Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Business Rates Relief Fund, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential value of discounts that would have been awarded to airports in England in the event that airports had been permitted to pursue covid-19-related Material Change of Circumstance appeals with the Valuation Office Agency.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Parliament recently passed legislation to rule out coronavirus as grounds for a ‘material change of circumstances’ appeal of rateable value. It is a core principle of the business rates system that market-wide economic changes affecting property values, such as the pandemic, should only be considered at general revaluations.
Prior to this legislation being introduced, the Valuation Office Agency were at an early stage of considering their response to the material change of circumstances appeals. Although discussions had taken place no valuations had been agreed.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2022 to Question 96953 on Big Ben: Repairs and Maintenance, what the estimated additional cost is for (a) the four-month site closure in 2020, (b) investment in covid-19 secure measures and (c) the reduced productivity on site until November 2020.
Answered by Charles Walker
The total cost to date of covid-19 impacts on the project, including the four-month site closure in 2020, investment in covid-19 secure measures and the reduced productivity on site until November 2020, is £5.7m, including VAT. These costs are met from the approved £9m provision, listed in the answer to Question 96953.
This figure has been scrutinised by independent consultants, who are confident in the financial projections that have been developed by teams in the House Service, recognising the exceptionality of the project and its highly specific requirements.
Parliament’s teams have mitigated against the financial impact of coronavirus, working collaboratively and positively with contractors to reduce the impact to the taxpayer, and ensuring that costs paid by Parliament are proportionate to its contractual obligations. The project’s teams continue to meet the challenges posed by this complex conservation and enjoy the support of the leadership of both Houses in their delivery and approach.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it remains his policy to increase the rate of National Insurance in April 2022.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government announced the Health and Social Care Levy on 7 September 2021 and passed the legislation on 20 October 2021.
The Levy will allow the Government to implement necessary adult social care reform, tackle the elective backlog in the NHS as it recovers from Coronavirus, develop our pandemic response and preparedness, and ensure the NHS has the resources it needs throughout this Parliament.
The Government is committed to responsible management of the public finances and it is important that this spending is fully funded, particularly in the context of record borrowing and debt to fund the economic response to COVID-19.
A levy charged on the National Insurance Contributions base is the fairest way to raise the funds needed to support health and social care. It ensures the lowest earners are protected from increases as National Insurance has a threshold to protect the lowest paid. The highest earning 15 per cent will pay over half the revenue raised from the Levy and 6.1 million people earning less than the Primary Threshold (£9,880 in the year 2022-23), will not pay the Levy. In addition, using National Insurance as the basis ensures businesses will also pay the Levy. Businesses benefit from having a healthy workforce, so it is only fair that they contribute.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure that before anyone is dismissed for being unvaccinated in the health and care sector that he will (a) bring a report to Parliament on the number of people who are yet to have a vaccine and (b) assess alternative potential provisions to protect patients from covid-19.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) (No.2) Regulations 2021 regulations were approved by parliament on 14th December. The Government’s policy is to now implement the regulations. This will include continuing to monitor COVID-19 vaccination uptake levels.
The Government is not considering bringing such a report to Parliament or considering alternative potential provisions to the regulations.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential effect of reductions in the Official Development Assistance budget on (1) poverty, (2) inequality, and (3) the UK's reputation, in the global south.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a world leader in development, committed to the global fight against poverty and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In 2020 we spent £14.5 billion Official Development Assistance (ODA) fighting poverty and helping those in need, despite the seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK and global economy. This included £1.7 billion supporting the effort to fight coronavirus, £1.5 billion in humanitarian assistance, and we gave more than half of our regional bilateral aid to countries in Africa.
In 2021, the UK will still spend over £10 billion and remain one of the largest ODA spenders in the world. Based on 2020 OECD data, the UK will be the third largest ODA donor in the G7 as a percentage of Gross National Income (GNI) in 2021 and will spend above the average for OECD Development Assistance Committee members (0.41%). As we move through the spending cycle, as is standard, we will review the impact of projects and our spend, in order to inform future spending decisions and policy making.
On 13 July the Government gave Members of Parliament the opportunity to debate its proposed course of action and a pathway back to 0.7%. The House voted clearly with a majority of 35 votes to approve the approach set out in the Treasury's Written Ministerial Statement. Improving economic forecasts shows that HMG may meet its fiscal tests to return to spending 0.7% of GNI on aid in financial year 2024/25.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the speed with which HGV driver applications are processed.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The DVLA is currently prioritising applications for HGV driving licences and continues to explore opportunities to reduce turnaround times for paper applications. Extra staff have been recruited and the DVLA is seeking extra office space to house more staff to help reduce backlogs and provide future resilience and business continuity.
Paper driving licence applications are currently taking between six and ten weeks to process and more information is available on GOV.UK here. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed.
Following a public consultation, the Department is also introducing changes that will streamline the licensing process for new HGV drivers and increase driving test availability. These are aimed to help address current driver shortages. A written statement to Parliament about these changes has been published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the House of Commons Commission is taking to protect the safety of all Parliamentary staff from covid-19.
Answered by Charles Walker
The House of Commons Commission has ensured that the House Service has implemented the working safely during coronavirus guidance to ensure we remain a Covid-secure workplace.
At every stage of the Government roadmap, or when updated guidance has been published, the Parliamentary Covid risk assessment has been reviewed and updated to ensure the appropriate mitigations are put in place. The latest version of the risk assessment was published in the last week, incorporating Government guidance on ‘how to stay safe and help prevent the spread from 19 July’ and the sector specific guidance published on the 14th July.
The risk assessment has been made available to all and can be found at
To complement the Parliamentary Covid risk assessment the individual risk assessment tool has been in use since November 2020, to allow the House Service to identify those at higher risk and ensure appropriate measures are in place.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his letter to leaders of local authorities on 5 March 2021, what progress he has made in extending the temporary provisions that simplified the route for pubs, restaurants and cafes to obtain a temporary pavement licence for another 12 months from 30 September 2021.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
On 8 June we laid the Business and Planning Act 2020 (Pavement Licences) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 which extends the temporary streamlined pavement licence provisions that we introduced last summer for 12 months until September 2022. The regulations have now been approved in Parliament and the legislation has come into effect. Therefore, businesses will now be able to apply for a licence for the extended period.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to expire the Care Act easements under the Coronavirus Act 2020 as recommended in its One Year Report on the status of the non-devolved provisions of the Coronavirus Act 2020 published in March 2021.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A decision was made to expire the Care Act 2014 easements provision following our review of the provision in March, taking account of views from across the adult social care sector. As per the recommendation in the Coronavirus Act 2020 one-year report published in March 2021, regulations to expire the provision were laid on 21 April 2021, subject to approval by Parliament.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when the Government plans to respond to the Women and Equalities Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2019-21, Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact, HC 385.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government response to the Women and Equalities Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2019-21, ‘Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact’, was published on 14 May 2021 and is available on the Parliament website.