Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will take legislative steps to enable proxy voting and remote attendance for councillors.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We remain committed to legislating on these important matters when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a statutory duty on water companies to protect recreational users of waters in the forthcoming Clean Water Bill.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will bring forward legislation through the Clean Water Bill, announced in the King’s Speech on 13 May, to deliver major reforms to the water system.
Public health will be at the heart of these reforms, alongside measures to strengthen regulation, improve water quality and tackle pollution at source, as set out in the Water White Paper.
Targeted engagement is already taking place with stakeholders across the water sector to support policy development.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with stakeholders representing recreational users of water on the proposed Clean Water Bill.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will bring forward legislation through the Clean Water Bill, announced in the King’s Speech on 13 May, to deliver major reforms to the water system.
Public health will be at the heart of these reforms, alongside measures to strengthen regulation, improve water quality and tackle pollution at source, as set out in the Water White Paper.
Targeted engagement is already taking place with stakeholders across the water sector to support policy development.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for publication of the Green Paper on access to nature.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government committed in the 2025 Environmental Improvement Plan to bringing forward an Access to Nature Green Paper. This will provide an opportunity to explore options for improving and expanding access, test potential approaches, and gather robust evidence before any decisions are taken.
A timetable for publication has not yet been confirmed, but further updates will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has considered the potential impact of changes to EU customs duties for small parcels on the responsibility to promote knowledge exchange under the Florence Agreement.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has been following the development of the EU’s Union Customs Code reforms closely, including the removal of the €150 customs duty relief for small parcels from 1 July 2026. These are EU domestic measures, and we are engaging with the European Commission and UK businesses to understand the implications. My department has published guidance on gov.uk to support exporters to continue to access EU markets.
We recognise the importance of the UNESCO Florence Agreement in promoting the exchange of educational, scientific and cultural materials by reducing customs barriers that could impede knowledge exchange.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the (a) contribution of choirs to public health, wellbeing and social prescribing and (b) potential role of an extended Orchestra tax relief in supporting the sustainability of choir activity in local communities.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS officials have had discussions with DHSC on the value of arts and culture to public health and wellbeing. DCMS also routinely meets with its arms-length body, Arts Council England (ACE), on their work to support people’s health, happiness and wellbeing via access to high-quality cultural and creative activities.
Research commissioned by DCMS' Culture and Heritage Capital Programme found that general engagement with culture and heritage positively impacts physical health, mental health, and productivity, which for adults, is valued at £18.6bn per year. For adults aged 65 years and over who attend a choir weekly, there is an estimated benefit on a society-wide level of £170m.
Adults over 50 years old who engage with cultural venues have delayed dementia onset, resulting in social care and NHS savings of £0.38bn.
The government supports the arts sector, including choirs and singing through ACE. For the 2024/25 financial year, ACE allocated £1.83 million in National Lottery Project Grants to projects classified under 'Choral’.
Within ACE’s National Portfolio Investment Programme, 334 organisations provide “creative health” programming. To support this work, the Arts Council provides an annual investment of £145 million to National Portfolio Organisations whose activities incorporate creative health.
ACE has also co-funded the National Academy of Social Proscribing (NASP) to deliver the Power of Music programme, which aims to transform how music supports dementia care within NHS systems.
Regarding the potential role of an extended Orchestra Tax Relief, fiscal policy and the design of tax reliefs are the remit of His Majesty’s Treasury.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending Orchestra Tax Relief to include amateur and professional choirs that produce live, acoustic concerts on a non‑commercial basis.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) provides tax relief on production costs and provided around £50 million of support in 2023-24. There is currently no other country in the world which offers similar relief to orchestras, and the aim is to recognise the artistic importance and cultural value of the sector.
To qualify for OTR, a concert must be performed by a group of at least 12 instrumentalists. The voice is not considered to be an instrument for the purposes of the relief. However, orchestra concerts with a vocal element are not excluded. Concerts featuring a choir may be eligible provided that the instrumentalists remain the primary focus. These rules help ensure OTR fulfils its objective of supporting and incentivising orchestra concerts specifically. The Government is not currently considering extending the relief to choirs.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason performers are required to be instrumentalists to qualify for Orchestra Tax Relief.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) provides tax relief on production costs and provided around £50 million of support in 2023-24. There is currently no other country in the world which offers similar relief to orchestras, and the aim is to recognise the artistic importance and cultural value of the sector.
To qualify for OTR, a concert must be performed by a group of at least 12 instrumentalists. The voice is not considered to be an instrument for the purposes of the relief. However, orchestra concerts with a vocal element are not excluded. Concerts featuring a choir may be eligible provided that the instrumentalists remain the primary focus. These rules help ensure OTR fulfils its objective of supporting and incentivising orchestra concerts specifically. The Government is not currently considering extending the relief to choirs.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason local authorities are able to recover VAT under Section 33 of the VAT Act 1994 when equivalent social care services are delivered in‑house but not when those services are commissioned from charitable and not‑for‑profit providers.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Supplies of care services are exempt from VAT if they are supplied by eligible bodies, such as public bodies or charities. No VAT is charged to the consumer of the service, nor can the supplier recover VAT incurred in the course of providing the service.
Community interest companies (CICs) are not charities in law and must meet the criteria of being state-regulated in order to provide VAT-exempt care services. If CICs do not qualify for the VAT exemption, they charge VAT on the services they provide at the 20% standard rate.
Under Section 33 of the VAT Act 1994, certain bodies, including local authorities are able to recover VAT incurred in the course of their non-business activities. Non-business activities are broadly activities which are not undertaken to generate income, such as the provision of statutory health and social care services. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-and-customs-brief-10-2022-vat-business-and-non-business-activities/vat-business-and-non-business-activities
The objective of the Section 33 refund scheme for local authorities is to prevent these bodies from needing to use local taxation to fund their VAT costs. Extending the scheme to include charities and community interest companies would not meet this objective.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of irrecoverable VAT on charities, Community Interest Companies and other not‑for‑profit providers delivering statutory social care services under contract to local authorities.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Supplies of care services are exempt from VAT if they are supplied by eligible bodies, such as public bodies or charities. No VAT is charged to the consumer of the service, nor can the supplier recover VAT incurred in the course of providing the service.
Community interest companies (CICs) are not charities in law and must meet the criteria of being state-regulated in order to provide VAT-exempt care services. If CICs do not qualify for the VAT exemption, they charge VAT on the services they provide at the 20% standard rate.
Under Section 33 of the VAT Act 1994, certain bodies, including local authorities are able to recover VAT incurred in the course of their non-business activities. Non-business activities are broadly activities which are not undertaken to generate income, such as the provision of statutory health and social care services. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-and-customs-brief-10-2022-vat-business-and-non-business-activities/vat-business-and-non-business-activities
The objective of the Section 33 refund scheme for local authorities is to prevent these bodies from needing to use local taxation to fund their VAT costs. Extending the scheme to include charities and community interest companies would not meet this objective.