Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new-style apprenticeships have started since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
There have been 305,200 starts on apprenticeship standards since May 2017 following the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, reported to date as at January 2019.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Whirlpool tumble dryers are still a fire risk, after the company reported that the fault has been fixed.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government’s priority is to keep consumers safe.
The review by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published on 4th April found that there is a low risk of harm or injury from lint fires in modified Whirlpool tumble dryers. The evidence indicates that the modification reduces the risk of fire.
OPSS has published specific requirements for Whirlpool to act on and issued a Decision Letter requiring that Whirlpool take further actions, including improving its management of risk and setting up a more rigorous system of quality assurance to ensure modifications are correctly installed and remain effective over time.
OPSS will hold Whirlpool to account in regard to these requirements as part of the company’s obligations with regard to the safety of products.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit; and what assessment they have made of the impact of zero tariffs on (1) the UK’s industrial and agricultural sectors, and (2) the UK’s ability to negotiate a successful deal with the EU.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
The Government’s policy is to leave the EU with a deal.
Of course, any responsible Government plans for any eventuality and final decisions are now being taken on how to apply tariffs in the event of a no deal outcome.
The Government is clear these will need to balance between protecting consumers and downstream users from the possible price impacts of a no deal scenario and avoiding the exposure of industries to unfair competition.
Once a final decision is made on what is market sensitive information, we will communicate the decision to stakeholders and the public in an appropriate way.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with Ofcom and mobile network operators, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, to (1) seek assurances that such operators will continue to incorporate overseas calls and internet access in their existing contracts for consumers, and (2) enable consumers to switch from contracts that have changed as a result of any new rules on roaming.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Ministers and officials have carried out extensive engagement on EU exit with representatives of the telecommunications industry, trade bodies, consumer bodies and the regulator Ofcom. In the event of no deal, the government has published a technical notice on mobile roaming. The Technical notice is available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/mobile-roaming-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/mobile-roaming-if-theres-no-brexit-deal.
On switching, certain changes in contractual terms during the term of a contract give the customer the right to exit that contract without penalty. For mobile phone contracts, telecoms companies have to follow rules set out by Ofcom. These set out that a customer is able to exit their contract penalty-free if the change in price under new roaming policies was considered to be material.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps first-time self-assessed taxpayers must take, including by what date they would need to begin the process, to ensure that they are able to file their tax return by 31 January; and what the penalty is for late submission due to a new applicant’s request for a Unique Taxpayers Reference not being processed in time.
Answered by Lord Bates
Customers can register to submit a self-assessment return in several ways, including online at Gov.uk, or by phoning HMRC on 03000 200 3500. After registering, the customer will receive a letter containing their 10 digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and information on what they need to do next; this letter can take up to 10 working days to arrive.
If the only reason for a customer filing late is that they are awaiting their UTR then, as long as they file their return within a reasonable time of receiving it, they will not have to pay a penalty.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what research and development into new antibiotics or close substitutes United Kingdom Research and Innovation is funding.
Answered by Lord Henley
UK Research and Innovation is currently investing over £150m for research and discovery to tackle the challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), including the development of new antibiotics, through schemes including the UK AMR Cross Council Initiative and the Biomedical Catalyst.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that the productivity gap between the UK and other developed countries is less than previously thought.
Answered by Lord Henley
This analysis is a welcome initiative by the OECD to improve the international comparability of productivity statistics. It was initiated in response to a request from the ONS to examine how different countries go about measuring total hours worked (which are required to calculate output per hour worked).
When calculating labour productivity there is a trade-off between using the best available data sourced from different countries’ national accounts, or data compiled on the most consistent basis. The OECD research finds that while for many countries this choice makes a minor difference, for the UK it has a larger effect and improves our performance relative to other countries.
The ONS is examining how best to incorporate these findings into their international comparisons of labour productivity and plans to publish an article on this in January 2019; including more detailed breakdowns of how the UK compares with other developed countries on a more consistent basis.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the annual growth rates of labour productivity in each year since 2000; and what rates they forecast for each year to 2022.
Answered by Lord Henley
Growth in labour productivity, 2000 – 2022
Year (f – forecast) | Output per hour worked, % change on previous year, seasonally adjusted |
2000 | 3.2 |
2001 | 1.5 |
2002 | 2.4 |
2003 | 2.9 |
2004 | 1.2 |
2005 | 2.0 |
2006 | 1.8 |
2007 | 1.5 |
2008 | -0.6 |
2009 | -1.5 |
2010 | 1.3 |
2011 | 1.1 |
2012 | -0.7 |
2013 | -0.4 |
2014 | 0.6 |
2015 | 1.0 |
2016 | 0.5 |
2017 | 0.8 |
2018f | 0.8 |
2019f | 0.8 |
2020f | 0.9 |
2021f | 1.0 |
2022f | 1.1 |
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what sector deals have been agreed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy under their Industrial Strategy; and how much funding they have allocated to each deal.
Answered by Lord Henley
Nine sector deals have been agreed so far. These are with the nuclear, creative industries, construction, AI, automotive, rail, aerospace sectors, and the life sciences sector has published two deals.
Sector deals are negotiated partnerships between government and Industry in key sectors of the economy to unblock barriers to productivity in specific areas. There is no new funding available, and they do not allocate funding to sectors. Some of the nine Deals agreed to date have involve supporting sector-led proposals with existing sources of Government funding.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their calculation of what the cumulative cost of debt interest would be by 2045/46 if they only balanced the current budget.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Managing Fiscal Risks document, published by the Treasury on the 17th July, projects that if the government only balanced the Current Budget every year from 2021-22, then after taking account of economic shocks, annual debt interest costs in 2045-46 would rise to 4.3% of Gross Domestic Product.
The cumulative cost of these interest payments from the current financial year to 2045-46 is projected to be £3.7 trillion.