Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to review the Child Maintenance Service's treatment of income from foreign assets held by paying parents.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
To calculate a child maintenance liability, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) uses gross income information provided by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for the latest available full tax year. A variation application can be made by either parent to include income from certain assets including property that is subject to tax in the UK.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is to respond to the Patient Safety Commissioner's report entitled Hughes Report: Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published on 7 February 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government commissioned the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC) to produce a report on redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. We are grateful to the PSC and her team for completing this report and our sympathies remain with those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. The Government is now carefully considering the PSC’s recommendations and will respond substantively in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the total £1.5 billion allocated for the Equitable Life Payments Scheme is paid out to affected Equitable Life policyholders.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of 'Not for EU' labelling requirements on small and medium-sized food producers who (a) export to the European Union and (b) sell within the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 1 October 2023, The UK Government introduced The Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme to simplify movements of retail goods from GB to NI. To use the scheme businesses need to apply ‘Not for EU’ labelling to their goods.
As a result, these businesses, including small and medium-sized food producers, benefit from significantly reduced certification requirements.
The Government has also launched the £50m Windsor Framework Transitional Labelling Financial Assistance Scheme to support businesses in adjusting to these changes.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the report commissioned by his Department entitled The impact of a change in the maximum park home sale commission, published in June 2022.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has plans to review or reform legislation on the rights of cohabitating partners.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is important that people are aware of the legal distinctions between getting married, forming a civil partnership and living together as cohabitants. The Government has already taken steps in this area. The Department for Education’s statutory guidance on relationships education includes the need for schools to ensure that pupils are aware of what marriage is, including its legal status and the legal status of other types of long-term relationship. The Government is also reviewing the information currently available to the public on the legal rights afforded to spouses, civil partners, and cohabiting couples.
The Government considers that existing work underway on the law of marriage and divorce, which are directly relevant to issues concerning cohabitants, must conclude before considering any change to the law in respect of the rights of cohabitants on relationship breakdown.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government is taking steps to raise awareness of the legal distinctions between (a) marriage, (b) civil partnership and (c) cohabiting.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is important that people are aware of the legal distinctions between getting married, forming a civil partnership and living together as cohabitants. The Government has already taken steps in this area. The Department for Education’s statutory guidance on relationships education includes the need for schools to ensure that pupils are aware of what marriage is, including its legal status and the legal status of other types of long-term relationship. The Government is also reviewing the information currently available to the public on the legal rights afforded to spouses, civil partners, and cohabiting couples.
The Government considers that existing work underway on the law of marriage and divorce, which are directly relevant to issues concerning cohabitants, must conclude before considering any change to the law in respect of the rights of cohabitants on relationship breakdown.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of family disputes resolved outside of court in instances where it is safe and appropriate to do so.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to helping more parents resolve their issues earlier and without coming to court, where this is safe and appropriate.
In March 2021, the Government launched the Mediation Voucher Scheme to help families to access mediation and resolve their issues away from the family court. As of 18 January 2024, 24,379 vouchers have been issued and we are now investing up to £23.6m in the scheme, which we expect to see continue to March 2025.
In March 2023, the Government published a consultation asking for views on proposals to support families to reach agreements earlier and without court involvement, where appropriate to do so. The Government response to this consultation, setting out our plans for reform in this area, will be published imminently.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to publish a response to the noise camera trials carried out by his Department between October 2022 and February 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Roadside trials of noise camera technology commenced on 18 October 2022 and finished on 1 February 2023. As set out in the Government’s recent Plan for Drivers, the Department intends to publish the findings of the trial shortly and issue guidance to local authorities setting out minimum requirements and best practice for the use of noise cameras.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's consultation on Pavement parking: options for change, which closed on 22 November 2020, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the consultation.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Pavement parking is a complex issue. We want to take the right step for communities and ensure that local authorities have appropriate and effective tools at their disposal. We are working through the options and the possible legislative opportunities for delivering them and as soon as those matters are certain we will publish our formal response.