Became Member: 7th February 1985
Left House: 13th July 2022 (Retired)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Lord Vinson, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Vinson has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Vinson has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Such actions would be concerning and potentially unlawful. The Equality Act 2010 provides that it is unlawful age discrimination for a service provider such as a car hire company to refuse, on age grounds, to lease a vehicle to an otherwise qualified person, unless the company can objectively justify its decision.
Where a company cannot, in those circumstances, show that their leasing policy is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, the affected person can bring a case to the County Court, or Sheriff’s Court in Scotland. The court can then determine whether the “objective justification test” has been satisfied, and may award costs and compensation where the individual wins their case. A range of guidance is available to service providers on their obligations and to service users on their rights, most notably on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s website, but also through the Equality and Advisory and Support Service (EASS). The EASS can be contacted via its website - http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com, or it can be contacted by telephone on 0808 800 0082 (or by text phone on 0808 800 0084).
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf.
The full assessment of risks to the Parliamentary Estate, including the Victoria Tower, from the construction of the Holocaust Memorial can only be made once detailed design proposals are available to review.
Different construction and excavation plans will have different impacts and risks. We plan to install vibration monitors when and where appropriate.
It is expected that the Holocaust Memorial project team will engage with the House as a key stakeholder throughout the detailed design stage.
In 2013, the Prime Minister secured the first ever cut to the seven-year EU Budget Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). As a result, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR’s) latest forecast, UK net contributions to the EU Budget going forward will, on average, be lower per year than in 2013/14 – the final year of the last seven-year deal secured by the previous Government – not higher. The Government supports the objectives of the European Structural and Investment Funds. These programmes are now more strongly focused on results following the implementation of a rigorous performance framework sought by the UK and other net payers during MFF negotiations. The Government is committed to continue to ensure maximum restraint and maximum value for money when it comes to EU expenditure.
The United Kingdom receives an allocation for the Structural Funds (the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund) but not the Cohesion Fund.
A large number of United Kingdom organisations received European Funding under Structural Funds programmes in the last year. As these are too numerous to set down here, I have provided below details of websites which contain lists of beneficiary organisations.
The links to the Structural Funds programmes are:
ERDF Programmes in England: https://www.gov.uk/erdf-programmes-progress-and-achievements.
ESF England and Gibraltar: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/european-social-fund-2007-to-2013
Devolved Administrations (ERDF & ESF)
Northern Ireland: http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/index/finance/european-funding.htm
Scotland: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/support/17404/StructuralFunds2007-2013
Wales: http://wefo.wales.gov.uk/programmes/progress/searchprojects/?lang=en
In terms of other sources of EU funding that BIS is responsible for, this includes the Framework Programme 7 for Research & Innovation with numerous participants from Higher Education, Research Organisations, Private Sector and Public bodies. Project information is not set out on the Commission website in such a way as to make it easy to identify UK recipients of EU funding in a calendar year.
Another source of EU funding that BIS was responsible for was the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (EIP) under the Competitiveness of Innovation and Enterprises (CIP). The latest beneficiaries report is the 2012 version. The following link will provide more information about the recipients of the programme, Beneficiaries Report October 2012 Final Version – http://ec.europa.eu/cip/files/cip/docs/beneficiaries-report-october-2012.en.pdf
There has been no further assessment made on the judgment of the US Court of Appeal in these cases.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a specialist prosecuting authority tackling the top level of serious or complex fraud, bribery, and corruption.
In 2012, the SFO commenced investigations into Libor manipulation which resulted in nine individuals – all holding significant positions in their respective banks – either pleading guilty or found guilty by a jury.
Many of these convictions have been reviewed by the Court of Appeal and none of them have been overturned.
I would refer his Lordship to the answer to HL4421 from Lord Pearson, which was tabled on 21 December 2017, a copy of which has been made available in the Library of the House.
