Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have taken steps to encourage relevant service providers to develop a common ride hailing protocol; and if so, what discussions, and with whom, they have had to this end.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government supports choice for consumers, and wants to see both taxis and private hire vehicles prosper. The means by which these services are engaged is, subject to meeting the relevant legislative requirements, a matter for the operator and the user.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they place restrictions and conditions on commercial bodies developing high definition mapping databases of UK cities and countryside; and if so, what are those restrictions and conditions.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
There are no restrictions on the creation of mapping databases of the UK and the government does not formally monitor such projects.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost to local government of collecting business rates in England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Data reported by local authorities in England on the amount spent on collecting non-domestic rates for 2014-15 to 2016-17 can be found in the tables below:
Financial year | Total service expenditure for non-domestic rates collection | Total income for non-domestic rates collection | Net current expenditure for non-domestic rates collection |
| £ million | £ million | £ million |
2014-15 | 90.8 | 73.8 | 17.0 |
2015-16 | 86.6 | 75.5 | 11.1 |
2016-17 | 93.2 | 81.8 | 11.4 |
Local authorities are able to offset the costs of collections through fees and charges, which is shown in the table as income. Additionally, under the rates retention system, we give billing authorities an “allowance” made up of business rates income, for which they retain 100 per cent, instead of having to share it with central government and their major precepting authorities.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have produced any estimates of the additional revenue that would be raised by restricting capital gains relief on primary residences.
Answered by Lord Bates
HMRC publishes official statistics on Principal Tax Reliefs on gov.uk[1]. For 2017-18 the estimated cost of the exemption of gains arising on disposal of only or main residences is £27.8bn.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made an estimate of the additional revenue that would be raised if both capital gains and dividend income were taxed through income tax at the same rates as regular income and without separate tax-free allowances; and if so, what is that estimate.
Answered by Lord Bates
HM Revenue and Customs have not made an estimate of the additional revenue that would be raised if both capital gains and dividend income were taxed through income tax at the same rates as regular income and without separate tax-free allowances.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of problems switching fixed telephony provider on the competitiveness of the fixed voice market in the UK.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Ofcom, the independent communications regulator, have recently reviewed the voice only (fixed telephony) market. They found that there are some competitiveness issues in this market which have arisen due to a large majority of consumers moving to voice and broadband packages, and as a result major communications providers withdrawing from the voice only market,limiting consumer choice. Ofcom found that the consumers remaining in the voice only market are largely unengaged, with average contracts lasting over 20 years and is therefore working with the largest provider of voice only services (BT), to explore how communications with these consumers could improve their engagement.
Switching issues within the voice only business market mainly relate to the process of porting numbers, which is the ability to retain telephone numbers as you move to a new communications provider. The Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator is independent from Ofcom and industry, and is leading discussions on how to improve porting arrangements. Further details about its role can be viewed at: http://www.offta.org.uk.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average time taken for businesses with more than one telephone line to switch provider; and how this compares to the time taken for domestic customers to switch providers.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
In 2015, the UK’s independent communications regulator (Ofcom), extended the use of a Gaining Provider Led (GPL) switching process for consumers (including small businesses with up to ten employees) switching their landline and/or broadband provider across the Openreach network, where the majority of these switches take place. These rules specify a minimum switching period of 10 working days, before a customer’s order can be activated.
Ofcom does not hold comparable data on the time it takes business and domestic customers to switch.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Higher National Certificate and Higher National Diploma courses have been terminated as a result of new rules arising out of the Apprentice Levy.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The information requested is not held centrally.
Further information on qualifications within apprenticeship standards is available on the Institute for Apprenticeships website at: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/developing-new-apprenticeships/developing-and-writing-an-apprenticeship-occupational-standard/. The latest information we have on the number of Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas is from the 2016/17 academic year, and as such covers a period prior to the levy coming into effect.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the possible reduction in the number of EU students registering for UK universities in the event of those students having to pay international fees following Brexit.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
EU students, staff and researchers make an important contribution to our universities. We want that contribution to continue and are confident – given the quality of our higher education sector – that it will.
Analysis of Higher Education Statistics Agency finance data shows that in 2015/16, EU tuition fee income accounted for around 2.3% of total higher education institution sector income in the UK. However, some institutions are more dependent on the EU tuition fee income meaning the impact of leaving the EU may be greater for some institutions than others. The precise impact will depend on the outcome of the UK’s negotiations with the EU and the subsequent response of universities.
Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have run an impact study on the likely effect on UK university finances of EU students having to pay international fees following Brexit; and if so, what was the outcome of that study.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
EU students, staff and researchers make an important contribution to our universities. We want that contribution to continue and are confident – given the quality of our higher education sector – that it will.
Analysis of Higher Education Statistics Agency finance data shows that in 2015/16, EU tuition fee income accounted for around 2.3% of total higher education institution sector income in the UK. However, some institutions are more dependent on the EU tuition fee income meaning the impact of leaving the EU may be greater for some institutions than others. The precise impact will depend on the outcome of the UK’s negotiations with the EU and the subsequent response of universities.