The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-11-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the welfare budget was spent on child benefit in 2014-15.
Damian Hinds
The latest available estimates of Child Benefit expenditure in 2014-15 can be found in Table 4.19 of the publication ‘Economic and fiscal outlook – July 2015’ available here: http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-july-2015/
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any treaty obligations that the development of a solution for the disposition of plutonium will have to meet, and if so, what are those obligations.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Any solution for the disposition of plutonium will need to be fully compliant with the UK’s obligations under such treaties as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and the Euratom Treaty (including any Euratom directives issued thereunder, for example the COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2013/59/EURATOM of 5 December 2013, which requires safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionizing radiation). The particular treaty obligations that may be triggered will depend on the nature of the chosen disposition solution.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent reports about VAT fraud by online traders operating from abroad, what is their estimate of the impact of such tax evasion on (1) the public purse, and (2) UK businesses.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Any UK VAT losses arising from online traders operating from abroad are already included within the published UK Tax Gap.
The estimate of the VAT Gap published in “Measuring Tax Gaps 2015 edition” on 22 October 2015 is £13.1 billion. Overall, the UK Tax Gap was 6.4 per cent in 2013-14,down from 6.6 per cent in 2012-13. As part of that, the VAT Gap is calculated as 11.1 per cent in 2013-14, a reduction from 11.9 per cent in 2012-13.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they intend to make to the government of Saudi Arabia about the sentencing of a Sri Lankan female domestic worker to death by stoning in that country.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We continue to be concerned by the case of Waleed abu Al-Khair and have raised it at a senior level with the Saudi authorities. We will continue to follow this and other cases closely.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the present arrangements for the free movement of persons throughout the European Union are appropriate, in the light of the current level of population movement.
Lord Bates
The Prime Minister clearly set out in his speech and his letter to the President of the European Council the issues we are seeking to tackle through the EU reform negotiations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have suspended or revoked any extant arms licences to Saudi Arabia, or refused any new requests for licences for bombs, missiles, or other military arms and equipment, in the light of repeated UN statements regarding breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.
Lord Maude of Horsham
Since 2014 there have been no suspensions, no revocations and no refusals for licences for bombs, missiles, or other military arms and equipment”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an additional allocation will be made to the National Health Service to compensate for the costs of the proposed increases in fees set out in the options in the consultation paper published by the Care Quality Commission on 2 November.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Government policy for fee-setting regulators is that their chargeable costs should be fully covered through their fees income, in line with HM Treasury Guidance set out in ‘Managing Public Money’.
The proposed fees increases being consulted upon for 2016-17 reflect the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) commitment to achieving full cost recovery, in line with Managing Public Money, within the period of the Spending Review. The fees being charged are therefore funding the CQC as an effective regulator. They allow the CQC’s tough inspection regime to drive up standards across the country, which in turn ensures quality and safety of health and social care provision.
The CQC’s new regulatory model, led by three specialist Chief Inspectors, provides for robust monitoring and inspection of hospitals, adult care providers and general practitioners.
Our expectation is that National Health Service providers should be able to absorb these increases within their overall income which will depend, amongst other factors, on the outcome of the Spending Review and the subsequent tariff setting process for 2016-17.
The Department has also announced that it will make up to £15 million available for general practice in order to cover this and other pressures in 2016/17.
It is for providers to ensure that they have the appropriate capacity and capability in place in order to deliver a safe, high quality service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive about comparative support between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK for charities for encouraging young people to get involved in social action.
Mr Rob Wilson
Officials from the Office for Civil Society have regular contact with their counterparts in Northern Ireland on a range of matters of mutual interest, including better charity regulation. I would personally welcome any further contact and future collaboration in driving forward our mutually important agenda.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are being taken to support the United Kingdom steel industry.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
There is no straightforward solution to the complex global challenges facing the steel industry. However, the Government has been extremely active advocating for and supporting the sector. On 16th October, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State chaired a Steel Summit, which was an important opportunity to bring the key players together. Since then we have been taking action to address the key asks of the steel industry, operating through three Ministerial led working groups. We are also supporting the metals sector more widely through the industry-led Metals Strategy, which will provide a platform for Government to work with the industry on some of the most pressing issues holding back the future growth of the sector.
We have taken EU and International level action on dumping and unfair trade practices. We supported and voted for the renewal of EU anti-dumping measures on wire rod and recently steel tubing and lobbied successfully for an investigation into cheap imports of Reinforcing Steel Bar. My Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State had meetings with European Commissioners and spoke to key counterparts in other Member States on 28 October, calling for firmer, faster action against unfair trade practices. As a direct result, we secured agreement for an extraordinary meeting of the EU’s Competitiveness Council which took place on 9th November. At this Member States agreed that EU level action needed to be taken to address the challenges facing the steel sector. Specifically, the Council agreed to take action to address unfair trading practices, energy costs, investment for modernisation and retraining and the regulatory burden facing the sector.
The Government has confirmed to the steel industry that it will be able to take advantage of special flexibilities to comply with new EU rules on emissions.
Turning to energy costs, we have announced that we will bring forward our compensation package for the industry’s additional costs from climate change policies starting as soon as state aid approval is given by the European Commission. This means that Energy intensive industries will benefit from all compensation at the very earliest opportunity. We have also confirmed that compensation and mitigation arrangements for the costs of climate change policies for Energy Intensive Industries will continue for the whole of the Parliament giving the sectors greater investment confidence. This will save Energy Intensive Industries such as steel hundreds of millions of pounds over the next five years. This will come on top of the more than £50 million we have already paid to steelmakers in compensation for energy costs.
Finally, we are taking action to drive up the number of public contracts won by UK steel manufacturers and their partners through fair and open competition. The National Infrastructure Plan contains a significant number of projects which will use British steel, e.g. Crossrail – with four UK based companies providing over 50,000 tonnes of steel; and HS2 – where Government has already given notice of the thousands of tonnes of steel that will be needed. Following the first meeting of the steel procurement working group chaired by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Government published on 30 October new guidelines for departments to apply on major projects when sourcing and buying steel. The new instructions will help steel suppliers compete on a level playing field with international suppliers for major government projects.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 3 (d)(a) of the North East Devolution Agreement, what funds the Government will provide for phase 2 of the Metro.
Andrew Jones
The Spending Review 2015, as announced last week by my Right Honourable Friend, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, confirmed that a total of £120m has been allocated by way of capital grant, for the five year period 2016-2017 to 2020-2021, for Metro reinvigoration phase 2.
This represents total central government funding of £317m to support asset renewals on the Metro since 2010 and will allow Nexus to plan with certainty its programme of works over the next five years.