Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the line manager is of the Scottish Government's Permanent Secretary.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Simon Case, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, line manages the permanent secretaries of the Devolved Administrations, including Leslie Evans as Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on the capacity of the emergency leak protection bund at the Redcliffe Bay Petroleum Storage Depot.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
No such discussions have taken place.
Redcliffe Bay Petroleum Storage Depot is jointly regulated by the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency under the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 2015 as an Upper Tier establishment. The Environment Agency has had discussions at an operational level with the site operator about containment in the event of an emergency. Based on the information obtained at the last inspection, the Environment Agency was satisfied with the containment and associated procedures at the site.
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on the workings of the Scottish devolved institutions.
Answered by Alister Jack
As the Secretary of State for Scotland, I have responsibility for the Scotland Act and I am the custodian of the Scottish devolution settlement. In that role, I hold regular meetings with a range of external stakeholders on a variety of subjects and listen to their views. I regularly feed these views back to my ministerial colleagues where appropriate.
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that local communities' knowledge of green belt and flood plains is taken into account when planning applications are under consideration.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Local authorities are required to undertake a formal period of public consultation of not less than 21 days, prior to deciding a planning application. Effective consultation allows the local authority to identify and consider all relevant planning issues associated with the development proposed. Consultees, particularly those living near the site in question, may offer views or detailed information relevant to the consideration of the application. Where material considerations are raised by local residents, these must be taken into account by the local authority. The weight attached to a particular consideration is a matter of judgement for the local authority as the decision-maker in the first instance.
The Government’s general expectations of the planning system with regard to the Green Belt and to flood risk are made clear in our National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework states, for instance, that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be directed away from areas at highest risk. If new homes are necessary in a flood risk area, and no suitable sites at lower risk are available, the local authority should ensure that the development will be safe, appropriately flood resistant and resilient, and will not increase flood risk elsewhere. Where those tests are not met, development should not be allowed.
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take through the Planning White Paper to (a) restrict land banking and (b) prevent developers from procuring more land until sites on which they already have planning permission have been built out.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is clear that where planning permission is granted for new development, developers must deliver those new permissions as quickly as possible. Our Planning for the Future White Paper has put forward proposals to support build out through planning, including revising national policy to encourage masterplans and design codes for substantial development sites to see a variety of development types by different builders come forward at once. We will be exploring further options to support faster build out as part of the wider package of reforms and look forward to reviewing the consultation responses in full.
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking through the Planning White Paper to balance the building of new homes with the provision of sufficient infrastructure to support growing communities.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We understand how important it is to local communities that new housing development is supported by the provision of infrastructure. The?proposal?to create a new Infrastructure Levy,?as set out in the?Planning for the Future?White Paper,?will?support?a more streamlined and accessible planning system. The new Levy will raise at least as much value as is currently captured through CIL and section 106 and?will continue to?be collected and spent at the local level, on priorities including infrastructure and affordable housing.
The consultation on the White Paper closed on 29 October. It is important that we analyse and scrutinise the consultation feedback thoroughly, and we will respond formally.
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to include companies with under 500 properties in the 2016 Pubs Code Regulations.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government will retain the current scope of the Pubs Code in England and Wales, which excludes pub-owning companies with fewer than 500 tied pubs, provided that these companies continue to engage in the voluntary rent dispute and complaints procedures and the level of complaints remains low. The Government will keep the threshold under review.
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the planned abolition of the VAT Retail Export Scheme on the level of spending by tourists in (a) the UK and (b) EU countries from 1 January 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Ahead of the end of the transition period, the Government has announced the VAT and excise duty treatment of goods purchased by individuals for personal use and carried in their luggage arriving from or going overseas (passengers). The following rules will apply from 1 January 2021:
- Passengers travelling from Great Britain to any destination outside the United Kingdom (UK) will be able to purchase duty-free excise goods once they have passed security controls at ports, airports, and international rail stations.
- Personal allowances will apply to passengers entering Great Britain from a destination outside of the UK, with alcohol allowances significantly increased.
- The VAT Retail Export Scheme (RES) in Great Britain will not be extended to EU residents and will be withdrawn for all passengers.
- The concessionary treatment on tax-free sales for non-excise goods will be removed across the UK.
The Government published a consultation which ran from 11 March to 20 May. During this time the Government held a number of virtual meetings with stakeholders to hear their views and received 73 responses to the consultation. The Government is also continuing to meet and discuss with stakeholders following the announcement of these policies.
