Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April to Question 181066 on Cryptocurrencies, if he will provide a timeframe for when the Government will (a) conduct and (b) publish an assessment of the impact of a central bank digital currency on the commercial banking sector.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In February 2023, HM Treasury and the Bank of England published a joint consultation on a UK central bank digital currency (CBDC).
A response to this consultation will be issued in due course following the close of the consultation on 30 June 2023.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April to Question 181066 on Cryptocurrencies, whether he plans to publish a response to the consultation on the digital pound.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In February 2023, HM Treasury and the Bank of England published a joint consultation on a UK central bank digital currency (CBDC).
A response to this consultation will be issued in due course following the close of the consultation on 30 June 2023.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of a central bank digital currency on retail funding for commercial banks.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In February 2023, HM Treasury and the Bank of England published a joint consultation on a UK central bank digital currency (CBDC). The consultation noted that a UK CBDC, or ‘digital pound’, is likely to be needed in the future. However, a final decision has not yet been made and will be informed by this consultation and future work.
As part of this consultation period, HM Treasury and the Bank of England will carefully consider how the digital pound could impact the commercial banking sector, as well as any potential deposit outflows and any substantial shift in retail banks’ funding models.
A response to this consultation will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of a central bank digital currency on deposit outflows for commercial banks.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In February 2023, HM Treasury and the Bank of England published a joint consultation on a UK central bank digital currency (CBDC). The consultation noted that a UK CBDC, or ‘digital pound’, is likely to be needed in the future. However, a final decision has not yet been made and will be informed by this consultation and future work.
As part of this consultation period, HM Treasury and the Bank of England will carefully consider how the digital pound could impact the commercial banking sector, as well as any potential deposit outflows and any substantial shift in retail banks’ funding models.
A response to this consultation will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of a central bank digital currency on the commercial banking sector.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In February 2023, HM Treasury and the Bank of England published a joint consultation on a UK central bank digital currency (CBDC). The consultation noted that a UK CBDC, or ‘digital pound’, is likely to be needed in the future. However, a final decision has not yet been made and will be informed by this consultation and future work.
As part of this consultation period, HM Treasury and the Bank of England will carefully consider how the digital pound could impact the commercial banking sector, as well as any potential deposit outflows and any substantial shift in retail banks’ funding models.
A response to this consultation will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that a certificate provider for a Lasting Power of Attorney application is aware their role is to ensure the donor understands the information relevant to the decision, can retain that information, and use or weigh up that information as part of the process of making the decision.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The certificate provider is a crucial safeguard during the creation of a lasting power of attorney (LPA). They sign to state that the person making the LPA understands it, is not being pressured into making it and there is no evidence of fraud. A modernised LPA service must provide additional support to certificate providers, so they are confident and mindful of their role, including the part the functional test (understanding, retaining, weighing and communicating information relevant to the decisions made) plays in carrying out that role.
My department is therefore considering the best way to achieve this, including potential changes to the certificate that is signed, the forms more generally and supporting guidance. Testing and iterating any changes with stakeholders and users will be critical to ensure we achieve the core aim that the certificate provider understands what they need to do and has confidence taking on the role.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the independent report entitled JCVI statement on the COVID-19 vaccination programme for 2023, updated on 27 January 2023, on what evidential basis the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has proposed including children over the age of (a) 12 who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression and (b) 16 who are carers in the targeted primary course covid-19 vaccination programme in 2023, in the context of the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing transmission.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) report does not contain any evidential basis for proposed cohorts, as it was interim advice. The considerations for any future decisions will be part of future JCVI reports and meeting minutes.
Current COVID-19 vaccines may provide some short-term protection against infection and onwards transmission, weekly surveillance reports can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-surveillance-reports
This may reduce the risk of transmission from household contacts to immunosuppressed individuals who are at high risk of complications, and who may not directly benefit from vaccination. It will also reduce the risk of serious disease in carers, which, if they were to fall ill, may compromise the welfare of those they care for.
The advice within the JCVI interim statement of 25 January 2023 is that primary course COVID-19 vaccination should move, over the course of 2023, towards a more targeted offer to protect those persons at higher risk of severe COVID-19. The vaccination programme can be found at the following link:
Since the JCVI interim statement of 25 January 2023, the JCVI published a statement on 7 March 2023, which contained detail of the spring 2023 booster programme which can be found at the following link:
The JCVI advice for the spring 2023 booster programme does not include primary or booster vaccinations for the groups referred to in this question.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to (a) support and (b) require landowners to (i) undertake repairs to (A) footpaths, (B) stiles, (C) gates and (D) other rights of way and (ii) improve public access to the countryside under Environmental Land Management schemes.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government supports the health and wellbeing benefits that access to the countryside can bring, including improving physical and mental health and supporting local communities and economies.
Landowners have a statutory duty to keep public rights of way in good working order and therefore this is not covered by Environmental Land Management Schemes, unless they choose to upgrade to provide additional access, e.g. from a stile to a gate via under Countryside Stewardship (option AC1).
Under Countryside Stewardship, we currently pay for the following actions to help improve public access to the countryside:
Public access is also supported by our Landscape Recovery scheme, with projects being assessed for the benefits they will deliver for a wide range of objectives. Under the England Woodland Creation Offer, higher payments are available if woodland is located close to settlements within the 40% most deprived areas in England, or if it will provide new long-term permissive access for recreation.
Additionally, through our Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, we provide funding to support and improve Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks. We pay for projects providing opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage, including permissive access.
We do want to offer further support for access to our countryside, and so under our Environmental Land Management Schemes we are also now exploring how we can pay for:
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Ukrainian defence against Russian aggression.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Ukraine has inflicted heavy losses on Russian forces. We estimate that around 175,000 Russian military personnel have been injured or killed in the conflict. Despite Russian forces carrying out offensive operations across the front line in recent weeks, any Russian gains have been incremental and costly, and Ukraine’s defence has eroded the combat effectiveness of Russian forces.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the (a) vaccine, (b) resourcing, (c) other direct, (d) marketing and promotional and (e) other indirect costs of vaccinating children under the age of 18 for covid-19 in 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England manages the costs of the COVID-19 vaccine programme across each campaign, rather than on a vaccine-by-vaccine basis. This funding covers the direct cost of vaccinating as well as additional central programme costs. No marketing has been specifically directed at vaccinating under 18s in 2023 to protect against COVID-19. Other indirect costs are not specific to vaccinating under 18s; they are for the wider vaccination programme and support vaccinating under 18s only where relevant. The price that the Government has paid for any COVID-19 vaccine is commercially sensitive. Disclosure would breach the Government’s confidentiality obligations.