Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial assistance they plan to provide to the devolved nations as a result of the damage created by Storm Éowyn.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Government recognises the significant impact that severe weather events can have on communities across the country and pays tribute to the incredible efforts of all those involved in the response to Storm Éowyn.
Responding to weather events in their respective nations is one of the responsibilities of the devolved governments but the UK Government has provided operational support to the Northern Ireland Executive following the damage caused by Storm Éowyn. Officials from across the UK Government have been working hard, including with industry partners, to provide the practical support needed to speed up the recovery effort in Northern Ireland. Additional staff have been redeployed to Northern Ireland, alongside helicopters, drones, generators, and replacement parts from stockpiles in other parts of the UK. The UK Government is continuing to work closely with the Executive to understand the scale of the damage and support the recovery efforts in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government why UK military personnel have not been exempted from VAT on school fees, in contrast to the exemption given to US military personnel in the UK.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), visiting NATO personnel have access to Visiting Forces Relief (VFR), for example the VAT free purchase scheme which provides relief on goods and services to US personnel in the UK. VFR is a reciprocal agreement, only available to the NATO Forces visiting another country and not to those of the Host Nation.
The Government greatly values the contribution of our serving military personnel. The Ministry of Defence has increased the funding allocated to the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to account for the impact of any private school fee increases on the proportion of fees covered by the CEA in line with how the allowance normally operates.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much additional funding they provided to each of the devolved authorities to cover the additional costs to public sector employers as a result of the increased rates of National Insurance.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the Chancellor provided funding to the public sector to support them with the additional cost associated with changes to employer National Insurance Contributions.
The devolved governments will receive funding through the Barnett formula in the usual way in 2025-26.
Devolved government settlements are growing in real terms in 2025-26 and are the largest settlements in real terms of any since devolution. Overall, the devolved governments receive at least 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £16 billion more in 2025-26.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assumptions they have used in estimating the amount of revenue that will be raised as a result of VAT being levied on private education fees; and whether these assumptions take into account costs incurred as a result of pupils transferring to state schools because of the resulting increase in fees.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The estimated revenue from the introduction of VAT on private school fees, as set out at Autumn Budget 2024, is as follows:
2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | 2029-30 |
£460m | £1,505m | £1,560m | £1,610m | £1,665m | £1,725m |
The assumptions and methodology used for this costing are set out in the Annex to the Summary of Responses to the Technical Note on Applying VAT to Private School Fees, published alongside the Budget.
As stated in the policy paper published at Budget, alongside the revenue raised, this policy will result in some additional costs on state schools due to pupil moves. Based on average 2024 to 2025 per-pupil spending in England, the government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector as a result of the VAT policy across the UK to steadily increase to a peak of around £270 million per annum after several years.
Overall, this means that expected revenue will substantially outweigh additional cost pressures. The funding raised by this measure will help deliver the government’s commitments relating to education and young people.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has certified the government’s costing of this policy.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the additional revenue that will be raised as a result of the introduction of VAT on private education fees.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The estimated revenue from the introduction of VAT on private school fees, as set out at Autumn Budget 2024, is as follows:
2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | 2029-30 |
£460m | £1,505m | £1,560m | £1,610m | £1,665m | £1,725m |
The assumptions and methodology used for this costing are set out in the Annex to the Summary of Responses to the Technical Note on Applying VAT to Private School Fees, published alongside the Budget.
As stated in the policy paper published at Budget, alongside the revenue raised, this policy will result in some additional costs on state schools due to pupil moves. Based on average 2024 to 2025 per-pupil spending in England, the government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector as a result of the VAT policy across the UK to steadily increase to a peak of around £270 million per annum after several years.
Overall, this means that expected revenue will substantially outweigh additional cost pressures. The funding raised by this measure will help deliver the government’s commitments relating to education and young people.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has certified the government’s costing of this policy.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional costs to devolved governments on public sector pay bills as a result of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) costs. This funding will be allocated to UK Government departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way for the devolved governments.
Funding resulting from the employer NICs policy change will be in addition to the devolved governments’ 2025-26 settlements announced at Autumn Budget 2024, which include £47.7 billion for the Scottish Government, £21.0 billion for the Welsh Government, and £18.2 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive. These settlements are the largest in real terms since devolution and ensure that each devolved government receives at least 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK.
Decisions on devolved priorities – including the size and pay levels of the public sector – are a matter for the devolved governments, and it is for them to determine how to allocate their budgets across devolved areas.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the resource funding provided in the Northern Ireland Block Grant for 2024–2025 falls below a needs-based assessment of funding.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
As committed to in the 2024 Northern Ireland Executive restoration financial package, the UK Government will also agree a Fiscal Framework with the Northern Ireland Executive which will outline Northern Ireland’s long-term funding arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government by how much, and by what percentage, (1) resource funding, and (2) capital funding for the Northern Ireland Block Grant has increased from 2023–2024 to 2024–2025.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
To accurately compare the Northern Ireland Executive's (NIE’s) funding between years, it is important to compare the same point in the financial year.
The most comparable figures are the 2021 Spending Review settlement for the NIE, which can be found in Table 4.19 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61c495ebe90e07196d2b8383/Budget_AB2021_Print.pdf
The (NIE) receives in-year funding through the operation of the Barnett Formula and non-Barnett funding provided at fiscal events and Main and Supplementary Estimates.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they undertook on air connectivity within the UK and on the wider impact on the Union, before deciding to raise aspects of Air Passenger Duty in the Budget statement announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 6 March.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
At Spring Budget 2024, the Government announced a one-off adjustment to non-economy rates of Air Passenger Duty (APD) for 2025-26 to help maintain their real terms value. As a result of these changes, the APD rates for domestic flights will not rise for commercial passengers.
In line with the Government’s commitment to support UK-wide connectivity, it halved the rate of APD on domestic flights in April 2023 following the 2021 consultation on aviation tax reform. As part of the consultation, the Government engaged with the Devolved Administrations, including the Northern Ireland Executive and other organisations from Northern Ireland.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps APD rates under review.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had with devolved administrations concerning the level and continuance of Air Passenger Duty prior to the Budget statement announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 6 March.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
At Spring Budget 2024, the Government announced a one-off adjustment to non-economy rates of Air Passenger Duty (APD) for 2025-26 to help maintain their real terms value. As a result of these changes, the APD rates for domestic flights will not rise for commercial passengers.
In line with the Government’s commitment to support UK-wide connectivity, it halved the rate of APD on domestic flights in April 2023 following the 2021 consultation on aviation tax reform. As part of the consultation, the Government engaged with the Devolved Administrations, including the Northern Ireland Executive and other organisations from Northern Ireland.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps APD rates under review.