Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of interference by Russian sources with the referendum in the UK on 23 June 2016.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
As the Prime Minister made clear in her Mansion House speech, Russia makes aggressive use of cyber capability to mount sustained campaigns of espionage and disruption.
To date, we have not seen evidence of successful interference in UK elections or referendums. We take any allegations of interference in UK democratic processes by a foreign government extremely seriously.
Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) regarding the fee structure for coaching courses and for the Level One coaching qualification for school-aged children; what assessment they have made of the impact of fees charged on participation by young people from (1) state, and (2) private schools; and whether they have advised the LTA to vary that fee structure according to which type of school a young person attends.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
We want all young people, regardless of economic background, to be healthy and active, and playing tennis is a great way to achieve this. Coaching courses and participation fees are for sports to manage, but as set out in the government's sport strategy Sporting Future, we should ensure that opportunities to engage in sport and physical activity are as inclusive and accessible as possible
Sport England published its new coaching plan “Coaching in an Active Nation: The Coaching Plan for England” earlier this year, setting out a key objective of making it easier to become a coach. An important part of that is reducing the costs of entry. Sport England has recently commissioned a review of the UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC) which will include looking at the issue of the increased cost of coaching qualifications.
Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
Her Majesty's Government how they intend to monitor the effectiveness of grants given to those charities that have a turnover of less than £250,000 per year.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
All grants managed by the Office for Civil Society are consistent with the Government Grants Minimum Standards, which provide guidance on effective grant monitoring. All payments to grantees are subject to the satisfactory and timely completion of monitoring reports that set out the use of funds to date as well as progress against pre-agreed milestones, outputs and outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have to increase charitable giving from higher-rate tax payers.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The UK is the most generous place in Europe and one of the most generous places in the world. In 2016 alone, the British public donated around £10 billion to charitable causes and 73% of people gave money in an average month. This is a level of generosity that deserves to be celebrated. To help build a compassionate country that works for everyone, this Government will make it as easy and compelling as possible for people to give.
The Government currently offers several schemes to incentivise higher-rate taxpayers to give. Tax relief is offered when donations are made through Gift Aid, when donating land, property, shares, or if gifts are left to charity in a will. Relief is also available for any individual or company who donates cultural artefacts through the Cultural Gift Scheme.
At the Giving Roundtables held in 2016, the Government heard about opportunities to increase charitable giving by higher-rate taxpayers. Further announcements about those opportunities will follow.
The £4m Libraries: Opportunities for Everyone innovation fund, managed by Arts Council England on behalf of DCMS, was set up to pilot library service projects that provide benefit disadvantaged people and places in England. These pilots will be tracked and evaluated, with a view to encouraging wider adoption and investment in those which prove most successful.
Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
Her Majesty's Government whether they have considered the introduction of fiscal incentives to encourage more philanthropic giving from wealthier members of society.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government already provides a range of generous tax reliefs for the charity sector, worth over £5 billion including £1.5 billion of relief to individuals in the tax year 2016-2017. This includes higher rate tax relief on donations by higher and additional rate taxpayers, worth £520 million, and relief on gifts of shares and property, worth £70 million. Individuals can also get generous tax reliefs if they invest in a social enterprise including a charity, using the social investment tax relief scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they estimate will be the amount raised as a result of the two per cent flexibility increase in council tax rates by (1) Newcastle City Council, (2) Northumberland County Council, (3) North Tyneside Council, (4) South Tyneside Council, (5) Gateshead Council, (6) Sunderland City Council, and (7) Durham County Council, in the next financial year.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Each of these authorities chose to use the full two per cent adult social care precept. Local authorities have estimated how much they expect to raise in council tax receipts, and this is among the information in the Department’s recent National Statistics publication, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2016 to 2017.
The additional receipts as a result of the adult social care precept for 2016-17 for these authorities are shown in the table.
Estimated additional council tax revenue in 2016-17 as a result of each local authority's use of the adult social care precept (£) | |
Durham | 3,574,000 |
Gateshead | 1,485,000 |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 1,752,000 |
North Tyneside | 1,512,000 |
Northumberland | 2,828,000 |
South Tyneside | 974,000 |
Sunderland | 1,602,000 |
Source: Table 9, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2016 to 2017, Department for Communities and Local Government (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-tax-levels-set-by-local-authorities-in-england-2016-to-2017)
Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated cost to the public purse as a result of the introduction of the National Living Wage for social care workers in each of the seven authorities in the Northeast Local Economic Partnership area in the next financial year.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
No such estimate has been made. The Spending Review took account of the costs of implementing the National Living Wage and set out a sustainable basis for local authorities to discharge their functions. The Government outlined a package of support, providing up to £3.5 billion a year by 2019-20, to ensure councils are able to support some of their older and most vulnerable residents.
Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of people receiving social care in each of the seven authorities in the Northeast Local Economic Partnership area are entitled to public funding to support that care.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The following table contains estimates of the proportion of residential social care service users in each of the seven authorities in the Northeast Local Economic Partnership area who are in receipt of public funding.
Local Authority | Approximate proportion who are state supported |
Durham | 71% |
Gateshead | 69% |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 64% |
North Tyneside | 61% |
Northumberland | 69% |
South Tyneside | 89% |
Sunderland | 67% |
Total | 70% |
This information is an estimate based on internal analysis derived from the National Adult Social Care Intelligence Service and Care Quality Commission occupancy data for residential social care – data is not available for domiciliary care. This estimate uses 2012/13 data, which provides the most recent comparable data sets for this purpose.
Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the national consultation on the future of children’s centres will be launched<b>, </b>and what is the timetable for responses to be received and for them to announce their proposals following the consultation.
Answered by Lord Nash
The government is considering its future policy on children’s centres as part of the development of the cross-Government Life Chances Strategy, and plans to publish details in the summer. At that point we will make it clear how stakeholders and members of the public can contribute.
Asked by: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many houses they expect to be brought back into use through the Empty Homes programme in 2015–16.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Empty Homes Programme created 9,044 homes from empty properties between 2012-2015. The number of empty homes is now at its lowest level since records began.
Local authorities have powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes, and through the New Homes Bonus they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one. In addition, councils may also charge up to 150 per cent council tax for homes empty for over two years. Given these levers, the Government has no plans for a further empty homes funding programme.