Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department made payments to (a) P&O Ferries and (b) DP World (i) for Departmental business travel and (ii) on Government Procurement Cards in the period between 17 March 2022 and February 2024.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Neither the former Department for International Trade nor the Department for Business & Trade have made any payments of the types requested to P&O Ferries or DP World.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department plans to provide to local authorities for active travel plans in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport is currently providing £70 million of dedicated funding to local authorities in 2023-24, for developing and delivering local infrastructure schemes and to boost capability and enable higher levels of walking and cycling. Funding for local authorities in 2024-25 is subject to final Departmental business planning decisions.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when Ministers last met (a) representatives of the government of and (b) business leaders from Russia to discuss UK exports to that country.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Details of all Ministerial meetings undertaken on behalf of the Department are published on a quarterly basis on the gov.uk website as part of the Government’s wider transparency agenda. The information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2024 to Question 6514 on Ministry of Defence: P&O Ferries, what the cost to the public purse was of payments made to (a) P&O Ferries and (b) DP World (i) for support of operational movement services, (ii) for business travel and (iii) on Government Procurement Cards in the period between 17 March 2022 and February 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Between 17 March 2022 and 26 February 2024, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) made payments of £710,388.88 directly with P&O using either physical or virtual GPC cards. This includes transactions by the National Movement Coordination Centre (Army). £182,307.89 was spent through GBT, the MOD's contracted travel management company, primarily for business travel.
There are no transactions recorded to DP World.
This is the total consolidated spend as we are unable to identify separately, transactions specifically for the support of operational movement services.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising the rates of travel mileage and fuel allowances; and what assessment he has made of the impact of those rates on the income of low-paid workers.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are used by employers to reimburse an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle. AMAPs are intended to create administrative simplicity and certainty by using an average rate.
As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rate under review. In considering changes to the AMAP rate, the Government has to balance the responsible management of public finances, which fund our essential public services, with support for individuals.
At Spring Budget 2023, the government announced continued support for households and businesses by maintaining the rates of fuel duty at the levels set on 23 March 2022 for an additional 12 months, by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned inflation increase for 2023-24. That represents a saving for all drivers this year of overall around £5bn and for the average car driver around £100.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times prison officers were deployed on detached duty in 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Staff on national detached duty are entitled to a bonus payment that varies depending on the length of the deployment. Details are given in the table below:
4 weeks | 8 weeks | 12 weeks |
£500 | £1200 | £2000 |
Additionally, and in line with the National Travel and Subsistence policy (PSI 15/2021), staff are entitled to claim overnight subsistence at £25 per night, and business mileage at a rate of 45p per mile for any additional travel incurred, as well as for the cost of bed and breakfast accommodation where applicable, at rates that vary depending on the location.
An average of 332.35 staff each week were deployed on national detached duty during 2023.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what additional allowances are paid to prison officers on detached duty.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Staff on national detached duty are entitled to a bonus payment that varies depending on the length of the deployment. Details are given in the table below:
4 weeks | 8 weeks | 12 weeks |
£500 | £1200 | £2000 |
Additionally, and in line with the National Travel and Subsistence policy (PSI 15/2021), staff are entitled to claim overnight subsistence at £25 per night, and business mileage at a rate of 45p per mile for any additional travel incurred, as well as for the cost of bed and breakfast accommodation where applicable, at rates that vary depending on the location.
An average of 332.35 staff each week were deployed on national detached duty during 2023.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to help increase exports to Switzerland since 2022.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to driving forward export growth and helping UK businesses export to markets across the globe, including Switzerland. In January 2023 the Government extended the Services Mobility Agreement, allowing service suppliers to travel to Switzerland more easily. In December 2023, HM Treasury signed the Berne Financial Services Agreement, providing market access to service suppliers into the Swiss market.
The Government are currently negotiating an enhanced FTA, which aims to provide deeper market access for services suppliers and remove tariff barriers.
Switzerland is the UK’s 7th largest export market. UK businesses can access DBT’s export service support via Great.gov.uk.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to table 15 of the Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, HC 33, published on 25 January 2024, what the distance travelled on domestic flights was in 2021-22.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The figure reported in the Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23, showing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with domestic air travel in 2021/22, includes domestic flights made by:
- the Department;
- the Care Quality Commission;
- NHS England;
- NHS Resolution;
- the Health Research Authority;
- NHS Counter Fraud Authority;
- NHS Business Services Authority;
- the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency;
- the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence;
- the UK Health Security Agency;
- and the former NHS Digital and Health Education England, which are both now merged with NHS England.
The distance travelled by domestic flights in 2021-22 for these bodies was 185,415 kilometres.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department plans to allocate to active travel in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the business planning process last year, the Department provisionally allocated a total of £146m to Active Travel England in the 2024-25 financial year. This comprises £54m capital and £92m revenue funding. The Department’s business planning process for the 2024/25 financial year is ongoing and final plans will be published in due course.
This is only one element of over £3 billion that is being invested in active travel over the course of this Parliament, from a wide range of funding streams from across Government. This includes funding from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and the Levelling Up Fund.