Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of UK gross domestic product results from exports to the EU single market.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The latest available estimates produced by the OECD show that the value added from the UK’s gross exports to the European Union accounted for 11.6 per cent of total UK value added in 2011.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the Soviet Union’s international debt when it collapsed in 1989, and whether they held the new Russian regime responsible for that debt at the time.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
According to the OECD, the Soviet Union’s debt was $56bn in 1989 and $65bn in 1991 when the Soviet Union was dissolved. In April 1993 Russia formally announced that it was assuming responsibility for the entire external debt of the Soviet Union.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many jobs in the EU are dependent on EU trade with the UK, and how many UK jobs are dependent on trade with the EU single market.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government continues to undertake a range of analyses to inform the UK’s position for the upcoming EU exit negotiations. We are seeking the best possible arrangement for the United Kingdom and the work being conducted reflects this.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 14 November (HL2994), whether they will set out in the body of their response the values in sterling asked for in the original question.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Analysis of spending in the UK shows that we expect 7% of receipts to cover rural development and the environment, 44% to cover agriculture and fisheries and 27% to cover research and development under the 2014-20 Multiannual Financial Framework. The sterling value of those receipts will depend on a number of factors, including the timing of payments and the exchange rate prevailing at that time. Over 2010-14 the average annual value of UK receipts from the EU budget was £5.6bn.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 8 November (HL2736) about the UK's EU budget contributions, whether they will now provide the full answer to the question asked in the body of their response.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Details of UK net contributions to the EU Budget over the period 2011-12 to 2015-16 can be found in Table C1 (see below), page 194, of the 2016 Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (Cm 9322) which was published in July, and can be found in the House library.
The basis of the calculation is set out in the Own Resources Decision 2014 (Council Decision of 2014/335/EU).
This table also includes the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March forecast of UK net contributions to the EU Budget for the period 2016-17 to 2019-20. The OBR provide an independent fiscal forecast for UK contributions to the EU twice a year.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the difference between the UK's gross and net contributions to the EU budget, in sterling, is attributed to spending in the UK on (1) regional aid, (2) agriculture, (3) universities through programmes such as Erasmus, and (4) other areas of domestic spending.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
HM Treasury have published the expected sectoral split under the current multiannual financial framework, which can be found on the gov.uk website. This analysis of spending in the UK shows that we expect 7% of receipts to cover rural development and the environment, 44% to cover agriculture and fisheries and 27% to cover research and development.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government at current exchange rates what is the UK's (1) gross, and (2) net, contribution in sterling to the EU budget; and how those figures were calculated.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Details of UK net contributions to the EU Budget over the period 2011-12 to 2015-16 can be found in Table C1, page 194, of the 2016 Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (Cm 9322) which was published in July, and is available in the House library.
This table also includes the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March forecast of UK net contributions to the EU Budget for the period 2016-17 to 2019-20.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 7 April (HL7296), whether alcohol can be sold or consumed on the premises of Richmond House, Wellington House and 22–26 Whitehall.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
There is no legal prohibition on consuming alcohol on the premises of Richmond House, Wellington House and 22–26 Whitehall. However, the residing departments do not have alcohol licences and cannot, therefore, sell alcohol on the premises.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Price on 1 June (HL107), (1) why HM Revenue and Customs collects data on the currency of invoicing for trade with non-EU countries but not for EU countries, and (2) how they and the Bank of England manage sterling interest and exchange rates in the absence of such data.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs collects data on the currency of invoicing for trade with non-EU countries as a basis for calculating customs duty under customs and statistical law. It is published in the UK on a dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com) and available to all. This data is also used by the European Institutions (e.g. the European Central Bank) to monitor the share of the Euro in international trade. There is no legislative requirement for this information to be collected for trade with EU countries.
The UK’s monetary framework is clear, the independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England sets Bank Rate to target 2% inflation. The UK does not have an exchange rate target, the exchange rate is allowed to adjust flexibly, and movements in sterling are determined by market forces.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 25 April (HL7458), what is their estimate of the UK's (1) gross, and (2) net, contributions to the EU for 2015.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
Full year outturns for 2010-14 are available in table 3.B of European Union Finances 2015 (Cm 9167) which is available in the Library of the House and on gov.uk. No estimates of the UK’s total net contribution in 2015 are currently available, since these are not forecast.
For the purposes of producing a fiscal forecast, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts both UK gross contributions to the EU and contributions net of EU receipts administered by the UK public sector. These do not represent an estimate of the UK's total net contributions since they exclude receipts directly administered by the European Commission, which means the net contribution appears higher than is actually the case. Therefore, they are not directly comparable with the data for 2013 and 2014 set out in table 3.B European Union Finances 2015, provided in Written Answer HL7458. Details of the OBR forecast can be found at table 3.A of European Union Finances 2015, and the differences between the figures in tables 3.A and the total net contributions set out in 3.B are explained fully in Annex B of both European Union Finances 2015 and HM Treasury analysis: the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives.