Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any of the £85 million recently announced to tackle antimicrobial resistance will be used to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) globally, given the commitments outlined on WASH in the new national action plan, Confronting antimicrobial resistance 2024 to 2029.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has committed up to £85 million in additional funding to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Of this, up to £50 million will be used to support low- and middle-income countries improve access to essential antimicrobial drugs; up to £25 million will be used to support action on AMR in the Caribbean; and up to £10 million will support a new independent science panel for AMR. It is not anticipated that these three components will directly be used to support improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The UK recognises the key importance of WASH for preventing infections and thereby preventing the emergence of AMR. In 2022, the UK invested £48 million in water supply and sanitation in developing countries. For example, we fund the multi-year £18.5 million WASH Systems for Health programme, which supports governments in six developing countries to strengthen the systems that provide sustainable WASH services - a key part of reducing the global infectious disease burden.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 25 April (HL3766), when they sought permission from the EU to extend the sunset clause for enterprise investment schemes and venture capital trust schemes.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government’s engagement with the EU Commission on the extension of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) sunset clauses is ongoing.
The government believes the schemes continue to be consistent with subsidy control principles and address an evidenced market failure.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of motor vehicles which are subject to a 'statutory off road notification' but are currently on UK highways.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The outcome of the most recent roadside survey, which provides an estimate of the number of unlicensed vehicles in traffic, was published in December 2023. This showed that 98.7 per cent of vehicles across the UK were correctly licensed, which equates to an estimated 498,000 unlicensed vehicles and an evasion rate of 1.3 per cent.
The survey indicated that five per cent of the estimated 498,000 unlicensed vehicles were subject to a statutory off-road notification.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of untaxed vehicles driving on UK highways.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The outcome of the most recent roadside survey, which provides an estimate of the number of unlicensed vehicles in traffic, was published in December 2023. This showed that 98.7 per cent of vehicles across the UK were correctly licensed, which equates to an estimated 498,000 unlicensed vehicles and an evasion rate of 1.3 per cent.
The survey indicated that five per cent of the estimated 498,000 unlicensed vehicles were subject to a statutory off-road notification.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 21 February (HL Deb col 666) with regard to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement in the context of engaging with the EU for approval for extending the enterprise investment scheme (EIS) and venture capital trust (VCT) scheme, whether the subsidy control provisions of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement apply to EIS and VCT relief, in particular the requirement under Article 363 of that agreement that a subsidy must be selective.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is extending the sunset clause for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme to 2035.
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement is now the primary framework governing subsidy control between the UK and EU. As such, EU State aid rules no longer apply to the UK, save for the limited circumstances covered by the Windsor Framework.
For the EIS and VCT schemes, the government is engaging with the EU, under the Windsor Framework, due to Northern Ireland’s unique access to the EU Single Market.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support healthcare facilities in developing countries to have clean water, decent toilets and better hygiene, as a cost-effective means for reducing the global infectious disease burden.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to supporting access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), including in healthcare facilities, as part of our approach to Ending Preventable Deaths. Our £18.5m WASH Systems for Health programme will support governments in low- and lower-middle income countries to develop stronger systems crucial to the delivery of sustainable and climate resilient WASH services - a vital part of reducing the global infectious disease burden. Additionally, the Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition, funded by the UK, trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements, and supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential (1) gain, or (2) loss, to the Treasury of equating capital gains and income tax votes.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Sums arising which meet the definition of carried interest are properly assessed as chargeable gains subject to capital gains tax (CGT) of 18 per cent or 28 per cent for higher rate taxpayers.
In some circumstances, it is possible for sums meeting the definition of carried interest to be subject to income tax and additionally, capital gains tax. Here, double taxation would be a disproportionate outcome so relief is provided from this higher rate CGT charge to reduce the effective taxation, but only down to the higher of the two rates.
No assessment has been made of the cost of relieving these instances of double taxation.
In 2020, the then Chancellor commissioned the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to carry out a review of Capital Gains Tax (CGT). The OTS provided a costing on aligning CGT rates with those of Income Tax. Please see Paragraph 2.19 of the attached publication.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) cost, or (2) gain, to the Treasury of the removal of carried interest relief from capital gains tax.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Sums arising which meet the definition of carried interest are properly assessed as chargeable gains subject to capital gains tax (CGT) of 18 per cent or 28 per cent for higher rate taxpayers.
In some circumstances, it is possible for sums meeting the definition of carried interest to be subject to income tax and additionally, capital gains tax. Here, double taxation would be a disproportionate outcome so relief is provided from this higher rate CGT charge to reduce the effective taxation, but only down to the higher of the two rates.
No assessment has been made of the cost of relieving these instances of double taxation.
In 2020, the then Chancellor commissioned the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to carry out a review of Capital Gains Tax (CGT). The OTS provided a costing on aligning CGT rates with those of Income Tax. Please see Paragraph 2.19 of the attached publication.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the net change in revenue to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs of abolishing the non-domiciled individual status in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
HMRC publishes annual statistics on information about individuals claiming non-domiciled status in the UK. The latest information shows that non-UK domiciled taxpayers are estimated to have been liable to pay over £7.9 billion in UK income tax, capital gains tax and National Insurance contributions in 2020-21 and have invested over £6 billion in the UK using the Business Investment Relief scheme introduced in 2012.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many full-time equivalent employees work in the Propriety and Ethics department in the Cabinet Office.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
There are 19.3 FTE working in the P&E team broken down as follows:
Director P&E: 1 FTE
P&E Core: 6 FTE
Integrity Systems Team: 9.4 FTE
Secretariat to the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests: 2.9 FTE