Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 28 June (HL8701), whether Special Constables can qualify for Taser training; if so, on what criteria; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford
Special Constables are not currently authorised to use Taser®. It would be for the National Police Chiefs Council to determine whether any changes to the current model were needed in the first instance. If so, their proposal would then need to be considered by the Home Secretary.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any category of police officer dealing with the public is excluded from being eligible for training in the use of Tasers and from being issued with them; and if so, on what grounds.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford
We are committed to giving the police the necessary tools to do their job and TASER®, a form of conducted energy device (CED), provides officers with an important less-lethal, tactical option when facing potentially physically violent situations
While its use must be in line with the Home Secretary’s authorisation of the device, the deployment of TASER® is an operational matter for Chief Officers. It is for them to determine the number of devices and specially trained officers based on their force assessment of threat and risk
The use of CEDs is currently limited to officers who have completed their probationary period and been confirmed in rank. Officers who wish to undertake CED training are also required to have the support of their supervisor and have to successfully pass the training. Any change to this model, including the eligibility of officers to apply for special training, would require formal consideration by the Home Secretary.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they anticipate to be the total cost of consultants employed in connection with the UK's negotiations to leave the EU in (1) 2016–17, and (2) 2017–18.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Department for Exiting the European Union has used the services of a number of consulting firms to help with departmental set-up and planning. The Departmental budget will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many civil servants or other public employees they anticipate will need to be recruited in (1) 2016–17, and (2) 2017–18, in connection with the UK's negotiations to leave the EU, and what they expect the total cost of employing them to be in each of those years.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK. The Department for Exiting the European Union now has just over 300 staff, and is growing fast. We are not in a position to give a final total as recruitment is ongoing. Overall size and scope of the new department, including staffing and budget, are regularly reviewed and we will ensure we are appropriately staffed to deal with the task at hand.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of (1) the maximum, and (2) the likely, total cost of any regional, employment, training, subsidy, grant, incentive payment, or other financial support, which Nissan UK might be entitled to receive over the next (a) five, and (b) 10, years.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
I refer the noble Lord to my statement to the House on 31 October 2016, Official Report, Vol. 776.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the value of (1) passenger cars, and (2) motor vehicles, annually (a) produced in the EU, (b) exported from the UK to the rest of the EU, (c) exported from the rest of the EU to the UK, (d) exported from the UK to Germany, and (e) exported from Germany to the UK.
Answered by Lord Price
The EU-28 automotive industries generated a combined turnover of around £730bn (€900bn) in 2014. However it is not possible to separate out the passenger car element of this. Source: EuroStat Structural Business Survey (NACE 29 Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers)
The table below shows the value of exports and imports of motor vehicles, and of these, passenger cars between a) UK and the EU-28 and b) UK and Germany.
The definitions for each category are based on HS commodity codes. The codes used for each category are shown below the table.
Value of trade in passenger cars and motor vehicles, £bn | |||||||
| Motor vehicles |
| Of which passenger cars | ||||
| 2014 |
| 2015 |
| 2014 |
| 2015 |
UK exports to EU | 13.1 |
| 13.9 |
| 9.5 |
| 10.2 |
UK imports from EU | 37.9 |
| 41.8 |
| 25.2 |
| 28.5 |
UK exports to Germany | 2.5 |
| 2.7 |
| 1.5 |
| 1.7 |
UK imports from Germany | 18.6 |
| 19.8 |
| 14.0 |
| 15.3 |
Source: Eurostat Trade Database, converted from €s to £s | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Passenger cars = HS 8702 and HS 8703 | |||||||
Motor vehicles = HS 8701, HS 8702, HS 8703, HS 8704, HS 8705, HS 8706, HS 8707, HS 8708 and HS 8709 | |||||||
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many state secondary schools there are in England; and how many of these have not had a student enter into Oxford or Cambridge University as an undergraduate over the past five years.
Answered by Lord Nash
The number of state-funded secondary schools is available in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ Statistical First Release published by Department for Education. Table 2a of the ‘National tables’ spreadsheet contains information for each year since 2003.
Detailed destinations information such as destinations to Oxford and Cambridge Universities is only compiled for students completing Key Stage 5 (A levels or other level 3 qualifications), and is published in the Department for Education “Destinations of Key stage 4 and key stage 5 pupils” experimental statistical first release. Figures are therefore only available for secondary schools where they have sixth forms. Data has only been published for four years up to the 2011/12 cohort and information for the previous five years cannot be provided. In the latest destinations data (published 27 January 2015), destinations for institutions are available in table IN1 of the ‘Key stage 5: institution level tables’ spreadsheet.
