Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness and impact of their Growing Place-based Giving Programme.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Growing Place-based Giving Programme supported the creation of six place-based giving schemes as a means of stimulating local philanthropy and increasing investment in local communities in England. Each giving scheme received £100,000 of seed funding and development support from a specialist organisation. The schemes began work in 2019 bringing together local residents, philanthropists, corporate donors, and public sector and civil society organisations, and raising money to address local priorities.
The programme report, published in 2020, found that all six place-based giving schemes were in a position to be sustainable at the end of the programme. Based on the schemes’ initial work, the report also stresses that place-based giving can be a mechanism for fostering community cohesion and spirit, civic engagement, and meeting local needs.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected the schemes’ development in 2020, but the report found that place-based giving can be an effective means of responding to crises. All six schemes were able to pivot their work to support local communities. For instance, Barking and Dagenham Giving developed a £100,000 Rapid Response Fund, while Totally Stoked created a hub for the local authority which co-ordinated resources and supported people who were shielding. The report found that this was only possible because of the work done during the Growing Place-based Giving programme.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they determine whether asylum seekers who arrive in the UK without documentation are genuinely from a country not on their list of safe countries.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office employs various processes to establish the identities of asyum claimants, in circumstances where it is not sufficiently evidenced in reliable documentation. These processes include checks of all relevant Home Office databases (such as biographic and biometric checks of previous visa applications), biometric checks with partners in the United States and other countries, and – where there are concerns about a person’s claimed origin - robust nationality testing may be carried out during a substantive asylum interview. The checks and the testing employed during interview may be applied to any person claiming asylum, including those from the ‘safe country’ list.
If any documents are presented by claimants in support of either their identity or their claim, the reliance to place on them is assessed in the round, alongside these checks and wider evidence in the case, in line with our published guidance: ‘Assessing credibility and refugee status’.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their justification for levying a UK import tariff on the 16 different types of mandarins when there are no domestic producers.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Global Tariff (UKGT) sets out the UK’s Most Favoured Nation tariffs. It applies when exceptions, such as preferential treatment under a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or the Generalised Scheme of Preferences, do not apply.
The UKGT has been in place since 1 January 2021. In designing the UKGT, the Government balanced the interests of UK producers and consumers, as well as strategic trade ambitions such as our FTA programme and preferential access for developing countries.
As with all policy, we welcome stakeholder feedback. Stakeholders can submit feedback via the UKGT feedback form available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tariffs-on-goods-imported-into-the-uk.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further the Local Government Association analysis identifying “dental deserts”, how (1) they, and (2) NHS England, work with dental charities to deliver dental hygiene education in areas with relatively low numbers of NHS dentists.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England engages with dental charities, including on the promotion of existing services, seeking engagement from service users or the commissioning of services.
On 19 July 2022, we announced amendments to the National Health Service dentistry contract, including fairer remuneration for dentists to improve care for patients with more complex needs, supporting practices to deliver additional NHS care and improving information for patients. The Department and NHS England are working with the dental sector on further improvements to NHS dentistry to consider new payment models and encouraging dentists to work in areas of need. Further information on these measures will be available in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they and NHS England work with dental charities to deliver dental services in areas seen as ‘dental deserts’.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England engages with dental charities, including on the promotion of existing services, seeking engagement from service users or the commissioning of services.
On 19 July 2022, we announced amendments to the National Health Service dentistry contract, including fairer remuneration for dentists to improve care for patients with more complex needs, supporting practices to deliver additional NHS care and improving information for patients. The Department and NHS England are working with the dental sector on further improvements to NHS dentistry to consider new payment models and encouraging dentists to work in areas of need. Further information on these measures will be available in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has had with the Department of Health and Social Care about ensuring that analogue telecare devices continue to work safely after the digital switchover has been completed in 2025.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has had frequent discussions with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on this issue. On 7 September 2022, the Department of Health and Social Care chaired a meeting on the switchover and on 24 November, we wrote to telecare service providers and device manufacturers to request the results of testing of analogue devices on digital telephone networks. On 5 December, the Department of Health and Social Care published the online only ‘Telecare stakeholder action plan: preparations for the analogue to digital switchover’ which co-ordinates actions to support telecare service providers and encourages further testing.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they examined the case for (1) reducing VAT on domestic fuel, and (2) raising the personal allowance for taxpayers, as an alternative to the Energy Price Guarantee before they announced the Autumn Statement on 17 November; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government made the difficult but necessary decision to maintain income tax thresholds until April 2028 to ensure the tax system supports strong public finances.
Maintaining these thresholds is universal, progressive and fair. The highest earners will contribute more of the revenue. Even with the decision to maintain thresholds the Personal Allowance (PA) has increased by over 40 per cent in real terms since 2010, ensuring some of the lowest earners do not pay income tax. Thanks to the PA, in 2021-22 around 30% of earners didn’t pay tax.
The UK’s PA is high by international standards – it is one of the most generous personal tax allowances in the OECD and highest in the G7.
The Government also recognises that families should not have to bear all of the VAT costs they incur to meet their needs, with domestic fuels such as gas, electricity and heating oil already subject to the reduced rate of VAT at 5 per cent of VAT.
The Government's package of support to help households with their energy bills is more generous than an additional VAT cut on domestic fuel and power, and there would be no guarantee that suppliers would pass on the discounts from this relief to all customers.
As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government will continue to keep income tax thresholds and VAT under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that any owners of a business that is to be dissolved are aware that if they do not withdraw any money from the bank accounts of that business before dissolving the company, the amount in the account will be considered Bona Vacantia and pass to the Crown.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Companies House content on the GOV.UK website provides companies with guidance on all aspects of the dissolution process.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government which dental charities are working in England to promote better dental hygiene in schools and local communities, including those that donate free toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to speed up the processing of applications for asylum.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office are currently dealing with a sustained high level of new asylum claims, including from those who have recently arrived on small boats, which is creating additional pressures on the asylum system.
We are, nevertheless, committed to ensuring asylum claims are considered without unnecessary delay and ensuring that those who need protection are granted as soon as possible so that they can start to integrate and rebuild their lives.
The Home Office have an asylum transformation programme that will speed up and simplify decision making, reduce the time people spend in the asylum system and decrease the number of people who are awaiting an interview or decision. These initiatives include conducting shorter, more focused interviews or omitting interviews where it is appropriate to do so, streamlining decision templates for grants and refusals and focusing on improving quality to ensure decisions are right first time.
We are also increasing the use of technology, improving screening so that more information is captured as early as possible, and have extensive recruitment and training plans in place, including career progression options that will aid the retention of staff.