Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the revenue from VAT paid by charities on the repair and maintenance of listed buildings which do not operate as commercial premises.
Answered by Lord Bates
The details that HMRC collects from taxpayers on their VAT returns are not specific enough to provide an estimate of revenue from VAT paid by charities on the repair and maintenance of listed buildings.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether HM Treasury is involved in the invitations to tender to build the three new solid support ships, in particular relating to the costs; and, in assessing the bids, what account will be taken of the impact on UK tax revenues of an overseas company being awarded the contract.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Ministry of Defence is responsible for developing the assessment criteria for procurement programmes. Where these programmes exceed the Ministry of Defence’s delegated limits, HM Treasury provides additional scrutiny of programmes.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK, as a major stakeholder in the European Investment Bank, will take part in discussions in December about the Bank giving greater support to the European Defence Fund (EDF); and whether they expect the UK to benefit from the setting up of a single European Defence Market with the EDF deciding on apportionment of contracts across the EU.
Answered by Lord Bates
As long as the UK is part of the EU it remains a full member of European Investment Bank (EIB). This means that the UK continues to have full representation on the EIB Board of Directors and will continue to participate in ongoing EIB business. The Chancellor also acts as an EIB Governor and continues to represent the UK at the EIB Board of Governors.
As stated in the government’s Future Partnership Paper on Foreign Policy, Defence and Development, the UK wants to explore how best to ensure that the UK and European defence and security industries can continue to work together. We will consider options and models for future participation in the Commission’s European Defence Fund including both the European Defence Research Programme and the European Defence Industrial Development Programme.
On the wider issue of the UK security relationship with the EU, the government has proposed a bold new strategic partnership with the EU, including a comprehensive agreement on security, law enforcement and criminal justice co-operation. The Prime Minister has made clear that United Kingdom is unconditionally committed to maintaining Europe’s security. And the UK will continue to offer aid and assistance to EU member states that are the victims of armed aggression, terrorism and natural or manmade disasters.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether decisions on the next Comprehensive Spending Review will be taken before the outcome of the next Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Answered by Lord Bridges
The Spending Review will be published on 25th November, and work is currently underway on the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) which we expect to publish before the end of the year. These reviews will be closely aligned, recognising that economic security and national security are two sides of the same coin.
At the Summer Budget, the Government committed to increased spending on defence and security, and to meet the properly measured NATO pledge to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence every year of this decade. The allocation of a Joint Security Fund of up to an additional £1.5 billion per year by 2020/21, available to the Armed Forces and Security and Intelligence agencies, will also be based on the conclusions of the SDSR.