Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of Somaliland joining the Commonwealth.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent and equal sovereign states. It is for the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth Secretariat to take forward expressions of interest and to assess whether an aspirant member meets the eligibility criteria for membership. The UK, alongside others in the international community, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. We believe that the settlement of Somaliland's status is an issue for Somalia and Somaliland to decide through a consultative process and dialogue.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of whether Somaliland meets the criteria for joining the Commonwealth.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent and equal sovereign states. It is for the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth Secretariat to take forward expressions of interest and to assess whether an aspirant member meets the eligibility criteria for membership. The UK, alongside others in the international community, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. We believe that the settlement of Somaliland's status is an issue for Somalia and Somaliland to decide through a consultative process and dialogue.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will support the application by Somaliland to join the Commonwealth.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent and equal sovereign states. It is for the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth Secretariat to take forward expressions of interest and to assess whether an aspirant member meets the eligibility criteria for membership. The UK, alongside others in the international community, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. We believe that the settlement of Somaliland's status is an issue for Somalia and Somaliland to decide through a consultative process and dialogue.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on including fractional shares in ISAs.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to ensuring people have the opportunity to invest in a diverse range of investment types through their ISAs. As announced at Autumn Statement 2023 and confirmed at Spring Budget 2024, this includes certain fractional share contracts.
The government is working as quickly as possible to bring forward legislation to include certain fractional share contracts in ISAs by the end of the summer following detailed engagement with industry and the FCA.
The government is also consulting on the design and implementation of the UK ISA, including eligible investments, and welcomes responses from stakeholders before the deadline of 6th June.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing investors to invest in fractional shares.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to ensuring people have the opportunity to invest in a diverse range of investment types through their ISAs. As announced at Autumn Statement 2023 and confirmed at Spring Budget 2024, this includes certain fractional share contracts.
The government is working as quickly as possible to bring forward legislation to include certain fractional share contracts in ISAs by the end of the summer following detailed engagement with industry and the FCA.
The government is also consulting on the design and implementation of the UK ISA, including eligible investments, and welcomes responses from stakeholders before the deadline of 6th June.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to allow fractional shares to be included in the new British ISA.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to ensuring people have the opportunity to invest in a diverse range of investment types through their ISAs. As announced at Autumn Statement 2023 and confirmed at Spring Budget 2024, this includes certain fractional share contracts.
The government is working as quickly as possible to bring forward legislation to include certain fractional share contracts in ISAs by the end of the summer following detailed engagement with industry and the FCA.
The government is also consulting on the design and implementation of the UK ISA, including eligible investments, and welcomes responses from stakeholders before the deadline of 6th June.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allow fractional shares to be included in ISAs.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to ensuring people have the opportunity to invest in a diverse range of investment types through their ISAs. As announced at Autumn Statement 2023 and confirmed at Spring Budget 2024, this includes certain fractional share contracts.
The government is working as quickly as possible to bring forward legislation to include certain fractional share contracts in ISAs by the end of the summer following detailed engagement with industry and the FCA.
The government is also consulting on the design and implementation of the UK ISA, including eligible investments, and welcomes responses from stakeholders before the deadline of 6th June.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Green Finance Strategy's target of raising £500m in private finance every year by 2027, how much private finance to support his Department's work has been raised in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in ‘Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy’, we are committed to monitoring annual private finance flows into nature’s recovery in England against our target.
The Government has not produced an official annual estimate of private finance into nature’s recovery, as no reliable measures are yet in place. Defra is developing a methodology for tracking this private finance. We will publish our first annual estimate, using this methodology, once data is available.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will remove VAT from defibrillators.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government maintains VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), including VAT relief on purchases made by local authorities and those made through voluntary contributions, where the AED is donated to eligible charities or the NHS. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT.
The Government is currently inviting community organisations to bid for funding as part of a £1 million grant scheme that expands public access to AEDs, particularly in public places where they are most needed. In addition, last year the Government committed to supplying state-funded schools in England with defibrillators to make sure there is a device in every school, with deliveries completed in June 2023. This means that every state-funded school in England, over 21,500 schools, now has access to an AED.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will commission a review into the effectiveness of the requirement under the Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021 to display calorie information on menus.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has commissioned independent research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the regulations, and these findings are expected in mid-2024. The NIHR is also funding research to explore the impact of the regulations on people with lived experience of eating disorders, with findings due in October 2025.