Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide funding to improve accessibility of pilot training.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The aviation industry is a private industry and, therefore it is for employers in this sector to ensure they offer the right training, recruitment and retention support for the skilled workforce that they need.
A training organisation has been approved to deliver a first officer apprenticeship, which would provide training completely cost-free to young people.
My officials are working with the Department for Work and Pensions, and airlines to encourage them to deliver this apprenticeship.
In addition, British Airways, Jet2.com, and TUI have periodically offered partly or fully funded training programmes.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to facilitate training of pilots from commercial to military pilots.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Commercial pilot training does not directly align with the training provided by the Royal Air Force (RAF) for military pilots. While there are some commonalities, there are also significant differences between operating civilian and military aircraft. Consequently, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), under CAP2254, accredits only certain aspects of military aircrew training.
The RAF Reserves offer four schemes that provide opportunities for commercial pilots including training for Air Experience Flight (AEF) duties, progression to Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) roles for University Air Squadrons (UAS) and AEF flight commanders, as well as roles with Defence partners such as Ascent Flying Training and Babcock.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there is a shortage of pilots.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As the UK aviation sector operates predominantly in the private sector, it is for individual airlines to train, recruit and retain pilots to meet today’s demand and the demand of the future.
A training organisation has been approved to deliver a first officer apprenticeship, which would provide training completely cost-free to young people. We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to encourage airlines to deliver this apprenticeship.
Supporting the UK’s aviation workforce is a key priority for this government and I applaud the efforts of British Airways, TUI and Jet2.com to ensure a sustainable pipeline of future pilots by periodically offering partly or fully funded training programmes.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of unclaimed adult-owned HMRC-allocated child trust funds where the beneficiaries are unaware of their existence and HMRC has access to all the account providers.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The information received from Child Trust Fund (CTF) providers does not identify whether an account was initially opened by HMRC.
The Government is committed to reuniting all young adults with their CTFs. HMRC works with CTF providers, industry representatives, and others to enable account owners to be aware of and trace their accounts. Regular HMRC press releases and messages are supplemented by targeted activities likely to appeal to the demographic, with particular emphasis on young people from low income households.
HMRC also provides a free tracing tool on Gov.uk to help people find their CTF provider (www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/find-a-child-trust-fund) and has experienced a significant increase in its use this year.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to follow the government of Scotland in providing matched funding for incentivised learning of life skills for young people in care through the Share Foundation’s Stepladder PLUS programme.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want to ensure that children leaving care have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships and are engaged in education, employment and training.
We recognise the importance of financial skills, such as that provided through the Stepladder Plus programme, in achieving this aim. The department currently supports the use of this programme through its contract, for the provision of Junior ISA savings accounts to children in care, with The Share Foundation. We do not have any plans to provide match funding at this time.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of swimming and water safety attainment results provided by schools as part of the physical educations and sport premium expenditure reporting return, and whether they will publish that data.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is processing the information received through the Digital Expenditure Reporting Return and will publish a summary of quality assured data in the New Year.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost-effectiveness of supported lodgings compared with residential or semi-independent provision, and whether they will make dedicated funding available to expand supported lodgings capacity across local authorities.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Supported accommodation, including supported lodgings, is a newly regulated sector and, as such, evidence of cost effectiveness is also still developing.
To support local authorities with the supported accommodation reforms, £123 million of funding was distributed between 2023 to 2025 to local authorities to offset the increased costs associated with the impact of supported accommodation regulations. The New Burdens Grant has been rolled into the Local Government Funding Scheme to ensure continued funding for the supported accommodation sector.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that supported lodgings are fully integrated into the new Regional Care Cooperatives, and recognised as a core part of local sufficiency planning for older children in care and care leavers.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Regional Care Cooperatives will plan and commission all placements for looked-after children in the region, including placements for older children in care.
The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations ensure that supported lodgings schemes are now registered and regulated by Ofsted, and must meet the supported accommodation standards to operate legally. This enables supported lodging to form part of local sufficiency planning for older children and care leavers.
Local authorities and Regional Care Cooperatives can therefore identify where registered provision exists and commission supported lodgings with the added level of quality assurance that regulation provides via registration and regular inspection.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they plan to have with the government of Cyprus and the Sovereign Base Areas to allow the dependents of UK Armed Forces to work in Cyprus.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
At present, there are no discussions planned on this topic. Immediate family members of UK Service personnel are frequently employed by the Sovereign Base Areas Administration (SBAA) and by British Forces Cyprus (BFC), in the UK’s Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) on Cyprus. They are also free to start their own businesses in the SBAs. Additionally, immediate family members may apply for employment in the Republic of Cyprus, following the same process as any other UK citizen.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to normalise tax laws to allow dependents of UK Armed Forces in Cyprus to work for UK companies while in Cyprus.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has no plans to amend its rules on the taxation of cross-border employment income as they apply to military dependents living in the Sovereign Base Area of Cyprus.
There are no UK tax rules that prevent a person from working for a UK employer whilst they are resident in Cyprus. This includes individuals living within the Sovereign Base Area. Whether a country has the right to tax employment income will depend on where the person is resident and how much time is spent working in the other country.
The UK has a comprehensive Double Taxation Agreement with the Republic of Cyprus. This is based on the Model Tax Convention produced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and regulates which country has the right to tax income in which circumstances. The UK and Cyprus have well established international rules which address how income is taxed when a person is resident in one country and works in another. These rules operate so that an individual is not taxed twice on the same income.
Where a person is resident in the Sovereign Base Area, they are not considered a tax resident in either the UK or Cyprus; instead, they are subject to the tax rules of the Base. There is a provision within the law of the Sovereign Base Area allowing for a credit for any tax paid elsewhere. This ensures that residents of the Sovereign Base Area do not suffer double taxation on income earned from employment outside of the Sovereign Base Area.