Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department is planning an awareness campaign, on changes to UK-EU travel requirements associated with the EU’s (a) Entry/Exit System and (b) European Travel Information and Authorisation System.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government is engaging both the European Commission and French Government through officials holding routine technical meetings to understand and influence the implementation plans of the new systems. This includes working with port owners and operators to understand and support their plans to mitigate EES and ETIAS impacts at the border.
A cross-government communication group consisting of Home Office, Department for Transport, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Cabinet Office teams has been established and is developing a communication strategy for both the travelling public and trade stakeholder groups.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to seek bilateral Youth Mobility Scheme agreements with EU countries.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The UK remain open to negotiating new Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with other countries and territories, including EU Member States. However, as each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal arrangement, which also provides benefit to UK nationals, with the details agreed between the relevant parties, we are unable to disclose the status of negotiations as they occur.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken with his (a) French and (b) other EU counterparts to prepare for implementation of the EU Entry/Exit System.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government is engaging both the European Commission and French Government through officials holding routine technical meetings to understand and influence the implementation plans of the new systems. This includes working with port owners and operators to understand and support their plans to mitigate EES and ETIAS impacts at the border.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the British energy security strategy, published on 7 April 2022, for what reason his Department's review of the practical planning barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures has not yet been completed.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The review into the practical barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures has been completed and we will publish a report on the outcome in due course.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to page 13 of his Department's publication entitled British energy security strategy, published on 7 April 2022, what her planned timeline is to publish the proposed review into the practical planning barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The review into the practical barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures has been completed and we will publish a report on the outcome in due course.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the impact of devolution arrangements on the strength of the Union.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the whisky industry.
Answered by Lord Jack of Courance
I am in regular contact with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues of importance to Scotland’s whisky industry.
Scotland’s whisky industry continues to go from strength to strength at home and abroad, and Scotch whisky is the UK’s premier food and drink export. I want Scottish producers to take full advantage of the new trade deals the UK Government is striking around the world.
In this vein, earlier this month I visited Vietnam, a key growth market for Scotch whisky, where along with representatives from the Scotch Whisky Association, I hosted a whisky reception for key business leaders in Hanoi.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increases in domestic excise duty on Scotch whisky on discussions to reduce tariffs and excise duty on that whisky in international markets.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This Government is supporting Scotch Whisky. We have provided a series of cuts and freezes to alcohol duties in the past decade. The most recent alcohol duty freeze from Autumn Budget 2021, including the extension to 1 August 2023, represented a total tax cut of £2.7 billion over the next four years.
The Government is seeking improvement in market access, through negotiating ambitious Free Trade Agreements, including our recent accession to the CPTPP, and with other trade partners. We are also seeking to reduce non-tariff barriers through conversations with various other partners globally.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support rural farmers.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We are backing British farmers with £3.7bn of investment per year, including £620m per year for Scotland. This is ringfenced UK Government funding for farming to support profitable and sustainable food production and environmental and animal welfare outcomes.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the potential impact of Meta's reduction to the Community News Project on local journalism.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry, and our new digital markets regime will help rebalance the relationship between the most powerful platforms and those who rely on them – including press publishers.
Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of the £2 million Future News Fund; the zero rating of VAT on e-newspapers; the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.