In order to charge and prosecute hate crimes, the CPS uses the legal definition provided by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Criminal Justice Act 2003. The shared police and CPS definition of hate crime is based on the perception of the victim or any other person and allows for case flagging and monitoring as well as appropriate victim support, it does not affect the charge.
This flagging definition comes from the recommended definition in the Macpherson report which was published in 1999 as a result of the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The Macpherson Report found a lack of confidence within communities that hate crime was being treated seriously by the police and Criminal Justice System and recommended that the definition of a racist incident should be, ‘any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person’. Putting the victim’s perception at the heart of the definition gives a clear signal that, once flagged as a hate crime, an appropriate investigation will follow and evidence to support the law on hostility will be proactively sought. The definition seeks to encourage victims to report and to increase confidence in the Criminal Justice System.
The CPS legal guidance on prosecuting racist and religious hate crime recognises the potential impact of prosecutions on Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to freedom of expression). The guidance recognises that not only is speech which is well-received and popular protected, but also speech which is offensive, shocking or disturbing. It is essential in a free, democratic and tolerant society that people are able to exchange views, even when offence may be caused. However, when making prosecution decisions the CPS must balance the rights of an individual to freedom of speech and expression against the duty of the state to act proportionately in the interests of public safety, to prevent disorder and crime, and to protect the rights of others.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has agreed a shared definition of hate crime with the police in order to ensure that all relevant cases are captured as early possible. This definition is based upon the perception of the victim or any other person and is wider than the legal definition. However, in order for the CPS to bring a successful hate crime prosecution the CPS must present sufficient evidence to prove that the offence meets the definition of the crime set out in the relevant legislation.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The Electoral Commission has a statutory role in registering party descriptions, and already has the power to not register certain types of descriptions, including those which are either offensive or misleading to the voter. These duties are set out in legislation and it is important that the Electoral Commission fulfils these efficiently and effectively. Following an incident earlier in the year when the Electoral Commission mistakenly registered an extremely offensive party description, an independent review made some recommendations about future practice which the Electoral Commission accepted.
The Government has no plans to review the powers and governance of the Electoral Commission. The 11th report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Review of the Electoral Commission, recommended that the role of the Electoral Commission should be streamlined and re-focused into two core roles as a regulator of (a) political party funding and (b) of electoral administration. This recommendation was accepted by Government and the Electoral Commission.
The Electoral Commission are responsible for registering party names and descriptions. Legislation permits the Electoral Commission to refuse to register a party name or description in certain circumstances, including, where it is the same as, or likely to result in electors confusing a party name or description with one that is already registered.
The Electoral Commission are responsible for registering party names and descriptions and they have stated where a candidate represents a political party, it should be clear to voters which party the candidate represents. The Government supports this principle and will continue to consider how best to ensure that information on ballot papers is clear to voters.
The Government is reviewing the current law on the use of metric and imperial units of measurement. The purpose of the review is to identify how we can give more choice to businesses and consumers over the units of measurement they use, while ensuring that measurement information remains accurate.
As part of this review, we will carry out an early-stage consultation to gather views and to ensure that we have the best evidence available to make any changes. We would encourage the British Weights and Measures Association to share their views as part of that process.
As an EU Member State and under the Transition Period, the UK did not contribute to individual programmes. The UK contributed to the EU Budget in entirety, as such it is not possible to attribute a financing share to any specific programme. For the EU Budget between the 2014 and 2019, the UK’s average financing share to the entire EU Budget was 12.3%. Further details of the UK contribution to the EU Budget are available in HM Treasury’s publication, European Union Finances Statement.
The Government believes that the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK. We do not believe there is sufficient evidence to support changing the current system of clock changes, including for energy usage. An exceptionally wide-ranging cost benefit analysis would need to be performed to inform a decision on changing the current system, especially given the uncertainty that many businesses are already facing as a result of COVID-19.
We are looking at options for the financing of new nuclear projects. In 2019, we consulted on a Regulated Asset Base as a possible funding model for future nuclear projects. We will respond to the consultation in due course.
