Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that the UK–Israel tax protocol signed on 17 January does not apply to trade involving illegal settlements.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Protocol amends the 1962 convention to improve the conditions for cross-border trade and investment. These benefits are in the interests of the UK economy.
The Protocol does not represent any change to the UK’s historic position towards the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements. The UK’s position on settlements is clear. They are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace, and threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage growth in GDP is forecast currently by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) for each of the next five years; and whether the OBR has forecast any increase in GDP in those years as a result of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Lord Bates
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility set out its latest forecast in its March 2018 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. In March the OBR forecasted that growth would be 1.5% in 2018, 1.3% in 2019, 1.3% in 2020, 1.4% in 2021 and 1.5% in 2022. Since the referendum, the OBR have made provisional, “broad brush” assumptions about the impact of EU Exit on the economy.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an English couple married in a humanist ceremony in Scotland are able to claim the Marriage Allowance.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government introduced Marriage Allowance in 2015 to recognise marriage and civil partnership in the tax system and to help couples keep more of the money they earn. Those in legally recognised marriages and civil partnerships in the UK are eligible for Marriage Allowance. This includes humanist ceremonies in Scotland.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
Her Majesty's Government what would be the fiscal impact each year, at current prices, if tax relief on higher-rate pension contributions was (1) abolished, or (2) reduced by 50 per cent.
Answered by Lord Bates
An estimate of the fiscal impact of abolishing or halving the tax relief on higher-rate pensions is not available.
The impact on tax receipts of restricting or abolishing pensions tax relief for higher rate tax payers would depend on how any changes were implemented and would also be subject to significant behavioural effects.
Information on the cost of pensions tax relief is published in the HM Revenue and Custom (HMRC) National Statistics table ‘Registered pension schemes: cost of tax relief’, available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Smith Commission's recommendation that there should be no detriment as a result of UK Government or Scottish Government policy decisions after devolution would be breached if the Scottish Government repeatedly spent monies passed to them for NHS services in accordance with the Barnett formula on other unrelated services.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether repeated underspending year on year by the Scottish Government of monies passed to them for NHS services under the Barnett formula could be subject (1) to challenge under the Dispute Resolution procedure as set out in paragraphs 98–104 of the agreement between the Scottish and UK Governments on the Scottish fiscal framework or (2) a 2021 review as set out in paragraphs 111–113 of that agreement.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of paragraph 16 of the agreement between the Scottish and UK governments on the Scottish fiscal framework, whether there is any obligation on the Scottish Government (1) to spend all or a certain proportion of the money passed to them for NHS services under the Barnett formula on those services; or (2) to account to the Scottish Parliament for not doing so.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money has been passed to the Scottish Government under the Barnett formula for NHS Services in each year since that Government was established; and what proportion of that money was actually spent on NHS services by the Scottish Parliament in each of those years.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the allocations for the Department for Communities and Local Government DEL in Table 2.17 on page 100 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 relates to adult social care in each year 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive; how those proportions compare with that for the baseline year of 2015–16; and what increases for adult social care are included in the locally financed expenditure for each year in that Table on the assumption of two per cent precept increase for adult social care in cash terms, at the 2015–16 baseline prices, and as a proportion of total local authority expenditure.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government is clear that decisions on how money should be spent in the local area are best made by local authorities. Local Government spending power is therefore not ringfenced. This allows local authorities the freedom to prioritise and make their own decisions on spending. Table 2.17 on page 100 of the Spending Review shows a cash terms increase in local authority spending. This includes a £1.5 billion grant especially for social care within Local Government DEL and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the increase likely to be raised through the social care precept within Locally Financed Expenditure.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the other sources of local government income cited in the first bullet point of paragraph 2.123 on page 100 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The other sources of local government income referred to in paragraph 2.123 includes business rates and council tax, both of which are forecast to increase over the course of the spending period. It is based on the English local authority current expenditure in supplementary fiscal table 2.31 to the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication (November 2015), excluding grants from central government.