Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of Energy Performance Certificates.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Government continues to keep the effectiveness of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) under review.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the average wait time for calls to the Future Pension Centre helpline; and what steps they will take to improve the wait time.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Due to the unprecedented demand with the end of the tax year approaching, call waiting times for Futures Pension Centre helplines have been higher than expected. As a result of this, increased demand across both DWP and HM Revenue & Customs, and the impact on customer service levels, agreement has been reached to extend the period for payment of Voluntary National Insurance until 31 July 23. DWP anticipates this will reduce demand and improve average call wait times.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the war in Ukraine on global warming.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government hasn't carried out an assessment of the impact of the war on global warming
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, what plans they have to tax UK businesses, aside from the private rented housing sector, on turnover rather than profits.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government acknowledges the potential challenges and distortions that can arise from revenue-based taxes, and it does not currently plan to introduce another revenue-based tax.
The UK has introduced a 2 per cent tax on the revenues derived from providing a social media platform, search engine or online marketplace to UK users: the Digital Services Tax (DST). However, the UK’s DST is an interim solution to widely held concerns with international corporate tax.
The Government has introduced the Electricity Generator Levy (EGL) – a temporary 45% additional levy on extraordinary returns from 1 January 2023. It applies to generation from renewable (including biomass), nuclear and energy from waste sources. The EGL applies to revenues from selling electricity for a period above a benchmark price, which is set at approximately 50% more than the average price of electricity over the last decade.
The Government has introduced a number of measures to ensure that large multinational businesses with entities in a number of jurisdictions pay their fair share of Corporation Tax in the UK. These include introducing the Diverted Profits Tax in April 2015 and the Corporate Interest Restriction Rules in 2017, which are designed to prevent profits attributable to UK activities from being shifted overseas.
The Government keeps the tax system under constant review.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government when they propose to enact section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government will not be enacting section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013. The Conservative Party manifesto published in 2019 set out our intention to repeal section 40 and the Government has now committed to doing so via the Media Bill as announced in The Queen’s Speech.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for increasing the use of periodic tenancies in the UK; and whether they have examined the use of periodic tenancies in other countries in making any such assessment.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The department has carefully considered the decision to move to periodic tenancies, as part of the forthcoming reforms to renting in England, and has consulted and engaged with stakeholders from the private and social rented sectors on tenancy reform changes over several years. This engagement will continue.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of replacing assured shorthold tenancies with periodic tenancies; and what assessment they have made of the benefits of doing that.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The department has carefully considered the decision to move to periodic tenancies, as part of the forthcoming reforms to renting in England, and has consulted and engaged with stakeholders from the private and social rented sectors on tenancy reform changes over several years. This engagement will continue.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - 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 there is a sufficient supply of fruit and vegetables in UK supermarkets.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain in close contact with suppliers, who are clear that current issues relating to the availability of certain fruits and vegetables are predominately caused by poor weather in Spain and North Africa where they are produced. These issues have been caused by unseasonal weather hampering production and harvest during December and January.
We are aware some supermarkets are limiting sales of certain fruit and vegetables. While short-term supplies may be tight, overall, the supply chain is robust, and we are keeping the market under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group.
The capability, levers and expertise to respond to disruption lie with industry. The Government's role is to support and enable an industry-led response. UK food security remains resilient, and we continue to expect industry to be able to mitigate supply problems through alternative sourcing options.
We work with industry bodies across the horticulture sectors, including with the Edible Horticulture Roundtable Group, as well as with other key stakeholders, such as the British Growers Association and the National Farmers Union to monitor and assess the current market situation. We also work with colleagues in the Devolved Administrations at the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group.
The Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, Mark Spencer, held an industry roundtable with supermarkets on 27 February to explore their plans for a return to normal supplies and contingencies for dealing with these supply chain problems.
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response, and is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Defra has a collaborative relationship with industry which allows us to respond effectively to disruption, should it occur.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to equalise the VAT rate for public charging (20 per cent) and home charging (5 per cent) for electric vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
There are no current plans to change the VAT treatment of electric vehicle charging. However, the Government is committed to supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles to help the UK meet its net-zero obligations. The Government has committed £2.5 billion since 2020 to support the transition to zero emission vehicles, which funds targeted vehicle grants and the rollout of charging infrastructure.Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to restrict excessively noisy motor bikes and cars in urban areas, including enforcement action to protect local residents from noise pollution.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The police and local authorities have existing powers to tackle excessively noisy and illegally modified vehicles.
To support enforcement efforts, the Department has commenced roadside trials of the latest ‘noise camera’ technology. These trials are taking place to determine whether noise cameras can be an effective tool for the police and local authorities to enable more targeted and efficient enforcement. If the trials prove to be successful, noise cameras may be considered for wider rollout.