Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that Parliament and relevant sectors of civil society, including the charitable sector, are able to scrutinise all current and future trade negotiations with the United States, with particular reference to their direct or indirect implications for (1) economies, (2) trade, and (3) vulnerable people, in the least developed countries.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
This Government is committed to transparency and will ensure that parliamentarians, UK citizens, businesses and charities have access to the information they need on our trade negotiations. For the UK-USA Free Trade Agreement, the Government has set out its negotiating objectives, alongside a response to the public consultation as well as an initial economic assessment.
We engage with businesses, civil society, academics and consumer groups through the Strategic Advisory Group (STAG) and Expert Trade Advisory Groups (ETAGs), as well as through regular conversations outside of these formal channels.
The UK also remains committed to ensuring developing countries can reduce poverty through trading opportunities.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the October 2019 report of The Independent Commission for Aid Impact on mutual prosperity, what steps he is taking to ensure that Official Development Assistance spending across all Departments (a) remains focused on (i) poverty alleviation, (ii) developing and least developed countries and (iii) and leaving no one behind and (b) is fully transparent and accountable.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK is a global champion for aid spending and humanitarian relief. As the Independent Commission for Aid Impact report highlights, this Government is building mutually beneficial partnerships that go wider than aid, towards the trade and business relationships that can deliver quality investment, drive growth and create the jobs that developing countries need to lift millions out of poverty. The aim is to build self-sustaining economies that can generate their own financing through increased tax revenue and private investment.
This approach to international development is a key example of how the government is bringing together all our capabilities to end extreme poverty. To support this, DFID is working with other government departments to ensure all Official Development Assistance meets the requirements of the International Development Act and the Government’s transparency commitment.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, with reference to the Prosperity Fund's Global Trade Programme, what steps he is taking to ensure that aid funding allocated under this programme reaches the poorest people in the countries involved.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
No country can defeat poverty without sustained economic growth. Middle income countries are home to around two thirds of the world's poor, and therefore need to not only generate new investment, growth and jobs, but also need to ensure that economic growth resulting from trade is inclusive and genuinely helps to reduce poverty, support gender equality and women's economic empowerment. It is in the UK's interest to support middle income countries to tackle these challenges.
Through the Prosperity Fund Global Trade Programme we are providing technical assistance to facilitate free trade and open markets for Official Development Assistance eligible middle income countries, in turn enabling greater investment with global value chains to create jobs and prosperity and lift the poorest sectors of society out of poverty.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on potential opportunities to help grow the economies of developing countries through free trade.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Trade is a key driver of economic growth that can trigger positive changes in a country’s economy, helping to raise incomes, create jobs and lift people out of poverty.
Our first priority is to deliver continuity in our trading arrangements with developing countries in order to minimise trade disruption as we leave the EU. Once we leave the EU, the UK will be able to offer a fully integrated trade and development package, which will encompass preferential market access for developing country partners alongside our aid spending that helps developing countries to take advantage of trading opportunities.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department uses to categorise universal credit applicants as gainfully self-employed.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department provides tailored support to our claimants who are in self-employment through our work coaches to help them to increase their productivity and earnings. Work coaches can refer low-earning claimants to mentoring support from New Enterprise Allowance providers and sign-post claimants to the other extensive business support which is already funded by the Government.
All claimants with earnings from self-employment, whether gainfully self-employed or not, are required to self-report these each month to ensure that any Universal Credit (UC) payments take into account all household earnings. Monthly reporting allows UC to be adjusted monthly. Claimants are required to report the total of actual payments into and out of their business in each month, minus any Income Tax, National Insurance, permitted business expenses and relievable pension contributions actually paid. This gives a net profit figure, which is treated as the self-employed earnings total in the UC calculation. Any drawings from business to personal accounts or, where a claimant has incorporated their business, payment of salary from their company to their personal account, is disregarded in this calculation to avoid double counting.
When a claim is made to Universal Credit the Department will, on the basis of the information provided by the claimant, assess whether the claimant may reasonably be expected to work. If a claimant is in a group expected to work, the number of hours they may be expected to work is a maximum of 35 but may be lower, for example to take account of caring responsibilities or a health condition.
If a claimant is self-employed and in a group expected to work, the Department then considers a number of factors to establish whether someone is gainfully self-employed. A claimant is considered to be in gainful self-employment where all of the following apply:
If all of the above are satisfied, then the claimant is considered gainfully self-employed. A Minimum Income Floor (MIF) is calculated by multiplying the number of hours the gainfully self-employed claimant is expected to work by the relevant National Minimum Wage for their age, minus notional deductions for Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions. Gainfully self-employed claimants with a MIF applied to their claim are free from requirements to seek other work and are free to undertake those activities that they consider will maximise their profit including decisions about when and how to work most effectively.
