We remain concerned about relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia. We have called on both sides to engage in dialogue and to respect the commitment they made in the December 2000 Algiers peace agreement to refrain from using force against each other. We will continue to encourage both Eritrea and Ethiopia to engage bilaterally and internationally to resolve their differences, particularly on the ongoing border dispute. We hope progress can be made towards demarcation in accordance with the decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission.

The Government does not disclose the detail of operational cooperation with foreign partners

We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Eritrea, including shortcomings in the rule of law, reports of arbitrary detention, and limits on the freedom of speech. We have made clear to the Eritrean government that they should invite the Special Rapporteur to the country and engage constructively with the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea.

We have also asked Eritrea to clarify its plans to implement the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, the importance of which the Eritrean Permanent Representative highlighted in his statement.

The universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) programme is a great success. Evidence collected from local authorities and multi-academy trusts in August 2014 suggested that 98.5% of schools would be providing hot meals from the start of the autumn term; and the Department for Education is not aware of any schools which are not offering free meals to all their infant pupils. Over 1.6 million infant pupils (85.2% of all infant pupils) took a free school meal on autumn census day in October 2014 – 1.3 million more than were estimated to have taken a free school meal in the January 2014 school census, prior to the introduction of UIFSM. We know from pilots run between 2009 and 2011 that the introduction of universal free school meals helps to improve social skills, increase attainment and encourage healthy choices, as well as saving hard-working families money.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) distinguish between tax avoidance and tax planning. Tax avoidance is bending the rules of the tax system to gain a tax advantage that Parliament never intended. It often involves contrived, artificial transactions that serve little or no purpose other than to produce a tax advantage. It involves operating within the letter – but not the spirit – of the law. Tax avoidance is not the same as tax planning. Tax planning involves using tax reliefs for the purpose for which they were intended. For example, claiming tax relief on capital investment, saving in a tax-exempt ISA or saving for retirement by making contributions to a pension scheme are all legitimate forms of tax planning. While such actions may reduce the total amount of tax paid, they are not tax avoidance, because they involve using tax reliefs in the way that Parliament intended when it passed the relevant legislation.

The United Kingdom provides bilateral assistance on tackling organised crime to a range of international partners in line with the UK’s Serious and Organised Crime Strategy. It does so to tackle international organised crime and minimise the threat it poses to the UK. In order to maintain operational security the UK does not disclose the detail of such operational cooperation.

In line with the Own Resources system – which underpins Member State contributions to the EU budget – adjustments are made to Member State contributions towards the end of each year, as a result of statistical revisions to factors underlying the contributions.

As the Prime Minister said in his statement following the October European Council last year, in some years the UK adjustment has been negative and in some years we contribute a little bit more. This happens every year. However, what has never happened is for €2 billion to be demanded.

The Prime Minister also made clear that it was an unacceptable way for the Commission to suddenly present a bill like this for such a vast sum of money and with so little time to pay it.

Commission Vice-President Georgieva confirmed that there was no way that Member States could have known the net figure until 17 October 2014.

Following intensive discussions with the Commission and at the November ECOFIN meeting, the Government halved the bill for the UK, delayed the bill, will pay no interest on the bill, and has changed the rules of the European Union so that such unacceptable behavior never happens again.

Unless precluded on National Security grounds all gallantry medals awarded are a matter of public record via an announcement in the London Gazette.

There were 7,022 Visa applications made in Nepal and processed in New Delhi between Jan - Sep 2014. Of these, 5,251 were approved.

Public authorities may provide information in response to a request for information exceeding the “appropriate limit” in section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on the basis that the requester pays certain costs. The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 set out fees that may be charged in such cases under section 13 of the Act. However, it is entirely left to the discretion of the public authority whether or not to offer to comply on payment of such a fee.

I can confirm that the answer given by the former Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Warsi on 17 June 2014 still stands.

The National Benefit Fraud Hotline is one of 10 service lines delivered by Capita on behalf of DWP as part of the Network Services Directorate Call Off. There are multiple performance requirements within the contract to assure DWP that Capita are delivering a quality value for money service, the key ones being that Capita answer 90% of customer calls offered to them, and that they maintain a quality score of 89% for these calls against key quality criteria. These requirements are consistent with those in in-house DWP contact centres.

Capita are consistently achieving both of the above metrics with calls answered scores as high as 98% and quality scores as high as 97% in recent weeks.

DWP regularly audit the Capita quality team and undertake activities to ensure that scoring is in alignment with that of DWP.

All visa applications are considered under the Immigration Rules. As the Immigration Rules do not state that there needs to be a demand for specific graduates in the students’ home country, the degree subject is not a consideration for the Entry Clearance Officer.

Any student application refused under PBS Tier 4 of the Immigration Rules can be subject to an Administrative Review (AR). The AR is conducted by an official at a more senior grade than the original decision maker.

Statistics on Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts by consideration band can be found in Table 3.1 of the ‘UK Stamp Tax Statistics 2013-14’ publication. The following table provides data, from that publication, for the estimated yield attributable to residential property within the £1 million to £2 million and above £2 million consideration bands for 2012-2013 and 2013-2014:

Amounts: £ million. Figures may not sum due to rounding conventions

The European Commission are responsible for calculating Member State contributions to the EU Budget using data provided by Eurostat, who collate and validate the data from Member States’ national statistical institutions, including for the UK the Office for National Statistics.

The Prime Minister has been clear that it was completely unacceptable for the European Commission to demand a payment upfront on such a large scale and provide a month in which to pay it.

European Finance Ministers met on the 7 November, and the Chancellor secured an agreement which meant the UK paid nothing on 1 December. Instead the payment will be made in instalments next year, and no fines or interest will be applied. The UK will also not pay £1.7 billion. The British rebate will apply in full, and apply simultaneously with the payment, not a year in arrears as normal. This means the Government has halved the bill, to around £850 million.

Lastly, the UK won agreement to change the regulations to ensure this never happens again. In the future, if any country receives an adjustment demand that is excessive, it will have the same opportunity to phase payments so that they are more affordable.

Construction of the St Helena Airport is more than 60% complete. It is currently within budget and on target to open for commercial flights in early 2016.

The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

In line with long-established convention, the Government does not comment on the proceedings of Cabinet or its committees.

As the noble Lord will understand, we cannot comment on individual gallantry cases.

The net additional cost of military operations in Libya in 2011 was £234 million.

Our military actions in Libya protected civilians under threat of attack and saved lives. All our actions were consistent with our obligations under international law and with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which allowed all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack.