Commission to demand a payment upfront on such a large scale and provide a month in which to pay it.
European Finance Ministers met on the 7 November, and the Chancellor secured an agreement which meant the UK paid nothing on 1 December. Instead the payment will be made in instalments next year, and no fines or interest will be applied. The UK will also not pay £1.7 billion. The British rebate will apply in full, and apply simultaneously with the payment, not a year in arrears as normal. This means the Government has halved the bill, to around £850 million.
Lastly, the UK won agreement to change the regulations to ensure this never happens again. In the future, if any country receives an adjustment demand that is excessive, it will have the same opportunity to phase payments so that they are more affordable.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many gallantry medals have been awarded but not gazetted.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether a George Cross has recently been awarded but not yet gazetted; and if so, when it will be gazetted.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
As the noble Lord will understand, we cannot comment on individual gallantry cases.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the decision to grant a referendum on independence to the Scottish people and the terms of that referendum were agreed by the Cabinet.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
In line with long-established convention, the Government does not comment on the proceedings of Cabinet or its committees.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in the construction of the St Helena airport; what is the estimated date that the first aircraft could land; and whether the construction is within budget.
Answered by Baroness Northover
Construction of the St Helena Airport is more than 60% complete. It is currently within budget and on target to open for commercial flights in early 2016.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the cost to the United Kingdom of the military intervention in Libya; and what is their assessment of the benefits to the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
The net additional cost of military operations in Libya in 2011 was £234 million.
Our military actions in Libya protected civilians under threat of attack and saved lives. All our actions were consistent with our obligations under international law and with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which allowed all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack.