Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in each year since 2021.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade is a newly formed Department established in February 2023. The new department absorbed the functions of the former Department for International Trade (DIT) and some of the functions of the former Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The amount spent on consultancy by both departments are as follows:
Year | DIT | BEIS |
2021 | £5,782 | £636,000 |
2022 | £380,000 | £587,000 |
2023 | £865,000 | £649,000 |
The Department publishes its annual expenditure on consultancy in its Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence on increasing the fund for reparations payments to LGBT+ veterans.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Treasury Ministers regularly meets with Ministerial colleagues to discuss a range of issues. The LGBT Veterans Independent Report recommended a level of funding to be made available for those dismissed or discharged from service as a result of policy prohibiting homosexuality in the Armed Forces (‘the ban’). The details of the financial recognition scheme recommended by the report are still in development and approval, including the total fund to be made available by MoD in recognition of those dismissed, discharged, or otherwise impacted by the ban. The Scheme details will be announced in Parliament when the Government is ready to publish its response.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of exempting charities from the increase to employer National Insurance contributions.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the important role charities play in our society, and has made it a priority to reset the relationship with civil society by developing a Civil Society Covenant.
To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance.
The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of employers with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.
More broadly, within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving, with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities, CASCs and their donors in 2023 to 2024.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions her Department has had with football authorities about (a) inclusion and (b) accessibility for disabled fans.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government recognises the great importance of sport and physical activity for disabled people at both the grassroots and elite levels. We recognise there are barriers which exist and prevent some people from taking part and spectating. We will continue to do all that we can to tackle these and are encouraging sport bodies to make sport more accessible.
The government recently ratified the St Denis Convention. In doing so, we committed to providing an integrated safety, security and service approach at football matches and other sports events. The Sports Ground Safety Authority, one of DCMS’s Arm's-Length Bodies, has begun a partnership with the Council of Europe to better understand and promote the ‘safety’ and ‘service’ element of the convention to the benefit of all fans.