Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK's participation in the military operation in defence of Israel on 13 April 2024 was carried out under the terms of the agreement signed between the British Armed Forces and the Israeli Defence Force on 2 December 2020.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
No.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20433, (a) how many such consignments have been declared and (b) whether HMRC has taken such enforcement action since 21 July 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The indirect supply prohibition, concerning Russian Origin imports of Oil and Oil products came into force on 05 December 2022.
HMRC publishes UK trade data on the www.uktradeinfo.com website.
HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on operational enforcement matters pertaining to specific import or export scenarios.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20431, whether HMRC has taken enforcement action on oil originating in Russia and imported from a refinery in India since 21 July 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on operational enforcement matters pertaining to specific import or export scenarios.Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate UK Export Finance made of the potential value of (a) goods and (b) services from UK (i) businesses contracted directly by and (ii) supply chain businesses that will be used in INEOS Project One, Belgium as a result of the support it has committed to that project.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) support for export transactions is conditional on the inclusion of UK goods and services, with a general requirement that there should be at least 20% UK content relative to the value of its support. In this instance, UKEF support has already secured over €200 million of UK content into this project.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Israel sought military assistance from the UK for the action taken against Iranian drones and missiles on 13 April 2024.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
For operational security reasons and as a matter of policy, the Ministry of Defence does not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations' military operations.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an estimate her Department of the potential (a) quantity of and (b) proportion of the total UK oil supplies that will come from Ineos development in Antwerp.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has not assessed potential supply from the development in Antwerp. Import countries of origin are published monthly in Energy Trends Table 3.14: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/oil-and-oil-products-section-3-energy-trends. The Department does not collect data on facility of origin.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has received representations from (a) the Scottish Government, (b) local authorities in Scotland, (c) Police Scotland and (d) the Scottish Police Authority on the potential impact of tax rules in relation to employer-provided accommodation on police officers working in (i) rural and (ii) remote areas in Scotland.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Accommodation can be exempted from tax, providing it meets certain conditions which are set out in HMRC guidance. These rules apply to the whole of the UK and are consistent across different employers. This ensures the UK tax system is simple, easy to understand, and limits the risk of abuse.
The government has no plans to make changes to the tax rules or guidance in this area, but does keep all taxes under review.
The government recognises the critical role police officers play in our communities. However, policing and housing are devolved to the Scottish Parliament and the provision of broader support in these areas, beyond tax relief, is therefore a matter for the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if her Department will make an assessment of the likelihood of the presence of (a) engines and (b) engine parts produced by UAV Engines, Staffordshire, in the Hermes 450 drone used in the strikes on World Central Kitchen vehicles.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
We continue to monitor the situation in Israel and Gaza closely but are not commenting on specific licences.
All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The UK operates one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world.
We are carefully reviewing initial findings of Israel’s investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers.
The findings of the inquiry must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information his Department holds on oil imported from Indian refineries but originating in Russia to (a) all UK refineries and (b) Grangemouth Refinery.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department collects data on the country of origin and country of despatch of every oil cargo arriving in the UK. The definition for country of origin is in line with international reporting requirements and existing UK non-preferential Rules of Origin. This means that oils must be subject to substantial processing requirements as stated in Section 17(3) of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018. In line with these rules, oil products refined in a third country will be considered as originating from that country.
National imports data are published in Energy Trends Table 3.14: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/oil-and-oil-products-section-3-energy-trends.
Individual refinery data are commercially sensitive and not published or otherwise made publicly available by the Department.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what checks her Department carries out on oil imported from foreign (a) refineries and (b) states to ensure that it is not from Russia.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The import, acquisition, supply and delivery of Russian oil and oil products into the UK has been banned since 5 December 2022 and His Majesty’s Government continues to support the sanctions on the Russian regime following their invasion of Ukraine.
All importers of oil and oil products into the UK must provide proof of origin to enforcement authorities to demonstrate that goods are not of Russian origin.
The Department collects data on Country of origin as well as Country of last despatch to ensure oil from Russia is not being diverted through other countries.