Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 13 December 2017 (HL3776), what compensation arrangements they have entered into in respect of the early surrender of the Virgin-Stagecoach east coast rail franchise.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
As the Secretary of State announced in his statement to the House on 11 January 2018, we are not agreeing to early termination of a contract in 2020 but the franchise is not delivering the profits the operator expected. The Department is preparing contingency plans as we do not believe the franchise will be financially viable through to 2020. The Secretary of State will report back to the House when a decision is made on contingency planning.
It is important to understand that all premiums due to date under the contract have been paid and we currently receive premiums in line with their contractual obligations. From 2020 we intend to commence the East Coast Partnership, one of the first of a new generation of integrated regional rail operations. This will also include appropriate contributions from the new private partner under a long-term competitively procured contract.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made over the last three months to (1) the Iranian Ambassador in London, and (2) the government of Iran, about the reported targeting and harassment of BBC Persian Service journalists and their families.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Reports about harassment of BBC Persian staff and their families in Iran are deeply worrying. The Foreign Secretary specifically raised our concerns about harassment of BBC Persian staff and their families in Iran with his Iranian counterpart during his visit to Tehran on 9-10 December. Officials at the British Embassy in Tehran have also twice raised our concerns with the Iranian Government.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they define the phrase “regulatory alignment”.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Prime Minister, during her speech in Florence, set out the Government's approach to regulatory alignment. In our negotiations with the EU, the UK starts from a unique position in that we have the same rules and regulations.
The question for the UK in building a new economic partnership with the EU is therefore not how we bring our rules and regulations closer together, but what we do when one of us wants to make changes.
There will be areas where regulation is outside the scope of our trade and economic relations or where we want to achieve the same goals in the same ways. But there will be areas which do affect our economic relations where we and our European partners may have different goals; or where we share the same goals but want to achieve them through different means. Our task is to find a new framework that allows for a close economic partnership but holds these rights and obligations in a new and different balance.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what contacts each Government department has had with the Legatum Institute over the last 12 months.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ministers and officials from the Department for Exiting the European Union are speaking with stakeholders from a variety of sectors, to understand their concerns and priorities regarding our exit from the EU. As part of this process, the Department has engaged with a range of domestic and EU-facing think tanks.
These organisations have contributed to the dialogue around our EU withdrawal with a range of insights and opinions on proposed future arrangements, as well as on areas of impact for stakeholders across industry and society.
Details of ministerial meetings are published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which are publicly available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people were employed in the NHS in England last year; how many (1) left, and (2) joined, the NHS in that period, and of those who (1) left, and (2) joined, how many were not UK citizens.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Annual data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) shows that in September 2015, there were 1,151,138 people employed in the National Health Service in England. In the period between September 2014 and September 2015 there were 136,168 leavers and 155,326 joiners.
Information on how many leavers and joiners were not United Kingdom citizens is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contribution they are making to Operation Sophia (EUNAVFOR MED), and what assessment they have made of the success of that operation to date.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The UK is making a significant contribution to Operation Sophia, the European Union's naval operation countering migrant smugglers in the central Mediterranean. HMS ENTERPRISE has been deployed since 4 July 2015 (with a Merlin helicopter between July and October), and was joined by HMS RICHMOND for October and November. The UK is also contributing five staff officers in the Operational Headquarters.
HMS ENTERPRISE's work has been valuable in developing a picture of the maritime environment and smuggling routes, and UK ships have picked up almost a third of the total number of migrants rescued. HMS ENTERPRISE will remain deployed to Operation Sophia until the end of August. The UK contribution to Operation Sophia is one part of the Government's overall comprehensive approach to tackling the migrant crisis, which seeks to address the root causes of migration as well as its consequences.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contribution the Royal Navy has made to Operation Atalanta, and what contribution it is expected to make in the future.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The United Kingdom fulfils its enduring commitment through the provision of the two-star Operation Commander (Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces and Commander United Kingdom Amphibious Forces in rotation). The UK also contributes Operation Headquarters facilities (OHQ) at Northwood and on average 60 members of OHQ staff, approximately 40% of the total OHQ.
The Royal Navy (RN) will continue to contribute to Operation Atalanta. In addition the RN maintains a constant presence in the Gulf region. Anti-piracy and anti-terrorism measures are among a number of concurrent tasks carried out by the RN and supporting assets.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance they are giving to the government of Tunisia with a view to promoting democracy and rebuilding its economy, and in particular the creation of jobs for young people.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
In the financial year from April 2015 – March 2016, UK support to Tunisia doubled to around £7 million for programmes to support governance, economic reform (including job creation and entrepreneurship) and security sector capacity building. We expect this high level of support to continue in the coming year, reaching at least £8 million for projects including capacity building for democratic institutions and anti-corruption bodies, and support for financial sector reform and entrepreneurship. We continue to encourage Tunisia to set out its plans for its economic development and reform, and have particularly underlined the importance of creating jobs for young people.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of total annual British imports from, and exports to, Greece.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The total value of UK imports from Greece was £2.6 billion in 2013. This comprised of £0.8 billion imports of goods and £1.9 billion imports of services.
The total value of UK exports to Greece was £2.8 billion in 2013. This comprised of £1.5 billion exports of goods and £1.3 billion exports of services.
These data are taken from the United Kingdom Balance of Payments - The Pink Book 2014, available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bop/united-kingdom-balance-of-payments/2014/index.html
Data on the total value of UK trade with Greece for 2014 will be published in the Pink Book 2015, due for release 30 October 2015.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the spending of British tourists going to Greece (1) in the United Kingdom and (2) in Greece.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
British nationals make around 2 million visits to Greece every year. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not have data on the amount of money British tourists spend. The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises estimate that British tourists spend on average 1000 Euros per visit. Based on Bank of Greece data, 740 Euros out of the 1000 Euros is retained in Greece. They do not provide figures or estimates for expenditure in the UK by British tourists going to Greece.