Asked by: Lord Petitgas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the teaching of (1) Latin, (2) classics, and (3) history of art, in the school curriculum; and what specific changes they have made to the curriculum and funding of these subjects since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The study of Latin, classics and history of art can teach us valuable lessons in history, politics and art that are as relevant in the 21st century as they were for the ancient world. All schools can choose to teach these subjects if they wish at any stage in a child’s education.
The department is working closely with the Centre for Latin Excellence to ensure that teachers delivering Latin through the Latin Excellence Programme to key stage 4 students are be prioritised for support before the programme ends on 28 February, and that all schools on the programme can continue to use its materials.
The art and design national curriculum includes in its aims that pupils should “know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation”.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The review's aim is for every child and young person to access a cutting-edge curriculum which is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative.
The review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work, and it will publish its final report, with recommendations, this autumn. We will take decisions on what changes to make to the national curriculum in light of these recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Petitgas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage corporate philanthropy in the art sector, such as through higher tax deductibility of corporate gifts and support.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to supporting philanthropy through tax relief worth over £6bn per year for charities and their donors, including £880 million relief per year for corporate donations, and more targeted support worth £40m per year for the arts and heritage sector through the acceptance in lieu and cultural gifts schemes.
The government is aware of a range of ideas from the arts and heritage sector to encourage philanthropy and will consider these as part of the normal policy making process.
Asked by: Lord Petitgas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many flights have been permitted to fly above central London during the night quota period in the past 12 months, broken down into appropriate time periods; and what assessment they have made of the health consequences on residents from the disruption of sleep.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Night flight restrictions at Heathrow Airport are set by the Department for Transport and include a limit on scheduled movements during the night quota period (23:30-06:00). The movement limit is 2,550 for the winter season and 3,250 for the summer season. At Heathrow Airport, during the winter 2023-2024 season, there were a total of 2,544 movements in the night quota period. In the summer 2024 season, there were a total of 3,142 movements. These figures include flights which arrived from or departed to the west of the airport and did not fly over central London.
Flights over central London during the night quota period will also include flights on which the Government does not set restrictions, such as overflights in higher airspace, as well as helicopter flights by the police and other emergency services.
The most recent decision on night flight restrictions at the three noise-designated airports (Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted), published on 17 December 2024, took into account health impacts and maintains existing restrictions through to October 2028.
Asked by: Lord Petitgas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to increase the frequency with which artworks that sit in storage in the Government Art Collection and national museums can be displayed in public locations.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
National museums and galleries, and the Government Art Collection, deliver a wide range of partnership work with public and community organisations across the country.
We want to go further and made a commitment in our manifesto to increase the loans made from national collections to communities across the country. We will soon set out how we intend to deliver this. Initial phases of work have included engaging with the sector to understand the opportunities and challenges in this area, and providing additional financial support to national museums and galleries, as confirmed at the Autumn Budget.
Asked by: Lord Petitgas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the industrial and net-zero strategies, what plans they have to publish a cross-government rural affairs or countryside strategy.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas, so that we can realise the full potential of rural business and communities. We are ensuring that the needs of people and businesses in rural areas are at the heart of policymaking, including in the development of cross-government strategies
Asked by: Lord Petitgas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what public support, and how much funding, have been offered to DP World in connection with their £1 billion investment to expand the London Gateway Container port announced on 14 October 2024.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
His Majesty’s Government expressed strong support for the DP World investment in London Gateway at the International Investment Summit in October. No Government funding has been offered to DP World, whose investment recognises the attractiveness of the UK as a place to develop world-class infrastructure. However, DP World stands to benefit from the Thames Freeport as the owner of London Gateway port and logistics park, part of which was designated in November 2021 as a Freeport tax site. This investment is welcome and is vital to our economic growth and in helping to protect our global supply chains.
Asked by: Lord Petitgas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that their net-zero policies do not undermine (1) farming, and (2) biodiversity.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to delivering net zero by 2050 and will work with farmers and others with a stake in our food system towards this. The transition to more climate-friendly practices will work hand in hand with food security and farm productivity.
We are supporting farmers to adopt low carbon farming practices, increasing the carbon stored on their land while boosting profitability. These practices can also free up land for nature-based solutions like afforestation and improve farm efficiency and diversification opportunities on low-grade land. We will closely examine how to enable innovation benefits in reaching net zero whilst considering new technologies and best practices for farming.
We are committed to continuing the rollout of Environmental Land Management schemes, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive, which are key in protecting farming and delivering our net zero targets, with co-benefits for biodiversity and climate adaptation. We will introduce a land-use framework, helping to protect both the environment, food security and livelihoods.
Climate and nature are intrinsically linked. Defra has a vital role to play in helping deliver carbon budgets and ensuring nature-based solutions are a core part of tackling climate change and averting its impacts. Nature-based solutions deliver multiple benefits for climate, biodiversity and people.
Asked by: Lord Petitgas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their press release of 11 January 2025 on UK–China economic and financial dialogue, how much of the £600 million planned investments were already (1) signed or (2) in advanced discussions prior to the Chancellor’s visit; and what is the breakdown of each investment with respect to the location, value and firms involved.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
There were negotiations at official level ahead the 2025 UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue. Ministerial engagement was essential to deliver the outcomes agreed.
This EFD unlocked market access for UK exporters in financial services and agri-products. These outcomes will benefit a range of UK businesses in these sectors and are worth £600 million to the UK economy and set course to unlock £1 billion in total over the next 5 years. The government published the policy outcomes document on Saturday 11 January which lists the outcomes for British businesses and the UK economy. This is available publicly on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Petitgas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 27 November 2024 (HC14948), what assessment they have made of the potential effect of proposed changes to the non-domiciled tax regime on the UK's international reputation as a destination for high-net-worth individuals; and whether they plan to update the value for money assessment and scenarios for the changes to the non-domiciled tax regime in view of the reported current migration of such individuals.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is making elements of the non-dom reforms simpler to use and more attractive, whilst retaining the structure announced at the Budget. We do not expect these changes to impact the £33.8 billion of tax revenue that the OBR forecast to raise over five years from this government’s and the previous government’s changes to the non-dom tax regime.
Evidence from reforms in 2017 shows that the vast majority of former non-doms who became liable for tax on their worldwide income and gains remained UK resident and continued to contribute to the UK economy.
The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note for this policy on 30 October, which can be found on GOV.UK.