The Government keeps the impact of the burning of biomass, including woodchip, on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions under review.
The UK only supports biomass for heat and electricity generation which complies with strict sustainability criteria, and generating stations utilising biomass only receive subsidies in respect of compliant biomass. These criteria include a minimum 60% lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions saving, compared to emissions from an EU fossil fuel comparator for electricity. The calculation requires transport, growing and processing emissions to be included. The greenhouse gas savings requirement will be tightened in a trajectory to 2025.
Those plants using biomass, with a capacity greater than or equal to one megawatt, must also prepare an annual sustainability report, compiled by a third-party auditor/verifier which will provide assurance that biomass is from sustainable sources.
Recent analysis done in relation to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme estimated lifetime carbon savings as follows:
Lifetime carbon savings (MtCO2e) from RHI installations (for all types of solid biomass, not just woodchip). | |
Domestic biomass boilers | 2.4 |
Non-domestic biomass boilers | 37.5 |
Biomass CHP | 3.9 |
Total | 43.8 |
On 20 December, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced that she had accepted statutory undertakings from the parties involved in the proposed acquisition of Cobham by Advent International. These undertakings:
Separately, the companies also provided legally-binding undertakings on the wider economic implications of the transaction. The companies have agreed with the Takeover Panel that Cobham’s headquarters will remain in the UK, that the Cobham name will continue to be used and that there will be a guaranteed level of R&D spend. Advent also gave a commitment to the Business Secretary to protect jobs.
These undertakings will secure the future of Cobham and the important role it plays in our world-leading defence sector and economy.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organisation, independent of the European Union. We have been clear that we will continue membership of ESA and an independent report has shown that the UK gets on average a return of £10 for every £1 it invests with ESA.
The EU’s space programmes are not funded by ESA, but by the EU itself (and, by extension, Member State contributions to the EU’s budget).
Competition investigations into mergers are a matter for the independent Competition and Markets Authority.
Policy development is under way for small modular reactors. Phase One of the competition remains open, and plans for the future of the competition will be shared with the House in due course.
As we build an economy that works for all, the Government will keep the law on mergers and acquisitions under review.
The Government is committed to ensuring the UK has a secure and resilient energy system while meeting our climate change obligations and keeping bills as low as possible. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and shale gas have the potential to play a part in achieving this.
The Government has committed to investing at least £250 million over the next five years in nuclear research and development, which will include support for SMRs. In March 2016, the Government launched the first phase of a competition to identify the best value SMR for the UK, as well as allocating up to £30m over the next 5 years for an SMR-enabling advanced manufacturing programme to develop skills capacity.
The Government supports the exploration of our shale gas resources in a safe and sustainable way. The shale gas resources beneath Britain have the potential to bolster our energy security and lead to jobs and economic growth. UK geology is promising but we make no assumptions about production levels. We need exploration to determine the potential.
The Government has been clear that shale development must be safe and environmentally sound.
The security of the UK’s energy supply is an important factor in the national security of the country and featured prominently in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, published last year. The government also produces an annual assessment of the security of the UK’s energy supply which considers the availability of electricity and gas to meet consumer demand in Great Britain over the next four years. The strategically important contributions of both domestic energy production and diversity of supply are included in this analysis.
Ofcom’s 2020 Connected Nations report shows that 99.4% of UK premises have access to decent broadband speeds (10 Mbps and over), and according to thinkbroadband.com (https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/uk) , 97% can get superfast speeds (24 Mbps and over). Ofcom’s 2021 report, UK Home Broadband Performance, which can be found here (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/telecoms-research/broadband-research/broadband-speeds/uk-home-broadband-performance-nov-2020) showed that the average superfast speeds in rural areas was 44.2 Mbps, compared to 48.6 Mbps in urban areas in 2020.
