Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there have been delays in payments from the Rural Payments Agency and DEFRA to participants in the Higher Level Stewardship scheme for 2018; and if so, why.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
While just under 50% of agreement holders have received their 2018 advance payment, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has been working hard to ensure that remaining payments are issued as quickly as possible. The RPA took on administration of Environmental Stewardship in October 2018 and is continuing to simplify the administration of the scheme as far as possible under the current EU system, streamlining processes and boosting the workforce to speed up processing.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to charge citizens of EU member states for entry into the UK after the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In the White Paper ‘The UK’s future skills-based immigration system’ (Cm9722) the Government has set out its plans for a secure and smooth UK border control.
This includes proposals for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme. It is our intention to require EU Citizens to obtain an ETA, but we intend to discuss this further in negotiations with the EU.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make criticism of immigration a criminal offence.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
There are no plans to make criticism of immigration a specific criminal offence.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much foreign aid money was provided to the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the Department for International Development in each year since 2010.
Answered by Lord Bates
Since 2010, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has received a total of £1.03 billion in bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the Department for International Development (DFID).
The table below shows the amount of DFID bilateral ODA to the DRC broken down by year:
Year | Amount in Millions |
2010 | £161.5 |
2011 | £145.8 |
2012 | £138.2 |
2013 | £155.4 |
2014 | £164.1 |
2015 | £139 |
2016 | £128.4 |
Total | £1,032.4 |
Source: Statistics on International Development 2017
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to change the tax treatment accorded to pension contributions.
Answered by Lord Bates
Autumn Budget 2017 made a number of announcements about the Government’s plans for ISAs, Venture Capital Trusts, the Enterprise Investment Scheme, and the tax treatment accorded to pension contributions.
The ISA annual subscription limit for 2018-2019 will remain unchanged at £20,000. In April 2017 the annual ISA allowance increased by a record amount to £20,000.
Both the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) scheme are being expanded to provide further support for knowledge intensive companies while re-directing investment from low-risk ‘capital preservation’ investments into entrepreneurial, growth companies. Full details of the EIS and VCT changes can be found in the Government’s response to the consultation Financing Growth in Innovative Firms, published alongside Autumn Budget 2017.
The Budget also confirmed that the lifetime allowance for pension savings will increase in line with the Consumer Price Index, rising to £1,030,000 for the tax year 2018 to 2019.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to change the tax treatment accorded to contributions made to (1) ISAs, (2) Venture Capital Trusts, and (3) Enterprise Investment Schemes.
Answered by Lord Bates
Autumn Budget 2017 made a number of announcements about the Government’s plans for ISAs, Venture Capital Trusts, the Enterprise Investment Scheme, and the tax treatment accorded to pension contributions.
The ISA annual subscription limit for 2018-2019 will remain unchanged at £20,000. In April 2017 the annual ISA allowance increased by a record amount to £20,000.
Both the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) scheme are being expanded to provide further support for knowledge intensive companies while re-directing investment from low-risk ‘capital preservation’ investments into entrepreneurial, growth companies. Full details of the EIS and VCT changes can be found in the Government’s response to the consultation Financing Growth in Innovative Firms, published alongside Autumn Budget 2017.
The Budget also confirmed that the lifetime allowance for pension savings will increase in line with the Consumer Price Index, rising to £1,030,000 for the tax year 2018 to 2019.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether glyphosate will continue to be permitted for agricultural and horticultural use after the UK leaves the EU in March 2019.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
UK and EU experts have identified no safety concerns which would preclude the continuing use of glyphosate and so the Government supports its continued approval by the EU. An EU decision will be binding on the UK while we are still within the EU.
Leaving the EU means we will have the opportunity to consider carefully how future policies can best be tailored to the needs of the UK. Decision-making on the use of pesticides after the UK leaves the EU will be based on careful scientific assessment of the risks. Our highest priority will continue to be the protection of people and the environment.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 June (HL446) and 27 June (HL808), whether when providing those answers they were aware that the payment window had already been extended to October, and if so, why that was not reflected in those answer.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The deadline for 2015 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments remains 30 June 2016 and as stated in the response of 17 June, this is the deadline the Rural Payments Agency was working towards for the remaining top up BPS payments. On 8 June, Commissioner Hogan confirmed his intention to extend the date by which Member States may make CAP direct payments without the usual reductions in the rate of reimbursement from the EU to the Member States concerned. This does not constitute an extension to the payment window. It means that, subject to a successful request, payments can continue to be made after 30 June without the application of the usual reductions for late payments on the Member State.
We are currently assessing the UK position in terms of the value of payments made by 30 June and the expected value of payments to be made before 15 October for each of the four UK paying agencies. Once this assessment has been completed we will be in a position to decide whether the UK needs to submit a request to the Commission for such penalties to be waived.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 1 October 2015 (HL2378), in the light of the fact that a substantial number of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments have not yet been made and that no date for completion of payments has been given, why they stated that the majority of BPS payments would be made in December 2015, and the vast majority by January.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) achieved the target of making the majority of BPS payments in December 2015, paying 44,408 (50.9%) of eligible claims by the end of December. The agency also delivered on its target of making the vast majority of payments by end of January, paying 66,800 (77%) of eligible claims with a value of around £1bn.
The Government understands the importance of BPS payments for farmers. The targets, ‘majority’ and ‘vast majority’, were established in line with the RPA’s priority to pay as many farmers as possible, as quickly as possible, from the opening of the payment window back in December.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 11 May (HL8277), whether the Chief Executive of the Rural Payments Agency will receive a bonus payment this year.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Chief Executive of the Rural Payments Agency did not receive a bonus payment for the 2015/16 performance year.