Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are implementing to support housing associations to build affordable homes, following reports that high private sector debt costs are affecting development plans.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme for 2021-26 will provide tens of thousands of homes across the country. These include homes for rent, for low cost home ownership, and specialist and supported housing.
The Government recognises that in recent years the housing sector has experienced an increase in the cost of borrowing and materials due to wider economic pressures. The Government continuously works with its delivery agencies to ensure that the Programme is delivering effectively in light of these economic challenges.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to strengthen the resilience of the UK's food supply chain, and (2) to enhance food security, in the face of external disruptions and challenges.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.
Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.
UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was produced in 2021 and the next will be published by December 2024. This report serves as an evidence base for policy work.
Starting this year, the government is also strengthening our food security monitoring by introducing the annual Food Security Index in addition to the three-yearly UKFSR.
Published to coincide with the second UK Farm to Fork Summit on 14 May 2024, the 2024 Food Security Index sets out how Government will track UK-wide food security on an annual basis, monitoring domestic food production, land use, input costs, and farmer productivity.
The Index looks at shorter-term trends that change year on year, complementing the UKFSR’s comprehensive assessment and attention to longer-term trends. The 2024 Index shows that the UK farming sector is at its most productive since records began.
A further package of measures to support farmers and grow the UK’s farming and food sector was announced by the government at the Farm to Fork Summit on 14th May 2024.
This includes a new Blueprint for Growing the UK Fruit and Vegetable Sector (see attached), setting out how industry and government can work together to increase domestic production and drive investment into this valuable sector. The plan involves ensuring the sector has access to affordable and sustainable energy and water, cutting planning red tape to make it easier and quicker to build glasshouses, and looking to double to £80 million the amount of funding given to horticulture businesses when compared to the EU legacy Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme which will be replaced from 2026 onwards.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to leverage the positive growth momentum reported in the first quarter of 2024, particularly in sectors such as housing and recreation, to stimulate further economic expansion and job creation.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government continues to pursue an ambitious policy agenda to increase growth and productivity across the economy.
Alongside wider pro-growth measures announced at recent fiscal events, the Government is taking action in relation to housing and recreation. To ensure that people can live where they want to and meet the needs of the UK’s growing, cutting-edge industries, the Spring Budget allocated over £260 million to build more homes now. The Government also set out further detail on plans to support growth in Cambridge with long-term funding at the next Spending Review, to build on the success of the UK’s third most productive city.
The Government is also taking action to leverage growth in recreation. We have committed to the Creative Industries Sector Vision which sets out our vision for the sector to become an even greater growth engine, with a goal to support 1 million more creative jobs by 2030. At Spring Budget 2024, the Government announced a package that will provide over £1 billion in additional tax relief over the next five years.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of British International Investment's increased focus on renewable energy projects in Africa; and what assessment they have made of how this aligns with the UK's international development policy.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO's International Development White Paper outlines the Government's ambition for BII to be a leading DFI on climate finance, supporting partner countries in their transition to net zero and resilient economies. This builds on BII's track record of being the UK's principal investment vehicle for delivering climate finance to developing countries, with over $1 billion of climate finance invested since COP26.
Through the agreement of BII's five-year strategy, Investment Policy, and Policy on Responsible Investment, FCDO ensures alignment of all BII's investments with the UK's international development priorities. In addition, FCDO oversees an evaluation and learning program which recently reviewed BII's infrastructure portfolio. The review found that (i) BII contributes to the provision of cleaner capacity through investments in renewable energy assets, (ii) BII increases resource efficiency through the lowering of power distribution losses in its transmission and distribution (T&D) portfolio, and (iii) 65 percent of the impact generated by BII's infrastructure investments comes from those located in Africa.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports of non-food item deflation, what assessment they have made of the impact of this on (1) employment, and (2) business profitability, in the retail sector.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government is continuing to pursue an ambitious policy agenda to increase sustainable economic growth and productivity across the economy. This includes making full expensing permanent, backing the UK’s priority growth sectors and announcing measures to boost labour supply. Across Spring Budget 2023, Autumn Statement 2023 and Spring Budget 2024 tax and labour market measures increase total hours worked by the equivalent of more than 300,000 full-time workers by 2028-29.
Whilst consumers will undoubtedly welcome lower shop price inflation, government continues to provide the right environment to help retailers grow, such as by extending Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief for 2024-25, a tax cut worth nearly £2.4 billion
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the S&P Global UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index survey published on 1 May, which showed contraction in the manufacturing sector in April, what support they are providing to this sector to boost growth.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s manufacturing sector is showing resilience, despite challenges such as supply chain disruptions in the Red Sea.
According to the OECD, since 2010 the UK has had the fastest manufacturing productivity growth in the G7. Make UK’s Q1 Manufacturing Outlook Report, published at the end of March, showed increased investment and recruitment intentions among manufacturers.
The Government has a strong track record of backing the sector. Our Advanced Manufacturing Plan published last November is underpinned by tax cuts, faster grid connections and a £4.5bn commitment to 2030, as well as the expansion of our successful SME Made Smarter Adoption programme.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Ireland concerning asylum seekers returning from that country to the UK; and what impact this has on the Common Travel Area agreement.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
There is a high level of cooperation on migration and border security between the UK and Irish Government. The Home Office regularly discuss asylum trends and work to respond to these trends with our counterparts in the Department of Justice in order to protect the Common Travel Area.
In 2020, we agreed non-legally binding operational arrangements which allow for the return and readmission of asylum seekers where this is agreed by both participants.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take in response to the ruling of the High Court on 3 May regarding their carbon budget delivery plan.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is immensely proud of its record on climate change. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan remains Government policy and sets out over 300 policies and proposals that the Government has in place to reach its ambitious carbon budgets.
The judgment contains no criticism of these detailed plans nor the policies themselves, which will keep the UK on track to meet net zero by 2050.
Officials are now considering the best approach to comply with the court order and the Government will publish a new report within 12 months.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent content licensing agreement between The Financial Times and OpenAI, what assessment they have made of the potential implications this may have for the AI industry; and what steps they are taking to further promote transparency and accountability in AI-driven content generation and distribution.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government wants the AI sector and our creative industries to grow together in partnership and is encouraged to see agreements being reached between AI developers and press publishers.
As set out in its response to the AI White Paper, the Government believes there should be greater transparency from AI developers in relation to data inputs and the attribution of outputs. It is considering ways to achieve this and will engage closely with right holders and AI developers.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the bank loan application success rates of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the vital importance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and is committed to supporting SMEs grow and create jobs by providing an environment in which they can thrive.
Access to finance for small businesses is important to drive growth. The government supports that access through the Recovery Loan Scheme, which offers a 70% government guarantee on loans to SMEs
of up to £2 million. The scheme has supported over £5.3 billion of finance to SMEs since its introduction in April 2021.
At the 2024 Spring Budget, the Government announced that the Recovery Loan Scheme would be extended to the end of March 2026, and renamed as the Growth Guarantee Scheme.