Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance they can give to organisations providing support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine who want to refurbish boats confiscated from illegal English Channel crossings to help aid the demand for small boats for medical evacuations along the Dnipro River.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The migrant vessels, which this campaign is endeavouring to persuade the Home Office to send to Ukraine, are totally unsuitable for the purposes suggested. They have been assessed by Home Office experts as valueless from a military perspective and lethally dangerous otherwise, with at least 20 deaths linked to them since August 2023 alone.
The Home Office’s opposition to sending these vessels to Ukraine is well-founded and is informed by the assessment of border security and military experts.
The UK remains firmly committed to supporting Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression. To date, we have provided almost £12bn in total military, humanitarian, and economic support. This includes £2.5bn in military aid for 2024/25, an increase of £200m on the previous two years.
We continue to work closely with the Ukrainian Government, together with our international partners, to ensure that their Armed Forces receive the support they need.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to de-criminalise the non-payment of television licence fees.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In February 2020, HM Government launched a public consultation on decriminalising TV licence evasion. The responses highlighted the considerable stress and anxiety the criminal sanction can cause for people, including the most vulnerable in society. HM Government remains concerned that a criminal sanction for TV licence evasion is increasingly disproportionate and unfair in a modern public service broadcasting system.
We will be looking at ways to ensure the BBC’s funding model is sustainable in the long-term, which will include asking whether a mandatory licence fee with criminal penalties for individual households is still appropriate.
HM Government has also taken steps to support licence fee payers, introducing the Simple Payment Plan in April 2020, a flexible payment instalment scheme which allows customers to pay in fortnightly or monthly instalments throughout the year. This is available to certain customers who currently struggle to pay the TV licence fee. More information on the Simple Payment Plan and its eligibility criteria can be found on tvlicensing.co.uk.
The BBC has recently published the findings of its Gender Disparity Review into TV Licence Fee evasion and set out a ten-point plan of action. It is important that the BBC make progress on that plan.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people received a fine for not paying their television licence each year from 2010 to 2022; and how many of those in each year were women.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The requirement to hold, and pay for, a television licence is set out in the Communications Act 2003 and the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004.
People are liable to a financial penalty if they are convicted of TV licence evasion. The Ministry of Justice publishes figures on the number of people fined for non-payment of a TV licence; the information requested can be found below.
Number of people who received a fine for licence fee evasion (2010–22), including the number of women who received a fine for licence fee evasion (2010–22)
Year | All | Women (18+) |
2010 | 141,682 | 96,321 |
2011 | 148,539 | 101,007 |
2012 | 164,167 | 111,685 |
2013 | 152,680 | 106,450 |
2014 | 162,341 | 113,986 |
2015 | 166,119 | 117,241 |
2016 | 152,375 | 108,843 |
2017 | 128,617 | 92,568 |
2018 | 120,533 | 87,634 |
2019 | 113,002 | 83,515 |
2020 | 49,948 | 37,542 |
2021 | 44,364 | 33,161 |
Year ending June 2022 | 43,381 | 32,541 |
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make it a mandatory requirement for affiliates who provide gambling tips to hold a licence.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All gambling advertisements, wherever they appear, must be socially responsible and are subject to strict controls on content and placement to protect children and vulnerable people from harm. As a licence condition, gambling operators must comply with the restrictions set out in the Advertising Codes, which are set by the Committee of Advertising Practice and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, and administered by the Advertising Standards Authority. Operators are liable to enforcement action from the Gambling Commission if affiliates which they pay to carry out marketing activities do not comply with the rules.
The Government’s review of the Gambling Act 2005 is considering a wide range of issues relating to gambling advertising and marketing as part of its broad scope; the forthcoming White Paper will set out our conclusions and next steps.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether all the undistributed (1) Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant, and (2) Additional Restrictions Grant, scheme funds have now been paid back by local authorities; and what is the total amount that has been repaid.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is working closely with Local Authorities to reconcile undistributed monies for all Covid 19 business grant schemes, including the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) and Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). The value of the schemes and receivables due to the Department will be included in the BEIS Annual Report and Accounts which will be published later in the year.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will know what support could be provided to (1) social clubs, and (2) pubs, which continue to struggle with energy costs when the Energy Bill Relief Scheme ends.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, including the hospitality and leisure sector, are protected from high energy costs this winter period. Following an HMT-led review, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible non-domestic customers, including social clubs and pubs. The new scheme strikes a balance between supporting businesses and other non-domestic customers over the next 12 months and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many new specialist gambling treatment clinics have opened since the announcement of these new centres in 2019.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Problem Gambling Clinic in London was already open prior to 2019. Since then, an additional seven new services have opened including an additional Children and Young People Provision in London, the Northern Gambling Service in Leeds, with satellite clinics in Manchester and Sunderland, the West Midlands Gambling Harm Clinics in Stoke-on-Trent and Telford and the Southern Gambling Service in Southampton. NHS England remain on track to open all 15 clinics by the end of 2023/24, ensuring representation across every region of England.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how much money hospitality businesses are forecast to save from the 50 per cent business rate reduction during the 2022–23 financial year.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sector will receive a tax cut worth almost £1.7 billion in 2022-23. This builds on over £16 billion of business rates support already provided to the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors throughout the pandemic, including a £10 billion business rates holiday for 2020-21 and a scheme worth £6 billion in 2021-22.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how much money hospitality businesses saved in business rate reductions as a result of COVID-19 financial assistance in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sector will receive a tax cut worth almost £1.7 billion in 2022-23. This builds on over £16 billion of business rates support already provided to the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors throughout the pandemic, including a £10 billion business rates holiday for 2020-21 and a scheme worth £6 billion in 2021-22.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the undistributed portions of the grant made available for hospitality and leisure businesses in response to the omicron variant of COVID-19 will be paid back by local authorities to HM Treasury.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant and the Additional Restrictions Grant schemes closed on 31 March 2022. Following the closure of the scheme, BEIS will begin the process of reconciling payment data and identifying unspent funds. As set out in the guidance for both schemes, local authorities must repay unspent funds within 30 days of notification by BEIS. All funds recovered will be returned to the Exchequer via the Supplementary Estimates process.