In order to protect consumers, Ofcom has put in place voluntary broadband speeds Codes of Practice with industry, which can be viewed here (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/information-for-industry/codes-of-practice). Signatories include BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk and Virgin Media. Those signed up to the Code of Practice are committed to having systems which can identify the cause of speed problems, and processes to ensure they are resolved. Furthermore, signatories must provide guaranteed minimum speeds to their customers, and if speeds drop below the promised levels, are required to improve performance within one month. If there is no improvement, consumers have the right to exit their contract without penalty. To ensure effectiveness of the code, Ofcom monitors compliance by the signatories, and where it finds issues, will engage with the provider to deliver prompt resolutions.
The government meets with the BBC on regular occasions to discuss a wide range of issues. When speaking to Tim Davie to congratulate him on his appointment as the new Director General of the BBC, the Secretary of State welcomed Tim Davie’s commitment to impartiality at the BBC. In an age of fake news and self reinforcing algorithms, the need for genuine impartiality is greater than ever.
In April the BBC announced a wide-ranging package of measures to help keep the nation informed, educated, and entertained through these unprecedented times. These new measures included daily and weekly coronavirus updates, supplied across television, radio and online platforms.
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of government, and it is for the BBC Board to ensure that all of the BBC’s output meets the highest standards the public expects. Ofcom is the independent regulator of the BBC, and is responsible for holding the BBC to account in this regard.
It is paramount that children are protected at school and there is robust safeguarding in place. The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, attached, makes clear that any volunteer should not be deployed to work unsupervised with children without appropriate checks. There are no plans currently to change these arrangements.
Many parents play an important role by volunteering to support children in our schools. Unlike in Australia, there is no legal requirement for schools to carry out Disclosure and Barring Service criminal record checks on volunteers, therefore it is unnecessary to consider an exemption for parents from these checks.
No assessment has been made of the CO2 emissions from incineration of fallen livestock.
Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by 13 percent since 1990 (as of 2019), with many farms using more efficient agricultural practices. Land use, land use change and forestry continue to provide benefits in carbon sequestration. The Government recognises the importance of reducing emissions further in these sectors. The Net Zero Strategy and the 25 Year Environment Plan set out the Government’s ambition for how this will be achieved.
Rules regarding the disposal of fallen livestock are in place to protect animal and public health by preventing dangerous pathogens spreading disease into the soil, groundwater, or air. Some pathogens can persist for many decades in the environment and only tiny quantities are needed to infect animals. Therefore, strict regulations are in place as to why fallen livestock cannot be buried but must be disposed of at one of the following: knackers’ yard, hunt kennel, maggot farm, incinerator, or a renderer. We have no plans to consider the option of burying.
The Government's Resources and Waste Strategy, published in 2018, sets out how we will minimise the damage caused to our natural environment by reducing and managing waste safely and carefully. A key principle is to prevent waste in the first place, in keeping with the waste hierarchy, which ranks options for waste management according to their environmental impact. Where waste does occur, we need to manage it in the most efficient way possible. After waste prevention, priority goes to reuse, recycling, and then recovery. Disposal, for example in landfill, is generally regarded as the worst option.
We are therefore encouraging increased use of heat through Combined Heat and Power (CHP) from EfW as it almost doubles the fuel efficiency and can play a really valuable role in our transition to decarbonising the heating of homes and buildings. There is financial support from government for EfW plants and heat networks developers to do this in the form of the existing Heat Networks Investment Project and the upcoming Green Heat Network Fund. The Heat Network Investment Project is already funding CHP based EfW projects in Leeds, London and Cardiff that will supply low carbon heat to local homes and businesses.
UK legislation on Animal By-Products (ABPs) bans the feeding of all farmed animals with catering waste. This ban was introduced following the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the UK in 2001, which is thought to have originated from the illegal feeding of pigs with untreated food waste. The outbreak resulted in the destruction of more than 10 million cattle and sheep and cost the UK economy billions of pounds.
