Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.
Answered by Fay Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The Government set out how we would meet our commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors of the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of 'Powering Up Britain'.
The UK has halved its emissions, ahead of every other major economy, and we have grown our economy by over 70% since 1990. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that we are on track to meet the third.
We have one of the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in the world, and we have set more stretching targets for 2030 than most countries. We plan to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, which is more than the EU, Japan or the United States.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much and what proportion of the £100 million fund overseen by the Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board has been spent.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. Decisions on investment will happen once the consultation has concluded and there is an understanding of what the impact of Tata Steel’s decarbonisation plans will be.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with the Trussell Trust on (a) the cost of living and (b) food poverty in (i) Newport West constituency and (ii) Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
I have not had any recent discussions with the Trussell Trust on these topics. However, in my role as Secretary of State for Wales, I regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss a wide range of issues such as the cost of living.
The UK Government has provided extensive support to Newport West. This includes Cost of Living payments for around 13,100 eligible households totalling up to £900 per household. Furthermore, around 240,000 payments have been delivered in Newport West through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
The UK Government recognises the challenges posed by cost of living pressures and consequently has provided unprecedented levels of support to families across the UK. Measures announced at the Autumn Statement mean the UK Government will spend £104 billion between 2022 and 2025 to help families with the cost of living, which is an average of £3,700 per UK household. Owing to the cut in National Insurance from January 2024, 1.2 million workers in Wales will benefit from an annual gain of £324 back.
Moreover, the National Living wage will increase by 9.8% to £11.44 per hour for workers over 21 and the National Minimum wage will increase by 14.8% to £8.60 per hour for people aged 18-20. This will benefit 140,000 people in Wales and is further evidence of the support the UK Government is providing to help people with the cost of living.
Although housing is a devolved matter, the UK Government is supporting low-income households by increasing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). From April 2024, the UK Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to cover the lower 30% of local rents. Around 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain nearly £800 per year on average in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. In Wales, around 82,500 households are set to benefit from the boost.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on (a) the cost of living and (b) food poverty in (i) Newport West constituency and (ii) Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues and Welsh Government Ministers on a wide range of issues, including the cost of living.
The UK Government has provided extensive support to Newport West. This includes Cost of Living payments for around 13,100 eligible households totalling up to £900 per household. Furthermore, around 240,000 payments have been delivered in Newport West through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
The UK Government recognises the challenges posed by cost of living pressures and consequently has provided unprecedented levels of support to families across the UK. Measures announced at the Autumn Statement mean the UK Government will spend £104 billion between 2022 and 2025 to help families with the cost of living, which is an average of £3,700 per UK household. Owing to the cut in National Insurance tax from January 2024, 1.2 million workers in Wales will benefit from an annual gain of £324.
Moreover, the National Living wage will increase by 9.8% to £11.44 per hour for workers over 21 and the National Minimum wage will increase by 14.8% to £8.60 per hour for people aged 18-20. This will benefit 140,000 people in Wales and is further evidence of the support the UK Government is providing to help people with the cost of living.
Although housing is a devolved matter, the UK Government is supporting low-income households, by increasing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). From April 2024, the UK Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to cover the lower 30% of local rents. Around 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain nearly £800 per year on average in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. In Wales, around 82,500 households are set to benefit from the boost.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the cost of living in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues and Welsh Government Ministers on a wide range of issues, including the cost of living.
The UK Government has provided extensive support to Newport West. This includes Cost of Living payments for around 13,100 eligible households totalling up to £900 per household. Furthermore, around 240,000 payments have been delivered in Newport West through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
The UK Government recognises the challenges posed by cost of living pressures and consequently has provided unprecedented levels of support to families across the UK. Measures announced at the Autumn Statement mean the UK Government will spend £104 billion between 2022 and 2025 to help families with the cost of living, which is an average of £3,700 per UK household. Owing to the cut in National Insurance tax from January 2024, 1.2 million workers in Wales will benefit from an annual gain of £324.
Moreover, the National Living wage will increase by 9.8% to £11.44 per hour for workers over 21 and the National Minimum wage will increase by 14.8% to £8.60 per hour for people aged 18-20. This will benefit 140,000 people in Wales and is further evidence of the support the UK Government is providing to help people with the cost of living.
Although housing is a devolved matter, the UK Government is supporting low-income households, by increasing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). From April 2024, the UK Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to cover the lower 30% of local rents. Around 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain nearly £800 per year on average in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. In Wales, around 82,500 households are set to benefit from the boost.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish the minutes of future meetings of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. I chair the Board, with the Minister for the Economy of Wales and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up acting as deputy chairs. The Board’s membership also consists of representatives from Neath Port Talbot Council, Tata Steel, the local Member of Parliament and Member of the Senedd. Trade Union representatives also attend as observers of the Board meetings.
In order to facilitate open dialogue on sensitive issues, the minutes of previous meetings have not been published but Joint Statements are published after each meeting which summarise the topics discussed and who was in attendance. This approach will be adopted for future meetings.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish the terms of reference of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. The terms of reference of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board have been published on the Neath Port Talbot Council website and are available here: Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board - Terms of reference – Neath Port Talbot Council (npt.gov.uk).
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish the minutes of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board meetings in (a) October and (b) November 2023.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. I chair the Board, with the Minister for the Economy of Wales and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up acting as deputy chairs. The Board’s membership also consists of representatives from Neath Port Talbot Council, Tata Steel, the local Member of Parliament and Member of the Senedd. Trade Union representatives also attend as observers of the Board meetings.
In order to facilitate open dialogue on sensitive issues, the minutes are not published but Joint Statements are published after each meeting which summarise the topics discussed and who was in attendance.
The first joint statement is available here: Statement on behalf of the Tata Steel/ Port Talbot Transition Board - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The second joint statement is available here: Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board Statement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has met monthly.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. From that funding, £80 million is provided by the UK Government and £20 million will be provided by Tata.
I chair the Board, and it had its inaugural meeting on 19 October 2023, and the Board reconvened for its second meeting on 30 November 2023. The third Board meeting will be held on 1 February 2024. The Board will continue to meet regularly, to help ensure that those who are affected are receiving the support that they need. Both of the sub-groups held their first official meetings the week commencing 22 January 2024.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the time taken to process claims to the Windrush Compensation Scheme from people in Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
I have regular discussions with Home Office ministers on a range of issues and I recognise the contribution of the Windrush Generation to Wales. I was pleased to meet the Windrush Cymru Elders at the Mission Seafarers in Newport on 31 October 2023.
The Windrush Compensation Scheme is determined to ensure everyone who was affected receives every penny of the compensation to which they are entitled at the earliest point possible. The scheme is making significant progress towards achieving this aim. As of the end of November 2023, the scheme had paid over £75 million in compensation and over 78% of claims received had been given a final decision.
The time to allocate a claim for a substantive casework consideration has been reduced significantly, from 18 months to under 4 months. The 4 month period includes all essential eligibility checks, together with a Preliminary Assessment to make an initial payment of £10,000 wherever possible.
However, each person’s claim is deeply personal and deserves to be processed with the utmost care and sensitivity so that the maximum payment can be made to them.