Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether a disputes resolution mechanism agreed as part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s BEPS 2.0 Pillar 2 proposals would be binding upon UK courts.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is delighted that more than 130 countries reached agreement on a Two-Pillar solution to the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy, on the 8 October 2021.
As outlined in the October 2021 Statement, the OECD will seek to develop an implementation framework by the end of 2022 which will be designed to facilitate the co-ordinated implementation and administration of the GloBE Rules.
Discussions on the implementation framework are ongoing and public input was recently sought on the issues that should be addressed as part of this work, including the question of whether mechanisms are needed to avoid the risk of double taxation: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/oecd-pillar-2-consultation-on-implementation.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of granting a pay rise to prison officers.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Minister for Afghan resettlement
Prison Officer pay rates are reviewed annually through the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) process. The PSPRB process for 2022/23 is currently underway.
When considering our proposals to the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) we carefully consider the expected impact on recruitment, retention and staff morale of any proposed pay award. We have recently submitted our evidence to the PSPRB for the coming pay round which proposes a pay award for all Prison Officers.
PSPRB information be found on the Gov UK website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/prison-services-pay-review-body.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to work with the British Overseas Territories to celebrate The Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has issued guidance to its teams in the Overseas Territories, and in other locations, to mark Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee. They are encouraged to work with local partners and create opportunities throughout the year to celebrate this important milestone. For example, they may choose to host 'Queen's Birthday Party' events, support tree planting for the Queen's Green Canopy and the lighting of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Beacons. They may also amplify wider initiatives for the Jubilee, such as the Platinum Pudding Competition, the Big Jubilee Lunch and the 2022 Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours Competition, through which George Town (Cayman Islands), Gibraltar (Gibraltar) and Stanley (Falkland Islands) have applied for city status.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the liabilities or obligations are of an Overseas Territory in the event that it defaults on its debt to international creditors; in what circumstances her Department would be obliged by statute or constitutional provisions to offer financial assistance to, or assume those liabilities; on how many occasions this has happened; and what mechanisms were used.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government's fundamental responsibility is to ensure the security and good governance of the Territories. The UK maintains mechanisms to effectively manage these responsibilities and to ensure they exercise sound public financial management. The Overseas Territories Governments are responsible for their own fiscal policy. Most territories rely on local revenue and borrowing, and are responsible for their own liabilities. The UK Government does not have a trustee or guarantor role when the Territories borrow. In some cases, the UK Government has chosen to support Overseas Territories financially, such as regular financial aid to certain territories and ad hoc support in times of crisis. For example, the UK agreed a loan guarantee for a lending facility in 2020 with the Government of Gibraltar to support their response to Covid-19. The UK Government is not aware of any examples of an Overseas Territory defaulting on its debt to international creditors.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made a recent estimate of the economic value of the Overseas Territories to the UK economy.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Overseas Territories are a valued part of the British Family and the UK Government is committed to supporting the Territories in building successful and resilient economies. The Territories offer the UK: access and insights into diverse regions of the world; strategic assets, including military bases hosted by some Territories; economic opportunities for UK companies, including for financial sector specialists; protection of internationally important habitats, helping the UK meet its pledge to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030 (together we represent the world's fifth largest marine state); and talent and diversity, with the people of the Territories contributing their skills to UK businesses, universities, and Armed Forces. The UK has not made a recent quantitative estimate of the economic value of the Overseas Territories to the UK economy, but we continue to support the Territories build vibrant and sustainable economies, including through encouraging greater links to the UK economy.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of green levies on the cost of energy to consumers.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
According to Ofgem, environmental and social policy costs have totalled 25.48 percent on electricity bills and 2.46 percent on gas bills in 2020. However, over the past 10 years their net effect has been to reduce consumer energy bills.
These levies fund vital support schemes and energy efficiency measures which benefit low income and vulnerable households, as well as investing in the UK’s home-grown renewable energy sector.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) continuing need for green levies on energy bills and (b) the financial impact of green levies on consumers.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
According to Ofgem, environmental and social policy costs have totalled 25.48 percent on electricity bills and 2.46 percent on gas bills in 2020. However, over the past 10 years their net effect has been to reduce consumer energy bills.
