Lord Northbrook: To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission were outstanding on 1 September 2024.
Lord Northbrook: To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission have been concluded and reported on in (1) 2024 and (2) each of the previous five calendar years.
Lord Northbrook: To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission have remained pending and incomplete in each of the previous five calendar years, respectively.
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, like other noble Lords I welcome the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hermer, to the Government Front Bench. In the limited time available, I can focus on only one aspect of the gracious Speech, the plan to remove the remaining 92 hereditary Peers from the House, eliminating many centuries of tradition and generational wisdom and thus a golden thread going back to the 13th...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 9 in my name. I apologise to the House and to the Minister for having been alerted to this issue only after Committee. I am grateful for briefings from That’s TV and the Local TV Network. The Conservative Government introduced local TV in 2012. This allowed locally targeted TV services to be introduced using frequencies freed up by the digital switchover...
Lord Northbrook: To ask His Majesty's Government in each of the last five years (1) how many applications have been made to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, (2) in how many cases a review has been completed and a decision been made and, (3) what is the average length of time that the Commission has taken to examine and complete a review.
Lord Northbrook: To ask His Majesty's Government how many case review managers have been employed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission during each of the past five years.
Lord Northbrook: To ask His Majesty's Government what procedure, if any, exists within the Criminal Cases Review Commission for ensuring priority is given to those cases where an applicant has a limited life expectancy, due to age or infirmity.
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, I warmly welcome the report of my noble friend Lord Bridges’s Economic Affairs Committee. I will first look at the recommendations, and the Bank’s and the Government’s reactions to them. I will then consider the review by Dr Bernanke into the Bank’s forecast process, and finally give some thoughts of my own on recent years’ inflation and interest rate rises. As the report...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, I start by highlighting some positive decisions in the 2024 Budget. The 2% cut in national insurance is good. I also welcome the cut in capital gains tax and the increase in the limits for full and partial child benefit. The fuel duty freeze continuation is sensible. The introduction of the £5,000 annual ISA in UK shares is innovative. The new tax on vaping products has health...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have taken part in this debate and to my noble friend the Minister for her detailed and interesting reply. The general mood seemed to be not entirely in favour of the Bill, although my noble friend Lord Astor said it was a crucial step forward. My noble friend Lady Noakes fired away with two barrels, saying that it was “misogynistic” and that...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, I preface my remarks by saying that the Bill has nothing to do with membership of your Lordships’ House. It concerns only the specialist topic of the arrangement for succession to hereditary peerages and baronetcies by making a small step towards modernity. Noble Lords will be aware that in most cases, hereditary peerages can descend only through the male line. Thus, it follows...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, when I listened to the Autumn Statement, it seemed to contain only good news. On the economic front, public sector net borrowing is reducing; on the tax front, national insurance rates are being cut; with regards to pay, the national living wage is going up by nearly 10%; on benefits, working-age benefit is increasing by nearly 7%; pensions are receiving an 8.5% increase; and...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, I declare my interest as having a daughter who would become eligible to succeed to my peerage. The Bill was introduced by Lord Northbrook, read a first time and ordered to be printed.
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, before I withdraw the amendment, I make a small request for a letter from the Minister. My noble friend Lady Scott of Bybrook said at Report: “Legislating for information to be published on a specific platform, when it is routinely made available on local authorities’ websites, would remove their ability to publicise decisions at a local level.”—[Official Report, 6/9/23;...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, I am not quite sure why the Control of Pollution Act is put in the same group as swifts. Anyway, my Amendment 282 is in this group. My local authority, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, unlike some local planning authorities, refuses to impose by planning condition any requirement on developers to mitigate noise, dust and vibration during construction work in accordance...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, I am grateful to noble Lords who contributed to the debate on my amendments, particularly my noble friend Lord Bellingham and the noble Earl, Lord Lytton. I am also grateful for the general support from the Labour and Lib Dem Front Benches. I listened very carefully to the Minister and was very encouraged by the fact that local planning authorities should have regard to relevant...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, again, I listened very carefully to the Minister’s reply. Particularly important was what he said about the Secretary of State for Levelling Up’s housing speech on 24 July that launched this consultation, which includes the proposal to apply local design codes to permitted development rights. I also note that the Government will consult this autumn on how better to support...
Lord Northbrook: My Lords, I rise to speak to two amendments in this group. Under Section 72(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, on making planning decisions in conservation areas, “special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of that area”. Local planning authorities have a wide degree of discretion in...