Defra has undertaken studies which show that it might be possible for a range of food waste to be safely fed to livestock but that this is dependent on proper segregation of animal by-products from other material, meaning non-segregated material is an unacceptable disease risk. It is doubtful whether it would be economically viable for potential operators to comply with the controls we would consider necessary for the use of catering waste in feed for pigs.
The UK government has committed to working towards sending zero food waste to landfill by 2030 through its Clean Growth Strategy and Waste and Resources Strategy for England, published in 2018 - http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/resources-and-waste-strategy-for-england. The Environment Bill requires that food waste must be collected from households at least weekly. It should be sent for recycling or composting, ideally through anaerobic digestion which generates energy and produces fertiliser digestate. We will continue to discuss with industries and other stakeholders how we reduce waste and maximise recycling.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease belongs in the family of fatal brain diseases, Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). The family also includes BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep and goats and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer. Scientific research indicates that new variant (nv) CJD is contracted via the consumption of products from cattle infected with BSE, the only TSE known to be transmissible to humans. There is no evidence that pigs and poultry can be affected by TSEs.
Legislation for the prevention and eradication of TSEs prohibits the feeding of protein of animal origin to farmed animals, with a few exceptions (e.g. milk). This is to prevent the transmission of TSEs through feeding. Processed animal protein (PAP) made from pig or poultry material is currently used as fertiliser or is exported but is not sent to landfill.
The current Water Framework Directive classification for the River Itchen is Good.
The Environment Agency (EA) regulates abstraction from and discharges to rivers by issuing permits and checking that these are being complied with. Permit limits are set to ensure the protection of the environment. The EA regularly reviews permits based on the evidence available and it amends these limits when necessary.
As part of its ongoing programme of restoring sustainable abstraction the EA is reviewing abstraction permits. Since 2007 this work has reduced the amount of water being abstracted from the River Itchen catchment each year by more than 5.35 million cubic metres. The EA is also reviewing discharge permits and has successfully reduced the levels of chemicals such as phosphates entering the river system.
The UK Government is supportive of the United Nations’ Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, both as a step forward in international co-operation to tackle irregular migration and as a framework to help us deliver our commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals. The Secretary of State announced the UK’s support for the Migration Compact at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018, and Minister Burt attended the intergovernmental launch event in Marrakesh in December 2018.
Well-managed migration is in everyone’s interests. But uncontrolled migration erodes public confidence, damages economies, and places people on the move in situations of great vulnerability. The UK is taking significant steps to tackle uncontrolled migration both in our domestic policy work and in our ODA-funded programmes by:
The Global Compact for Migration supports delivery of these efforts within the international system and enhances cooperation between states without affecting the sovereignty of all countries to control their own borders. The Compact will not in any way create legal obligations for States, nor does it seek to establish international customary law or further interpret existing treaties or national obligations. It does not establish a ‘human right to migrate’ or create any new legal categories of migrant. The GCM emphasises that migrants are entitled to the same universal human rights as any human being and does not create any new ‘rights’ for migrants.
The Compact commits to protecting freedom of expression for the press and public. The freedom of the media to debate all issues of importance to society, including the issue of migration in all its aspects, is fundamental to a liberal society and the UK Government attaches the highest importance to this. The UK reiterated the importance of this when the UN adopted the Global Compact in December 2018.
It also includes proposals which will help the UK make a strong contribution to the delivery of the global Sustainable Development Goals. This includes those relating to orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people; and those intended to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking, and child labour.
The final draft of the Compact is available online at:
https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/sites/default/files/180711_final_draft_0.pdf
Well-managed migration is in everyone’s interests. But uncontrolled migration erodes public confidence, damages economies, and places those on the move in situations of great vulnerability. The UK is taking significant steps to tackle uncontrolled migration both in our domestic policy work and in our ODA-funded programmes by:
Addressing the root causes of migration, through our targeted assistance for livelihoods, healthcare, education and economic development;
The Global Compact for Migration is one way in which we are working to ensure that UK migration priorities are embedded throughout the international system. It is a step forward in international co-operation to tackle irregular migration and helpful framework to help us deliver our commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Compact is not legally binding. It creates a framework that will allow countries to work together to make migration more beneficial for everyone. It protects every State’s right to determine its own immigration policies, including in areas such as asylum, border controls and returns of illegal migrants.
