Asked by: Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the arrest of activists and staff from the human rights organisation Viasna on 14 July in Minsk, Belarus; and what representations they plan to make to the government of Belarus about the release of those detained.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary made clear in his public statement on 14 July, this latest assault against human rights organisations and independent media by Lukashenko's regime is a further attempt to crush freedom and stifle debate in Belarus. The Government has called for those detained to be released immediately, along with the hundreds of other people detained on political grounds. The Government has raised our concerns directly to the Belarusian authorities, most recently in the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna on 15 July. The UK stands with the people of Belarus and we will continue to work with our partners to hold those responsible for these human rights abuses to account.
Asked by: Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are is taking to agree a visa-free facilitation regime with the government of Georgia.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Decisions on changes to the visa regime are taken following thorough consultation across government and reflect key facets of the bilateral relationship with the country concerned. These often include security, compliance, returns, and prosperity.
There are no current plans to change the visa regime for Georgia.
Asked by: Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent representations he has received on the level of the threshold for corporation tax exemption for charities and unincorporated associations.
Answered by David Gauke
There is no restriction on the level of charitable trading a charity may carry out, and any profits are exempt from tax so long as the profits are used for wholly charitable purposes. When charities carry out non-charitable trading there is a corporation tax exemption so long as the trading receipts are no more than £50,000 a year and represent no more than 25% of the charity’s incoming resources.
Charities that wish to carry out non-charitable trading above these limits can set up and trade through a subsidiary trading company, which protects the charity from the possibility of trading losses. The subsidiary can then use corporate Gift Aid to pass any profits back to the parent charity without incurring a corporation tax charge.
There is a similar exemption from tax on trading income for Community Amateur Sports Clubs, which is currently set at £30,000. The Government has announced this threshold will be raised to £50,000, to align with the charity small -scale trading exemption.
The Government has no further plans to raise these thresholds which allow charities to undertake small scale non-charitable trading without the administrative burden of setting up a trading subsidiary. However, as with all reliefs and exemptions we continue to keep the exemption for small-scale trading under review.
Unincorporated associations are taxed as companies and have no specific corporation tax exemptions. In the same way as other companies, they are chargeable to corporation tax and are eligible for the same reliefs.
The only exception to this rule concerns clubs and unincorporated organisations with very small tax liabilities, which are run exclusively for the benefit of their members and whose annual Corporation Tax liability is not expected to exceed £100. In this case, HMRC will treat the organisation as dormant.
With regards to the representations received on these matters, Treasury Ministers and officials receive and consider a wide variety of representations from organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations. This is available online at:
Asked by: Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will raise the threshold for corporation tax exemption for charities and unincorporated associations.
Answered by David Gauke
There is no restriction on the level of charitable trading a charity may carry out, and any profits are exempt from tax so long as the profits are used for wholly charitable purposes. When charities carry out non-charitable trading there is a corporation tax exemption so long as the trading receipts are no more than £50,000 a year and represent no more than 25% of the charity’s incoming resources.
Charities that wish to carry out non-charitable trading above these limits can set up and trade through a subsidiary trading company, which protects the charity from the possibility of trading losses. The subsidiary can then use corporate Gift Aid to pass any profits back to the parent charity without incurring a corporation tax charge.
There is a similar exemption from tax on trading income for Community Amateur Sports Clubs, which is currently set at £30,000. The Government has announced this threshold will be raised to £50,000, to align with the charity small -scale trading exemption.
The Government has no further plans to raise these thresholds which allow charities to undertake small scale non-charitable trading without the administrative burden of setting up a trading subsidiary. However, as with all reliefs and exemptions we continue to keep the exemption for small-scale trading under review.
Unincorporated associations are taxed as companies and have no specific corporation tax exemptions. In the same way as other companies, they are chargeable to corporation tax and are eligible for the same reliefs.
The only exception to this rule concerns clubs and unincorporated organisations with very small tax liabilities, which are run exclusively for the benefit of their members and whose annual Corporation Tax liability is not expected to exceed £100. In this case, HMRC will treat the organisation as dormant.
With regards to the representations received on these matters, Treasury Ministers and officials receive and consider a wide variety of representations from organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations. This is available online at:
Asked by: Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Honours and Decorations Committee's report from its last meeting to consider the recommendations of Sir John Holmes will go forward for final approval.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) met in January 2014 and considered a number of recommendations put forward by Sir John Holmes regarding the rules for awarding military medals. The Committee’s report is now in the process of being formally approved.
Asked by: Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Honours and Decorations Committee last met to consider the recommendations put forward by Sir John Holmes regarding the rules for the awarding of military medals.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) met in January 2014 and considered a number of recommendations put forward by Sir John Holmes regarding the rules for awarding military medals. The Committee’s report is now in the process of being formally approved.