Asked by: Lord Deben (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what tax is levied on private commercial flights (1) taking off, or (2) landing, in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data on receipts from Air Passenger Duty (APD) and chargeable passengers, including for the higher rate, can be found in the APD Bulletin on GOV.UK. [1]
Data on aircraft movements, including for business aviation and air taxis, are published by the Civil Aviation Authority. [2] These data are not collected from all UK airports, just those handling scheduled and major charter services, and so provide only a partial picture.
APD is the Government’s principal tax on the aviation sector, since tickets are VAT free and aviation fuel incurs no duty. APD is paid by aircraft operators on a per passenger basis for flights departing UK airports; there are different rates according to a passenger's class of travel and the distance of their journey.
Operators with aircraft of over 20 tonnes equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers must pay the higher rate of APD, equal to £78 per passenger for domestic and short-haul flights and rising to £601 for ultra-long-haul flights. These private and business jets generally provide a higher class of service and so incur more in APD.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps APD under review and any changes are announced by the Chancellor at fiscal events.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-passenger-duty-bulletin
[2] https://www.caa.co.uk/Documents/Download/9116/47a460b2-0592-4ef7-b24b-aa5e27ccfce4/5623
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to encourage delivery companies to switch to cargo bikes in urban areas.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the role of e-cargo bikes in helping to decarbonise the freight sector and has outlined its support for moving freight to innovative modes such as e-cargo bikes in the Future of Freight plan. Since 2019, we have invested nearly £4 million in supporting businesses and local authorities to transition to more sustainable business travel and last mile deliveries through e-cargo bike grants, helping nearly 300 businesses and over 30 local authorities to replace car and van journeys with e-cargo bikes.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has met representatives of (a) SME and (b) independent wine businesses since the changes to alcohol duty introduced in August 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at the link below:
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 13 July 2023 to Question 193273 on Ministry of Defence: P&O Ferries, whether his Department's expenditure on P&O Ferries services between 17 March 2022 and 1 July 2023 were recorded in the departmental returns for expenditure over £500 using a government procurement card; and whether his Department used a government procurement card on (a) support of operational movement services or (b) business travel with P&O Ferries since 2 July 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In accordance with Ministry of Defence (MOD) transparency policy, all GPC (Government Procurement Card) payments over £500 in value are published monthly on gov.uk; this includes any payments made to P&O.
Between 2 July 2023 and 15 November 2023, the MOD made payments of £91,449 directly with P&O using GPC cards primarily for freight movements (this includes operational and freight movements by the National Movement Coordination Centre (Army)), and a further £45,751 was spent through GBT, the MOD's contracted travel management company, primarily for business travel. Transactions over £500 are subject to the above transparency process.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether senior officials from her Department have travelled to China since January 2019.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Details of travel by Senior Civil Servants are recorded in the Government's transparency date, which is published at:
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress UKEF has made on (a) determining scope one and two and (b) estimating scope three emissions in its portfolio until 2050.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK Export Finance (UKEF) publishes a partial scope one and two emissions inventory in its Annual Report and Accounts (ARA), consistent with the Greening Government Commitments.
The ARA also includes a partial scope 3 emissions inventory, including emissions associated with business travel, and (since financial year 2020/2021) estimates of its financed emissions. UKEF’s ARAs are laid in Parliament annually and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-export-finance-annual-reports-and-accounts.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which representatives of the drinks industry (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have met since 1 August 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at the link below.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to his Department’s enabling agreement with Corporate Travel Management (North) Ltd. for the provision of public sector air capability (reference CCYZ20A01), what number of (a) club, (b) business and (c) economy seats were provided in the configuration for the A321neoLR plane wet-leased from Titan Airways between the periods (i) 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, (ii) 4 April to 8 June 2022, and (iii) 1 October 2022 to 1 September 2023.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The reconfiguration of seating arrangements enabled greater passenger capacity and more versatile seating. These efficiencies have allowed larger delegations, such as for trips to key international summits, to travel on a single flight. Delegations frequently include members of the media.
| Economy Seats | Business Seats | Conference Table Seats | Total No. of Seats |
1 April 2021 - 31 March 2022 | 12 | 44 | 8 | 64 |
4 April to 2022 - 8 June 2022 | 12 | 44 | 8 | 64 |
1 October 2022 - 1 September 2023 | 36 | 36 | 8 | 80 |
The MSN 10238 airframe does not have any club seats within its configuration.
More broadly, I would note that foreign travel is a vital part of diplomacy. It is in the national interest that Government Ministers and delegations can travel abroad to pursue UK interests and develop international relationships through closer economic, security and development ties. This has been the case under successive administrations of all parties. Information on the cost of overseas Ministerial travel is routinely published on gov.uk (including the number of officials who accompanied the Minister if non-scheduled travel was used).
Given the Rt Hon Member’s keen interest in overseas travel, I would also point her and her staff to the frequent use of non-scheduled / charter flights under the last Labour Government, including by Gordon Brown
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministers-overseas-travel
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the banking sector on (a) pending payments and (b) reimbursement payments for incomplete purchases.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) maintained nurseries, (b) other early years education settings, (c) childminders, (d) other childcare providers, (e) primary schools, (f) secondary schools and (g) sixth-form colleges outside the Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency the Minister of State for Schools has visited since 25 October 2022; and if she will publish the (i) name, (ii) location, (iii) postcode and (iv) parliamentary constituency of each such establishment.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Secretary of State and Ministers regularly travel across the country visiting educational institutions, including nurseries, schools, colleges and universities. The Department receives many requests for visits and visits settings across a broad geography, within the constraints of Departmental business and the Parliamentary timetable.