Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to Answer of 25 March 2024 to Question 19719 on INEOS: Belgium, how many (a) ethanol and (b) ethanol-related products will be produced at the new Ineos site in Antwerp.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The INEOS Project One plant will not be producing ethanol or ethanol related products.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK's participation in the military operation in defence of Israel on 13 April 2024 was carried out under the terms of the agreement signed between the British Armed Forces and the Israeli Defence Force on 2 December 2020.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
No.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20433, (a) how many such consignments have been declared and (b) whether HMRC has taken such enforcement action since 21 July 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The indirect supply prohibition, concerning Russian Origin imports of Oil and Oil products came into force on 05 December 2022.
HMRC publishes UK trade data on the www.uktradeinfo.com website.
HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on operational enforcement matters pertaining to specific import or export scenarios.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20431, whether HMRC has taken enforcement action on oil originating in Russia and imported from a refinery in India since 21 July 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on operational enforcement matters pertaining to specific import or export scenarios.Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate UK Export Finance made of the potential value of (a) goods and (b) services from UK (i) businesses contracted directly by and (ii) supply chain businesses that will be used in INEOS Project One, Belgium as a result of the support it has committed to that project.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) support for export transactions is conditional on the inclusion of UK goods and services, with a general requirement that there should be at least 20% UK content relative to the value of its support. In this instance, UKEF support has already secured over €200 million of UK content into this project.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Israel sought military assistance from the UK for the action taken against Iranian drones and missiles on 13 April 2024.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
For operational security reasons and as a matter of policy, the Ministry of Defence does not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations' military operations.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an estimate her Department of the potential (a) quantity of and (b) proportion of the total UK oil supplies that will come from Ineos development in Antwerp.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has not assessed potential supply from the development in Antwerp. Import countries of origin are published monthly in Energy Trends Table 3.14: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/oil-and-oil-products-section-3-energy-trends. The Department does not collect data on facility of origin.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has received representations from (a) the Scottish Government, (b) local authorities in Scotland, (c) Police Scotland and (d) the Scottish Police Authority on the potential impact of tax rules in relation to employer-provided accommodation on police officers working in (i) rural and (ii) remote areas in Scotland.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Accommodation can be exempted from tax, providing it meets certain conditions which are set out in HMRC guidance. These rules apply to the whole of the UK and are consistent across different employers. This ensures the UK tax system is simple, easy to understand, and limits the risk of abuse.
The government has no plans to make changes to the tax rules or guidance in this area, but does keep all taxes under review.
The government recognises the critical role police officers play in our communities. However, policing and housing are devolved to the Scottish Parliament and the provision of broader support in these areas, beyond tax relief, is therefore a matter for the Scottish Government.