Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of non-curriculum activities on the teaching of the core curriculum in state schools in England.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The department has made no specific assessment on this matter as it is up to schools themselves to decide how to organise curricular and non-curricular activities.
All schools have to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. Ofsted is currently consulting on proposals for a new inspection framework which has a strong emphasis on curriculm, alongside a focus on pupils’ personal development and extra-curricular opportunities.
The attached table, taken from the School workforce in England 2017 publication, indicates that in state funded secondary schools the proportion of all teaching time spent on core subjects has increased.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in supporting the EU Joint Action Plan against Disinformation, they have confidence that no member state, including the UK, sanctions or tolerates the spreading of disinformation.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Government welcomes the Commission’s ‘Joint Action Plan against Disinformation’ as an important step in efforts to counter this threat. All countries must take action to protect their societies against disinformation. By agreeing on the Action Plan, the EU has signalled that disinformation activity from any source will not be tolerated. The UK will do what is necessary to protect ourselves and work with our allies to do likewise.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of concerns over the future of the Wylfa Newydd and Moorside nuclear power station projects, they will re-examine the viability of the Severn Barrage project.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Department undertook a detailed study of the strategic case for a Severn Barrage in 2010 and concluded that there was no strategic case for Government investment in such a project. The Government remains open to considering well developed tidal range projects if they can credibly demonstrate that they represent value for money when compared to other forms of low carbon generation, such as offshore wind.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the share of pension liabilities to which they have agreed as part of the UK's departure from the EU is based on (1) the full budget share of those liabilities, or (2) the number of British staff employed by the EU up to and until exit day.
Answered by Lord Bates
As set out in the Withdrawal Agreement, as part of the Financial Settlement, the United Kingdom shall be liable to the Union for its share of the financing of the Union's liabilities incurred until 31 December 2020, including pensions. The UK’s share, as set out under Article 139, shall be a percentage calculated as the ratio between the EU Budget contributions made available by the United Kingdom in the years 2014 to 2020 and those EU Budget contributions made available during that period by all Member States and the United Kingdom. The Office for Budget Responsibility in October 2018, estimated the UK’s share of the EU’s pension liabilities as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement, at €9.75 billion.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, and if so, when, they plan to bring forward legislation to abolish the deposit required to stand for election to the House of Commons.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The requirement for candidates to pay a deposit of £500 in order to stand for election to the House of Commons is set out in primary legislation. The Government is not seeking to change this requirement at present.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what parts of the UK's railways, including tracks and trains, they own.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The national rail infrastructure is held and managed by Network Rail, a Non-Departmental Public Body reporting to the Department for Transport. A number of privately owned lines and sidings are connected to the national rail network. Almost all rolling stock in operation on the national rail network is privately owned. The franchised passenger train operating companies are contracted out by the Department for Transport or devolved administrations. The Intercity East Coast franchise is currently operated by a publicly owned operating company, LNER Ltd, pending the letting of a new franchise. All these train services operate on the national rail network alongside privately owned freight and passenger train operating companies.
The High Speed 1 infrastructure between London St Pancras and the UK Channel Tunnel portal is owned by the Department for Transport and let as a thirty year concession. Some UK cities own and operate their own rail networks, notably London, Newcastle and Glasgow.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total new investment in UK railways since privatisation by (1) Network Rail and its predecessor, and (2) train operating companies.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
There are no figures available covering the entire period since privatisation.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has published statistics on private-sector investment in rail in Great Britain since 2006-07. Private investment is at record levels, totalling £8.3bn over this period, with £6.7bn in the last decade.
The figures can be found online at the link below:
http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/a1bcb53b-9914-4d7d-9d57-0187cd27e59b
These figures cover all private investment, not just that made by train operating companies. However, the largest category of investment is in rolling stock, which train operators fund though lease payments.
Network Rail has received a government grant since 2001-02 to support its investment in the rail network. The annual amounts are published by the ORR (within the ‘Direct Rail Support’ column of this table) at the link below:
https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/a830de20-83bf-408d-9c22-7f3ec23999f9
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect net migration to reduce to under 100,000 per year.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford
We remain committed to reducing net migration to sustainable levels. Net migration has fallen since peaks in 2015 and 2016 and we will continue to reform our immigration routes to ensure that they work in the best interests of the country.
We will shortly be publishing an Immigration White Paper which will contain the principles for our new immigration system. We are ending free movement and designing a system that will work in the national interest.
We have been clear that the UK will always be open to those who bring valuable skills, experience and investment to the UK and our economy. We will continue to pursue immigration policies that are selective about who makes the greatest contribution to our country.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding of the report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK Poverty 2018, published on 4 December, that 22 per cent of the population are in poverty; and what action they intend to take to remedy the situation.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The figure quoted by the Joseph Rowntree Trust in this report is taken from official national statistics on the number and proportion of people in low income published by the Department for Work and Pensions in March 2018. These statistics show that there are one million fewer people living in absolute poverty since 2010, including 300,000 children.
This Government believes that the best way of tackling poverty is by building a strong economy and getting people into work. Adults in workless families are around 4 times more likely to be in poverty than those in working families. Children in workless households are around 5 times more likely to be in poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work. Nationally, there are now over 3.3 million more people in work, around 964,000 fewer workless households, and around 637,000 fewer children living in such households compared with 2010. This is why we will continue with our reforms to the welfare system so that it encourages work whilst supporting those who need help.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the cost of UK participation in EU defence proposals; whether such costs will be met from the UK's defence budget; and whether they will ensure that NATO will remain the military defence organisation for the defence of Europe.
Answered by Earl Howe
As NATO's leading European ally, we remain fully committed to NATO as the cornerstone of European defence and security. As set out in the Political Declaration on the future relationship between the UK and EU, the Government has offered to cooperate closely on defence and security, as part of an ambitious Security Partnership, on a case-by-case basis, where of mutual benefit. The terms and costs of such cooperation will be subject to future negotiations.