Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius on diplomatic relations with the US.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The military base on Diego Garcia is an important national asset that we use with the Americans. The UK's priority is the security, safety and usability of the base. We are working in lockstep with the US on all elements of British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of research and development (R&D) tax relief claims being disallowed by HMRC on (a) the level of R&D being undertaken by individual companies and (b) retention of R&D companies in the UK.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK’s R&D tax reliefs provide generous support to encourage companies to conduct R&D activity, driving innovation and growth in the UK.
Where a claim is disallowed because it is not legitimate R&D, HMRC would not expect this to have an impact on either retention or the amount of R&D undertaken by companies.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is for the commencement of outstanding building works on hospitals under the Hospitals Transformation Programme.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Full planning permission has recently been granted for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital development and enabling works have commenced on site. The full business case is expected in the coming months, in which the trust will set out the final delivery timetable for the building works for the Hospital Transformation Programme.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports of North Korea providing military support to Russia.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has supplied weapons, including ballistic missiles, to Russia, as fifty Foreign Ministers made clear in their 9 January joint statement. At a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on 10 January, the UK joined partners in condemning the use of DPRK-supplied ballistic missiles by Russia against Ukraine. The DPRK is already subject to a robust sanctions regime and the UK will continue to work with our partners to hold the DPRK to account for supporting Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. We will continue to work with allies and partners to identify, expose, and counter Russian attempts to acquire military equipment from third countries.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department holds information on external assessments made of the potential impact of the construction of the North West Relief Road on water supplies to Shrewsbury.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not hold information on external assessments made of the potential impact of the construction of the North West Relief Road on water supplies to Shrewsbury. Any information of this nature would be gathered by the local authority, Shropshire Council, not the Department for Transport.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with Avanti West Coast on the reported content of an internal presentation referencing (a) the receipt of funds from the public purse and (b) conditions for the receipt of performance-related payments; and whether his Department has paid fees to Avanti to deliver services for which third-party suppliers and inspections have already been provided to deliver.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Officials have discussed this issue with senior managers at First Rail Holdings (Avanti West Coast Owning Group) and the Managing Director of Avanti West Coast. Further discussions will be taking place with Ministers.
The Department reimburses pre-agreed budgeted costs incurred by operators on a good and efficient basis.
Additionally, operators earn two types of fees. A fixed management fee and a performance-based fee. Payment of the performance-based fee is dependent on operators’ performance against contractual criteria and target measures.
One element of that performance component is the SQR Regime, which was fully implemented for Avanti in April 2023. This regime is entirely separate from the operational performance regime which incentivise the operator to manage on-time running and cancellation levels. To date no fees have been paid to Avanti under the SQR regime. The first period to be assessed to determine the Performance Fee are the scores for April to October 2023. The evaluation process for this period is underway.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius on the US contribution to the military balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK's priority is the long term continued effective operation of the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia and Mauritius has made clear publicly that it supports this goal. We continue to work in lockstep with the US to this end and have their full support. The Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary Austin discussed the British Indian Ocean Territory in Washington DC on 1 December 2023.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens to replace paper identification required to (a) open a bank account and (b) access (i) loans, (ii) mortgages, (iii) credit cards, (iv) investment opportunities and (v) other financial instruments.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the widespread benefits of digital identity use.
HM Treasury’s Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) 2017 require banks and other regulated financial firms to verify a customer’s identity to open, access or maintain a bank account or other financial products. The MLRs do not impose a preference in how a regulated firm should verify its customers’ identities, either using traditional paper or digital identity sources.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using Non-Fungible Tokens in the administration of benefits.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has not made any assessment into the potential merits of using Non-Fungible Tokens in the administration of benefits.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens in the administration of (a) general elections, (b) local elections and (c) land registration.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
No such assessment has been made of the potential merits of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).