The detailed rationale for these changes is included in the written ministerial statement and summary of responses to the recent consultation. A technical note has also been issued to stakeholders to expand on this document and to respond to issues raised by stakeholders.
HMRC estimate that VAT RES refunds cost about £0.5 billion in VAT in 2019 for about 1.2 million non-EU visitors. In 2019 the ONS estimate there were substantially more EU visitors (24.8 million) than non-EU passengers (16.0 million) to the UK. This implies an extension to EU residents would significantly increase the cost by up to an estimated £0.9 billion. This would result in a large amount of deadweight loss by subsidising spending from EU visitors which already happens without a refund mechanism in place, potentially taking the total cost up to about £1.4 billion per annum.
The final costings will be subject to scrutiny by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and will be set out at the next forecast.
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the planned abolition of the VAT Retail Export Scheme on the number of tourists visiting (a) the UK and (b) EU countries from 1 January 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Ahead of the end of the transition period, the Government has announced the VAT and excise duty treatment of goods purchased by individuals for personal use and carried in their luggage arriving from or going overseas (passengers). The following rules will apply from 1 January 2021:
- Passengers travelling from Great Britain to any destination outside the United Kingdom (UK) will be able to purchase duty-free excise goods once they have passed security controls at ports, airports, and international rail stations.
- Personal allowances will apply to passengers entering Great Britain from a destination outside of the UK, with alcohol allowances significantly increased.
- The VAT Retail Export Scheme (RES) in Great Britain will not be extended to EU residents and will be withdrawn for all passengers.
- The concessionary treatment on tax-free sales for non-excise goods will be removed across the UK.
The Government published a consultation which ran from 11 March to 20 May. During this time the Government held a number of virtual meetings with stakeholders to hear their views and received 73 responses to the consultation. The Government is also continuing to meet and discuss with stakeholders following the announcement of these policies.
The detailed rationale for these changes is included in the written ministerial statement and summary of responses to the recent consultation. A technical note has also been issued to stakeholders to expand on this document and to respond to issues raised by stakeholders.
HMRC estimate that VAT RES refunds cost about £0.5 billion in VAT in 2019 for about 1.2 million non-EU visitors. In 2019 the ONS estimate there were substantially more EU visitors (24.8 million) than non-EU passengers (16.0 million) to the UK. This implies an extension to EU residents would significantly increase the cost by up to an estimated £0.9 billion. This would result in a large amount of deadweight loss by subsidising spending from EU visitors which already happens without a refund mechanism in place, potentially taking the total cost up to about £1.4 billion per annum.
The final costings will be subject to scrutiny by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and will be set out at the next forecast.
Asked by: Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the planned abolition of the VAT Retail Export Scheme on employment levels in the (a) retail, (b) leisure and hospitality, (c) travel and tourism and (d) manufacturing sector in the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Ahead of the end of the transition period, the Government has announced the VAT and excise duty treatment of goods purchased by individuals for personal use and carried in their luggage arriving from or going overseas (passengers). The following rules will apply from 1 January 2021:
- Passengers travelling from Great Britain to any destination outside the United Kingdom (UK) will be able to purchase duty-free excise goods once they have passed security controls at ports, airports, and international rail stations.
- Personal allowances will apply to passengers entering Great Britain from a destination outside of the UK, with alcohol allowances significantly increased.
- The VAT Retail Export Scheme (RES) in Great Britain will not be extended to EU residents and will be withdrawn for all passengers.
- The concessionary treatment on tax-free sales for non-excise goods will be removed across the UK.
The Government published a consultation which ran from 11 March to 20 May. During this time the Government held a number of virtual meetings with stakeholders to hear their views and received 73 responses to the consultation. The Government is also continuing to meet and discuss with stakeholders following the announcement of these policies.
The detailed rationale for these changes is included in the written ministerial statement and summary of responses to the recent consultation. A technical note has also been issued to stakeholders to expand on this document and to respond to issues raised by stakeholders.
HMRC estimate that VAT RES refunds cost about £0.5 billion in VAT in 2019 for about 1.2 million non-EU visitors. In 2019 the ONS estimate there were substantially more EU visitors (24.8 million) than non-EU passengers (16.0 million) to the UK. This implies an extension to EU residents would significantly increase the cost by up to an estimated £0.9 billion. This would result in a large amount of deadweight loss by subsidising spending from EU visitors which already happens without a refund mechanism in place, potentially taking the total cost up to about £1.4 billion per annum.
The final costings will be subject to scrutiny by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and will be set out at the next forecast.