No - the use of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for general military activities is circumscribed; ODA can only be used in well-defined training on a limited list of topics consistent with development objectives, for example in human rights and humanitarian law.
The UK Government has committed to a target of 0.7% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) as a percentage of Gross National Income, which is measured and reported on a calendar year basis. During 2013, the most recently reported year, £813m of the UK contribution to the EU budget was attributed as ODA.
The majority of the External Assistance Budget of the European Commission is deemed to be official development assistance eligible, and therefore is included in the calculation of the 0.7 per cent of gross national income.
Azuma trains were designed to modern standards for comfort and safety. Before the trains were delivered to London North Eastern Railway (LNER), a number of commissioning tests were carried out ensuring the quality of the ride was of an acceptable standard and safety specifications had been met. The comfort and safety of the trains in service and the rectification of any operational problems is the responsibility of the train operator, LNER, working in partnership with the train supplier and, if required, the Office of Rail and Road.
Amendments to MOT testing for cars, which took effect on 20 May, include a test of emissions control systems on diesel vehicles. Where these are visibly defective, modified, or missing, or where smoke of any colour is emitted, a major fault will be recorded and the vehicle will fail its MOT. Some cars will not meet these standards, for example where diesel particulate filters have been removed, and these vehicles will require repairs in order to pass the MOT test if they are to remain in use. However, the Government is clear that vehicles using public roads must comply with the air pollutant emissions standards they were designed to meet. The Government currently has no plans to introduce a scrappage scheme for vehicles failing their MOT as a result of these changes.
Highways England’s primary concern is the safety and wellbeing of the travelling public and road workers. To keep traffic moving safely through works, and create as safe a working environment as possible, mandatory 50mph speed limits are put in place for the duration of the construction, whilst maintaining three running lanes during the daytime. Continually lifting and reinstating traffic management would extend the duration of the road works and add to costs.
In addition, a significant amount of work takes place off site and at night, to minimise the disruption that would otherwise occur. However, we do recognise that the length of roadworks on the M1 impacts on many drivers’ journeys and Highways England are looking at how they can use shorter lengths of roadworks on future schemes.
The cost of congestion and pollution effects of these roadworks for the past twelve months has not been quantified.
Improving Lives – the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper, published In October 2016, attracted over 6000 responses, including many on how to enhance the employability of ESA recipients. We are currently considering future policy options in this area.
Existing measures to reduce potential costs to employers, and so improve employability, include Access to Work which offers practical advice and funding of up to £42,100 pa for employees’ support costs over and above reasonable adjustments.
Our new ‘Small Employer Offer’ for small and medium-sized enterprises is trialling a £500 payment to employers for mentoring and supporting disabled people employed for over 3 months.
Public Health England’s (PHE) preliminary planning before, and advice during, the COVID-19 pandemic has been guided by the scientific evidence. This is a new virus and PHE continues to keep its planning and advice under review to ensure it is informed by the latest evidence.
Tax relief is available on donations to charity by individuals and organisations, and to charities for their activities, including investment income.
Estimates for tax reliefs on charitable donations by individuals are published in “UK charity tax relief statistics”. The table below is an extract from the latest edition, showing these estimates for the previous 5 tax years.
