Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency has issued as to whether it is necessary to load a steel structure on a goods vehicle trailer against the headboard or a false headboard, or whether it is sufficient to secure the load so that it cannot possibly move forwards or be a danger to other road users.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has issued comprehensive guidance about ways to carry and secure loads safely on heavy goods vehicles. The guidance is available on GOV.UK under the headings ‘Securing loads on heavy goods vehicles and goods vehicles – how to carry different types of load in HGVs and goods vehicles’ and ‘Securing loads on HGVs and goods vehicle – ways to secure a load in an HGV or goods vehicle’. This includes how and where to load and secure a steel structure on a goods vehicle.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency has issued on using ordinary carpet tiles to increase friction between a load and a goods vehicle trailer deck.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has not issued guidance about using ordinary carpet tiles to increase friction on a vehicle or trailer deck.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether prison canteens are permitted to sell materials that could be used to manufacture offensive weapons that could cause serious facial disfigurement.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Many everyday necessities can be adapted and misused as weapons. Deciding which items should be made available therefore involves striking a balance between considerations of safety and decency.
Establishments select their local canteen list from items in the National Product List. They make their selection on the basis of a dynamic local risk assessment, taking into account a range of factors, notably security, safety, and prisoner needs.
The Government is committed to making prisons a safe place to work and recognises the risks associated with prisoners’ access to everyday items, including wet-shave razors. In our 2021 Prisons Strategy White Paper, we committed ourselves to trialling alternatives to wet-shave razors in prisons, to determine whether a change in approach might lead to a safer environment for both prisoners and staff. Throughout 2022 and 2023, six pilots have been carried out in the male estate and one in the female estate. Testing at all sites has now concluded and the results are being evaluated. The evaluation, which is nearing completion, will enable us to make informed recommendations on future shaving provision in prison establishments.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there have been any recent changes to legislation that mean airfields are considered as public places for the purposes of the insurance requirements within the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The requirement under s. 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, to have in force a policy of insurance in respect of third-party liabilities, applies to the use of a motor vehicle on a road or public place. There have been no recent changes to legislation to bring airfields within the scope of public place within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 19 December 2023 (HL856), what is the average annual salary of a minister of the crown in the House of Lords, including unpaid ministers and excluding accommodation and travel allowances.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The average (mean) salary of a minister of the crown in the House of Lords, including unpaid ministers and excluding accommodation and travel allowances, is £41,490.26.
Ministerial salaries are payable under the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975. Details of the salaries and allowances currently paid to Ministers at different ranks can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 30 November 2023 (HL457), what assessment they have made of whether the Financial conduct Authority can have confidence that lenders are correctly charging the advertised Annual Percentage Rates (APR) if they do not undertake spot checks.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA) forms a key part of the regulation of the consumer credit market. Under the CCA’s pre-contractual requirements, firms are required to state clearly the actual (rather than representative) APR in credit agreements.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has a range of supervisory tools to identify non-compliance with relevant rules, including proactive assessments, responding to reports and complaints, and conducting thematic reviews of particular sectors. As an independent regulator, it is for the FCA to make decisions on how it supervises firms and enforces its rules.
More broadly, the government is committed to working with the FCA to deliver a well-functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which meets consumers’ needs. As part of this, the government is reforming the CCA. Working closely with the FCA, it will be considering how reform can enhance consumer understanding of credit products and credit agreements, leading to improved customer outcomes.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 30 November 2023 (HL457), what assessment they have made of the ability of the average borrower to compare the representative Annual Percentage Rates (APR) with the actual APR offered in the pre-contract information required to be given under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA) forms a key part of the regulation of the consumer credit market. Under the CCA’s pre-contractual requirements, firms are required to state clearly the actual (rather than representative) APR in credit agreements.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has a range of supervisory tools to identify non-compliance with relevant rules, including proactive assessments, responding to reports and complaints, and conducting thematic reviews of particular sectors. As an independent regulator, it is for the FCA to make decisions on how it supervises firms and enforces its rules.
More broadly, the government is committed to working with the FCA to deliver a well-functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which meets consumers’ needs. As part of this, the government is reforming the CCA. Working closely with the FCA, it will be considering how reform can enhance consumer understanding of credit products and credit agreements, leading to improved customer outcomes.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the Ministerial and Other Salaries Order 2008 to ensure that holding ministerial office in the House of Lords is not predicated on access to a private income in order to maintain a standard of living commensurate with those roles and responsibilities.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
There are no current plans to amend the legislation governing ministerial salaries.
Ministerial salaries are constrained by the Ministerial and other Salaries Act which sets cumulative limits on the total number of salaries that can be allocated to ministers.
Under successive governments a small number of ministers across the Commons and the Lords have been unpaid. The distribution of salaries between ministers in the House of Commons and the House of Lords is a matter for the Prime Minister, who is responsible for the overall organisation of the Executive.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which sections of which Acts of Parliament that have received Royal Assent since May 2010 have not been commenced by Ministers.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Cabinet Office does not maintain a central database of sections of Acts of Parliament that have not been commenced. Details of all Acts of Parliament that have received Royal Assent, including their commencement status, are publicly available at legislation.gov.uk.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Financial Conduct Authority regularly undertakes spot checks of firms offering loans to ensure that the contract details accurately reflect the advertised annual percentage rate of the financial product.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for regulating the consumer credit market. It is part of a robust regulatory system which is helping to deliver the government’s vision for a well-functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which meets consumers’ needs.
The FCA oversees firms through its supervision strategy. In the FCA Mission – Approach to Supervision April 2019, the FCA set out that to make the best use of its resources and deliver the greatest public value, it takes a proportionate approach to supervising firms. It supervises most firms as members of a portfolio of firms that share a common business model. It analyses each portfolio and agrees a strategy to take action on firms posing the greatest harm.
Firms are required by FCA rules to include a representative APR in certain circumstances. The FCA’s handbook (CONC 3.5) provides further rules and guidance on when a representative APR must be shown, how it should be denoted and the level of prominence it must be given.
While not all consumers will get the advertised APR, they should be told in advance of entering into the agreement what APR they have been offered and this will be shown in the pre-contract information required to be given under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
If a customer is concerned that they may have been mis-sold a credit agreement, they may wish to consider making a formal complaint to the firm in question in the first instance. If they then feel that their complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily, they are able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) – an independent body set up to provide arbitration in such cases.