These levies fund vital support schemes and energy efficiency measures which benefit low income and vulnerable households, as well as investing in the UK’s home-grown renewable energy sector.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to help establish new free schools in Havering Borough.
Answered by Robin Walker - Minister of State (Education)
The free schools programme remains an important part of this government’s plan to level up standards and respond where there is need for more school places. The programme has delivered hundreds of new schools and provided thousands of good school places across the country. This includes the Concordia Academy in my hon. Friend’s constituency, which Ofsted have rated ‘Outstanding’.
Alongside Concordia Academy, the London Borough of Havering has a further open free school, Drapers’ Maryland Primary School, which is Ofsted rated ‘Good’. At present there are a further four free schools that have been approved to open in Havering. These are Havering Special School, Harris Rainham Sixth Form, Emmanuel Community School, and Unity Romford Primary School. There have been some challenges to the progression of these projects, but the department is confident that all four free schools will open over the coming years. The department is working hard, in collaboration with the local authority, to deliver the schools as quickly as possible to ensure that we continue to raise educational standards for pupils in Havering.
The department will set out plans in due course for approving further mainstream free schools, where there is the greatest need for new school places, prioritising proposals in Education Investment Areas.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the Online Safety Bill on the effectiveness of the regulation of harmful online content.
Answered by Chris Philp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
This legislation will create a significant step-change in the experience people have online. The Bill will tackle illegal content and activity; protect children; and give adults greater control of their online experiences, while protecting freedom of expression. The Bill’s systems and processes approach will hold companies to account for holistically considering the design and operation of their services, rather than just responding to events. As a result the Bill will instil a culture of proactive safety and risk management, which will have a substantial positive impact on the regulation of harmful online content.
The Regulatory Policy Committee has issued the Online Safety Bill Impact Assessment with a fit for purpose rating. The Impact Assessment estimated, conservatively, that the Bill will need to reduce a subset of quantified online harms by roughly 2% annually to offset the costs created by the Bill.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people from the British Overseas Territories have served in the British Armed forces in each of the last five years, by each Overseas Territory.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (jointly with the Ministry of Defence)
The table below shows the number of personnel from the British Overseas Territories serving in the trained and untrained Regular and Reserve Armed Forces between 2017 and 2021. Nationality is recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system. JPA allows personnel to select British Overseas Territory Citizen (BOTC), or one of five specific territories. The vast majority of personnel select the BOTC option. It is therefore not possible to provide a breakdown of all British Overseas Territories.
Table 1: Number of British Overseas Territory1 UK Regulars2 and Future Reserves 20203 personnel serving in each calendar year4 between 2017 and 2021. |
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| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
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British Overseas Territory Citizen5 | 160 | 150 | 140 | 110 | 70 |
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British Virgin Islander | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
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Cayman Islander | ~ | ~ | - | - | - |
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Gibraltarian | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
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Monserratian | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
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St Helenian | 10 | 10 | 10 | ~ | ~ |
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Grand Total | 170 | 160 | 150 | 120 | 80 |
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Notes: |
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| Nationality is as recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration database. Primary nationality has been used, so people with only a secondary nationality of a British Overseas Territory have not been included. |
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| UK Regulars include Full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, MPGS, LEP and NRPS. |
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| Future Reserves 2020 includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, HRR and volunteer reserve personnel serving on ADC or FTRS contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) and University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded. |
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| If a service person has been recorded as having a British Overseas Territory as a primary Nationality at least once within each year, then they have been recorded once within that year. |
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| British Overseas Territories Citizens includes personnel from Anguila, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands. This could mean the populations for British Virgin Islander, Cayman Islander, Gibraltarian, Monserratian and St Helenian are under-represented. |
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| Figures for both UK Regulars and FR20 include both trained and untrained personnel. |
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| Figures in this publication have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. Figures 5 or less have been indicated with a "~" and where there are no personnel has been indicated by a "-". |
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