Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow the temporary reduced rate of VAT of five per cent for certain attractions to apply where a concert is being streamed as live, but for technical reasons was required to be pre-recorded.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Where online access is provided for live-streamed entertainment events when no audience can be present due to lockdown restrictions, the temporary reduced rate of VAT may apply as long as the performance is broadcast live. A pre-recorded concert that can be automatically delivered with minimal or no human intervention is likely to be an electronically supplied service; the liability of which will depend upon the place of supply rules.
Further information on the temporary reduced rate for admissions and electronically supplied services can be found on GOV.UK at the Revenue and Customs Brief on VAT on admission charges to attractions.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Parts 1 and 3 of the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill on building regulations in Scotland; and what plans they have to ensure that Scotland will continue to be able to adopt stricter standards of building regulation.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The assessment of the impact of Parts 1 and 3 of the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill on building regulations in Scotland is as follows:
The Government has no plans to limit Scotland’s existing competence in relation to building regulations.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide support for residential outdoor activity centres that are at risk of closure because of the restrictions put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Department’s advice on educational visits can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools. It is in line with guidance from Public Health England, the Cabinet Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. It is currently under review and the findings will be available at the end of November.
The Government has introduced an unprecedented and comprehensive package of support worth more than £200 billion to help as many individuals and businesses as possible during this difficult period. This includes small business grants, the coronavirus loan guarantee schemes, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), the deferral of VAT and income tax payments, and more. The measures introduced have been designed to be accessible to businesses in most sectors and across the UK.
Further measures have been announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that build on the significant support already available as well as set out how current support will evolve and adapt. These include the extension of the CJRS until the end of March 2021, the extension of the deadline for applications for the Bounce Back Loan scheme and other loan schemes until 31 January 2021, and increased support for the self-employed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grants.
Furthermore, businesses in England that are forced to close due to national or local restrictions will receive up to £3,000 per month. Local authorities in England will also receive one-off funding of £1.1 billion to support businesses more broadly over the coming months as a key part of local economies.
The Government will continue to work closely with local authorities, businesses, business representative organisations, and the financial services sector to monitor the implementation of current support and understand whether there is additional need. Businesses can also access tailored advice through our freephone business support helpline, online via the Business Support website or through their local growth hubs in England.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is collaborating with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on sharing and preserving digital heritage collections.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The cornerstone of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) collaboration to preserve and share digital heritage collections is, ‘Towards a National Collection: Opening UK Heritage to the World’. The programme sees DCMS and AHRC work with AHRC’s Independent Research Organisations (IROs) and universities with the aim of creating a unified virtual ‘national collection’. It is funded via an £18.93 million investment over five years.
The AHRC’s IROs include many of the world’s pre-eminent museums, galleries and archives, playing a highly significant role in the UK’s international prestige and in its multi-billion heritage tourist economy.
Towards a National Collection forges new partnerships between IROs and universities, amplifying and deepening their joint research power. The programme uses new technology to dissolve barriers between different collections – and open UK heritage to new audiences at home and across the world.
The funding for the programme forms part of the Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF), delivered by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) to drive an increase in high quality multi- and interdisciplinary research and innovation. The SPF ensures that UKRI's investment links up effectively with government research priorities and opportunities.
AHRC and DCMS also collaborated on designing the Capability for Collections Fund (CapCo), an allocation from UKRI’s £315m World Class Labs programme, to upgrade and renew conservation, heritage science and digitisation facilities in museums; and provide the underpinning infrastructure required to unlock the creative, economic and innovation potential of the UK’s heritage assets.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to lay a Statutory Instrument to ensure that lawyers from the European Economic Area cannot appear before the UK Intellectual Property Office from 1 January 2021.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are working with colleagues across government to have a suitable solution in place before 31 December, including any necessary amendment to the address for service rules.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are seeking to add trade mark and patent attorneys to the list of legal professions excluded from automatic recognition of professional qualifications in Clauses 22–27 of the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
By adding patent and trade mark attorneys to the list of excluded legal professions, we are putting them outside the scope of the recognition provisions of the Bill completely and seeking to preserve the status quo in relation to these professions and associated regulated legal activities. This brings them in line with the other legal professions excluded under Clause 25(6), in acknowledgment of the different legal systems of the UK.
