Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many farms, if transferred in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland, and (4) Northern Ireland, are eligible for the payment of inheritance tax following the Budget of 30 October.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief [1].
It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR. Up to around 520 of these are expected to relate to claims for APR (including those that also claim for BPR), and this number falls to around 430 when claims that include AIM shares are excluded. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) each year are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
Estates claiming agricultural property relief are required to provide HMRC with the value of agricultural assets, and this is used when calculating whether tax is due. However, it is not possible to provide constituency level analysis on claims which may be made in the future.
[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure a fair distribution of finance to the Northern Ireland agricultural sector following the decision not to ring-fence the farm support package.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Northern Ireland Executive’s (NIE) Spending Review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution. The NIE is receiving £18.2 billion in 2025-26, including an additional £1.5 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula.
The NIE is responsible for the allocation of its settlement to its devolved responsibilities, including the agricultural sector in Northern Ireland. To support this principle, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has agreed to baseline into 2025-26 the full amount provided to farmers, land managers, and fisheries in 2024-25.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether workers and short-term travellers will be able to travel from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland using an electronic travel authorisation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The ETA scheme applies to passengers visiting or transiting the UK, who do not currently need a visa for short stays and who do not have a valid UK immigration status prior to travelling.
British and Irish nationals do not require an ETA, and an exemption also exists for legal residents of Ireland entering the UK from Ireland.
Other individuals crossing the land border into Northern Ireland will need to continue to enter in accordance with the UK’s immigration framework, including the requirement to obtain an ETA when the scheme is fully rolled out.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Migration Advisory Committee Review of the Seasonal Worker visa, published on 16 July, what is the status of the future of the Seasonal Workers Scheme.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Seasonal Worker route and will announce a detailed response in due course.
On 21 October 2024, the Government underlined its commitment to the horticultural and poultry sectors by confirming that the quota of visas for Seasonal Workers would be 43,000 visas for the horticultural sector in 2025, with 2,000 visas for the poultry sector.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what were the overall costs associated with all aspects of implementing the Windsor Framework Agreement for Northern Ireland, including the installation and staffing of border inspection posts.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out in the Statement of Funding Policy, the UK Government has committed to fund the direct costs associated with reaching the required level of compliance to implement its obligations under the Windsor Framework. The provision under this commitment is set out in the Northern Ireland Office’s Main Estimates 2024-25 Memoranda.
The UK Government is committed to implementing the Windsor Framework in good faith and protecting the UK internal market. Implementing arrangements have been designed to ease the flow of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and reduce administrative and other business burdens.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase of insurance premiums for motor vehicles and dwellings.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Insurers make commercial decisions about the pricing of insurance following their assessment of the relevant risks. Currently premiums are being affected by specific economic factors that are increasing the cost of claims, such as the rising cost of replacement parts and materials. The Government does not generally intervene in these decisions as this could damage competition in the market.
However, the Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and firms are required to do under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive).
On 16 October, the FCA announced a package of work in the insurance market amid concerns about rising prices. This includes a market study on premium finance – a form of credit that allows insurance customers to spread the upfront annual cost of their premium – for both home and motor insurance products.
On the same day, the Government launched a cross-Government taskforce on motor insurance. This Taskforce has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums, while maintaining appropriate levels of cover.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to reach agreement with the European Union on the issue of veterinary medicine supplies for Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A grace period arrangement for veterinary medicines remains in place until the end of 2025 and provides for the continuity of supply to Northern Ireland. Maintaining availability of veterinary medicines to Northern Ireland after the end of 2025 is a priority. This Government continues to progress work on this issue as quickly as possible and engage with the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries to fully understand the potential impacts.
The Veterinary Medicines Working Group, including experts, industry representatives and elected representatives, was also re-established to advise the Government on this matter.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether international arrest warrants exist for Saif Gaddafi for (a) war crimes, (b) crimes against humanity, (c) money laundering and (d) other related offences.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The warrant for the arrest of Saif al-Islam Qadhafi, Colonel Qadhafi's son, was issued by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 27 June 2011 on two counts of crimes against humanity: murder and persecution, allegedly committed in 2011 in Libya. On 10 December 2014 the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court confirmed that the case of Saif al-Islam Qadhafi was still admissible before the ICC, despite his detention in Zintan. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970 (2011) requires Libya to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court and to provide any necessary assistance to the ICC and the ICC Prosecutor.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on whether Saif Gaddafi remains in custody in Libya; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We understand that Saif al-Islam Qadhafi, Colonel Qadhafi's son, remains detained in Zintan, outside of the control of the Libyan government authorities. The UK supports the call from the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the Libyan authorities to do everything possible to ensure transfer to the ICC of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, and to consult with the Court to address any problems that might impede his transfer to The Hague.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on the 100,000 Genome Project; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The 100,000 Genomes Project is making good progress. The project is at the leading edge of global science, developing ground breaking new techniques and protocols.
The Northern Ireland Department of Health and Medical Research Council have provided £3.3 million funding for the Northern Ireland Genomic Medicine Centre which received approval to go live in February 2017, becoming the first of the devolved nations to do so. Recruitment of participating patients has commenced and is on schedule to meet project targets. Sequencing will be performed by Genomics England and the results will be passed back to clinical experts at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
Genomics England has developed semi-automated bioinformatics to analyse genomic data to find the cause of disease. To date, over 29,000 whole genomes have been sequenced and reports are already being returned to the National Health Service who are responsible for discussing clinical interpretations and next steps with patients.
The project is already changing the lives of patients with a rare disease – providing many patients with diagnoses for the first time, often after years of uncertainty and distress whilst helping to reduce considerable costs to health and social care budgets.
Genomics England and NHS England are actively developing a fast track pipeline for patients with cancer who are participating in the Project. We are aiming to reduce the time from sample acquisition to the return of a report to four weeks. This will increase the utility of the service to clinicians and patients alike.