As we announced in the Autumn Budget 2018, we are extending the 12-month start-up period where claimants are exempt from the Minimum Income Floor to all gainfully self-employed claimants who are new to Universal Credit. This start-up period will provide time for self-employed claimants to establish and grow their business, or to adjust to Universal Credit.
On average earnings from self-employment are lower than from employment and the self-employed make up a significant proportion of those in in-work poverty. The Government believes the MIF, by incentivising claimants to earn more from self-employment, or alternatively enter employment, offers the most effective way of tackling in-work poverty for the self-employed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department use to assess whether a self-employed universal credit applicant is working 35 hours per week or more in paid employment.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department provides tailored support to our claimants who are in self-employment through our work coaches to help them to increase their productivity and earnings. Work coaches can refer low-earning claimants to mentoring support from New Enterprise Allowance providers and sign-post claimants to the other extensive business support which is already funded by the Government.
All claimants with earnings from self-employment, whether gainfully self-employed or not, are required to self-report these each month to ensure that any Universal Credit (UC) payments take into account all household earnings. Monthly reporting allows UC to be adjusted monthly. Claimants are required to report the total of actual payments into and out of their business in each month, minus any Income Tax, National Insurance, permitted business expenses and relievable pension contributions actually paid. This gives a net profit figure, which is treated as the self-employed earnings total in the UC calculation. Any drawings from business to personal accounts or, where a claimant has incorporated their business, payment of salary from their company to their personal account, is disregarded in this calculation to avoid double counting.
When a claim is made to Universal Credit the Department will, on the basis of the information provided by the claimant, assess whether the claimant may reasonably be expected to work. If a claimant is in a group expected to work, the number of hours they may be expected to work is a maximum of 35 but may be lower, for example to take account of caring responsibilities or a health condition.
If a claimant is self-employed and in a group expected to work, the Department then considers a number of factors to establish whether someone is gainfully self-employed. A claimant is considered to be in gainful self-employment where all of the following apply:
If all of the above are satisfied, then the claimant is considered gainfully self-employed. A Minimum Income Floor (MIF) is calculated by multiplying the number of hours the gainfully self-employed claimant is expected to work by the relevant National Minimum Wage for their age, minus notional deductions for Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions. Gainfully self-employed claimants with a MIF applied to their claim are free from requirements to seek other work and are free to undertake those activities that they consider will maximise their profit including decisions about when and how to work most effectively.
As we announced in the Autumn Budget 2018, we are extending the 12-month start-up period where claimants are exempt from the Minimum Income Floor to all gainfully self-employed claimants who are new to Universal Credit. This start-up period will provide time for self-employed claimants to establish and grow their business, or to adjust to Universal Credit.
On average earnings from self-employment are lower than from employment and the self-employed make up a significant proportion of those in in-work poverty. The Government believes the MIF, by incentivising claimants to earn more from self-employment, or alternatively enter employment, offers the most effective way of tackling in-work poverty for the self-employed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department differentiates between annual turnover and salary when assessing the incomes of self-employed applicants of universal credit.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The Department provides tailored support to our claimants who are in self-employment through our work coaches to help them to increase their productivity and earnings. Work coaches can refer low-earning claimants to mentoring support from New Enterprise Allowance providers and sign-post claimants to the other extensive business support which is already funded by the Government.
All claimants with earnings from self-employment, whether gainfully self-employed or not, are required to self-report these each month to ensure that any Universal Credit (UC) payments take into account all household earnings. Monthly reporting allows UC to be adjusted monthly. Claimants are required to report the total of actual payments into and out of their business in each month, minus any Income Tax, National Insurance, permitted business expenses and relievable pension contributions actually paid. This gives a net profit figure, which is treated as the self-employed earnings total in the UC calculation. Any drawings from business to personal accounts or, where a claimant has incorporated their business, payment of salary from their company to their personal account, is disregarded in this calculation to avoid double counting.
When a claim is made to Universal Credit the Department will, on the basis of the information provided by the claimant, assess whether the claimant may reasonably be expected to work. If a claimant is in a group expected to work, the number of hours they may be expected to work is a maximum of 35 but may be lower, for example to take account of caring responsibilities or a health condition.
If a claimant is self-employed and in a group expected to work, the Department then considers a number of factors to establish whether someone is gainfully self-employed. A claimant is considered to be in gainful self-employment where all of the following apply:
If all of the above are satisfied, then the claimant is considered gainfully self-employed. A Minimum Income Floor (MIF) is calculated by multiplying the number of hours the gainfully self-employed claimant is expected to work by the relevant National Minimum Wage for their age, minus notional deductions for Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions. Gainfully self-employed claimants with a MIF applied to their claim are free from requirements to seek other work and are free to undertake those activities that they consider will maximise their profit including decisions about when and how to work most effectively.
