Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's policy is on meeting the UK's Paris Climate Agreement commitments; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK played a prominent role in helping to secure the Paris Agreement in 2015, and we are determined that the UK’s Presidency of COP26 this November will be a milestone for ambition, targeting action to deliver on the promise of the Agreement.
In June 2019, the UK became the first major economy in the world to legislate to end its contribution to climate change by 2050.
The UK is committed to doubling our International Climate Finance to at least £11.6bn between 2021 and 2025, to help developing countries to take action.
HM Treasury takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. As you would expect, we are considering what further fiscal and other policy measures are needed to meet our 2050 net zero target.
To support this, HM Treasury launched a review into how the transition to a net zero economy will be funded, and where the costs will fall. The review will publish its findings in Autumn 2020.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how the Treasury measures annual progress on carbon reduction commitments.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HM Treasury takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously and works closely with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who lead on clean growth and carbon budgets policy.
The Committee on Climate Change also provides independent, expert advice to Government on climate change mitigation and adaptation and produce an annual report to Parliament assessing progress in reducing UK emissions over the past year. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy produce a response to these reports annually.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution his Department' spending plans to meeting the target to reduce emission to net zero by 2050.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HM Treasury takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. As you would expect, we are considering what further fiscal and other policy measures are needed to meet our 2050 net zero target.
To support this, HM Treasury launched a review into how the transition to a net zero economy will be funded, and where the costs will fall. The review will publish its findings in Autumn 2020.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking in response to the Resolution of the House of Commons of 1 May 2019 declaring a climate emergency.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HM Treasury takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. As you would expect, we are considering what further fiscal and other policy measures are needed to meet our 2050 net zero target.
To support this, HM Treasury launched a review into how the transition to a net zero economy will be funded, and where the costs will fall. The review will publish its findings in Autumn 2020.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are employed (a) full time and (b) part-time by the Royal Mint.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Royal Mint currently employs 726 full-time employees, and 48 part-time employees.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-British employees are employed (a) full time and (b) part-time by the Royal Mint.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Royal Mint currently employs 9 non-British full-time employees, and 1 non-British part-time employee.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on the soft drinks industry levy of research by Cancer Research UK linking obesity and cancer.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
All taxes are kept under review. New evidence related to fiscal interventions such as the Soft Drinks Industry Levy is considered as part of the normal Budget process. As set out in Phase 2 of the Childhood Obesity Strategy, HMT will review the Soft Drinks Industry Levy exemption for milk-based drinks in 2020.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money from the public purse has been spent on the creation of the new 50p coin to commemorate the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The cost of designing and producing commemorative coins is met by the Royal Mint out of its own revenues, at no cost to the taxpayer.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 March 2019 on Decommissioning Relief Deeds, HCWS1435, what the name is of the oil company that defaulted on its decommissioning obligations causing the Government to make two payments totaling £45.4 million in 2017-18; what the circumstances were of that default; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the evidential basis for calculating the provision of £357.1 million for future defaults.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
HM Treasury’s 2018-19 accounts recognise a provision of £357m payable to MCX Dunlin and MCX Osprey in respect of decommissioning expenditure in relation to the Dunlin cluster of fields, created as a result of Fairfield Energy defaulting on their decommissioning obligations. The decision to decommission the Dunlin cluster was a commercial decision made by Fairfield Energy, MCX Dunlin and MCX Osprey after reaching agreement with the Oil and Gas Authority that maximised economic recovery had been achieved for these assets.
The provision is based on the tax relief due on the estimated remaining costs of decommissioning the defaulted fields, discounted for the time value of money.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the projected revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry levy is for financial year 2019-20.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The current forecast for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy is published in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2019 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The 2019-20 figure is currently estimated at £344m. The publication tables can be found on the OBR’s website: https://cdn.obr.uk/Fiscal_charts_and_tables_March_2019.xlsx