Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 1 November (HL2670), in each of the successive years since the ending of the one-in-three out policy, how many regulations were (1) abolished, and (2) brought in by force.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The one-in-three out policy came into force in March 2016 and was abolished in June 2017. We do not have a record of regulations which were abolished or brought into force under the one-in-three out policy during this period. Individual departments are responsible for maintaining a record of their regulatory measures.
The one-in-three out policy was abolished by the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells.
We are unable to give a breakdown of the number of regulations which have been abolished or brought into force in the subsequent years since the one-in-three out policy was abolished. The "Statement of new regulation" which provided this information for previous policies was not produced for one-in-three out. However, the annual Business Impact Target (BIT) report does cover regulations that came into force, with a total of 691 introduced in the successive years since the ending of the one-in-three out policy.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 1 November (HL2670), what was the duration of the one-in-three out policy; and during that time, how many regulations were (1) abolished, and (2) brought in to force.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The one-in-three out policy came into force in March 2016 and was abolished in June 2017. We do not have a record of regulations which were abolished or brought into force under the one-in-three out policy during this period. Individual departments are responsible for maintaining a record of their regulatory measures.
The one-in-three out policy was abolished by the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells.
We are unable to give a breakdown of the number of regulations which have been abolished or brought into force in the subsequent years since the one-in-three out policy was abolished. The "Statement of new regulation" which provided this information for previous policies was not produced for one-in-three out. However, the annual Business Impact Target (BIT) report does cover regulations that came into force, with a total of 691 introduced in the successive years since the ending of the one-in-three out policy.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 1 November (HL2670), which Ministers ended the one-in-three out policy; and on what basis that decision was taken.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The one-in-three out policy came into force in March 2016 and was abolished in June 2017. We do not have a record of regulations which were abolished or brought into force under the one-in-three out policy during this period. Individual departments are responsible for maintaining a record of their regulatory measures.
The one-in-three out policy was abolished by the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells.
We are unable to give a breakdown of the number of regulations which have been abolished or brought into force in the subsequent years since the one-in-three out policy was abolished. The "Statement of new regulation" which provided this information for previous policies was not produced for one-in-three out. However, the annual Business Impact Target (BIT) report does cover regulations that came into force, with a total of 691 introduced in the successive years since the ending of the one-in-three out policy.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on high street retail businesses of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's decision to withdraw the VAT-free shopping scheme for non-resident visitors announced on 23 September.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
On 23 September, as part of the Growth Plan 2022, the previous Chancellor announced that HM Treasury, in partnership with HMRC, would introduce a modern, digital, VAT-free shopping scheme, with the aim of providing a boost to the high street and creating jobs in the retail and tourism sectors. Due to the changing economic picture, on 17 October, the current Chancellor announced that the Government would no longer be proceeding with the introduction of such a scheme. This decision was included as part of the reversal of almost all of the tax measures set out in the Growth Plan on 23 September which have not been legislated for in Parliament. The purpose is to ensure the UK’s economic stability and to provide confidence in the Government’s commitment to fiscal discipline. The Chancellor made clear in his statement that the UK’s public finances must be on a sustainable path into the medium term.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is still their policy to apply a one-in-three-out rule for regulation on business.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No. The Government discontinued the one-in-three-out policy in 2017.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 25 January (HL5285), what changes they have made to their policy on gas storage; and when they expect increased storage capacity to be available.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Energy security is an absolute priority for this government. It is sensible for the Government to explore all possible options to maintain security of gas supply, this includes exploring the future of the clean energy storage landscape. The department has and will continue to engage with the sector to explore options for storage capacity expansion in the longer term.
The Government recognises the increased capacity the Rough gas storage site could provide and hence welcomes Centrica taking the necessary steps to re-open a proportion of the Rough site for this winter. It is Centrica’s commercial decision to apply for regulatory approvals, and to invest in re-opening the site, and management of injection and production rates is at their discretion.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase Local Housing Allowance to support those most in need.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The level of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates is reviewed annually by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and a decision will be announced in due course.
LHA rates were increased in April 2020 to the 30th percentile of local rents, an investment costing nearly £1 billion and providing 1.5 million households with an average of £600 more housing support than they would otherwise have received.
LHA rates have been maintained at their increased levels since then ensuring that all claimants who benefited from the increased levels of housing support continue to do so. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities (LAs). LAs make informed judgements about priorities and needs in their area to ensure that the most vulnerable are supported and funds are targeted effectively. Since 2011 we have provided almost £1.5 billion in DHPs to local authorities.
The government recognises the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. Also included is an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m, running from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential benefit of zero-rating VAT on fuel oil to assist households that are reliant on fuel oil to heat their homes; and what plans they have to reduce VAT on fuel oil.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
This year the Government is providing over £37 billion in cost of living support, including helping people cope with the impact of higher energy bills, with £400 off their bills from October through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) and with millions of the most vulnerable households due to receive at least £1,200 in total.
Domestic fuels such as gas, electricity and heating oil are not subject to the standard rate of VAT at 20 per cent but to a reduced rate of VAT at only 5 per cent.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to abolish the two-child cap on claims for universal credit and child tax credit in order to assist families with the increased cost-of-living; and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the cap on meeting its original policy aim.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
There are no plans at this time to abolish the two-child cap on claims for universal credit and child tax credit.
Statistics on the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children are published every year. The latest stats for April 2022 were published on July 14. These can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that families who receive no fault overpayments of benefits are not faced with additional costs when repaying the overpayments; and whether those steps include updating guidance to benefits staff, including around the discretion in the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and Her Majesty’s Treasury guidelines Managing Public Money, to make a presumption of non-recovery of such overpayments during the current period of rising cost of living.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The latest published statistics show that in 2021/22, Universal Credit Official Error overpayments were at their lowest recorded level of 0.7%, having fallen for the 3rd year in a row.
Where overpayments do occur, Section 105 of The Welfare Reform Act 2012 states that any overpayment of Universal Credit, new style JSA or ESA in excess of entitlement, is recoverable.
The Department therefore seeks to recover benefit overpayments accordingly, but remains committed to doing so without causing undue financial hardship.
We have lowered the standard cap on deductions from Universal Credit twice over recent years, firstly from 40% to 30% in October 2019 and then to 25% in April 2021. We also ensure that any deductions are taken in priority order, which effectively means that higher priority deductions, such as utilities payments, are taken first, with debt only taking up the balance of the overall cap.
Where a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery, and the debt has not arisen as a result of fraud, they are encouraged to contact us. The Department can work with them, reviewing their financial circumstances and in most instances, agreeing a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment. We have recently extended the time period for any reduced repayment of this type to remain in place.
Whilst the Department does have discretion to waive recovery of debt, guidance is clear that this is only intended to happen in exceptional circumstances.
This guidance, which can be found at Chapter 8 of the Benefit overpayment recovery guide on the GOV.UK website, was updated in 2022 to ensure that all appropriate factors are taken into account when a case is being considered for waiver. We are looking to strengthen Operational guidance to ensure agents are aware of when a case is appropriate for waiver consideration.