Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department's fiscal rules require (a) programme and (b) departmental comparability factors to be applied to new funding announcements made outside of a Spending Review; and, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 23 October 2023 entitled Bus Funding Update, HCWS1084, whether the announcement of additional funding for the bus service operators grant programme will have a 100% programme comparability factor applied for Barnett formula consequential funding for Wales.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Barnett formula will continue to apply in the usual way as set out in the published Statement of Funding Policy document. The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.
The Written Ministerial Statement of 23 October 2023 entitled 'Bus Funding Update’ did not announce additional funding for the Department of Transport. Any additional funding for the Department for Transport will be confirmed in the usual way.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 23 October 2023 entitled Bus Funding Update, HCWS1084, how much Barnett consequential funding the Welsh government will receive following the increase to the bus service operator grant.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Barnett formula will continue to apply in the usual way as set out in the published Statement of Funding Policy document. The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.
The Written Ministerial Statement of 23 October 2023 entitled 'Bus Funding Update’ did not announce additional funding for the Department of Transport. Any additional funding for the Department for Transport will be confirmed in the usual way.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry’s publication entitled At the crossroads: how a new UK medicines deal can deliver for patients, the NHS and the economy, published on 1 March 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of that publication's proposals to lower the tax rebate for the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department carefully considers all evidence in the public domain on matters relating to the pricing of medicines in the United Kingdom, including the March report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).
The Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) has been agreed in principle with ABPI and is set to save the National Health Service £14 billion over 5 years in medicines costs. VPAG introduces a new mechanism to ensure sustainable spending on older medicines where competition hasn’t yet driven down prices, and is an explicitly pro-innovation and pro-competition agreement.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department's fiscal rules require (a) programme and (b) departmental comparability factors to be applied to new spending on projects included in Network North.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Barnett formula will continue to apply in the usual way as set out in the published Statement of Funding Policy document. The Barnett formula applies when departmental budgets change, not when departments announce how they are spending those budgets.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of taxing carried interest at 45 per cent.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government believes its approach to the taxation of Carried Interest, which is consistent with that taken in comparable jurisdictions, is a balanced one.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Sixth Report of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee of Session 2019-21 on Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme, HC 1346, published on 29 April 2021, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the report's recommendations on the terms and conditions of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government responded to the Committee’s report in June 2021 explaining that it was unable to agree to the Committee’s recommendations. That response is available to read here.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many miners were recipients of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme in (a) Ceredigion and (b) Wales in November 2023.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As at June 2023, there were 48 members of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme in Ceredigion and 13,838 in Wales as a whole. These are the most recent available figures.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of payments from the (a) War Pensions and (b) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are also in receipt of (i) Universal Credit, (ii) Child Tax Support, (iii) Income Support, (iv) Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, (v) Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, (vi) Working Tax Credit and (vii) Pension Credit.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is not held by the department.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to disregard compensation offered to wounded (a) service people and (b) veterans under the (i) Service Invaliding Pensions and (ii) Service Attributable Pensions scheme as income from (A) Universal Credit, (B) Child Tax Credit, (C) Income Support, (D) Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, (E) Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, (F) Working Tax Credit, (G) Social Care payments and (H) Pension Credit.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit replaced a number of benefits and tax credits. It was decided that War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Payments would not be taken into account in Universal Credit. Guaranteed Income Payments, Service Attributable Pensions and service-attributable, non-taxable Service Invalidity Pensions are also not taken into account. However, it has never been the intention that the rules around the treatment of income and indeed other rules - should be changed across the legacy and other benefits to align them with Universal Credit.
Social care payments are the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make n assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to disregard compensation offered to wounded (a) service people and (b) veterans under the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation schemes as income from (i) Income Support, (ii) Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, (iii) Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, (iv) Working Tax Credit, and (v) Pension Credit.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit replaced a number of benefits and tax credits. It was decided that War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Payments would not be taken into account in Universal Credit. Guaranteed Income Payments, Service Attributable Pensions and service-attributable, non-taxable Service Invalidity Pensions are also not taken into account. However, it has never been the intention that the rules around the treatment of income and indeed other rules - should be changed across the legacy and other benefits to align them with Universal Credit.
Social care payments are the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care.