Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to businesses of administering the new Health and Social Care Levy.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Health and Social Care Levy will levy a 1.25% tax on taxpayers liable to Class 1, Class 1A, Class 1B and Class 4 National Insurance contributions, via a temporary increase to NICs rates in 2022-23 and a separate Levy from 2023-24. Revenue raised will be ringfenced to support UK health and social care bodies.
The Government has published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) setting out that this measure will affect over 1.6 million employers required to introduce this change, including through one-off familiarisation costs. Further details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-social-care-levy/health-and-social-care-levy.
Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether dedicated (a) capacity and (b) strike price arrangements, to support tidal stream and wave technology, will be included in Contracts for Difference Auction Round 4 in 2021.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The draft auction parameters for the fourth Contracts for Difference allocation round, including the administrative strike prices for wave and tidal stream, and any minima for particular technologies, will be published shortly.
Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish information on which legal routes are available to asylum seekers in camps in Greece’s Aegean Islands who are seeking to be reunited with family in the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK already provides a safe and legal route to bring families together through its refugee family reunion policy. The current refugee family reunion policy allows a partner and children under 18 of those granted protection in the UK to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. Over 29,000 visas have been issued under this policy in the last 5 years. Under the family reunion policy, we do not restrict where someone has to be in order to make an application.
As set out in the New Plan for Immigration, the Government committed to review safe and legal routes to the UK and has a statutory duty to conduct a public consultation on family reunion for UASC in the EU. We have now completed the consultation as part of the wider consultation on the New Plan for Immigration. We have carefully considered the responses and a report, laid in Parliament on 22 July 2021, on the outcome of the review of safe and legal routes confirms the UK wants to be bold and ambitious in the safe and legal routes it provides.
New Plan for Immigration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
What recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of supply and demand in the UK agricultural sector labour market.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We make use of all available information to understand labour demand and supply, considering both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements. This includes engaging closely with farmers, growers, and industry bodies to consider the latest data and business intelligence. Defra is also working across Government to ensure there is a long-term evidence-based strategy for the agricultural workforce beyond 2021.
Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish all data her Department holds at a (a) national, (b) regional and (c) local authority level on (i) total jobs started as a result of and (ii) jobs advertised as part of the Kickstart Scheme since that scheme began.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of the 7th July Approximately 148,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply for through the Kickstart Scheme and over 44,000 young people have started Kickstart jobs. There were also over 247,000 jobs approved for funding by the Scheme.
Below are tables listing the number of Kickstart jobs which have been made available and started by young people to date by geographical area of Great Britain and work sector. The figures used are correct as of the 7th July and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.
The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.
Location | Jobs Made Available | Total Jobs Started |
East Midlands | 9,920 | 2,570 |
East of England | 11,640 | 3,100 |
London | 28,750 | 9,710 |
North East | 5,730 | 2,030 |
North West | 19,140 | 5,570 |
Scotland | 10,740 | 3,830 |
South East | 17,240 | 4,780 |
South West | 11,030 | 3000 |
Wales | 8,380 | 2,260 |
West Midlands | 13,880 | 3,390 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 11,530 | 3,280 |
*These numbers are rounded and so may not match provided totals. Jobs Made Available include 1,000 non-grant funded vacancies and around 900 starts to non-grant funded jobs |
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Sector | Jobs Made Available | Total Jobs Started |
Administration | 37,290 | 11,390 |
Animal Care | 650 | 370 |
Beauty & Wellbeing | 1,090 | 350 |
Business & Finance | 5,350 | 1,580 |
Computing, Technology & Digital | 11,000 | 4,060 |
Construction & Trades | 4,520 | 1,450 |
Creative & Media | 11,230 | 4,510 |
Delivery & Storage | 4,450 | 1,310 |
Emergency & Uniform Services | 290 | 80 |
Engineering & Maintenance | 5,210 | 1,300 |
Environment & Land | 2,760 | 870 |
Government Services | 550 | 80 |
Healthcare | 4,480 | 1,060 |
Home Services | 1,130 | 210 |
Hospitality & Food | 14,280 | 3,060 |
Law & Legal | 330 | 150 |
Managerial | 950 | 250 |
Manufacturing | 3,520 | 1,220 |
Retail & Sales | 22,620 | 7,040 |
Science & Research | 690 | 190 |
Social Care | 3,660 | 690 |
Sports & Leisure | 3,580 | 970 |
Teaching & Education | 7,240 | 1,620 |
Transport | 550 | 90 |
Travel & Tourism | 480 | 140 |
*These numbers are rounded and so may not match provided totals. Jobs Made Available include 1,000 non-grant funded vacancies and around 900 starts to non-grant funded jobs |
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Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he last met with representatives of OFGEM to discuss transmission charging costs for renewables projects in Scotland.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
BEIS Ministers and officials meet regularly with representatives of Ofgem to discuss a range of energy related matters, including transmission charging arrangements for renewable generation projects in Scotland and across GB.
Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the report published in May 2021 by the Renewables Infrastructure Development Group entitled Charging The Wrong Way, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding in that report that EU electricity generators pay £0.46 per megawatt hour (MWh) in transmission system charges while the average payment in Scotland is £6.42 per MWh.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Transmission charging is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator, and it is currently reviewing some aspects of these charging arrangements, with plans to consult on proposals this year. The Department is in close touch with Ofgem to understand how its proposals can help support delivery of a secure, net zero energy system at lowest cost for consumers. Most major investment in new renewable generation projects continues to be underpinned by Contracts for Difference arrangements introduced by the UK Government, and for which overseas generators are not eligible to bid.
Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the temporary accommodation provided by her Department for asylum seekers.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Contingency accommodation - whether this be hotels across the United Kingdom or at the Napier barracks and Penally training camp - was set up in response to the enormous pressures placed on our asylum system by the coronavirus pandemic.
We expect the highest standards from providers and have instructed them to make improvements as part of our contract governance and following inspections, an independent audit and the interim report from the Independent Chief Inspector.
Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
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 effect on public health of the UK implementing travel restrictions similar to those implemented by New Zealand during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government’s travel corridor policy remains a critical part of the COVID-19 response as it reduces the risk of importing infections from abroad, while at the same time permitting inbound travel from certain destinations without the need for travellers to self-isolate where the risk of importing COVID-19 is deemed sufficiently low. Travel corridors are informed by risk assessments provided by the Joint Biosecurity Centre, working closely with Public Health England.
Asked by: Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he last discussed with Cabinet colleagues the potential merits of the UK implementing covid-19 travel restrictions similar to those implemented by New Zealand.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government’s travel corridor policy remains a critical part of the COVID-19 response as it reduces the risk of importing infections from abroad, while at the same time permitting inbound travel from certain destinations without the need for travellers to self-isolate where the risk of importing COVID-19 is deemed sufficiently low. Travel corridors are informed by risk assessments provided by the Joint Biosecurity Centre, working closely with Public Health England.