Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the economy of any decline in the UK's ranking in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has not made an assessment of the economic impact of the decline in the UK’s ranking in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI).
According to the latest available data published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the Transport and Storage Sector contributed £83.5 billion Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 2021. It should be noted that this figure includes some sub-sectors not specific to logistics. A breakdown by sub-sector is available within the ONS published Annual Business Survey statistics.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will introduce a zero rate of VAT for repairs of rural churches.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Whilst there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport already administer the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. This aims to redress financial shortfalls by providing grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship. With annual funding increased to £42 million per annum, the scheme handles around 7,000 claims per annum and has made grants totalling over £300 million to date.
Going further by zero rating all repairs of rural churches would impose significant additional pressure on the public finances to which VAT makes a significant contribution.
There are no plans to introduce a new VAT relief for the repair of rural churches. However, the Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rise in shoplifting; and what steps they will take to reduce these offences.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting has on businesses, communities and consumers. The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows neighbourhood crime is down 51% compared to findings from the year ending March 2010.
However, Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 25% in the 12 months to June 2023. Statistics also show the number of people charged with shoplifting offences has risen by 29% in the year ending June 2023.
We have recently made significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime, including shoplifting.
In October, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all police forces in England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
This builds on the NPCC commitment that police forces across England and Wales will follow up all crimes where there is actionable evidence and the chance of identifying an offender, including shoplifting.
October also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many fines or other penalties have been imposed for breaches of road traffic laws by (1) e-bikes, and (2) e-scooters, in each of the past six months.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on fixed penalty notices (FPNs) and other outcomes for motoring offences in England and Wales on an annual basis, as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures: Other PACE’ statistical bulletin. The most recent data, up to 2021, is available here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1118166/fixed-penalty-notices-and-other-motoring-offences-statistics-police-powers-and-procedures-year-ending-31-december-2021.ods
However, the Home Office does not centrally collect data on the type of vehicle involved in the offence.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of farmland in mitigating potential flood damage by retaining excess water on fields in times of floods, and whether they have plans to reward farmers in this regard.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Farmers and land managers can, and do, play a key role in helping to mitigate flood risks, by taking actions which encourage infiltration into the soil, transpiration, slowing the flow of water through a catchment and, in the event of a flood, temporarily storing water away from a watercourse to help protect communities, infrastructure and businesses (including agricultural businesses) downstream.
There will be measures that benefit flood risk mitigation in all three Environmental Land Management schemes: Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship, and Landscape Recovery.
Some areas of land will flood naturally. Anyone farming on a natural flood plain should expect water to enter the flood plain as a result of natural processes. There is no right to compensation or other payments for natural flooding.
In some cases, the Environment Agency will create a temporary flood storage area on private land using its powers under the Water Resources Act 1991. These areas are designed in liaison with land managers and operated by the Environment Agency. Landowners are entitled to compensation to cover the losses and damages they incur when such a scheme is carried out on their land.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage more GPs to practice in rural areas.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that there are issues with recruitment and retention in certain areas of the country, including some rural locations. We launched the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme in 2016, which has attracted hundreds of doctors to train in hard to recruit locations, including many rural areas, by providing a one-off financial incentive of £20,000. As of 2023/24, there are 782 places available on the scheme.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to restore the balance in funding between primary and secondary care to ensure primary care has the resources to train, recruit and retain GPs.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Funding for General Practice and Primary Care Networks has increased to £11.5 billion in 2023/24.
The Government remains committed to growing the general practitioner (GP) workforce and number of doctors in general practice and is determined to deliver this as soon as possible. We are working with NHS England to increase the GP workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
NHS England has made available several retention schemes available to boost the general practice workforce. This includes the GP Retention Scheme, the GP Retention Fund, the National GP Induction and Refresher, the Locum Support Scheme, and the Supporting Mentors Scheme.
To boost recruitment, we have increased the number of GP training places. Last year, we saw 4,032 doctors accepting a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. The number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of the Environment Agency to the regular maintenance of major rivers and water courses; and what assessment they have made of whether any lack of maintenance has contributed to recent flooding.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are around 238,000 assets registered by the Environment Agency that have a flood or coastal risk management purpose in England, including 76,000 assets owned and maintained directly by the Environment Agency, plus approximately 162,000 assets owned by other parties including Risk Management Authorities and Private owners. Of these, 64,000 are classified by the Environment Agency as high consequence system assets – meaning those which provide the greatest level of protection to people and property. Assets are used to maintain major rivers and water courses.
The Environment Agency regularly inspects over 154,000 assets that have a flood or coastal risk management purpose in England whether owned and maintained by the Environment Agency or other Risk Management Authorities or private individuals.
The Environment Agency is currently inspecting assets impacted by Storms Babet and Ciaran. The Environment Agency estimate 2,300 properties flooded during these recent storms, with 139,000 properties better protected by flood and coastal risk management schemes.
As of October 2023, (prior to the recent Storm Babet and Ciaran), the number of Environment Agency assets that were at or above the required condition in a high consequence Risk Management System was 94.5%. For assets owned or maintained by other parties this was 90%.
A high consequence system is a location where there is a high concentration of properties. Flood risk is reduced by several flood defences working together to protect an area. Where assets are below their required condition this identifies that work is required. This does not mean assets have structurally failed or that performance in a flood is compromised.
The Environment Agency publishes details of planned maintenance activities in the river and coastal maintenance programme, and further details can also be found in the Flood and coastal erosion risk management annual report (see attached).
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether slumps in embankments in rural areas contributed to recent flooding events; and what steps they are taking to ensure embankment slumps are repaired.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Environment Agency works closely with other Risk Management Authorities such as local authorities and Internal Drainage Boards to manage flood risk.
The Environment Agency maintains over 7,300km of embankments. In the last two years about 25% of the resource allocation from Flood Defence Grant in Aid was spent on maintaining our embankments.
The Environment Agency has been inspecting assets that may have been impacted by recent storms Babet and Ciaran. Over 2,200 inspections have been undertaken by Environment Agency inspectors and supply chain partners to date. Some assets are still not accessible due to ongoing high-water levels, and to get a full picture on the range of impacts may take a few weeks.
If the performance of an asset is reduced, then action will be taken to ensure that flood risk continues to be effectively managed until the asset meets the required condition.
The Environment Agency continues to have people on the ground supporting local communities and inspecting flood defence assets, and where required is developing plans based on the level of risk to return assets to their required condition.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government under what circumstances office properties which have been empty for six months or longer will be considered for change of use to qualify for conversion to residential homes.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
A national permitted development right (Class MA) provides for the change of use to residential of offices that have been vacant for a continuous period of at least three months. The permitted development right is subject to prior approval by the local planning authority in respect of particular planning matters, such as flooding and transport, and various limitations. Full details of the permitted development right are set out in legislation: The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, as amended.
A planning application is required for any change of use from an office to residential use that falls outside of the scope of the permitted development right, or where the right has been removed by the local planning authority by making an Article 4 direction. Any planning application will be determined in accordance with the local plan and other material considerations.