Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the continuing operation of EU excise and VAT law concerning goods in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The arrangements in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework guarantee Northern Ireland’s position within the UK’s VAT and excise area, while still maintaining frictionless arrangements for those businesses trading with the EU - granting Northern Ireland businesses the ability to benefit from new UK changes and ensuring that Northern Ireland households can benefit from the UK’s Brexit freedoms.
The freedoms secured under the Windsor Framework have already delivered benefits for NI people and businesses, including: the application of zero rates on the installation of energy-saving materials; the rollout of new alcohol duty reforms across the whole UK; and the UK-wide application of the changes agreed at Autumn Statement, such as the removal of VAT on period underwear.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support the hospitality and tourism sectors.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government believes that pubs make an important contribution to our culture, fostering a sense of place and community, and to the UK economy.
The Government is aware that the high street faces long-term challenges and is committed to supporting the businesses that make our high streets and town centres successful. Therefore, at Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of support worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, including:
Furthermore, to support pubs, our 'Brexit Pubs Guarantee,' confirms that the duty on a draught pint will always be lower than its equivalent in a supermarket. And the new alcohol duty system implemented in August of this year included a new Draught Relief that provides a significant duty discount on beers below 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) sold in containers of 20 litres or more in the on-trade.
The Community Ownership Fund has awarded £49.3 million to 195 projects across the UK, including rural pubs, with £35 million allocated to 131 projects across England, £6.2 million allocated to 28 projects in Scotland, £4 million to 18 projects in Wales and £4.1 million to 18 projects in Northern Ireland.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent estimate she has made of the number of small businesses that have (a) relocated and (b) part-relocated their operations to the EU due to export costs in (i) Wales, (ii) England, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We do not have the information you are asking for, however, what we can say is that 94% of all businesses that responded to the ONS business survey in the 2 weeks to the 3rd September were not planning to open any new branches or subsidiaries in the EU in the next 12 months.
We understand that SMEs have had to adapt to the new post-Brexit environment, and that’s why we are ensuring they have what they need to do so, including comprehensive guidance on GOV.UK, and support from UK Export Finance (UKEF) and the Export Support Service (ESS).
Now we have left the single market, we can turn our focus to the rest of the world, where in the 12 months to June 2023 trade is up 38% in current prices compared to pre-pandemic (2018) levels.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps they have taken to support hospitality and tourism in rural areas.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government believes that pubs make an important contribution to our culture, fostering a sense of place and community, and to the UK economy.
The Government is aware that the high street faces long-term challenges and is committed to supporting the businesses that make our high streets and town centres successful. Therefore, at Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of support worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, including:
Furthermore, to support pubs, our 'Brexit Pubs Guarantee,' confirms that the duty on a draught pint will always be lower than its equivalent in a supermarket. And the new alcohol duty system implemented in August of this year included a new Draught Relief that provides a significant duty discount on beers below 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) sold in containers of 20 litres or more in the on-trade.
The Community Ownership Fund has awarded £49.3 million to 195 projects across the UK, including rural pubs, with £35 million allocated to 131 projects across England, £6.2 million allocated to 28 projects in Scotland, £4 million to 18 projects in Wales and £4.1 million to 18 projects in Northern Ireland.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of fiscal support his Department is providing to pubs.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government believes that pubs make an important contribution to our culture, fostering a sense of place and community, and to the UK economy.
The Government is aware that the high street faces long-term challenges and is committed to supporting the businesses that make our high streets and town centres successful. Therefore, at Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of support worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, including:
Furthermore, to support pubs, our 'Brexit Pubs Guarantee,' confirms that the duty on a draught pint will always be lower than its equivalent in a supermarket. And the new alcohol duty system implemented in August of this year included a new Draught Relief that provides a significant duty discount on beers below 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) sold in containers of 20 litres or more in the on-trade.
The Community Ownership Fund has awarded £49.3 million to 195 projects across the UK, including rural pubs, with £35 million allocated to 131 projects across England, £6.2 million allocated to 28 projects in Scotland, £4 million to 18 projects in Wales and £4.1 million to 18 projects in Northern Ireland.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take when goods being transported to Northern Ireland which have been declared for the Green Lane are checked and are found not to qualify.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Trusted traders will face no routine physical checks on their goods moving in the green lane. These will be based purely on risk and intelligence. Where the systems in place to identify illicit movements find that goods are moved illegitimately, there will be a range of possible responses depending on the risks posed. This can include withdrawing access for the trader to the relevant scheme in cases where the scheme is being abused, and could include seizing or returning the goods (in the same way as would have been the case for goods posing particular risks before Brexit).
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Centre for Brexit policy paper, Mutual Enforcement: the Key to Restoring Government in Stormont, published on 27 June.
Answered by Lord Caine - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government remains fully committed to the restoration of a fully functioning devolved government, along with all the other institutions that form the three strands of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, in the interest of the whole community in Northern Ireland. We are working tirelessly to that end. In the Government’s view, the Windsor Framework remains the best basis for achieving it.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has had discussions with hon. Members on the Centre for Brexit Policy's report entitled Mutual enforcement: the key to restoring Government in Stormont, published on 27 June 2023.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland regularly speaks with a range of stakeholders in relation to the return of devolved government and will continue to do so over the coming weeks and months.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the movement of (a) cattle, (b) sheep and (c) other livestock are covered by the green lane in relation to the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the proposed Windsor Framework.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
As was the case with the arrangements in place before Brexit, the Windsor Framework respects that the island of Ireland has for decades been treated as a single epidemiological unit, which involves specific requirements for the movement of livestock. The UK and EU had already agreed in 2021 a variety of arrangements to simplify the movements of livestock, and we will continue to work closely with the livestock sector in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to support the smooth flow of livestock movements.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the answer of 31 January to Question 133687 on UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland, what legislation his Department has identified as in the scope of the sunset of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill and required to continue to operate the Government’s international obligations.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The UK Government is committed to ensuring the necessary legislation is in place to uphold the UK’s international obligations, including the Withdrawal Agreement, Northern Ireland Protocol and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement after the sunset date.
The Brexit Opportunities Unit has established regular intergovernmental meetings intended to support devolved counterparts with identification of which REUL is devolved or reserved, as part of the REUL Reform Programme.