Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many copies of the NATO Fact Sheet "Russia's top five myths about NATO" have been circulated (1) in the United Kingdom, and (2) to members of both Houses of Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government has not circulated any North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) fact sheets in the UK or to Members of Parliament or the House of Lords. However, we do commend them to all Members as an excellent resource, and I attach NATO’s “Russia’s top five myths about NATO” fact sheet to this answer and am placing a copy of it in the Library of the House. This and other fact sheets are freely available on NATO’s website. NATO’s own figures show that around 7700 UK-based users have accessed its “NATO-Russia relations: the facts” webpage, while many thousands more have engaged with its content via social media. Additionally, since the start of the Russia/Ukraine crisis the Government has regularly exposed Russian myths through social media, including promoting NATO’s myth busting content. We will look for further opportunities to bring such valuable info to the attention of this House.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent on publicising NATO and its role in the United Kingdom for each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The information requested is not held centrally in the format requested, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of zero nominal growth in NATO's civil budget on the additional tasks given to NATO at the Wales Summit.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government places the highest priority on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) delivering the commitments made at the Wales Summit, which will strengthen the Alliance to ensure it is able to respond to the full range of new and emerging threats. Good progress has been made in 2015 towards delivering the Wales package with Zero Nominal Growth civil budgets in place. For example NATO has reprioritised resources towards Cyber Defence, enabling its funding to rise by 116 per cent within existing resources. The NATO Civil Budget for 2016 remains under discussion, but we are pressing NATO to continue to prioritise resources as necessary towards delivering the Wales agenda. We support the Secretary General’s drive for adaptation of the organisation, which we hope will promote greater prioritisation and smarter use of resources, allowing NATO to respond quickly to evolving security challenges.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether additional categories of expenditure have been added to the defence budget which were not included in the defence budget in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Questions HL1238 and HL1239 to the noble Lord, Lord West of Spithead on 20 July 2015.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether elements of defence-related intelligence have been added to the defence budget.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
No security and intelligence agency funding has been added to the defence budget, apart from routine transfers which are published in main and supplementary estimates.
The funding for the Defence Intelligence organisation remains funded from the defence budget.
As confirmed in the Summer Budget, the Government is committed to meeting the properly- measured NATO pledge to spend 2% of national income on defence every year of this decade. This will include public spending that supports the Ministry of Defence and the contribution made by the secret intelligence agencies.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations with Parliament and civil society have been arranged as a part of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Work has begun on the 2015 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, and these will report by the end of the year. As part of this work, we will engage with a range of stakeholders, including Parliament, academics, industry, think tanks and non-governmental organisations.
Members of the public will have the opportunity to contribute thoughts via a dedicated page on gov.uk. Comments submitted will be considered as part of the wider SDSR and NSS processes and this page is due to go live in the next few weeks.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the findings of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review will be announced.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Work has begun on the 2015 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, and these will report by the end of the year.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many announcements of donations to charities from the funds received in penalties for the manipulation of Libor have been made by ministers.
Answered by Lord Deighton
Since June 2012, HM Treasury has received LIBOR fines from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which the Chancellor has chosen to use to help and support those who demonstrate the very best values in our society. There have been announcements around LIBOR fines made at each Autumn Statement and Budget since 2012.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether all money received in penalties for the manipulation of Libor is subject to the advice of the Advisory Board appointed by HM Treasury; and if not, what is the amount distributed outwith the recommendations.
Answered by Lord Deighton
Since June 2012, the Treasury has received LIBOR fines from the FCA; to date, they have imposed total fines in excess of £450 million relating to its investigations of LIBOR manipulation. This Government promised that this policy would reflect that those who have paid fines in our financial sector, because they demonstrated the very worst of British values, are paying to support those in our Armed Forces and emergency services who demonstrate the very best of British values. We are working with OGDs and relevant charities to ensure that all LIBOR fines received to date will be committed within the life of this Parliament.
The administration of LIBOR fines varies according to the type of organisation applying and receiving the money. In particular, where a Government Department, such as the MoD has been identified as the organisation best suited to deliver the outcome – for example, support for childcare at military establishments – normal Departmental processes have applied. In other circumstances – such as those in support of the Armed Forces Covenant, the Covenant Reference Group – a cross-Whitehall representative body which includes charity representation, provides the guidance on those areas where LIBOR funds could be used to best effect.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the names of those people and organisations represented on the Advisory Board in respect of the money received in penalties for the manipulation of Libor.
Answered by Lord Deighton
Since June 2012, the Treasury has received LIBOR fines from the FCA; to date, they have imposed total fines in excess of £450 million relating to its investigations of LIBOR manipulation. This Government promised that this policy would reflect that those who have paid fines in our financial sector, because they demonstrated the very worst of British values, are paying to support those in our Armed Forces and emergency services who demonstrate the very best of British values. We are working with OGDs and relevant charities to ensure that all LIBOR fines received to date will be committed within the life of this Parliament.
The administration of LIBOR fines varies according to the type of organisation applying and receiving the money. In particular, where a Government Department, such as the MoD has been identified as the organisation best suited to deliver the outcome – for example, support for childcare at military establishments – normal Departmental processes have applied. In other circumstances – such as those in support of the Armed Forces Covenant, the Covenant Reference Group – a cross-Whitehall representative body which includes charity representation, provides the guidance on those areas where LIBOR funds could be used to best effect.