Tag: Lord Teverson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are considering making further reductions in the maximum university visa refusal rate in relation to Highly Trusted Sponsor status.

Lord Bates

Highly Trusted Sponsor status was replaced with Tier 4 Sponsor status in April 2015.

The maximum permitted visa refusal rate for Tier 4 sponsors was reduced from 20% to 10% in November 2014 to make sure that the colleges and universities who directly benefit from student migration help prevent abuse, and to ensure that institutions are only offering places to genuine students with an appropriate level of English.

Since the new rate was introduced, visa applications from students wishing to study at the UK’s world-class universities have continued to rise. Latest figures show that visa applications from university students are now 17 per cent higher than they were in 2010, and visa applications to Russell Group universities are 33 per cent higher than in 2010.

We will continue to keep the visa refusal rate under review but we have no imminent plans to change the maximum permitted rate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which countries credibility interviews of potential international students were undertaken by UK Visas and Immigration in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, and (3) 2015.

Lord Bates

UK Visas and Immigration interviewed applicants resident in the following countries for Tier 4 Student visa applications:

2015: Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tunisia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

2014: Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tunisia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

2013: Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Bahrain, China and Bangladesh.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which were the 10 countries in which the highest number of interviews for potential international students in the UK took place, and what were the subsequent refusal rates for each country in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, and (3) 2015.

Lord Bates

The top 10 countries, in descending order, in which Tier 4 Student applications were undertaken and the subsequent refusal rates can be found in table to below:

2015 (Jan-Jun)

Nationality	Refusal rate
CHINA	3%
NIGERIA	14%
SAUDI ARABIA	4%
INDIA	16%
TANZANIA	17%
PAKISTAN	41%
TUNISIA	31%
TURKEY	6%
BRAZIL	8%
VIETNAM	15%

2014

Nationality	Refusal rate
CHINA	2%
INDIA	14%
NIGERIA	16%
SAUDI ARABIA	7%
PAKISTAN	31%
THAILAND	3%
BRAZIL	3%
RUSSIA	7%
TURKEY	5%
BANGLADESH	26%

2013

Nationality	Refusal rate
CHINA	2%
INDIA	18%
NIGERIA	19%
PAKISTAN	40%
SAUDI ARABIA	7%
THAILAND	2%
RUSSIA	8%
TURKEY	8%
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	1%
BANGLADESH	22%

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they afforded community energy schemes less than one month’s notice for the implementation of changes to the tax rules, but allowed a phasing out of Enterprise Investment Scheme relief for all generation projects over a longer period.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The purpose of the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes is to encourage investment into smaller, higher risk companies that would otherwise struggle to access the funding they need to develop and grow.

Changes have been made to the schemes over time to ensure that asset-backed activities, as well as those that benefit from predictable and reliable income streams, do not qualify, since these often represent lower-risk investments that should be able to secure finance without the need for tax relief. For example, different types of energy generation were excluded from the schemes in 2012, 2014 and 2015, due to clear evidence that such investments were particularly low-risk products offering return of capital, and were being explicitly marketed as such.

Community energy projects in receipt of other government support were not excluded at the time of these previous changes. However, since then the government has become aware of significantly increased interest in the use of community energy for low-risk tax planning purposes. The number of community energy schemes registered as community interest companies (CICs) or community benefit societies has increased from about 5 in 2014 to about 200 by October 2015. The marketing material of these investments suggests that the level of investment risk for community energy, including solar, is comparable to that of activities that were previously excluded.

The government announced at the Summer Budget 2015 that it would monitor the use of the venture capital schemes by community energy organisations to ensure that there was continued value for money for the taxpayer and that they were not the subject of misuse. The government subsequently announced the exclusion of subsidised renewable energy generation by community energy organisations on 26 October 2015, taking effect for investments made on or after 30 November 2015, providing a notice period of five weeks. At the same time, the government announced the exclusion of activities making reserve energy generating capacity available, also with effect for investments made on or after 30 November 2015.

The government believes that the notice period given provided a good balance between the provision of notice to potential investors who might wish to take advantage of the tax reliefs provided through the schemes and the financial risk to the Exchequer that a longer notice period would carry.

