Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help businesses build trading opportunities abroad.
Answered by Liam Fox
DIT provides market access, support and advice to UK business both in the UK and in 109 markets overseas. Through the GREAT campaign we build the global appetite for British goods and services, and give UK companies access to millions of pounds’ worth of potential business through the digital services offered on the great.gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the centenary of the First World War is commemorated in local communities.
Answered by Rob Wilson
We encourage communities to apply for Heritage Lottery Funding, to discover, learn and commemorate the First World War.
Since April 2010, HLF has awarded over £84 million to more than 1,680 First World War Centenary projects reaching more than 80% of constituencies across the United Kingdom.
Communities can also get involved in our war memorials programme, by attending workshops, applying for listing and carrying out condition surveys. War Memorials Trust have grants available for repair and conservation of local war memorials.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on jobs and investment in the beer industry of a reduction in beer duty.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government keeps all taxes under review, including alcohol duties, and is always willing to consider any evidence in relation to alcohol taxation policy. Any changes to beer duty need to take account of a wide range of factors, including the Exchequer impact, the impact on businesses and consumers, and on public health.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual change in on-trade beer prices in each year since 2007 for the purposes of assessing beer duty.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The British Beer and Pub Association have published estimates of the annual change in beer prices in “The story of beer duty: 2008 to 2016”. This can be found at:
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on jobs and investment in pubs and breweries of the (a) reduction in beer duty in 2014, (b) reduction in beer duty in 2015 and (c) freeze in beer duty in 2016.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Treasury engages with a wide variety of organisations to understand industry developments, including the beer and pub industry.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, including alcohol duties, and is always willing to consider any evidence in relation to alcohol taxation policy.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of excise duty rates on beer exports.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Treasury engages with a wide variety of organisations to understand industry developments, including the beer and pub industry.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, including alcohol duties, and is always willing to consider any evidence in relation to alcohol taxation policy.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that police and security services have the powers necessary to apprehend people planning terrorist attacks in the UK.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The UK has one of the world’s most effective legal regimes for tackling terrorism. The Investigatory Powers Act, which the Government passed last year, ensures that law enforcement and the security and intelligence agencies have the powers they need in a digital age to disrupt terrorist attacks, subject to strict safeguards and world-leading oversight. And the Criminal Finances Bill will add to the ability of UK law enforcement to identify, investigate and disrupt terrorist finance activity.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the written statement of 12 December 2016, (HCW 5339), what the planned (a) timetable and (b) content is for the Automatic Enrolment 2017 Review.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
On 12 December 2016, I set out the scope of the 2017 review of automatic enrolment. On 8 February 2017 I set out further detail on the review, including its terms of reference and the membership of the external advisory group.
Through the review we will be seeking to build on the success of automatic enrolment to date. So far over 7.1 million individuals have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by more than 370,000 employers. The review will look at how we can ensure that automatic enrolment continues to meet the needs of individuals saving for their retirement in the future, and that the technical operation of the policy is working as intended.
It is important that we begin early conversations around the central issues covered by the review of automatic enrolment, and I recognise people are keen to engage on these. That is why on 8 February 2017 I published a set of initial questions on the main themes, including coverage, engagement and future contributions. I have invited views and evidence by 22 March 2017 to help inform our considerations. We will, of course, formally consult on any proposals that require legislative change.
As I set out in my previous statement, my Department’s work will be supported by an external advisory group.
The three co-chairs of the group are:
The other members of this group are:
Carl Emmerson, Deputy Director, Institute of Fiscal Studies
Jane Vass, Head of public policy, Age UK
Neil Carberry, Director for people and skills, Confederation of British Industry
Linda Ellett, KPMG, partner – Tax and Pensions Practice
Nigel Stanley, NEST Members’ Panel, Chair
Jocelyn Blackwell, Trustee Director NOW: Pensions
Judith Hogarth, Employment and Pensions, EEF
I am delighted to be working with a team representing such a breadth of experience and expertise and look forward to the insight they will bring to help shape the review and any proposals. We will of course reach out to others as part of this review, including intermediary organisations such as employer consultants and payroll firms.
Towards the end of this year I will publish a report to Parliament.
A copy of the terms of reference and the initial questions for the review are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/expert-advisory-group-appointed-to-the-automatic-enrolment-review.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle anti-Semitism and holocaust denial on university campuses.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
This Government takes anti-Semitism extremely seriously. There is no place in our society - including within higher education – for hatred or any form of harassment, discrimination or racism, including anti-Semitism.
The Government has recently adopted the non-legally binding definition of anti-Semitism, to help clarify how anti-Semitism can manifest itself in the 21st century.
Universities have a responsibility to provide a safe and inclusive environment for all students. The legal obligation for ensuring that students do not face discrimination, harassment, abuse or violence rests with individual institutions. Universities should have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law, and to enable them to investigate and address swiftly any anti-Semitic incidents that are reported.
The Government asked Universities UK (UUK) to set up an Harassment Taskforce in 2015, to consider what more can be done to address harassment on campus, including on the basis of religion and belief. The Union of Jewish Students, Jewish Leadership Council, Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Community Security Trust were part of its wider advisory group. The taskforce published its report: ‘Changing the Culture’, on 21 October 2016.
The Government has asked UUK to monitor progress. UUK plan to establish more baseline evidence, and to assess institutions’ progress in implementing the recommendations and report later this year.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department held a Holocaust Memorial event on Monday 16 January. All of the staff were invited to a talk given by Harry Spiro, a Holocaust survivor.