Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the consequentials under the Barnett Formula for each of the devolved administrations resulting from approval of the Lower Thames Crossing.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. Where funding for the Lower Thames Crossing has been allocated at a fiscal event or Estimates, the publication will confirm the total Barnett consequentials received by the devolved governments. The most recent report was published in July 2023 [1]. An updated report will be published in due course.
At spending reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to the overall change in a department’s settlement using the department’s comparability factor. This means Barnett consequentials generated at spending reviews in relation to the Lower Thames Crossing specifically cannot be determined.
For any future spending on the Lower Thames Crossing, Barnett consequentials will be confirmed when UK Government departmental budgets change.
[1] You can access this report via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they still plan to (1) level up, (2) decarbonise, and (3) grow the economy; and what part they envisage the railway industry can play in realising such intentions.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government remains committed to boosting trend growth as the route to raising living standards and delivering high quality public services across the whole of the UK. The Government is also committed to tackling climate change and delivering on our obligations to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.
The Chancellor has announced the Autumn Statement will be delivered on 17 November. This will contain the UK’s medium-term fiscal plan, which will include an assessment of UK growth, and will be accompanied by an OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The Government recognises the rail network's important role in improving connectivity, empowering regional economies and driving growth. The Government is committed to maintaining, renewing and enhancing the rail network. In the Transport Decarbonisation Plan the Government committed to delivering a net zero rail network by 2050.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated annual cost of their decision to suspend annual increases on fuel duty since 2010.
Answered by Lord Bates
The freeze in fuel duty announced at Autumn Budget 2017 is forecast to cost the Exchequer £830 million in its first year. These costs continue in future years.
Freezes since 2011 have meant the Exchequer has not collected around £46 billion in revenues through to 2018-19, and a further £38 billion will be foregone over the Budget forecast period as a result of these previously announced freezes.