As we announced in the Autumn Budget 2018, we are extending the 12-month start-up period where claimants are exempt from the Minimum Income Floor to all gainfully self-employed claimants who are new to Universal Credit. This start-up period will provide time for self-employed claimants to establish and grow their business, or to adjust to Universal Credit.
On average earnings from self-employment are lower than from employment and the self-employed make up a significant proportion of those in in-work poverty. The Government believes the MIF, by incentivising claimants to earn more from self-employment, or alternatively enter employment, offers the most effective way of tackling in-work poverty for the self-employed.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the UK’s carbon footprint is not exported to countries with weaker targets in place.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government publishes annual estimates of the UK’s carbon footprint on a consumption basis. The latest statistics were published on 11 April and show the footprint for years 1997 to 2016: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uks-carbon-footprint. Carbon footprint measured in this way refers to emissions that are associated with the consumption spending of UK residents on goods and services, wherever in the world these emissions arise along the supply chain, and those which are directly generated by UK households through private motoring etc. These emissions are often referred to as ‘consumption emissions’ to distinguish them from estimates relating to the emissions ‘produced’ within a country’s territory or economic sphere.
As stated in the Resources and Waste Strategy, the Government’s goal is to maximise the value of the resources we use, minimise the waste we create, cut emissions and help create a cleaner, greener, healthier planet. In the Strategy we have committed to measures that will improve resource efficiency, prevent waste and cut carbon consumption emissions.
Climate change is a global challenge. The UK is a world leader in cutting emissions while creating wealth. Between 1990 and 2017, the UK reduced its emissions by over 40 per cent while growing the economy by more than two thirds. We have met our first two Carbon Budgets and are on track to meet the third. In addition, our consumption emissions are falling. Greenhouse gas emissions on a consumption basis fell by 6% between 2015 and 2016; and by 21% between 2007 and 2016.
UK International Climate Finance (ICF) plays a crucial role in addressing this global challenge. Three government Departments (DFID, BEIS and Defra) have responsibility for investing the UK’s £5.8bn of ICF between 2016 and 2021. These investments aim to support international poverty eradication now and in the future, by helping developing countries to manage risk, adapt to and build resilience to the impacts of climate change; promoting low carbon development at scale; and supporting sustainable management of natural resources and reducing deforestation. Between 2011/12 and 2017/18, it is estimated that ICF programmes have reduced or avoided 10.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (tCO2e).
Energy and trade intensive businesses create particular challenges, where ambitious climate change targets could risk carbon leakage. As the Clean Growth Strategy sets out, we remain committed to carbon pricing as an emissions reduction tool whilst ensuring energy and trade intensive businesses are appropriately protected from any detrimental impacts on competitiveness.
During Phase IV negotiations on the EU Emissions Trading System the UK supported the provision of free allocation as a precaution against the risk of carbon leakage; as the UK leaves the EU our preferred position is to have a UK ETS that is linked to the EU ETS and in that scenario, as set-out in our recent consultation on the future of carbon pricing, we propose to continue the provision of free allocation to industry to help ensure a smooth transition and continued protection against carbon leakage.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to increase the amount of trade between the UK and The Gambia.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
As the Prime Minister set out during her visit to Africa last Summer, the Government is committed to seeing a step change in our relationship with Africa in order to drive forward trade and investment. The Africa Trade Services Unit was set up to act as the single point of contact for UK companies exporting to Africa. The Unit responds to all Africa trade enquiries, including those related to Gambia, and can support UK companies through the delivery of trade services.
The UK remains committed to ensuring developing countries can reduce poverty through trading opportunities. The Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018 enables the UK to put in place a trade preferences scheme for developing countries that maintains the same level of access as the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences, which will grant duty-free, quota-free access to Least Developed Countries, including The Gambia.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps he has taken to promote free trade with Swaziland after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Hollingbery
As the UK exits the EU, we are seeking to replicate the effects of the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (SACU+M), which includes Eswatini (Swaziland), as soon as possible. EPAs aim to promote increased trade and investment, supporting sustainable growth and poverty reduction.
As the Prime Minister set out during her visit to Africa last Summer, the Government is committed to seeing a step change in our relationship with Africa in order to drive forward trade and investment.
The Prime Minister also announced that the UK will launch a new Prosperity Fund programme of up to £8 million that will support implementation of the transitioned EPA.
The funding will aim to increase trade with and within Southern Africa by helping to remove barriers to trade, and in doing so expand import and export opportunities for UK and African businesses. Officials are consulting with the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini and other countries in the region about the design of the programme.