Lord Lipsey: asked Her Majesty's Government: Why the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency asks customers to send it their passports when applying for a driving licence; and Why, and following what risk assessment, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency refuses to accept photocopied documents in support of licence applications.
Lord Lipsey: asked Her Majesty's Government: In how many cases last year passports or birth certificates went missing between being sent to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and being returned.
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that rather than worrying about the cost of government documents we should spend a little more on parliamentary documents which look—although this is not always the case—as if they are unreadable?
Lord Lipsey: asked Her Majesty's Government: How many passports were lost between dispatch from the Passport Agency and receipt by the applicant.
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, has my noble friend noticed the excellent article published today in The Times by the distinguished political commentator Peter Riddell which brings the comforting news that relations between the permanent Civil Service and special advisers are much improved since the general election?
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that we should keep a sense of proportion about recent events and recognise that under this Government, as under the previous government, civil servants and special advisers rub along together most of the time tolerably well? Does he further agree that no codes of conduct, however well drawn up, will work if there are individuals who are determined to...
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, like my noble friend Lord Faulkner, I am shocked that the Government excluded the National Lottery from Alan Budd's otherwise excellent report. However, I am not surprised. As a government, it is not very often that you find a tax that is not only popular but one that also enables you to extract money from poor people's pockets and spend a large amount of it on rich people's...
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, I greatly welcome the chance given to the House by the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, to debate this matter, although not in the terms in which I had originally hoped to congratulate him. I thought that we were to have the opportunity for a far-ranging debate on the BBC's political coverage at a time when it is under consideration in the light of the Kevill review and when...
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, having read it from cover to cover, I did not detect any bias in it. But some matters were absent from Mr Wanless' report which my own commission for the Social Market Foundation intends to fill in. For example, absences about the role of private insurance need to be filled. To that extent, it could be supplemented. My third point is this. Sometimes reporting may appear to be...
Lord Lipsey: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is the purpose of the roadworks currently taking place at Vauxhall Cross, London; and Whether they will publish the cost-benefit analysis carried out before roadworks at Vauxhall Cross, London, were undertaken; and What were the estimates of the delays caused to travellers as a result of the roadworks at Vauxhall Cross, London; and how these compare with...
Lord Lipsey: rose to move, as an amendment to the Motion, at end insert "but this House regrets that Her Majesty's Government have postponed fulfilling their pledge to the House to introduce a similar order for the regulation of long-term care assurance."
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, before I come to the substance of the matter, perhaps I may make three points. First, I have absolutely nothing against the order, I wish only that another order had come first. Secondly, the noble Lord, Lord Joffe, asked me to apologise for the fact that he is unable to be here tonight. He, having with myself signed the minority report of the Royal Commission on Long-Term Care of...
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, I thank all those who have spoken in support of my amendment this evening. It will not have escaped the Minister's attention that they came from all four quarters of your Lordships' House. I noticed the reference by my noble friend Lord McIntosh to the further orders that will come before the House. We shall have many more opportunities to debate amendments on the subject, should...
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, the licence fee is a stinking, lousy, rotten, unfair, unjust poll tax. Someone on the national minimum wage has to complete a full week's work to earn enough to pay it. I therefore very much regret to this day that the Government turned down the proposal made by the Davies panel in regard to the BBC licence fee that the extra money needed by the BBC should come from a digital...
Lord Lipsey: asked Her Majesty's Government: What statutory orders under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 they plan to lay before Parliament this year; when they plan to lay each of these orders; and which of these orders will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, I also welcome the debate. I do not want to be a "party pooper" by opposing the convivial atmosphere in favour of a Civil Service Bill. I am in favour of a Civil Service Bill. I believe that a well conceived Civil Service Bill could do a bit of good and not much harm. However, I lay stress on the words "well conceived". The noble Lord, Lord Holme, is in a hurry as regards a Bill....
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, I start by welcoming the bi-partisan spirit in which my noble friend's Statement today has been approached and which will carry on into the Joint Committee. Perhaps I may also—in danger of breaching that—say that it is good that this Bill has been produced now—albeit with gaps and albeit that some people would have liked to see it earlier rather than the Government giving way...
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the chances of any commercial television company taking over digital terrestrial are rather slim, and that the only companies that would take it over are companies that we would not want to get their hands on it? Will he therefore encourage the public service broadcasters—not only the BBC, but Channel 4, Channel 5 and ITV—to take it over...
Lord Lipsey: asked the Leader of the House: Who in the House of Lords is responsible for answering Questions on the Electoral Commission.
Lord Lipsey: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that any transitional problems that we may be experiencing in moving from nursing homes pale into insignificance when compared to the dog's breakfast of a policy of free personal care favoured, alas, by the Scots and by the noble Baroness, Lady Barker? Beside being unaffordable and doing nothing to improve care standards, it represents a massive transfer...