Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many members of the security service, Home Office officials or police officers have travelled to Paris following the recent terrorist attacks there to be briefed in detail on the incident and to draw potential conclusions for the protection of the public in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Bates
As my Right Honourable Friend, the Home Secretary, said in her statement to the House on 14th January 2015 (Hansard columns 869-871); UK police and Security Services are working closely with their French counterparts to support them in the response and to draw out all the possible lessons for the UK following the terrible attacks that we saw in Paris. It would not be appropriate to comment in further detail on an ongoing investigation.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of Iran's ballistic missile research and development programme.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1929 prohibits Iran from all activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear weapon. Iran’s ballistic missile programme, and its continued development in violation of UNSCRs, is a significant concern. We keep Iran’s ballistic missile programme under constant review.Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they would be prepared, on request by the government of Ukraine, to sell them defensive, including lethal, weapons.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Any UK export of strategic goods will require an export licence. All export licence applications for Ukraine are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and relevant national Arms Export Licensing Criteria.
The Government continues to closely monitor the situation.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the functionality, reliability and resilience to cyber-attack of the Autonomic Logistics Information System for the F35 aircraft.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
The F-35 Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) has been designed to be resilient against cyber-attack and will be the subject of testing throughout the life of the programme. The ALIS capability has been used by the UK since 2012 to support the aircraft operating in the US and has not experienced any reliability issues and nor have the other partners.
In terms of resilience and business continuity, this is being ensured via the ALIS network architecture being installed at Main Operating Bases and deployed locations, which include the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of recent events in Paris, they are reconsidering the range of weapons issued to armed police units in this country.
Answered by Lord Bates
Following the attacks in Mumbai in 2008, the Government set up a programme to improve the UK’s ability to respond to this type of incident. As a result, there has been a step change in police firearms capability, speed of military response and the ability of emergency services specialists to save lives under higher risk conditions, as well as a range of other measures to enhance protective security.
We have improved joint working between the emergency services. Specialist joint police, ambulance and fire teams are now in place in key areas across England, with equivalents in Scotland and Wales, trained and equipped to respond and manage casualties in the event of a marauding gun attack. Regional and national response to firearms attacks are regularly tested and exercised. However, since the recent events in Paris, and to be absolutely sure we have the right numbers of officers, with the rights skills and equipment, in the right places, we are working with police to review these arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the underspend of the Ministry of Defence in the financial years 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 and prospectively in 2014–15; and how much of the underspend in each of those years has been rolled forward and made available for additional spending by the Ministry of Defence in subsequent years.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
Comparable figures for financial year 2010-11 are not available as the Government had not, at that time, introduced The Clear of Line Sight initiative, which precludes analysis on a near cash basis for that financial year.
In 2011-12 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) underspent by £300 million and there was no budget exchange.
In 2012-13 the MOD underspent by £2.3 billion; £590 million was rolled forward into 2013-14, £1,706 million into 2014-15 and £21 million in 2015-16.
In 2013-14 the MOD underspent by £900 million, £100 million was rolled forward into 2014-15 and £700 million in 2015-16.
The MOD's final outturn for 2014-15 will not be available until the end of the financial year.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the (1) highest, (2) lowest, and (3) average, cost of (a) interest charges, (b) penalty interest and charges, and (c) other charges, fees and commissions, borne by borrowers of pay day loans, as a percentage of the funds drawn down by those borrowers, over the last 12 months for which data are available.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The Government has made no public assessment of these figures.
Financial Conduct Authority analysis estimates that in 2013, 1.6 million customers took out 10 million payday loans, with a total value of £2.5bn.
FCA analysis of payday loans funded in 2013 from a sample of lenders indicates that 56% of these loans were entirely repaid (with no unpaid debt recorded) within 31 days of receipt of funds, and 76% within 365 days.
Competition and Markets Authority analysis of the prices of payday products shows a range in interest rates and finance charges from £20 to £36 per £100 per month, for 1 month loans. In addition to this some firms charge fees irrespective of loan size of up to £20. Penalty charges of up to £30 are levied on the first day after a payment is missed and, in addition to this some lenders charge over £40 if a customer has not repaid after a longer time period.
The FCA has now published final rules on its cap on the cost of payday loans. This cap will be in place by 2 January 2015.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the proportion of pay day loans extended in the United Kingdom in the last 12 months for which data are available which were entirely repaid within (1) a month, and (2) a year, of receipt of funds by the relevant borrower.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The Government has made no public assessment of these figures.
Financial Conduct Authority analysis estimates that in 2013, 1.6 million customers took out 10 million payday loans, with a total value of £2.5bn.
FCA analysis of payday loans funded in 2013 from a sample of lenders indicates that 56% of these loans were entirely repaid (with no unpaid debt recorded) within 31 days of receipt of funds, and 76% within 365 days.
Competition and Markets Authority analysis of the prices of payday products shows a range in interest rates and finance charges from £20 to £36 per £100 per month, for 1 month loans. In addition to this some firms charge fees irrespective of loan size of up to £20. Penalty charges of up to £30 are levied on the first day after a payment is missed and, in addition to this some lenders charge over £40 if a customer has not repaid after a longer time period.
The FCA has now published final rules on its cap on the cost of payday loans. This cap will be in place by 2 January 2015.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the total value of pay day loans extended in the United Kingdom over the last 12 months for which data are available.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The Government has made no public assessment of these figures.
Financial Conduct Authority analysis estimates that in 2013, 1.6 million customers took out 10 million payday loans, with a total value of £2.5bn.
FCA analysis of payday loans funded in 2013 from a sample of lenders indicates that 56% of these loans were entirely repaid (with no unpaid debt recorded) within 31 days of receipt of funds, and 76% within 365 days.
Competition and Markets Authority analysis of the prices of payday products shows a range in interest rates and finance charges from £20 to £36 per £100 per month, for 1 month loans. In addition to this some firms charge fees irrespective of loan size of up to £20. Penalty charges of up to £30 are levied on the first day after a payment is missed and, in addition to this some lenders charge over £40 if a customer has not repaid after a longer time period.
The FCA has now published final rules on its cap on the cost of payday loans. This cap will be in place by 2 January 2015.