To further ensure the venture capital schemes remain well-targeted and deliver value for money, the government announced at Autumn Statement 2015 the exclusion of all remaining energy generation activities from the schemes with effect for investments made on or after 6 April 2016. The new exclusions will apply to both non-renewable and renewable sources of energy generation and apply irrespective of whether a subsidy is received or of the nature of the company carrying on the activities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they have of misuse of the Enterprise Investment Scheme for community energy projects that contributed to their decision to withdraw the scheme for those purposes.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The purpose of the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes is to encourage investment into smaller, higher risk companies that would otherwise struggle to access the funding they need to develop and grow.

Changes have been made to the schemes over time to ensure that asset-backed activities, as well as those that benefit from predictable and reliable income streams, do not qualify, since these often represent lower-risk investments that should be able to secure finance without the need for tax relief. For example, different types of energy generation were excluded from the schemes in 2012, 2014 and 2015, due to clear evidence that such investments were particularly low-risk products offering return of capital, and were being explicitly marketed as such.

Community energy projects in receipt of other government support were not excluded at the time of these previous changes. However, since then the government has become aware of significantly increased interest in the use of community energy for low-risk tax planning purposes. The number of community energy schemes registered as community interest companies (CICs) or community benefit societies has increased from about 5 in 2014 to about 200 by October 2015. The marketing material of these investments suggests that the level of investment risk for community energy, including solar, is comparable to that of activities that were previously excluded.

The government announced at the Summer Budget 2015 that it would monitor the use of the venture capital schemes by community energy organisations to ensure that there was continued value for money for the taxpayer and that they were not the subject of misuse. The government subsequently announced the exclusion of subsidised renewable energy generation by community energy organisations on 26 October 2015, taking effect for investments made on or after 30 November 2015, providing a notice period of five weeks. At the same time, the government announced the exclusion of activities making reserve energy generating capacity available, also with effect for investments made on or after 30 November 2015.

The government believes that the notice period given provided a good balance between the provision of notice to potential investors who might wish to take advantage of the tax reliefs provided through the schemes and the financial risk to the Exchequer that a longer notice period would carry.

To further ensure the venture capital schemes remain well-targeted and deliver value for money, the government announced at Autumn Statement 2015 the exclusion of all remaining energy generation activities from the schemes with effect for investments made on or after 6 April 2016. The new exclusions will apply to both non-renewable and renewable sources of energy generation and apply irrespective of whether a subsidy is received or of the nature of the company carrying on the activities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to review Best Available Techniques permissible with respect to environmental permits for back-up electricity generating plant.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Back-up electricity generating plants with a rated thermal input of 20MW or more are currently regulated under the Environmental Permitting Regulations. Guidance on Best Available Techniques that plants should use is periodically reviewed. The Best Available Techniques for plants with a rated thermal input above 50MW are currently being reviewed. Research is also being undertaken to assess Best Available Technique for combustion plants operating in the capacity market.

Defra is reviewing environmental legislation for back-up generators and will consult on options to set emissions for relevant air pollutants for some plants such as diesel engines. We will consider the coherence of existing legislation with measures we will be introducing as a result of the review and the Medium Combustion Plant Directive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the impact on the electricity market of limiting operational run hours for gas-reciprocating-engine-driven electricity back-up plants under environmental permitting legislation.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Defra will consult later this year on options which will include legislation that would set binding emission limit values on relevant air pollutants from small engines – which may include proposals that would be implemented under environmental permitting legislation. As part of this process Defra will assess the impacts of any policy options it proposes to take forward, and will work with DECC to understand any implications this may have for the electricity market.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that Post Office accounts can accept monies belonging to customers of credit unions and other providers of low cost lending when those customers and members need to be paid back monies due to them.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Post Office is one of the leading challengers in the UK financial services market and offers services under its Post Office Money brand and also services on behalf of third parties. Presently more than 95% of UK current accounts are accessible across Post Office’s counters. Post Office already works with a number of Credit Unions, and customers of these organisations are able to undertake basic financial transactions at Post Office branches. Post Office is also working with the Association of British Credit Unions on its Credit Union expansion project; this is ongoing and Post Office hopes to play a role in any solutions identified.

All of Post Office’s contracts – including with Credit Unions – are commercial arrangements and it would not be appropriate for Government to intervene in these. We support Post Office’s strategy to grow its successful financial services business to reach more customers, including potentially those of the Credit Union sector.