Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a list of all court buildings constructed during the 1990s.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As set out in the answer of 4 September 2023, Official Report, PQ 197380, Departments have been surveying properties and depending on the assessment of the presence of RAAC have decided to either continue to monitor the structure, reinforce it, or replace it. This is in line with the approach recommended by the Institution of Structural Engineers.
At this stage, the Government does not believe it would be in the public interest to pre-empt that process by releasing piecemeal information which may lead to false assumptions about individual court buildings.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the increase in alcohol duty on (a) economic growth and (b) job creation within the Scotch Whisky industry.
Answered by Gareth Davies
The potential impacts of the recent changes to alcohol duty rates were published at Spring Budget in HMRC’s Tax Information and Impact Note and can be found online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-alcohol-duty-rates/alcohol-duty-rate-changes#summary-of-impacts.
This Government is supporting Scotch Whisky. We have provided a series of cuts and freezes to alcohol duties in the past decade. Before Spring Budget 2023, the spirits industry has benefitted from cuts or freezes to spirits duty at eight out of the last nine fiscal events, since the end of the duty escalator for spirits in 2013. The most recent alcohol duty freeze from Autumn Budget 2021, including the extension to 1 August 2023, represented a total tax cut of £2.7 billion over the next four years.
We have also undertaken the biggest reform of alcohol duties in 140 years and moved all alcohol products to being taxed based on their strength, narrowing the gap between spirits and still wine.
Further, we have removed punitive tariffs on Scotch Whisky imposed on the US market and are committed to protecting the interests of Scotch Whisky in trading agreements, ensuring that they face lower tariffs for export, and that the unique characteristics and global reputation of Scotch is protected, as demonstrated recently in our free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, and the CPTPP.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of business preparedness for future controls on the import of (a) food and (b) fresh products from the EU.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following publication of the draft Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) in April 2023, the Government ran a six-week engagement period with industry. The feedback received is reflected in the final BTOM, notably the decision to delay implementation by three months, to January 2024, giving businesses more time to prepare. Before implementation of controls, awareness of and readiness for new controls will be boosted through a series of engagement events. Further guidance will be available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in (a) courts and (b) prisons.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The professional advice from experts on Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) has evolved over time, from advice in the 1990s that RAAC did not pose a safety hazard to more recent advice on identifying and assessing structural adequacy. The Government's approach throughout has been to follow the best technical advice. Departments have been surveying properties and depending on the assessment of the RAAC, decided to either continue to monitor the structure, reinforce it, or replace it. This is in line with the approach recommended by the Institution of Structural Engineers
In line with that expert driven approach, we have been working for several months to identify where we have the potential for RAAC to be present across the HMPPS estate. We are commissioning further surveys and assessments across a number of buildings to assess as soon as possible whether RAAC is present and what further action may be required. Mitigation and action plans from those assets containing RAAC will then be put in place.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the extent of the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in police stations.
Answered by Chris Philp
My officials continue to work closely with policing partners to assess any safety issues resulting from the life expiry of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).
All police forces are aware of the potential risks and have been working alongside industry experts since 2021 to ensure site inspections by qualified building surveyors and condition surveys are conducted. Individual police forces have rightly taken a variety of steps to mitigate any potential issues and ensure everyone’s safety – including vacating buildings, and demolishing or replacing structures where issues have been identified. Where there is any uncertainty forces are conducting prompt further investigations
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the employer-provided living accommodation tax exemptions and the potential impact of geographical location on the application of those exemptions.
Answered by Victoria Atkins
Where an employer provides living accommodation to an employee and it is not within the scope of any exemptions, the cost of providing that accommodation will be taxable as a benefit-in-kind.
The tax rules for employer provided accommodation apply to the whole of the UK and are consistent across different employers. This ensures the UK tax system is simple, easy to understand, and limits the risk of abuse.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of changing taxation rules on NHS provided housing to help (a) retain NHS staff and (b) encourage new staff to island communities.
Answered by Victoria Atkins
Where an employer provides living accommodation to an employee and it is not within the scope of any exemptions, the cost of providing that accommodation will be taxable as a benefit-in-kind.
The tax rules for employer provided accommodation apply to the whole of the UK and are consistent across different employers. This ensures the UK tax system is simple, easy to understand, and limits the risk of abuse.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff vacancies were there for the Border Force in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. The link to Home Office annual reports and accounts which hold detail on staff costs is enclosed below:
HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff worked for the Border Force in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Staffing figures for Border Force can be found at Home Office annual report and accounts:
HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, (b) police forces, (c) the National Crime Agency, (d) HMRC and (e) the Food Standards Agency on the traffic of illicit and counterfeit food goods across the channel.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Border Force work closely with the lead department DEFRA in relation to Products of Animals Origins and food smuggling data.
The DEFRA link below will provide further detail in relation to the questions asked:
www.gov.uk/guidance/import-or-move-food-and-drink-from-the-eu-and-northern-ireland-to-great-britain