Asked by: Lord Berkeley of Knighton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Treasury has made any assessment of the economic effect of post-Brexit arrangements for the music industry, including the altered ability of British artists to tour and perform in Europe.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
We are committed to supporting and promoting a thriving live music industry and ensuring the continued growth of this vital and vibrant sector. The music industry is one of the UK's greatest success stories, producing an extraordinary level of talent recognised and respected the world over.
Since the UK’s exit from the EU, the vast majority of Member States have clarified arrangements or introduced easements to allow visa and work permit free routes for UK performers for some short-term touring. This includes most of the UK’s biggest touring markets such as France, Germany, and the Netherlands. It also includes Spain, which changed its position following engagement from the UK Government and industry.
The Government works closely with the sector and continue to engage with the few remaining Member States to improve arrangements or clarify guidance.
The Government is committed to supporting the UK's brilliant artists to adapt to the new arrangements as part of the Creative Industries Sector Vision, that is why we announced that funding for the Music Exports Growth Scheme (MEGS) will be tripled to £3.2 million over the next two years. This will enable touring artists to break into new international markets.
The Government also provides generous support for orchestras to tour through orchestra tax relief, which currently has a rate of 50%. At Spring Budget 2024, the Government announced that orchestras will permanently receive a rate of 45% from 1 April 2025.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley of Knighton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of female genital mutilation in England.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
NHS Digital’s Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Enhanced Dataset collects data on women and girls with FGM being cared for by the National Health Service in England. The latest data shows that in the period April 2020 to March 2021 there were 5,395 individual women and girls with an attendance where FGM was identified.
The total number of individual women and girls with an attendance where FGM was identified has been relatively stable this year but remains reduced in comparison to total attendances and individuals recorded for the previous year.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley of Knighton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of river pollution caused by existing chicken farms; and what discussions they have had with the Welsh Government about possible river pollution from chicken farms which have planning permission pending.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Agriculture is recorded as the industry most responsible for Water Framework Directive 'Reasons for Not Achieving Good' (RNAG) status in England. The sector accounts for a third of all reasons, the majority coming from nutrients in livestock manure when it is inadequately applied to land. When fertiliser, including from chicken farming, is spread at the wrong time and in the wrong place it can run off to water courses during rainfall events.
We are unable to attribute the contribution by livestock sector. Whist poultry will contribute to this, other sectors, such as dairy, beef and pigs, are more intensive. They create larger quantities of manure and slurry and are likely to have a higher influence on overall pollution incidents.
We devolve environmental policy to the other UK administrations. England's approach differs from that in Wales by using a designation process to determine the location of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs). These at-risk areas require landowners to follow rules for storing and applying organic manure. In 2018 Defra introduced the Farming Rules for Water which standardise good farming practices and offer a new, modern approach to regulation whereby farmers and land managers can determine which approach is best for their land. Under these rules, farmers must consider the soil and crop needs of their farm before applying manure.
Both England and Wales use the Environmental Permitting Regulations for intensive poultry farming (above 40,000 poultry places). Permitted poultry farms are obliged to control manure and other pollution risks. A new development will need to have both planning permission and an environmental permit before it can operate.
My department has not held discussions with the Welsh Government about possible river pollution from chicken farms which have planning permission pending. The responsibility for Town and Country Planning in Wales is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government. Guidance to local planning authorities in Wales is provided by Welsh Ministers, according to planning policies for Wales.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley of Knighton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to protect small businesses in London from closure owing to the rise in business rates.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. A £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme will provide support for the minority who do face an increase. London will benefit more than anywhere else in the country from the transitional relief scheme. In total properties in London will benefit from transitional relief worth over £1 billion over the life of the scheme.
From 1 April, we are permanently doubling the level of Small Business Rate Relief and increasing the thresholds to benefit a greater number of property occupiers. Eligible properties with a rateable value of £12,000 and below will receive 100 per cent relief. This means that 600,000 small businesses will pay no business rates at all.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley of Knighton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the availability of musical instruments and instrumental teachers in schools.
Answered by Lord Nash
Music education hubs are responsible for making sure that every child aged 5 to 18 in their local area has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument through whole-class ensemble teaching and that clear progression routes in music are available and affordable to all young people. Music education hubs must also provide an instrument loan service to support pupils from families with low incomes.
According to data published by Arts Council England (ACE), 583,783 pupils learnt to play an instrument at school through whole-class ensemble teaching in the academic year 2013/14, an increase of 52,361 from 2012/13.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley of Knighton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making in securing convictions for female genital mutilation.
Answered by Lord Bates
At the Girl Summit hosted by the Prime Minister in July 2014, the government set out a clear commitment to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and announced a comprehensive package of domestic measures to achieve this.
This involved a range of measures to improve the law enforcement response and thereby help to secure convictions for FGM. A number of amendments have been tabled to the Serious Crime Bill to strengthen the law, new police guidance on FGM is being published, and a review by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary into so called ‘honour-based’ violence with a focus on FGM will commence in 2015. In addition, 42 forces have signed joint protocols with the Crown Prosecution Service on the investigation and prosecution of FGM. The government published a consultation on 5 December on how to introduce a mandatory reporting duty to increase referrals to the police in order to support more prosecutions.