Extract from Table 1 and 2: Estimates for UK charities tax reliefs. Updated November 2021
Restricted to those reliefs for which accurate figures can be estimated
£m | Reliefs paid to charities | Reliefs paid to individuals | |||||
Tax Year | Gift Aid | Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme | Interest, royalties, trust donations etc | Inheritance Tax | Payroll Giving | Gifts of shares and property | Higher Rate Relief on Gift Aid |
2016-17 | 1,270 | 30 | 10 | 660 | 40 | 60 | 410 |
2017-18 | 1,260 | 30 | 10 | 700 | 40 | 60 | 480 |
2018-19 | 1,350 | 40 | 10 | 800 | 40 | 70 | 500 |
2019-20 | 1,400 | 40 | 10 | 840 | 40 | 70 | 490 |
2020-21 | 1,380 | 30 | 10 | 860 | 40 | 70 | 490 |
Information about tax relief on charities’ investment income, and on charitable donations by organisations is not readily available.
There is no evidence to suggest that businesses have either ceased trading or reduced their turnover to below the VAT threshold due to Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT.
Following the successful introduction of MTD for VAT-registered businesses with taxable turnover above the VAT threshold in April 2019, the Government has extended MTD for VAT to all other VAT-registered businesses from April 2022.
Independent research shows that businesses using MTD-compliant software for their VAT obligations are realising efficiency benefits and the resulting reduction in errors is leading to additional tax revenue.
The UK does not have an exchange rate target and the government does not have a desired level for sterling – the rate is set by the market.
Currency markets move up and down and it would not be appropriate for the Treasury to speculate on the impact of currency moves on the real economy. Any impact would necessarily adjust over time and be sensitive to the broader economic and financial context. The independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England has responsibility for monetary policy. Its primary objective, set out in law, is to maintain price stability, defined as a symmetric inflation target of 2 per cent, as measured by the twelve month increase in the Consumer Prices Index. The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic framework, so the Government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.
The pound currently sits 12% and 10% below the 10-year average exchange rate against the dollar and euro respectively.
The FCA seeks to ensure that regulated firms provide adequate levels of disclosure to investors that invest in financial products, as well as the orderly functioning of these types of investment products.
As part of this, the FCA sets requirements for managers of authorised funds carrying out stock lending, including obligations that they make clear in the fund’s prospectus (the document provided to those considering investing in a fund) if the stocks in the fund they invest in may be lent on to others. However, the FCA does not require fund managers to then seek the permission of fund investors before lending their stock in each individual case. Under FCA rules, managers of authorised funds can only lend the stocks in these funds for the account of and for the benefit of the fund and in the interests of unitholders. The manager must be satisfied that any stock lending is appropriate for generating additional income for the fund at an acceptable degree of risk.
More broadly, the FCA is responsible for enforcing the Short Selling Regulation (SSR), which regulates short selling practices while safeguarding companies and the financial system. It imposes a disclosure regime on those who have reportable net short positions to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and to the public and provides the FCA with powers to suspend short selling or limit transactions when there are significant reductions in the price of certain instruments from the previous day’s closing price. Additionally, the Treasury and FCA both have powers under the Regulation to address adverse events that pose a serious threat to market confidence or financial stability.
The FCA seeks to ensure that regulated firms provide adequate levels of disclosure to investors that invest in financial products, as well as the orderly functioning of these types of investment products.
As part of this, the FCA sets requirements for managers of authorised funds carrying out stock lending, including obligations that they make clear in the fund’s prospectus (the document provided to those considering investing in a fund) if the stocks in the fund they invest in may be lent on to others. However, the FCA does not require fund managers to then seek the permission of fund investors before lending their stock in each individual case. Under FCA rules, managers of authorised funds can only lend the stocks in these funds for the account of and for the benefit of the fund and in the interests of unitholders. The manager must be satisfied that any stock lending is appropriate for generating additional income for the fund at an acceptable degree of risk.
More broadly, the FCA is responsible for enforcing the Short Selling Regulation (SSR), which regulates short selling practices while safeguarding companies and the financial system. It imposes a disclosure regime on those who have reportable net short positions to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and to the public and provides the FCA with powers to suspend short selling or limit transactions when there are significant reductions in the price of certain instruments from the previous day’s closing price. Additionally, the Treasury and FCA both have powers under the Regulation to address adverse events that pose a serious threat to market confidence or financial stability.