Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the weight of a newly minted 10 pence piece; what is the weight after it has been in circulation for several years; and what assessment they have made of the acceptance of new 10 pence pieces by coin-operated machines.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
Since the introduction of a smaller version in 1992, newly minted ten pence pieces have had a weight of 6.5 grammes. This remained the case from January 2012, when the composition was changed from a cupronickel alloy to nickel-plated steel. The weight of a ten pence piece does not change materially over the course of its lifecycle.
The Royal Mint works closely with a number of trade associations and manufacturers of coin operated equipment on an ongoing basis, and consulted with them when determining the precise specification of the nickel-plated steel ten pence piece. Whilst no formal assessment of acceptance has been made, members and operators are all routinely encouraged to upgrade their equipment.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been levied in fines from motorists for speeding in roadworks on the M1 in the last year.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Fines are issued by each individual police force though which the M1 passes. Therefore, the Department for Transport does not collect this specific data.
Enforcement of speed limits through roadworks has an important role in maintaining road safety.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many road miles between junction 10 of the M1 and Leeds are currently subject to restrictions in respect of roadworks.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A total of 57.1 miles of the M1 between Junction 10 and Junction 43 for Leeds are currently subject to restrictions in respect of road works.
These road works all relate to upgrades to this section of the M1, part of an ambitious £15.2 billion plan to triple annual levels of spending on England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads by the end of the decade to improve capacity and condition.
The works associated with these restrictions are set out in the table below.
SCHEME | CURRENT RESTRICTION MILEAGE |
M1 J11a (A5-M1 Link) | 1.8 |
M1 J15-19 Smart Motorway & M1 J19 Improvement | 22.9 |
M1 J21-21a Bridge construction | 1.4 |
M1 J28-31 Smart Motorway | 18.7 |
M1 J32-35a Smart Motorway | 5.1 |
M1 J39-42 Smart Motorway | 7.2 |
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money is currently committed to enhancements of the M1; and when the current programmes will be completed.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The following schemes have committed construction budgets.
Motorway | Approved Budget | Scheduled Completion |
M1 J28-31 Smart Motorway | £205.8m (plus £14m of additional resurfacing) | Q4 2015/16
|
M1 J32-35a Smart Motorway | £125.5m | Q4 2016/17
|
M1 J39-42 Smart Motorway | £120m | Q3 2015/16
|
M1 J19 Improvements | £190.7m | Q3 2016/17
|
M1 J13-19 Smart Motorway | Phase 1 is M1 J19-16 approved budget of £101.6m scheduled to start Q3 2015/16. | Overall scheme (J143-19) is scheduled to complete in 2021/22
|
M1 J38 North Bound Exit-Slip | Dropped kerbs and improved signing, cost of £146k | August 2015
|
M1 J37 South Bound Exit-Slip | Signing improvements, cost of £462k. | September 2015
|
There are other interventions planned on the M1 which do not yet have confirmed costs, but timescales are:
- M1 J24-25 Smart Motorway starting 2016/17 and completing 2017/18
- M1 Junction 45 improvement starting in 2017, completion not yet confirmed
- M1 J23a-24 Smart Motorway starting before end 2019/20, completion not yet confirmed
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the level of indebtedness of (1) the government of Greece, and (2) Greek businesses, to the United Kingdom Government and United Kingdom businesses.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The government has secured a deal that protects UK taxpayers from any risk from financing euro area bailouts now and in the future. This deal gives legal force to the commitment secured in 2010 that UK taxpayers would not be drawn into a euro area bailout.
As the Chancellor has stated, private sector exposures to Greek banks and the Greek economy are far lower than they were in 2012.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the United Kingdom economy of a default in its international obligations by the government of Greece, and of a Greek exit from the euro.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The government has secured a deal that protects UK taxpayers from any risk from financing euro area bailouts now and in the future. This deal gives legal force to the commitment secured in 2010 that UK taxpayers would not be drawn into a euro area bailout. Under the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM) short term financing agreement concluded on Friday 17 July, Greece’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrears have also been cleared.
As the Chancellor has said, we should not underestimate the impact that a Greek exit from the euro area would have on the European economy – or the knock-on effects on the UK. But the economic plan we’ve pursued in Britain these last five years has increased our resilience – and we will take whatever further steps are needed to protect the UK from new risks to our economic security.
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 number of British tourists visiting Greece each year.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We estimate that there are approximately two million British visitors to Greece each year.
Asked by: Lord Radice (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many United Kingdom nationals they have deployed on training and assistance projects in Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Since the beginning of 2014, 36 UK nationals have been deployed to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, nine to support the EU in Ukraine and two to represent the UK’s technical assistance programme and humanitarian support in Ukraine. Additionally, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has had a Special Defence Advisor based in the Ukrainian MoD since 2004.
The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), recently announced that the MoD would be providing further non-lethal support to Ukraine and up to 75 personnel would be based in Ukraine to deliver training and advice in logistics, medical, infantry and intelligence capacity building to the Ukraine Armed Forces. Some of these personnel are already based in-country to develop the training and numbers will increase as the elements of the training are delivered.
In addition the British Government is funding UK, Ukrainian and international experts to provide expert advice on economic and governance reforms in Ukraine through the £10million technical assistance programme to Ukraine.
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 number of United Kingdom nationals working or living in Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We do not assess this. According to the Ukrainian authorities, there were 499 British nationals registered as working or living in Ukraine on 1 April 2014.
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 number of United Kingdom nationals holidaying in Ukraine at any one time.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We do not regularly seek these figures and the number will vary year-round and according to the security situation. The most recent estimate was compiled for Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice in 2013 when it was estimated that 82600 British nationals had visited Ukraine that year. In 2014 we provided consular assistance to approximately 90 British nationals in Ukraine.