Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will make a statement on the future of the system of Prime Minister's trade envoys.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are carefully considering the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy programme in the context of the new Government’s trade objectives. We will update the house in due course on the programme’s future.
Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make bicycles subject to rule 124 of the Highway Code.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The Government does not currently have any plans to make bicycles subject to rule 124 of the Highway Code.
Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to protect elderly and disabled pedestrians from cyclists illegally riding on the pavement.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Cycling on the pavement is an offence, other than in designated areas such as shared use paths. The enforcement of cycling offences is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police.
Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow the private sector to provide COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Vaccines that have been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for use in the United Kingdom can be prescribed by a physician, either in the National Health Service or privately.
As is the case for other private healthcare, the emergence of a private market for COVID-19 vaccines in the UK is a matter for manufacturers and private healthcare providers to decide and agree on.
Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to discourage illegal cycling on pavements.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Cycling on the pavement is an offence, other than in designated areas such as shared use paths. The enforcement of cycling offences is an operational matter for the police.
Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer of Lord Bates on 5 February 2018 (HL4939), whether they will publish an updated table including (1) pensions, (2) health, and (3) total managed expenditure, for 2021–22.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The requested information is in the table:
| 1978-79 | 1996-97 | 2009-10 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2021-22 |
(1) National insurance-funded pensions (£billion) (1) | 7.6 | 32.0 | 66.8 | 89.3 | 91.5 | 104.5 |
as a percentage of Total Managed Expenditure | 9.48% | 9.78% | 9.26% | 11.23% | 11.24% | 9.86% |
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(2) UK Health Expenditure (£billion) (2) | 7.8 | 42.8 | 116.9 | 138.5 | 142.6 | 216.8 |
as a percentage of Total Managed Expenditure | 9.79% | 13.08% | 16.19% | 17.42% | 17.52% | 20.45% |
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Total Managed Expenditure (£billion) (3) | 79.7 | 327.3 | 721.9 | 794.9 | 813.8 | 1,060.3 |
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Data Sources: | ||||||
(1) Figures up to 2016-17 taken from benefit expenditure and caseload tables published by the Department of Work and Pensions. The figure for 2021-22 taken from the DWP Annual Report and Accounts. Figures for National insurance-funded pensions have been provided in line with the request in the initial PQ referred to. | ||||||
(2) Data from 2009-10 onwards taken from table 4.2 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis (PESA) 2022. Data for 1996-97 are as at PESA 2020. 1978-79 data taken from HoC Briefing Paper on NHS Funding and expenditure. | ||||||
(3) Data published by the Office for National Statistics consistent with PESA 2022. | ||||||
Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on the use of Latin on the coinage.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The designs of UK coins are approved by the Chancellor as Master of the Mint, His Majesty The King and the Privy Council. This process is supported by the advice of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, whose role is to ensure that designs meet high standards. UK coinage includes a combination of Latin and English.
Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what contribution the public sector made to growth in GDP in Northern Ireland in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Penn
According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Northern Ireland’s public sector gross valued added (GVA) (defined as the sum of Public Administration & Defence, Education and Human health and social work activities) accounted for 26.5% of Northern Ireland’s GVA in 2020. There are currently no official ONS estimates of sector GVA in 2021 for Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency publish an experimental quarterly Composite Economic Index (NICEI), which provides a more recent measure of economic activity, including for the public sector. In the final quarter of 2021, annual growth in the NICEI was 4.9%, of which the public sector contributed 0.5 percentage points. The NICEI is not produced on a fully equivalent basis to UK GDP.
The ONS’ GVA data for Northern Ireland will capture the contribution of spend from the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. The Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for allocating their funding from their Barnett-based block grant as they see fit in all areas of devolved responsibility, such as health and education. The Northern Ireland Executive received a total Barnett-based block grant of £17.2bn in 2020-21 and £16.2bn in 2021-22.
Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the taxation of residence and domicile.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government believes that the tax system needs to be competitive and attractive, so that those people who will generate growth and jobs will want to reside here.
However, it is also right that those who stay in the UK longer-term pay tax in the same way as everybody else, which is why the Government changed the rules in 2017 to end permanent non-domicile status.
The Government published its Tax Plan at the recent Budget which set out a vision for a lower tax economy for everyone, supporting growth in the economy and ensuring the proceeds of that growth are shared fairly.
Decisions on taxation are a matter for the Chancellor and are considered as part of the budget process. As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government will keep this under review.
Asked by: Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the award of freeport status to DP World owned assets in (1) London, and (2) Southampton.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
On 28 March 2022 DP World resigned from the Solent Freeport Board and are no longer a partner in the Freeport consortium.
The Government is working to urgently understand the facts of what happened in this case and establish whether DP World are in breach of any of the requirements on them as investors in the Thames Freeport.
Freeports are expected to receive around £25 million seed capital, paid to a local authority and to be invested at sites within the Freeport geography. Release of funding is subject to approval of a Full Business Case and currently no Full Business Cases have been approved.