Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 10451 on Israel: Occupied Territories, whether he plans to publish a formal response.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government condemns settler violence. We regularly raise settler violence with Israeli ministers and officials, and we are clear that the Israeli government must clamp down on settler violence and settlement expansion. The UK has taken action to hold perpetrators and supporters of settler violence to account. On 10 June, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in their personal capacity for inciting violence towards Palestinians. This was alongside action from our partners Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway. On 20 May, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions targeting individuals, illegal settler outposts and organisations supporting violence against Palestinian Communities in the West Bank.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international partners to help ensure an adequate supply of fuel to Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No fuel has entered Gaza for over four months, putting vital services such as water supply, hospitals and ambulances at imminent risk of shutting down. This is unacceptable. We continue to be in regular contact with the Government of Israel about the importance of allowing fuel to reach Gaza. In our statement to the UN Security Council on 13 May, we called on Israel to allow the full resumption of aid into Gaza, including fuel. We reiterated this in our joint donor's statement with 26 other signatories on 19 May.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of fuel shortages in Gaza on the civilian population.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No fuel has entered Gaza for over four months, putting vital services such as water supply, hospitals and ambulances at imminent risk of shutting down. This is unacceptable. We continue to be in regular contact with the Government of Israel about the importance of allowing fuel to reach Gaza. In our statement to the UN Security Council on 13 May, we called on Israel to allow the full resumption of aid into Gaza, including fuel. We reiterated this in our joint donor's statement with 26 other signatories on 19 May.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the entry of fuel into Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No fuel has entered Gaza for over four months, putting vital services such as water supply, hospitals and ambulances at imminent risk of shutting down. This is unacceptable. We continue to be in regular contact with the Government of Israel about the importance of allowing fuel to reach Gaza. In our statement to the UN Security Council on 13 May, we called on Israel to allow the full resumption of aid into Gaza, including fuel. We reiterated this in our joint donor's statement with 26 other signatories on 19 May.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decline in the People's Health Trust's turnover and funding on local public health initiatives.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the valuable part played by third sector organisations in tackling health inequalities and the social determinants of health, and commends the work of the People’s Health Trust in providing funding and support to left-behind communities.
Much of what determines our health and wellbeing is influenced by factors other than health services. The roots of sickness too often lie in poverty, poor housing, poor education, poor work, and poor access to the things that make life worth living like culture, sport, and recreation. We are taking action on the social determinants of health, through our Health Mission, to reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Health Lottery's decisions to (a) divest from the People's Health Trust and (b) create its own funding distribution vehicle on organisations receiving funding from that lottery.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries. The department has not held recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the Health Lottery’s arrangements for distributing funds.
The Gambling Act 2005 provides for the definition of a non-commercial society lottery and how proceeds can be used. All licensed lottery operators are expected to put in place arrangements to make sure that the proceeds of each lottery are distributed in a lawful and compliant way. That includes ensuring that a minimum of 20% of proceeds are awarded to good causes.
The oversight of licences for society lotteries, including ensuring operators remain compliant with its statutory responsibilities, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.
More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure society lotteries are being run in the public interest.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries. The department has not held recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the Health Lottery’s arrangements for distributing funds.
The Gambling Act 2005 provides for the definition of a non-commercial society lottery and how proceeds can be used. All licensed lottery operators are expected to put in place arrangements to make sure that the proceeds of each lottery are distributed in a lawful and compliant way. That includes ensuring that a minimum of 20% of proceeds are awarded to good causes.
The oversight of licences for society lotteries, including ensuring operators remain compliant with its statutory responsibilities, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.
More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Gambling Commission on The Health Lottery’s new arrangements for distributing funds.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries. The department has not held recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the Health Lottery’s arrangements for distributing funds.
The Gambling Act 2005 provides for the definition of a non-commercial society lottery and how proceeds can be used. All licensed lottery operators are expected to put in place arrangements to make sure that the proceeds of each lottery are distributed in a lawful and compliant way. That includes ensuring that a minimum of 20% of proceeds are awarded to good causes.
The oversight of licences for society lotteries, including ensuring operators remain compliant with its statutory responsibilities, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.
More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) clarity of HM Revenue & Customs guidance for employers on workplace nursery schemes.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The workplace nursery scheme exemption allows employers to offer childcare support to employees without incurring income tax or National Insurance (NI) charges, provided certain conditions are met.
HMRC publishes online guidance on the use of workplace nursery schemes which is reviewed frequently and was last updated in August 2024.
In July 2024 HMRC published an article in its Agent Update as a reminder to businesses of the conditions to be met for the tax exemption to apply following increased awareness of a number of scheme operators advertising their service as having HMRC approval were the partnership requirements were not met.
The article can be found here: Issue 121 of Agent Update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Employer Supported Childcare schemes are voluntary arrangements. The Government supports these initiatives through relevant tax and NICs reliefs, but it is up to the employer to decide whether or not to offer childcare support to its employees.
The schemes primarily operate through salary sacrifice arrangements, as childcare is one of the few areas where salary sacrifice tax reliefs are still available.
Employers can choose to offer a workplace nursery scheme as part of their employee benefits package to attract and retain skilled employees.
With Tax-Free Childcare, eligible parents can simply open an online account and make payments directly to their childcare provider. For every £8 a parent deposits into their account, the government adds £2 to help with the cost of childcare.
As such, there is no requirement for employers to adopt the schemes.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to encourage employers to adopt (a) tax-free childcare and (b) other workplace nursery schemes.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The workplace nursery scheme exemption allows employers to offer childcare support to employees without incurring income tax or National Insurance (NI) charges, provided certain conditions are met.
HMRC publishes online guidance on the use of workplace nursery schemes which is reviewed frequently and was last updated in August 2024.
In July 2024 HMRC published an article in its Agent Update as a reminder to businesses of the conditions to be met for the tax exemption to apply following increased awareness of a number of scheme operators advertising their service as having HMRC approval were the partnership requirements were not met.
The article can be found here: Issue 121 of Agent Update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Employer Supported Childcare schemes are voluntary arrangements. The Government supports these initiatives through relevant tax and NICs reliefs, but it is up to the employer to decide whether or not to offer childcare support to its employees.
The schemes primarily operate through salary sacrifice arrangements, as childcare is one of the few areas where salary sacrifice tax reliefs are still available.
Employers can choose to offer a workplace nursery scheme as part of their employee benefits package to attract and retain skilled employees.
With Tax-Free Childcare, eligible parents can simply open an online account and make payments directly to their childcare provider. For every £8 a parent deposits into their account, the government adds £2 to help with the cost of childcare.
As such, there is no requirement for employers to adopt the schemes.