Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to prevent insurers underwriting fossil fuel projects.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government is committed to delivering the UK’s legal and international climate commitments. Clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero is a key mission of this Government and essential to credible, long-term economic growth.
Insurers make commercial decisions on their underwriting approach following their assessment of the relevant risks. However, it is imperative that the insurance sector aligns its operations with the United Kingdom’s national and international climate commitments, and insurers must operate within the framework set by the regulatory authorities.
The Prudential Regulation Authority continues to work with Lloyd’s of London and other sector representatives to ensure their practices support the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15836, whether any F-35 components manufactured in Britain are designed specifically for use by the Israeli air force.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
F-35 components are designed for use by all three variants of F-35 aircraft. The UK manufactures components for all F-35 variants.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the proposed increase in the rate of employers' National Insurance contributions on (a) social enterprises and (b) voluntary and community sector organisations.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
At the recent Budget, the government took a number of difficult decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the foundations on public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability.
Ministers have met with representatives from the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to discuss this issue and the department is aware of their concerns about the impacts of the increase to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs).
The government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that more than half of businesses (including charities) with NICs liabilities will either gain or see no change next year.
We are also expanding eligibility of the Employment Allowance by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold, to simplify and reform employer NICs so that all eligible employers now benefit. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.
The Government publishes Tax Information and Impact Notes (TIINs) for tax policy changes, which give a clear explanation of the policy objective and an assessment of the impacts. The TIIN for the employer NICs changes was published on 13 November 2024.
Within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving. More than £6 billion in charitable reliefs was provided to charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and their donors in 2023 to 2024. The biggest individual reliefs provided are Gift Aid at £1.6 billion and business rates relief at nearly £2.4 billion.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she is taking steps to help ensure that the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy supports the wider economy.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Financial services is central to the government’s modern industrial strategy due to the key role it plays in financing growth across the economy.
The Chancellor’s Mansion House speech set out how the government will work with the sector to deliver sustainable, inclusive growth. This included publishing pension reform proposals to unlock billions of pounds of new investment into the UK economy and reforms that will help the sector support the Net Zero transition.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether F-35 components were sent from RAF Marham to Israel between October 2023 and August 2024.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
At the request of the US led F-35 Programme, there were 14 transfers of F-35 components from RAF Marham to Israel between October 2023 and August 2024. The transferred components are the property of the US Department of Defense.
In keeping with the Government's announcement on arms exports in September, there have been no exports of F-35 parts direct to Israel via RAF Marham since the licensing suspension.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 8935 on Hospices: Children, what his planned timetable is for a decision on the future of that funding.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While 2023/24 marked the final year of the Children’s Hospice Grant in its previous format, in 2024/25, NHS England continued to provide an additional £25 million of funding for children and young people’s hospices, maintaining the level of grant funding from 2023/24. For the first time, this funding was distributed by integrated care boards (ICBs), on behalf of NHS England, rather than being centrally administered as before.
The Department and NHS England are aware that the shift to ICB distributed funding in 2024/25 has not been as smooth a transition as we would have hoped. However, we are working closely with NHS England to resolve any remaining issues with the 2024/25 funding. Furthermore, I am working very closely with NHS England to get the funding arrangements for 2025/26 confirmed as a matter of urgency.
I recently met NHS England, Together for Short Lives, and one of the co-chairs of the Children Who Need Palliative Care All-Party Parliamentary Groups, Lord Balfe, to discuss children’s palliative and end of life care, and this funding stream was discussed at length at that meeting.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government plans to respond to recent alleged reports of violence against ethnic Armenians by Azerbaijan.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are not aware of any recent reports of alleged violence against ethnic Armenians by Azerbaijan. However, we are clear that peaceful negotiation is the only route to a lasting resolution of the longstanding conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we stand ready to support them to achieve this. I conveyed this sentiment in calls with the foreign ministers of both Armenia (on 11 October) and Azerbaijan (on 31 October).
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the Government's policy is on (a) the right of return and (b) civil rights protections for ethnic Armenians displayed from the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has encouraged the Azerbaijani authorities to provide clarity on the rights and security of ethnic Armenians displaced by conflict who wish to return to the region. We commend the efforts of the Armenian government, which has supported those displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to enable them to have a future in Armenia itself.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2024 to Question 9485 on Water Companies: Climate Change, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the adequacy of how Ofwat is carrying out this statutory duty.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As an independent regulator, Ofwat carries out its statutory duties autonomously from the Government and instead is directly accountable to Parliament. The department therefore does not routinely monitor or assess how Ofwat carries out its duties.
An Independent Commission into the water sector regulatory system was launched by the UK and Welsh Governments on Wednesday 23 October. Through this review, we will look at long-term, wider reform of the water sector as a whole. This includes considering and clarifying the roles of regulators, as well as how to ensure water company infrastructure is secure and resilient to short- and long-term pressures.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date applications for interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of deceased people whose deaths have not yet been recognised by a previous interim payment will open.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The process under which estates can apply for interim compensation payments opened on 24th October. These payments are to be made to the estates of deceased infected persons, where interim payments have not already been received, in those cases where the deceased infected person was registered with an existing or predecessor scheme on or before 17 April 2024. Details on how to make an application can be found on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/infected-blood-compensation-estates