Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the current value added tax threshold on small business growth.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

At £90,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU country and the joint highest in the OECD. This means the majority of UK businesses are kept out of the VAT system.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings have taken place between ministers, special advisors and officials and representatives of the Resolution Foundation since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Details of ministers’ and certain senior officials’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Special Advisers are required to publish meetings with senior media figures. Meetings with other external individuals and organisations are not collected as part of routine Special Adviser Transparency publications.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 4 November 2024 (HL2037), what further progress they have made towards implementing the UK's Forest Risk Commodity regime.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We are working across Government to agree the most effective way to reduce the impact of the UK’s consumption of forest risk commodities on deforestation.

The Government will set out its approach to addressing UK consumption of forest risk commodities in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the results of the "war game" exercise carried out as part of the NHS's winter preparations.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are no plans to publish individual National Health Service system's plans or the outcomes of stress-testing centrally. System winter plans are locally owned and created in order to meet specific local needs and circumstances and are best communicated by NHS organisations locally. Nationally, the actions being taken to prepare for this coming winter are set out in the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26. A copy of this plan is attached.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has met the NHS Staff Council since 1 January.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Minister of State for Health meet regularly with individual Agenda for Change (AfC) trade union leaders and with representatives of NHS organisations to discuss matters affecting the NHS workforce.

It is not usual practice for Ministers to attend NHS Staff Council meetings, which are used to discuss policy issues affecting the AfC workforce and to maintain the NHS terms and conditions of service. Accordingly, there have been no meetings between the Secretary of State and the NHS Staff Council as a whole since 1 January.

Both ministers have written to the NHS Staff Council on issues relating to AfC pay, terms, and conditions since 1 January, and Department officials continue to attend meetings of the NHS Staff Council.

Found: Yardley (The Chair); Lord Blencathra; Lord Bradley; Lord Carter of Coles; Baroness Cass; Lord Laming; Lord Mott

Found: Yardley (The Chair); Lord Blencathra; Lord Bradley; Lord Carter of Coles; Baroness Cass; Lord Laming; Lord Mott

Found: Recommendation 9a: Association of Electoral Administrators Blueprint 2025 3 See the comments by Lord Mott