Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that HMRC payroll compliance checks are (a) manageable and (b) proportionate for businesses.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC strive to ensure that all of the compliance checks carried out, including those on payroll compliance, are proportionate and manageable for those that we deal with. During a check, our officers will only request information and documents that are needed to check the customer’s tax position. They work with the customer to ensure any deadline to provide information is reasonable and achievable, considering the size and nature of the request. HMRC officials regularly engage Treasury officials and Ministers on compliance strategy, approach and priorities.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether officials at his Department have had discussions with their counterparts at HMRC on the Department's policy for conducting compliance investigations of businesses' payrolls in the period since the outbreak of covid-19.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC strive to ensure that all of the compliance checks carried out, including those on payroll compliance, are proportionate and manageable for those that we deal with. During a check, our officers will only request information and documents that are needed to check the customer’s tax position. They work with the customer to ensure any deadline to provide information is reasonable and achievable, considering the size and nature of the request. HMRC officials regularly engage Treasury officials and Ministers on compliance strategy, approach and priorities.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing an independent regulator which monitors the treatment of direct suppliers in the fashion industry, similar to the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In response to the single enforcement body consultation published in 2021, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to continue engaging with the enforcement bodies and industry partners to strengthen our understanding of the garment trade. We will continue to review this issue and consider options to drive up standards across the sector.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is providing additional funding to schools whose budgets fall below the minimum per pupil funding level.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The minimum per pupil funding levels (MPPLs) in the schools National Funding Formula have been set so that, in the 2023/24 financial year, every primary school will receive at least £4,405 per pupil, and every secondary school at least £5,715.
All schools, including schools funded by reference to the MPPLs, will also receive additional funding in the 2023/24 financial year, following the 2022 Autumn Statement. A typical 200 pupil primary school can be expected to receive approximately £28,000, on average. A typical 900 pupil secondary school can be expected to receive £170,000. The Department will announce further details on allocations shortly.
The MPPL values are compulsory in Local Authority funding formulae, which determine actual funding allocations for maintained schools and academies. Academy trusts have flexibilities over how the funding they are allocated in respect of their individual academies is then distributed across academies in their trust. This means that in some cases, an academy could receive a lower per pupil funding amount than the MPPL value. This may reflect, for example, activities that are paid for by the trust centrally, rather than by individual academies.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the additional funding for schools announced in the Autumn Statement will be distributed.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 6 December, the Department confirmed further details on how the £2 billion additional funding for schools announced in the 2022 Autumn Statement will be allocated in 2023/24.
£400 million will be allocated to Local Authorities’ high needs budgets, with the rest allocated to schools through a new grant, and to boost the pupil premium.
Mainstream schools will receive this additional funding through a new grant from April 2023, on top of the core funding allocations they receive via the National Funding Formula. The methodology for calculating allocations for schools via this new grant will largely mirror that of the 2022/23 Schools Supplementary Grant. The Department will publish further details and funding rates for the new grant before the end of December 2022.
For a typical primary school with 200 pupils, this new revenue equates to approximately £28,000 additional funding. It equates to approximately £170,000 for a typical secondary school with 900 pupils.
Local Authorities will be obliged to pass on increases comparable to that for mainstream schools to special and alternative provision schools, from the £400 million that will be allocated to their high needs budgets. The Department will confirm details on how this will work shortly.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to provide (a) support and (b) advice to people who are medically dependant on refrigerated medicines in the event of power cuts in winter 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department of Health and Social Care is responsible for working with the nation’s health and social care sectors to support individuals with electricity dependent medical equipment at home, including those who need to use medical equipment that requires a power supply.
The UK has a secure and diverse energy system. The Government is confident in its plan to protect households and businesses in the full range of scenarios this winter, in light of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. BEIS continues to work closely with industry and across Government to mitigate the impacts associated with the upcoming winter.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government provides financial support for the maintenance of the roads surrounding the Cluster Houses World Heritage Site in Belper.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
During the period 2022/23 to 2024/25 the Government is providing over £23.6 million to Derbyshire County Council towards the maintenance of the local public road network in their area including Belper. It is up to Derbyshire how best to spend this funding to fulfil their statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. The Department encourages good practice in highway maintenance through channels such as the Well Managed Highway Infrastructure Code of Practice produced by the UK Roads Leadership Group (UKRLG).
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to prepare for the commencement of the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Minimum Age) Act 2022.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Act is planned to come into force on 27 February 2023.
In advance, officials at the General Register Office have been working to ensure that their IT systems are updated so that it is no longer possible for Registrars to accept notice for 16 and 17 year olds to marry or enter into a civil partnership.
Secondary legislation required as a result of the Act has been drafted and is currently being reviewed and agreed across Government.
Officials have been working to ensure impacted groups such as the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community and schools are aware of the change in law.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps he is taking to improve (a) health outcomes and (b) early diagnosis for people with aortic dissections.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In March 2022, NHS England launched an Aortic Dissection Toolkit to support the implementation of robust clinical pathways to identify and manage both Type A and Type B aortic dissection.
All English regions are working with the Cardiac Pathways Improvement Programme to improve diagnosis and treatment.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (a) on what basis his Department decided to begin subsidising the burning of wood pellets at Drax power station, (b) for how long that subsidy has been in place and (c) if he will halt that subsidy and carry out a full review of the evidence basis for the policy.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Sustainable biomass can be used to produce renewable and low-carbon electricity and has system benefits, such as dispatchability and inertia, and stable established supply chains and prices, providing energy security within a net zero consistent energy system.
Drax has been supported under the Renewables Obligation since 2011, and under the Contracts for Difference scheme since 21st December 2016 to generate renewable electricity. There is no cost to the public purse as both schemes are paid for by compulsory levies on electricity suppliers.
The Government only supports sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with the UK’s strict sustainability criteria.
The forthcoming Biomass Strategy will detail the Government’s assessment of the priority use of biomass across the economy.