Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 27 March (HL3259), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, how much money the United Kingdom pays to the European Union annually; on what that money is spent; and what plans they have, and to what timescale, for its reduction.
Answered by Lord Roborough - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the Spring Budget 2020 following withdrawal from the EU the OBR estimated that there was £42.3bn more to spend on public services between 2020-21 and 2024-25 than would have been the case had we stayed in the EU. This additional spending has been included in the overall spending plans set out at Spending Reviews since we left the EU.
The financial settlement as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement ensures the UK only pays its past obligations as a departing Member State and does not relate to any continuing or future arrangements. As set out in the European Union Finances Statement 2023 (available in the library of the House and on Gov.uk), the UK is estimated to have paid £6.1bn in net liabilities in 2023 as part of this settlement.
Where the UK has decided it is in its interests to cooperate with the EU further, for instance on Horizon Europe, details of payments are set out in the relevant departments’ annual account.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton on 12 March (HL Deb col 1905), how much money the United Kingdom pays to the European Union annually; on what that money is spent; and what plans they have, and to what timescale, for its reduction.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Details of how much money the UK has paid the EU under the Withdrawal Agreement, its purposes, forecasts of future payments and timings are set out in the annual European Union Finances Statement. The most recent version covers payments made in 2023 and is available in the library of the House and on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 12 December (HL880), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, how much money the UK pays to the EU annually; for what purpose; and for how long such payments are expected to continue.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The financial settlement under the European Union Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020 (WA) represents the negotiated agreement over the UK’s historical financial commitments to the EU and those of the European Union (EU) to the UK. This financial arrangement is related to the UK’s past obligations as a departing Member State and does not relate to any continuing arrangements.
Details of how much money the UK has paid the EU, its purposes, forecasts of future payments and timings are set out in the annual European Union Finances Statement. The most recent version covers payments made in 2022 and is available in the library of the House and on Gov.uk.
Additionally, departments make payments in areas of continuing cooperation with the EU. These include the Peace+ programme and, from 2024, the Horizon Europe and Copernicus programmes. Details of payments are set out in the relevant departments’ annual accounts.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money the UK pays to the EU annually; for what purpose; and for how long such payments are expected to continue.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Details of how much money the UK has paid the EU, its purposes, forecasts of future payments and timings are set out in the annual European Union Finances Statement. The most recent version covers payments made in 2022 and is available in the library of the House and on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what provision they have made for those who are unable to make their P11D returns online; and, if they have made no such provision, whether they plan to do so.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The PAYE regulations have for some time required employers to make their regular payroll reports online and now also require employers to report P11D information online. Paper routes to submit these will continue to be available for the small number of digitally exempt customers for whom the existing PAYE regulations already make provision.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Penn on 4 January (HL4389), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, whether they will list in a single table in the answer to the question the constituent parts of the UK's financial commitments to the EU that the payment of c.£11bn sought to settle; and how much of that c.£11bn relates to each of those parts.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The European Union Finances Statement provides a breakdown of the purpose, timing and forecasts of material payments in relation to the financial settlement under the Withdrawal Agreement (WA), as well as other obligations, during the transition period. Editions from prior years and the most recent document for 2021 are available on gov.uk.
Details of payments made up to the end of 2022 and an updated estimate of the financial settlement will be outlined in the next edition of the European Union Finances Statement 2022 which is planned to be published in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Penn on 25 November (HL3505) and 14 December (HL3949), whether they will now provide a figure in their answer of how much money the UK has paid the EU since its departure; for what purposes that money was paid; how much they expect to pay in the future; and when that money will be paid.
Answered by Baroness Penn
All details of how much money the UK has paid the EU since departure, its purposes, forecasts of future payments and timings are set out in the annual publication of the European Union Finances Statement (EUFS). The most recent EUFS is for 2021 and is available on gov.uk.
The financial settlement under the European Union Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020 (WA) represents the negotiated agreement over the UK’s historical financial commitments to the EU and those of the European Union (EU) to the UK. This financial arrangement is related to the UK’s past obligations as a departing Member State and does not relate to any future arrangements.
As set out in EUFS 2021, the net UK payments under the WA were c.£11bn (€13.4bn) from the UK’s departure on 31st January 2020 to the 31 December 2021.
From 31 December 2021 the UK has been further invoiced in April and September 2022; from these the gross contributions between January 2022 and May 2023 are c.£12.7bn. This amount does not include UK receipts. HMG will publish the EUFS 2022 in the coming months that will provide a definitive net figure up to 31 December 2022.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Penn on 14 December (HL3949), whether they will list in a table the various constituent parts of the UK’s financial commitments to the EU that the payment of c.£11bn sought to settle; and how much of that c.£11bn relates to each of those parts.
Answered by Baroness Penn
His Majesty’s Government has provided the breakdown of material payments in relation to the financial settlement under the Withdrawal Agreement as well as other obligations during the transition period in the annual publication of the European Union Finances Statement. The details can be found in the documents published in 2021 and 2022, which are accessible on gov.uk and also provided in the attached.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Penn on 25 November (HL3505), whether they will provide a figure in their answer of how much money the UK has paid the EU since its departure; and for what purposes that money was paid.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The financial settlement under the European Union Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020 (WA) represents the negotiated agreement over the UK’s financial commitments to the EU and those of the European Union (EU) to the UK. This financial arrangement is related to the UK’s past obligations as a departing Member State and does not relate to any future arrangements.
As published in the European Union Finances Statement 2021, the net UK payments under the WA were c.£11bn (€13.4bn) by 31 December 2021. The publication notes that the UK received an invoice of c.£2.9bn (€3.4bn) in April 2022 which has been paid in full. Since the publication of this document, the UK has received the next regular invoice under the WA for c.£5.5bn (€6.4bn) which is paid in monthly instalments until May 2023.
The payments made to the EU in 2022 under the WA will be outlined in more detail in the next edition of the European Union Finances Statement 2022 which is planned to be published in 2023. The latest publication with additional information about the underlying liabilities under WA can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money the UK has paid the EU since the UK’s departure from the EU; how much they paid in each year; and for what purposes.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The UK’s financial relationship with the European Union is set out in the annual European Union Finances Statement (EUFS). The 2021 edition was published in July 2022 and gives a breakdown of invoices received from the EU and payments made in 2021 under the European Union Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020. The document also provides an overview of the April 2022 invoice, the last payment of which was made on 30 September 2022. A copy is available in the Library of the House and electronically on Gov.uk. Following the publication of the EUFS, the UK received the second invoice of 2022 in September. The UK was invoiced €6,396,952,144.11 to be paid over eight months from 30th October 2022. Full details of payments made in 2022 will be included in the next edition of the EUFS which will be published in 2023.