The table below summarises the published information. Data have only been published for four years up to the 2011/12 cohort so information for the previous five years cannot be provided.
Number of state-funded secondary schools at January 2012 | Number of state funded schools in 2012/13 Key Stage 5 destination cohort | Number with no student having sustained participation at Oxford or Cambridge University as an undergraduate, over the 4 cohorts of destinations data available [1] | |
State-funded schools | 3,329 | 1,870 | 533 |
[1] To be included in the destinations measure, young people have to show sustained participation in an education or employment destination in all of the first two terms of the year after they took an A level or other level 3 qualifications (October to March).
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the power and propulsion systems of the Type 45 destroyer; what actions they plan to take and to what timescale in order to remedy any problems that may have been identified; what is the estimated cost of any necessary remedial work; and what share of this cost will be borne by public funds.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
As a new class of warship the Type 45 has experienced some equipment reliability issues. Most of these have been resolved. Work is continuing to resolve the remaining issues. This is being funded from within existing Ministry of Defence (MOD) support budgets.
In addition, options to undertake a Diesel Generator upgrade are being considered. This would add greater resilience to the Power and Propulsion system by increasing electrical generation capacity. The feasibility phase for this work, which is being co-funded by BAE Systems and the MOD, will conclude at the end of March 2015. A decision on whether to proceed with the upgrade programme will then be considered against wider Defence priorities and would be funded by the MOD.
I am withholding information about the potential costs for the Diesel Generator upgrade as releasing such information at this stage would prejudice the commercial interests of the MOD.
We have six in service, and the Type 45 class has demonstrated its capability, supporting operations in the Gulf and the South Atlantic.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest estimate of the number of people sleeping rough in Greater London; and how many places in hostels are available for homeless adults in that area.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The annual Rough Sleeping Statistics for England reports rough sleeping counts and estimates provided by local authorities and represent single night snapshots of the number of people sleeping rough in their area between 1 October and 30 November. In 2014 there were 742 rough sleepers in local authority areas in London:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2014
The Department does not hold information regarding the number of places in hostels for rough sleepers in London.
This Government has increased investment in homelessness services over the lifetime of this Parliament. We have invested over £500 million to support local authorities and voluntary sector agencies help the most vulnerable in our society. This includes £34 million to the Greater London Authority to tackle rough sleeping across London.
We have recently put in place funding and support to prevent single homelessness and help those at risk of rough sleeping. The £8 million Help for Single Homeless Fund will help 22,000 people with multiple needs across 168 local authorities and the innovative £15 million Fair Chance Fund programme will change the lives of around 1,600 homeless young people with high needs and at risk of falling through the net of existing services. We have also supported Crisis with nearly £14 million in funding that by 2016 will have helped around 10,000 vulnerable single people to access and sustain accommodation in the private rented sector.
Thousands of vulnerable people who have slept rough or faced with the prospect of doing so have been given the help they need through No Second Night Out and StreetLink initiatives.
The No Second Night Out initiative has actively sought to identify and then help more rough sleepers, uncovering rough sleeping which was previously hidden or under-reported. This is in contrast to the counts under the last Administration which systematically under-estimated or ignored the true level of rough sleeping.
By using StreetLink, the national telephone, digital and app service, the public can help connect rough sleepers to the local services available so they can get the help they need to get them off the streets. This has already resulted in 23,000 referrals of rough sleepers to local authorities for investigation. We have also supported No Second Night Out schemes nationally through the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund for the voluntary sector ensuring rough sleepers are found quickly and that they do not spend more than one night on the street.
According to CHAIN (Combined Homeless and Information Network) data, the majority of rough sleepers in London are foreign nationals. My Department's activities have included education campaigns led by the voluntary sector warning those coming here without appropriate support about the dangers of ending up destitute and sleeping rough on our streets. European Economic Area nationals who are begging or sleeping rough will be administratively removed. From the beginning of the year they will then be barred from re-entry for 12 months, unless they can prove they have a proper reason to be here, such as a job.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the reconstruction and demilitarisation of Gaza.
Answered by Baroness Northover
We are concerned by reports of rising tensions in Gaza. We need to see a durable end to the current cycle of violence which addresses the underlying causes of the conflict and achieves a sustainable peace so Israelis and Palestinians can live without fear of violence. We stand ready to play our full part in supporting such a settlement. In the meantime, we are pleased to see that over 49,000 people have now been able to buy materials to repair their homes under the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM). More needs to be done, but this is a step in the right direction.