Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action, if any, they are taking to regulate the operation of Scottish limited partnerships.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government conducted a Call for Evidence on Limited Partnership law in 2017. We are actively considering options for reform and will announce next steps shortly.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the National Crime Agency about the operation of Scottish limited partnerships.
Answered by Lord Henley
As part of the recent call for Evidence on Limited Partnership law, government officials have discussed the operation of Scottish Limited Partnerships with the National Crime Agency, and received evidence from the Agency.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether ministers have had discussions with the government of Scotland about the operation of Scottish limited partnerships.
Answered by Lord Henley
In addition to official level engagement my hon. Friend the former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility (Margot James) has had an exchange of correspondence with the Scottish Government on the issue of Scottish Limited Partnerships.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action, if any, they are taking to prevent the use of Scottish limited partnerships for money laundering and the avoidance of legal limits on financial activity.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government conducted a Call for Evidence on Limited Partnership law in 2017. We are actively considering options for reform and will announce next steps shortly.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the lifetime of the Vanguard-class submarines can be extended beyond the previous published date of 2018 to the 2030s referred to in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
As set out in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, we have assessed that we can safely manage and maintain the Vanguard boats until Successor submarines are introduced into service in the early 2030s.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions are planned in the UK to fulfil the objectives of reducing deaths and injuries on the roads included in the global Sustainable Development Goals.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Conservative Manifesto 2015 had a commitment to reduce the number of cyclists and other road users killed or injured on our roads every year. This commitment aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal of halving the number of road traffic deaths and injuries globally by 2020. We are working closely with road safety groups to consider what more can be done in the UK and we believe that every death is a tragedy and is one too many.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why no Minister or senior British representative attended the second global High-Level Conference on Road Safety in Brasilia, Brazil on 18–19 November.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The second global High-Level Conference on Road Safety in Brasilia, Brazil was attended by Deputy Head of Mission, Mr Wasim Mir.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the (1) composition, (2) ownership, and (3) reporting line, of each of the two new bodies to be created to supervise the delivery programme of the successor nuclear deterrent.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Cm9161), the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will establish a new team headed by an experienced commercial specialist to act as the single sponsor for all aspects of the defence nuclear enterprise, from procurement to disposal, with responsibility for submarines, nuclear warheads, skills, related infrastructure and day-to-day nuclear policy.
We will strengthen our arrangements for the procurement and in-service support of nuclear submarines, establishing a new delivery body with the authority and freedom to recruit and retain the best people to manage the submarine enterprise. Options for the new organisation will be developed and assessed for a decision in 2016. The MOD will remain in control of the Successor submarine programme.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the estimated cost of the nuclear deterrent successor programme has increased.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry undertakes. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the United Kingdom contribution to NATO's civil budget in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The figures for the last 5 years for which they are available are in the table below:
DATE (UK FINANCIAL YEAR) | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
UK CONTRIBUTION TO NATO CIVIL BUDGET (£GBP) | 21,304,775.80
| 22,629,075.15
| 19,213,066.08
| 19,391,543.64
| 18,438,652.39
|
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Civil Budget ceiling has been maintained at Zero Nominal Growth for the last five years, with the exception of pensions. The UK contribution to the civil budget each year takes account of other variables: monthly amendments to account for changes in the official exchange rate between the pound and the Euro; NATO adjustments to the call for contributions from Allies to allow for an offset of income received by NATO such as bank interest and for under spends on the budget; and adjustments in the percentage contribution attributable to the UK, which are calculated biannually on the basis of countries’ Growth National Income, and on the number of NATO members contributing.