Lord Beecham

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the increase in VAT has yielded in each year since 2011.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) district, and (2) deputy district judges, are currently serving in magistrates' courts; and how many such judges they estimate will be appointed in 2015.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many lay magistrates are currently in post, broken down by (1) socio-economic, and (2) ethnic, categories.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the (1) socio-economic, (2) ethnic, and (3) age, profiles of (a) lay magistrates, and (b) district and deputy district judges, appointed in 2014.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the cause, and (2) the effect, of the 29 per cent reduction in the number of children detained in secure children’s homes between April and September 2013, in the light of the fact that...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the final evaluation of the Youth Justice Reinvestment Custody Pathfinders project will be published.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address any shortage of nurses in the North East of England; and whether they have considered the implications of the possible failure to renew the contract currently held by Northumbria Univer...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the budget for providing courses for indeterminate sentence prisoners convicted of (1) sex offences, and (2) other offences, in each of the last three years.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current annual cost to the Exchequer of tax relief at the standard and higher rates of tax respectively on contributions to private pensions.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners serving indeterminate sentences, other than sex offenders, have been waiting for courses for (1) more than two years, (2) more than one year, and (3) more than six months.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated annual cost to the Exchequer of the proposals to dispense with the 55 per cent charge or inheritance tax on lump sums derived from drawdown or other pensions.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provision, if any, will be made in the contract for the East Coast rail franchise to ensure that all profits accruing to the franchisees are subject to United Kingdom taxes.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in how many localities, and at what cost, they have contracted with bus companies or public transport bodies to display advertisements on buses calling on people who know "benefit cheats" to inform the Department for Work a...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 20 November (HL2705), whether they have taken, or will take, any action in relation to any contracts for services by them or bodies funded by them entered into w...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the annual profits to be made by the successful bidders for the East Coast rail franchise.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 17 November (HL2586), whether they will make available the customer research into the way data on public expenditure statistics were presented in the letters to taxpayers i...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Ministry of Justice advised Sodexo, the contractors managing HM Prison Northumberland at Acklington, not to appear before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Northumberland County Council; and, if so, on what...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to amend the relevant regulations to include specific disregards for payments to compensate sufferers of abuse in the Magdalene laundries and other institutions for the purposes of calculating be...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of potential applicants for United Kingdom benefits who have received compensation for abuse in the Magdalene laundries and other institutions under the scheme established by the governm...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the position of the government of the Republic of Ireland in respect of disregarding monies paid under its scheme to compensate sufferers of abuse in the Magdalene laundries and other institutions for the p...