Lord Lamont of Lerwick

The sound system in the Moses room is due to be replaced as part of a project upgrading the facilities across Committee Rooms. This work was recently delayed to ensure that related asbestos works could be undertaken safely. The work on the sound system is now scheduled to be completed in Summer 2026.

The microphones in the Chamber are tested each day in advance of the sitting of the House and are in full working order.

If any Member wishes to identify any particular audio matters in the Chamber, I would be very happy to take this up with the Director of Facilities.

A project led by an independent consultant is currently underway to upgrade the sound systems in both Houses. The suspended microphones in the Lords Chamber were replaced in 2017 and are professional studio quality models. The four main table microphones are to be replaced this summer with similar quality models.

The loudspeakers installed in the backs of all bench seating were replaced last summer with modern models designed for high speech intelligibility. Some deep structural cabling issues with a small number of the speakers are currently being investigated and it is intended that these issues will be resolved over the summer recess.

The sound systems are inspected and tested every day the Committee Rooms are in use. The reported issues with the volume of remote contributions in some Committee Rooms has been identified and remedial works will be completed during the Summer recess.

Within the House of Lords, Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) are expected to provide an independent view and expertise on service delivery and provision, governance, and boardroom best practice. The Lords Management Board is seeking two NEDs to bring complementary skills and experience to the Board to provide advice, support and challenge about the management and delivery of services to the House of Lords. The renumeration of the NEDs is in line with wider public sector practice and within the House’s governance arrangements. The remuneration for 2024/25 is £9,495 per annum based on 15 days of engagement.

We have no record of receiving the Noble Lord's correspondence. My Private Office has reached out to the Noble Lord for a copy and, when received, we will respond to that as soon as possible.

The amount spent by the FCDO on provision of the Continuity in Education Allowance for 494 children in UK schools in the financial year 2023/24 was £14,502,476.00

The statement was based on independent analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). In 2020 the OBR forecast that GDP will be 4% lower than it would have been had the UK not withdrawn from the EU. The OBR noted that around two-fifths of the 4% impact had already occurred by the time the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) came into force. The OBR publishes its findings as part of the Economic and Fiscal Outlook which can be found on its website.

On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%. This will include fees paid by CEA.

A small minority of diplomatic officials and service personnel are posted abroad for extended periods. In such circumstances, the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provide the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to ensure this does not interfere with their children's education.

The government will monitor closely the impact of these policy changes on affected military and diplomatic families with any changes to this scheme being considered as part of the ongoing Spending Review.

The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education, which is why we have made the tough decision to end tax breaks for private schools. This will raise revenue for essential public services, including investing in the education system.

The Government has set out the details of this policy in the technical note Applying VAT to Private School Fees and Removing the Business Rates Charitable Rates Relief for Private Schools which can be found at the below link. A technical consultation on the technical note and draft VAT legislation will be open until 15 September 2024.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees-removing-the-charitable-rates-relief-for-private-schools

The cost of Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) overall for FY 2023/24 for the Ministry of Defence was £88.35 million. Of the total contributed in FY 2023/24, £13.9 million was to Service Personnel serving overseas; this equates to 16% of MOD's total spend of the allowance.