Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) supporting the English Heritage Scheme to expand the Blue Plaque scheme outside of London and (b) including expansion of that scheme in the Government's levelling up agenda.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I have not made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Blue Plaque scheme outside of London, as part of the levelling up agenda or otherwise. English Heritage Trust, which runs the scheme, offers free advice and guidance to anyone across the country seeking to put up a commemorative plaque.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with English Heritage on the potential merits of expanding the blue plaque scheme outside of London.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I have held no recent discussions with English Heritage Trust on the merits of expanding the Blue Plaque scheme outside of London. The charity freely offers advice and guidance to anyone across the country seeking to put up a commemorative plaque.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment the potential impact on British Army personnel of possible exposure to dangerous levels of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between 1953 and 1987.
Answered by Sarah Atherton
An initial check of Army historical records has given no indication that Army personnel routinely trained at Camp Lejeune.
If any UK Armed Forces veteran believes there is evidence that they were affected by this issue they can apply for War Pension Scheme Compensation via the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of social tariffs on broadband packages for consumers in receipt of benefits.
Answered by Matt Warman
Raising awareness of social tariffs amongst eligible households is a key priority for DCMS.
We are working closely with other departments including the Department for Education, and the Department for Work and Pensions, to share information on the availability of social tariffs with libraries, local authorities, schools and regional job centres. We have also engaged a number of charities to circulate social tariff messaging to help reach those who may qualify for support.
On 27 June, the Secretary of State secured a set of public commitments from the UK’s major mobile and broadband providers to support families through the rise in the cost of living, which includes increasing efforts to promote their social tariff offers. To support the sector, the government is developing eligibility checking software which will allow a more efficient application process. We expect this work to conclude over the summer.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of social tariffs on broadband packages for consumers in receipt of benefits.
Answered by Julie Marson
DWP works with DCMS and Ofcom to encourage broadband providers to extend eligibility of broadband social tariffs to low-income households. Because of this, some broadband providers have made social tariffs available to Universal Credit claimants and other claimants receiving means tested benefits. DWP will work with Ofcom to raise claimant awareness of these tariffs with via our national Jobcentre Plus Work Coach network and wider stakeholders.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to share data with broadband providers on consumers in receipt of benefits for the purposes of increasing the efficiency and speed of the vetting process for applications for social tariffs.
Answered by Julie Marson
DWP currently have a verification system in place with BT to confirm benefit eligibility, allowing claimants to access the BT Basics social tariff.
DWP is developing a new API service which will enable more Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to confirm eligibility for broadband social tariffs.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of levels of (a) lottery duty and (b) returns to good causes (i) in 2022-23 and (ii) in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Damian Collins
National Lottery ticket sales return 12% to the Exchequer as lottery duty. The Gambling Commission provides DCMS and the Lottery Distributing Bodies with good cause forecasts on a six-monthly basis to assist them with their grant planning. The forecast is presented as a range, with low, high and central scenarios. The modelling approach is regularly refined to ensure the forecasts remain as accurate as possible. The most recent forecast extends to 2023-24. We do not publish this information given commercial sensitivities.
Actual good cause returns are broadly consistent with these forecasts and are published in the National Lottery Distribution Fund Annual Report and Accounts and can be found on the GOV.UK.
The fourth National Lottery Licence is due to commence on 1 February 2024. 12% in Lottery Duty will continue to be paid on each National Lottery ticket. However, the method for calculating good cause returns will change. The design of the new Licence is such that as National Lottery sales grow, so do the benefits to good causes.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Command Paper, Defence in a competitive age, published in March 2021, whether it remains his policy to reduce the armed forces to 72,500 by 2025.
Answered by James Heappey
There are currently no plans to reverse the decision to reduce the number of regular Army personnel to 73,000 by 2025.
The Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper made clear that we must focus on Defence capability rather than troop numbers in response to changing threats and priorities. The British Army will be more integrated and active, with a whole force of over 100,000 regulars and reservists, to address the current and future threats from across the globe.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with the (a) Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and (b) Gambling Commission on the implications of the fourth National Lottery licence on levels of (a) Lottery Duty and (b) returns to good causes.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Fourth National Lottery Licence Competition was an independent process run by the Gambling Commission. The Treasury engaged with senior officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Gambling Commission regarding the Competition as it progressed. HMRC monitor receipts from specific betting and gaming duties, including Lottery Duty.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he expects day-to-day departmental spending to fall in real terms by the end of the 2022-23 Parliament.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Department received a revised settlement of RDEL following the Spending Review 21 last autumn, which noted the cost pressures on the Department as a result of changes in the economic forecast.
The department has measures in place to limit the impacts including the forward purchase of foreign exchange, firm price contracts and purchase of long-lead items. The potential effects of the current levels of inflation on our pay and programmes remain under continuous review.