Tag: Lord Inglewood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what calculation they have made of the effect of leaving the EU single market on total UK tax revenue.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Treasury has published rigorous and objective analysis on the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives in April 2016, and on the immediate economic impact of leaving the EU in May 2016.

From the short-run analysis, in 2017-18 the deterioration in receipts is £17.9 billion in the ‘shock scenario’ and is larger at £31.9 billion in the ‘severe shock scenario’.

The long-term economic analysis assesses the continued membership of the EU against three different alternatives. The analysis shows that after 15 years, even with savings from reduced contributions to the EU, receipts would be £20 billion a year lower in the central estimate of the European Economic Area alternative, £36 billion a year lower for the negotiated bilateral agreement alternative and £45 billion a year lower for the World Trade Organization alternative. These figures are expressed in terms of 2015 GDP in 2015 prices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-07-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether holding a second referendum is an essential constitutional precondition to invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Article 50 explicitly recognises that a Member State may decide to withdraw “in accordance with its own constitutional requirements”. It is for the Member State concerned to determine what those constitutional requirements are. The Government does not consider that a second referendum is necessary, or required to invoke Article 50.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-07-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 8 June (HL258), whether that estimate of the effect of leaving the EU single market on total UK tax revenue still applies, and if not, whether they will provide updated figures.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The previous Written Answer in question (HL258), cited the estimated impacts of leaving the EU upon UK tax revenues as laid out in the Treasury’s analysis on both the long-term and immediate economic impact of EU membership and alternatives, published in April and May respectively.

There have been no new estimates made for the impact on tax revenue since the EU referendum. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will produce an updated forecast for receipts revenues (Public Sector Current Receipts) at the Autumn Statement later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-07-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether Brexit will increase, decrease, or have no material impact on, the need for more housing in England.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

It is too early to say. Whatever the impact, this government remains committed to increasing the supply of homes for the 86 percent of people who aspire to own their own home. The Spending Review doubled the housing budget and set out the most ambitious affordable housing programme since the 1970s, which will help us to achieve our ambition of delivering one million homes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to preserve UK citizens’ legal right to live in and travel freely across Europe following Brexit.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of UK nationals already living in mainland Europe, and that of EU nationals already living here. The only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in other EU member states were not protected in return. UK nationals that have lived lawfully and continuously for a period of 5 years in a given EU Member State will automatically have a permanent right to reside there.

The reciprocal rights and entitlements that will apply following the UK’s exit are subject to the wider negotiation on our future relationship with the EU. We have not yet begun these negotiations, so it is not possible to set out any positions in advance. However, at every step of this negotiation we will seek to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people, at home and overseas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to reintroduce exchange controls following Brexit.

Lord Young of Cookham

The UK has an inflation target, not an exchange rate target, and Her Majesty’s Government does not express a view on the level of exchange rates. Instead, the exchange rate is allowed to adjust flexibly in response to economic conditions and movements in sterling are determined by market forces.

This framework means we do not need to introduce exchange rate controls.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the annual tax revenues derived from business activities dependent upon membership of the European Single Market; and what is the UK’s annual net contribution to the EU budget.

Lord Young of Cookham

As noted in the previous written answer in question (HL131), there have been no new estimates made for the impact on tax revenue since the EU referendum.

Details of UK net contributions to the EU Budget over the period 2011-12 to 2015-16 can be found in Table C1, page 194, of the 2016 Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (Cm 9322) which was published in July. This is available in the House library.

This table also includes the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March forecast of UK net contributions to the EU Budget for the period 2016-17 to 2019-20.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the average number of British citizens who are in other EU countries, either temporarily or permanently, at any one time.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

United Nation migration statistics from 2015 estimate that there are around 1.2 million British nationals living in the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the social security benefits budget last had a clean and unqualified audit report from the NAO.

Lord Freud

It is the DWP consolidated resource account (not budget) that is audited each year by NAO.

In his certificate of the 2014/15 accounts the Comptroller and Auditor General stated to the House of Commons that, in his opinion, the Department’s financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the Department’s and the Departmental Group’s affairs as at 31 March 2015.

The consolidated resource account has been given a qualified regularity opinion in each of the years that it has been audited (since 1999-00) because of the level of fraud and error in certain benefits.

The qualification is due to material amounts of fraud & error in benefit expenditure. In the 14/15 accounts this was estimated at 1.9% of benefit expenditure, the eventual outturn was 1.8%.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Forestry Commission refuses to allow the use of air rifles by experienced, trained, and insured volunteers as part of an integrated programme for grey squirrel control.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Landowners are free to choose any legal method to control grey squirrels on their own land and to choose the methods they believe to be most effective and appropriate in any location. However, Forestry Commission England currently considers that free shooting has limited effectiveness in controlling grey squirrel populations, with better, more effective methods often available. In addition, the majority of the public forest estate has unrestricted public access and public safety is of paramount importance. For these reasons the Commission does not allow the shooting of grey squirrels by volunteers on its land. Volunteers are, nevertheless, an essential part of controlling grey squirrels and control methodologies continue to be developed and evaluated against the criteria of efficacy, safety and animal welfare. The Commission is additionally encouraging improvements to other methods of control including trapping, as well as assessing the findings of a recent study from Ireland which suggested that an increased pine marten population may result in a reduced grey squirrel population.

The Commission is seriously concerned about the negative impact of grey squirrel populations on woodland and specifically on native woodland. The Government is committed to pursuing co-ordinated action at a national level and in conjunction with partners through the Squirrel Accord, to which both Defra and Forestry Commission England are signatories. Work is continuing to improve the effectiveness of control methods; the structure of grants has been changed to support grey squirrel control and substantial work continues with partners to support our red squirrel populations, including through the control of grey squirrels. The Commission is open to further engagement with national and local organisations as well as landowners sharing our commitment to grey squirrel control for the protection of woodland and red squirrel populations.