Registered trade mark and patent attorneys are authorised to carry out certain reserved legal activities in England and Wales, more commonly associated with other legal professionals. By excluding the professions of trade mark and patent attorney from the recognition provisions of the Bill, we will prevent these provisions being used in a way that is not intended by the legislation governing trade mark and patent attorneys and regulated legal activities. This will ensure IPReg will continue to be able decide whether and how trade mark and patent attorneys should be allowed to carry out the regulated legal activities it is designated to regulate in different parts of the UK.
As trade mark and patent attorneys are currently regulated UK-Wide, we appreciate that accessing the professions or the associated activities may not be an issue currently. However, should the regulation of these professions change in the future, this amendment will ensure that they will not be impacted by the recognition provisions in the Bill.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to using the National Lottery Distribution Fund exclusively to support the arts, heritage and sports industries to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic over the next three years.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Income raised by the National Lottery funds good causes in four broad areas, which are set out in the National Lottery Act 1993: communities 40%, arts 20%, heritage 20%, and sport 20%. The government remains committed to funding these four areas and funds are distributed by 12 Lottery Distributing Bodies (LDBs) at arm’s length from government.
The National Lottery distributors have directed up to £600m of funding to UK charities and organisations to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. This has included specific support for the Arts, Heritage and Sports sectors:
Arts Council England reallocated £144 million of National Lottery funding to form their £160 million emergency response package to support individuals and organisations across the cultural sector to deal with the immediate impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has provided £50 million through its Heritage Emergency Fund, which was set up in April to support people and organisations in the heritage sector as a response to the Covid crisis. Phase 1 of this Fund provided grants between £3,000 and £50,000; in phase 2 of the Fund, applicants could apply for grants of up to £250,000.
The National Lottery has contributed £172m towards Sport England’s £210m fund to support the sport and physical activity sector through COVID-19. This includes the £35 million Community Emergency Fund, which is helping community sports clubs and exercise centres to remain open during the pandemic.
More information about the support the National Lottery is providing in response to Covid-19 can be found on the National Lottery Promotions Unit website:
https://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/coronavirus-pandemic-response
In addition to National Lottery funding, the government has also provided specific support for these sectors, including investing an unprecedented £1.57 billion, the biggest ever one-off cash injection into UK culture, to tackle the crisis facing our most loved arts organisations and heritage sites. Similarly, the government has provided substantial support to the sport sector, including tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, alongside urgent work to support sport clubs as a result of clubs not being able to admit spectators to stadia from the 1 October.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Turkey about the opening of the Varosi beachfront in Cyprus; and what steps they intend to take to ensure that UN Resolutions 550, 789, and 2537 are upheld.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK continues to be concerned by the announcement of 6 October to open the beach within the fenced-off area of Varosha, and the subsequent opening of the beach on 8 October. We have made representations to Turkey through our Embassy in Ankara both prior to and following the announcement. These have been reinforced by conversations held with the Turkish Representative at the UN in New York and with the Turkish Ambassador in London.
In response to the announcement, the UK called for the UN Security Council to hold closed consultations on the matter on 9 October. The UK continues to strongly support the numerous Security Council Resolutions covering the issue of Varosha, notably 550 (1984) and 789 (1992). In this regard, we support the UN Presidential Statement reaffirming its support for the relevant Security Council Resolutions and expressing deep concern regarding the announcement.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing an advertising tax credit as part of their COVID-19 economic recovery package in order (1) to help stimulate consumer spending, and (2) to assist the retention of employment in the advertising industry.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government has no plans to introduce a new tax credit for business expenditure on advertising. The Chancellor keeps all aspects of the tax system under review, and announces any changes at a fiscal event.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what scientific analysis has been undertaken of the potential travel distance of aerosol or droplets during singing; and on what evidence they will base any decisions on social distancing restrictions for members of a choir.
Answered by Lord Bethell
A review of the existing literature on this topic was considered by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group on 17 June 2020. The committee’s deliberations and any recommendations will be considered imminently by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). Decisions on special social distancing guidance for choir members will depend on the conclusions arrived at by SAGE.