Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether providers offering Level 6 qualifications funded through the Dance and Drama Awards scheme will attract VAT.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Higher level qualifications, including Level 6, will remain exempt from VAT.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 21 October (HL1211) and the publication of the policy paper on applying VAT to private school fees on 30 October, what evidence they used to conclude that the impact of applying VAT to independent school fees will be smaller in Scotland than in England; and whether this will be case for all local authority areas in Scotland.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government has conducted thorough and detailed analysis of the impacts of this policy. A Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN) has been published which sets out this comprehensive analysis. This can be found here: Applying VAT to private school fees - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The government has also published a detailed response to the consultation conducted between July and September. This can be found here: Government Response to the Technical Note on Applying VAT to Private School Fees and Removing the Business Rates Charitable Rate Relief (publishing.service.gov.uk). Annexed to the consultation response is a detailed explanation of the costing methodology used, including the estimation of pupil movements resulting from the policy.

Alongside the technical consultation, government ministers and officials met with a wide range of stakeholders representing schools, local authorities and Devolved Governments.

The impacts of this policy may vary between different parts of the UK as a result of different local circumstances. Some areas of the UK have a higher concentration of private schools and a higher proportion of local pupils attending private schools; there are also variations in local state sector capacity.

Impacts in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will generally be smaller than in England because those nations have a lower proportion of pupils in private schools, but again there will be regional variation. National differences in education policy will also shape impacts.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the appropriateness of Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel being employed as members of the Civil Service.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Royal Navy has launched the RFA35 programme to determine the long-term future of the RFA, defining its purpose, size, function and optimal crewing model to meet future requirements. RFA35 will also consider options for the future status of RFA personnel. Negotiations on pay and other issues are ongoing to resolve the current dispute with trade unions and will provide a foundation for RFA35.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the current framework, conditions and support for film and television producers headquartered outside London, including the application of Ofcom’s regional quotas for public service broadcasters in relation to companies which have a substantive base only outside London, in enabling the commissioning of programmes from every part of the UK.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government is committed to supporting the growth of the TV and film industry across the whole of the UK. As the Secretary of State has made clear, the television sector specifically is too centralised in London and the South East. That is why the Government has called on broadcasters to be more ambitious in growing the sector in other parts of the country, in order to spread its benefits to towns and cities across the UK. DCMS is taking forward work to understand the opportunities and challenges to further growing the television industry outside of London and the South East to enable commissioning and production activity across the UK. We are committed to working with the sector to ensure the right framework, conditions and support are in place for this to happen.

All public service broadcasters are subject to regional programme making quotas, which are set and monitored by the independent media regulator Ofcom, who also produce the associated guidance. Any changes to these quotas is similarly a matter for Ofcom.

On the matter of film, the Government maintains a UK-wide funding programme, including investment in infrastructure and tax reliefs to support independent British content. We fund the British Film Institute (BFI) to support the film sector through nationwide funding and initiatives. The BFI’s ten year strategy, Screen Culture 2033, sets out its core principle to reach across the full breadth of our nation. The BFI have sought to devolve funding, share power and support networks across regions. They have been awarded £9 million to enable seven Skills Clusters across the UK to identify skills gaps, coordinate local skills training, and develop clearer pathways to long-term employment in the sector.

We support the British Film Commission’s work and our funding has supported the growth of seven geographic production hubs across the UK, by investing in infrastructure and attracting global film productions that bring inward investment into the local and national economy.

The Government recently introduced the Independent Film Tax Credit to support homegrown talent, which will mean that productions with a budget up to £15 million will be eligible for a relief of 53% on qualifying expenditure, whilst films with a budget up to £23.5 million are also eligible and the relief will be tapered. We support independent content across the nations and regions through the £28 million UK Global Screen Fund. The Chancellor recently confirmed that UK Visual Effects costs in film and high-end TV productions will receive a 5% increase in Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit from 1 April 2025, for an overall rate of 39%.

The House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee will be launching an inquiry into the future of UK-US relations.