Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her Irish counterpart on reports that Aughinish Alumina has been linked to supply chains supporting Russia's defence industry.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK and Irish governments regularly discuss our staunch support for countering Russia's aggression in Ukraine, including international efforts to maximise pressure on the Russian war economy. We conduct similar conversations with the EU on a regular basis. We keep all options to put pressure on the Russian war economy under regular review.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to improve the UK's business environment.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government is focused on creating a stronger business environment by making the UK the best place to start and grow a business, with a culture that supports entrepreneurship.
Through the Small Business Plan, we are tackling late payments, improving access to finance for start-ups, and cutting unnecessary red tape. The new Business Growth Service supports SMEs with digital adoption and facilitates international trade and investment.
As part of the Regulation Action Plan, published in March 2025, we have committed to reducing the administrative burden on businesses by 25% by the end of the Parliament.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of whether Vehicle Excise Duty rates for vehicles in the highest bands are a proportionate application of the polluter pays principle.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on vehicles used or kept on public roads. Different VED rates apply to cars, vans, and motorcycles, and the rate for each vehicle is calculated according to a range of factors, such as its date of first registration, weight, or CO2 emissions.
Since 2001, the tax system has encouraged the uptake of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to help meet the UK's legally binding climate targets. Cars first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 pay VED annually according to CO2 emissions.
From 1 April 2017, a reformed VED system was introduced for new cars. Under this system, new cars pay a variable first year rate according to the emissions of the vehicle, with the most polluting currently paying over £5,600, and zero emission models currently pay £10. After the first year, most cars move to a standard annual rate, currently set at £200.
The Government annually reviews the rates and thresholds of taxes and reliefs to ensure that they are appropriate and reflect the current state of the economy. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the public finances.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the proportionality of Vehicle Excise Duty rates for higher-emission vehicles; and whether she plans to review the differential between vehicles in the lowest and highest emission bands.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on vehicles used or kept on public roads. Different VED rates apply to cars, vans, and motorcycles, and the rate for each vehicle is calculated according to a range of factors, such as its date of first registration, weight, or CO2 emissions.
Since 2001, the tax system has encouraged the uptake of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to help meet the UK's legally binding climate targets. Cars first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 pay VED annually according to CO2 emissions.
From 1 April 2017, a reformed VED system was introduced for new cars. Under this system, new cars pay a variable first year rate according to the emissions of the vehicle, with the most polluting currently paying over £5,600, and zero emission models currently pay £10. After the first year, most cars move to a standard annual rate, currently set at £200.
The Government annually reviews the rates and thresholds of taxes and reliefs to ensure that they are appropriate and reflect the current state of the economy. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the public finances.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with The Humane League UK on the banning of cages for laying hens.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department has had wide ranging discussions with animal welfare organisations and other stakeholders on the banning of cages for laying hens.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Home Office has considered the potential merits of creating a dedicated Gaelic Speaker Work Visa, allowing fluent Gaelic speakers from overseas to fill Gaelic-medium posts in Scotland.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Teachers, including those who deliver Gaelic-medium education, already have preferential treatment in the Skilled Worker immigration route, with salary requirements based on pay scales in each of the four UK nations. There is no need for a separate dedicated visa route.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his department has made of the case for extending the Common Tariff Obligation to apply across the whole of the United Kingdom, so that no comparable domestic consumer is charged higher electricity prices solely on the basis of their geographic location.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Standing charges vary by region because the costs of the transmission and distribution networks differ from place to place; a ‘common tariff’ for the most isolated areas would smooth out those higher local costs so customers there avoid very high prices, but it would also mean more of those costs are shared across the wider customer base, putting some upward pressure on prices elsewhere.
The Government knows that, for many consumers, too much of the burden of the bill is placed on standing charges. We are working constructively with Ofgem to bring down the cost of standing charges.
Through its Cost Allocation and Recovery Review, Ofgem has also been reviewing how ‘fixed’ costs, which tend to be funded through standing charges, should be recovered in the future energy system.
The most recent update on this can be found here: Energy system cost allocation and recovery review - Ofgem - Citizen Space.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his department has made of the potential merits of equalising standing charges for electricity consumers across the United Kingdom.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Standing charges vary by region because the costs of the transmission and distribution networks differ from place to place; a ‘common tariff’ for the most isolated areas would smooth out those higher local costs so customers there avoid very high prices, but it would also mean more of those costs are shared across the wider customer base, putting some upward pressure on prices elsewhere.
The Government knows that, for many consumers, too much of the burden of the bill is placed on standing charges. We are working constructively with Ofgem to bring down the cost of standing charges.
Through its Cost Allocation and Recovery Review, Ofgem has also been reviewing how ‘fixed’ costs, which tend to be funded through standing charges, should be recovered in the future energy system.
The most recent update on this can be found here: Energy system cost allocation and recovery review - Ofgem - Citizen Space.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her department has made of the potential impact of VAT on domestic energy bills on regional inequalities in electricity standing charges and unit rates.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to lowering the cost of standing charges and have worked constructively with the regulator, Ofgem, on this issue. At the same time, the Government has taken significant steps to support households with the cost of energy while we transition to cheaper, clean power by 2030.
Domestic gas and electricity, including heating oil, benefit from a reduced VAT rate of five per cent, rather than the standard 20 per cent. This reduced rate cost the Exchequer an estimated £6.5 billion in 2024–25.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his department has made of the potential merits of rebalancing policy costs currently levied on electricity bills across gas and electricity bills equally.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that policy costs fall disproportionately on electricity bills and are taking forward work to ensure that prices reflect the cheaper wholesale price of clean energy.
On the distribution of costs between electricity and gas, the Government acted at the Autumn Budget to cut electricity costs in a way that makes this distribution fairer. We ended funding for the Energy Company Obligation scheme, as well as removing 75% of costs for the Renewables Obligation scheme from people’s energy bills.
The government also announced in April plans to go further and faster on delinking electricity and gas prices. We will consult later this year on arrangements to offer existing generators a fixed price Contract for Difference for the electricity they generate. In addition, the rate of the Electricity Generator Levy has been increased by 10% to respond to the high prices that generators are benefitting from due to the crisis in the Middle East.