Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to levy a tax on Ukrainian refugees on income earned in the UK while they reside in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Under UK tax rules, income earned through employment is taxable. The Government is committed to a fair tax system in which those with the most contribute the most. The income tax system is highly progressive, with different rates of tax sitting above an internationally high tax-free Personal Allowance.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to set out a (a) strategy and (b) timetable to work with (i) Sudan and (ii) the wider international community to help Sudan transition to democracy.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Working with international partners, including the Troika (UK, US and Norway), we are supporting Sudanese efforts to resolve the current political crisis through the establishment of a civilian-led government. We continue to urge Sudanese actors to swiftly reach an agreement on this. This message was delivered by the UK Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan, and the UK Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea during a visit to Khartoum in September, as well as by the British Ambassador to Sudan. However, the UK's strategy and possible timeframes on working with Sudan and the international community must be guided by the wishes of the Sudanese people, it is essential that Sudan's journey to a democratic transition is Sudanese-led.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support the Government is providing to help the reforestation of Madagascar.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
In the financial year 2021/22 the FCDO spent £13 million of UK ODA bilaterally through centrally managed programmes, principally on humanitarian response (£6 million), family planning (£3.5 million) and disaster risk insurance (£2.1 million). Our key multi-lateral partners in Madagascar are the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank and the UN System, including the global health, education and climate funds.
In December 2022, DEFRA will launch its Bio-Diverse Landscapes Fund programme in Madagascar. This will spend £10 million over 6 years to protect and restore Madagascar's dry and humid terrestrial forests and will complement existing DEFRA-funded work to protect mangrove forests in the marine environment. There are also several biodiversity and conservation projects in Madagascar through the Darwin Initiative.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what UK Overseas Development Assistance is being spent in Madagascar in (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral programmes and if he will list the programmes and projects.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
In the financial year 2021/22 the FCDO spent £13 million of UK ODA bilaterally through centrally managed programmes, principally on humanitarian response (£6 million), family planning (£3.5 million) and disaster risk insurance (£2.1 million). Our key multi-lateral partners in Madagascar are the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank and the UN System, including the global health, education and climate funds.
In December 2022, DEFRA will launch its Bio-Diverse Landscapes Fund programme in Madagascar. This will spend £10 million over 6 years to protect and restore Madagascar's dry and humid terrestrial forests and will complement existing DEFRA-funded work to protect mangrove forests in the marine environment. There are also several biodiversity and conservation projects in Madagascar through the Darwin Initiative.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the reliability of personal alarms for elderly people in the event that they are unable to afford (a) a landline or (b) credit on their mobile telephone.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Telecare services are provided by local authorities, housing associations, the third sector and commercial organisations, which determine the charges for these services and any additional financial support offered.
Local authorities may provide personal alarms at no cost to the person using the service after a care assessment or a subsequent means test. If a service user does not have a landline, global system for mobile communications telecare alarm equipment with a roaming SIM card is an alternative way of providing this service. These are being provided at no cost by some telecare services, although due to additional connection charges these alarms can be more expensive for a person meeting the cost of the service themselves.
Service providers can also directly help with landline affordability, with some using an 0300 number to minimise call charges when a telecare device makes an alarm call. A personal mobile telephone not being in credit should not impact on the reliability of an alarm as they are not typically used to provide personal alarm services.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will take diplomatic steps to encourage (a) donor governments and (b) private sector partners to scale up the global response to the hunger crisis in Africa.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is pressing for an urgent collective response to food insecurity in Africa, building on the first G7 Famine Prevention Compact agreed during the UK's presidency in 2021. In April, the UK helped bring states together at a UN drought roundtable which mobilised roughly $400 million in new commitments for the East Africa region. The Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food, Victoria Prentis and I attended the G7 leaders meeting in June where participants pledged an additional $4.5 billion of support, including a UK commitment of £372 million. We continue to support the G7 Global Alliance on Food Security and the UN Global Crisis Response Group to mobilise support from other donor governments.
I have written to the World Bank President and the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator to encourage them to do more. The UN has confirmed a scale-up of efforts in Somalia and Ethiopia. The Multilateral Development Banks, including the World Bank and Africa Development Bank, have in total announced more than $35 billion of funding. The Banks are rapidly approving projects, totalling $24 billion at the World Bank and $1.1 billion at the African Development Bank, directly supporting vulnerable households and farmers and supporting a shift towards more resilient agriculture.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how the G7 pledge of $4.5 billion to fight global hunger will support the immediate needs of people in the Horn of Africa, Sudan, South Sudan and the Sahel.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Famine prevention is a key priority for the FCDO. The UK played a leading role in the famine prevention global call to action launched in 2020 as well as the G7 famine prevention and humanitarian crises compact. With G7 allies, and in support of the UN Global Crises Response Group, we agreed to address the causes and consequences of the global food crisis through a Global Alliance for Food Security, a joint initiative which will be launched by G7 Development Ministers.
The UK will work closely with these organisations including through our network of country-based advisors to ensure that this money is used effectively and that allocations are made accordingly to need, including in the Horn, Sudan, South Sudan and the Sahel.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the Government of Sudan about their denial of a visa to Dame Rosalind Marsden, consultant to the United Nations and former British Ambassador to Sudan.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As publicly stated by our Ambassador in Khartoum on 23 May, we are disappointed that the Sudanese authorities have chosen not to renew the visa for Dame Rosalind Marsden. The decision is unfortunate especially given the request of the Sudanese authorities for the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), and its partners to devote more attention to support for peacebuilding. In her capacity as a senior consultant to the UN in Sudan since July 2021, Dame Marsden has been supporting a series of integrated peacebuilding assessments, intended to help UN Agencies and partners design and prioritise support.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to improve workplace fairness and inclusivity.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Advancing fairness in the world of work is a key priority for this government. To tackle bias and ensure fairness in the workplace, the Cabinet Office Equality Hub will develop a new scheme for employers, drawing on the expertise of stakeholders in business, civil society and academia, to provide an evidenced framework for improving race equality and progression in the workplace, as set out in Action 71 of the Inclusive Britain response. It will use evidence provided by the Government’s Inclusion at Work Panel, also announced in Inclusive Britain, and employers will be able to sign-up to the scheme voluntarily once it is launched in autumn 2023.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2022 to Question 4565, on Bank Services, which banks are participants in the Current Account Switch Guarantee; and which challenger banks are excluded.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Over 40 UK current account providers are signed-up to the Current Account Switch Service, which covers 99% of the market. The list of participants is set out in full on the Service’s website. The Switch Guarantee is provided by all the Service’s participants. In Q1 2022, 99.8% of switches were completed in the seven working day timescale. Any organisation which meets the eligibility criteria can join the service.