Patrick Spencer MP: written questions
159 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Private Education: VATTreasuryTabled 7 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 36549More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much input VAT is forecast to be repayable to private schools for the first quarter that the VAT is levied; how much output VAT is expected to be raised from private schools in the first quarter; and what the ne
Answer: The Annex to the Government Response to the Technical Note, Government_Response_to_the_Technical_Note_on_Applying_VAT_to_Private_School_Fees_and_Removing_the_Business_Rates_Charitable_Rate_Relief.pdf, sets out the forecast input VAT and calculation of out...
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFood: VATTreasuryTabled 7 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 36548More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether food for people living at (a) school and (b) home will have VAT payable on it under the VAT guidance published in November 2024 by HMRC.
Answer: Since 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by private schools in the UK for a charge have been subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. This also applies to boarding services provided by private schools. Since...
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPrivate Education: VATTreasuryTabled 7 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 36547More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the forecasts for input VAT reclaimable by private schools are in line with Revenue and Customs Brief 16 being issued.
Answer: Revenue and Customs Brief 16 (2016) clarified that VAT incurred prior to registration can be recovered as input tax, subject to the normal rules. The approach taken to VAT recovery by private schools, including projection of taxable use, is in line with t...
Answered 13 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Government AssistanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 34728More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with the (a) Country Land and Business Association, (b) National Farmer's Union, (c) Tenant Farmers Association and (d) other industry bodies to help support wo
Answer: The Government is working to ensure farming becomes more profitable. That is the best way to make farming businesses viable for the future and ensure the long-term food security this country needs. We regularly meet and discuss Defra’s policies with a ran...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: ScotlandScotland OfficeTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 902934More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had recent discussions with the Scottish Government on school standards.
Answer: It was John Swinney himself who said education was the “defining mission” of the SNP government. Yet just last week, we got the news that standards of attainment in Scotland's schools are declining across the board and, shamefully, outcomes for young work...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPoliceHome OfficeTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29303More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department calculates the number of police officers required per 100,000 of the population in (a) Suffolk, (b) Kent, (c) Norfolk and (d) England.
Answer: The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-w...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordBoys: EqualityWomen and EqualitiesTabled 30 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 902574More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to improve opportunities for white working-class boys.
Answer: Too often white working-class boys face barriers that hold them back. Disadvantaged white British boys are one of the lowest attaining groups in our schools with only 37% reaching the expected standard in reading writing and maths at KS2 and 17.5% achievi...
Answered 5 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: Central Suffolk and North IpswichDepartment for EducationTabled 29 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 27436More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what schools in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency are using the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme; and what their uptake is.
Answer: In England, there are over 11,100 schools, two thirds of English state primaries, that have received funding to deliver the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme. In the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency there are 42 state pri...
Answered 7 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: Central Suffolk and North IpswichDepartment for EducationTabled 29 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 27435More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what primary schools in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency offer early intervention support; and what type of support is offered.
Answer: Schools, including further education colleges, sixth form colleges and 16 to 19 academies, are required to identify and address the special educational needs (SEN) of the pupils they support and, in the case of mainstream settings, to use their best endea...
Answered 7 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordPension Credit: SuffolkDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 28 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 27033More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make a comparative estimate of the number of pensioners claiming Pension Credit in winter (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25; and how many pensioners are ineligible for the winter fuel payment in S
Answer: We do not yet hold data on the number of Pension Credit recipients through winter 2024-25. However, Pension Credit outturn and forecasted caseload statistics are routinely published and made publicly available via Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2...
Answered 3 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordYoung Offender Institutions: EducationMinistry of JusticeTabled 9 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18826More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to review the education provided to children in young offender institutions.
Answer: Following the Education Thematic Review recently published by Ofsted and HM Inspectorate of Prisons, education delivery in young offender institutions is under review.The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is committed to promoting the development of each child ...
Answered 17 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSuffolk Constabulary: Employers' ContributionsHome OfficeTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18034More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost of the increase to employers National Insurance contributions for Suffolk Constabulary in the 2025-26 financial year; and how much additional funding her Departm
Answer: Suffolk Police’s funding will be up to £171.5m in 2024-25. This is in addition to £1.5m provided for the 2024-25 pay award which has been allocated outside of the police funding settlement.The Home Secretary has already announced over half a billion of ad...
Answered 12 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSuffolk Constabulary: FinanceHome OfficeTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18033More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what grounds she decided the level of funding for Suffolk Constabulary; and if she will review that funding.
Answer: Suffolk Police’s funding will be up to £171.5m in 2024-25. This is in addition to £1.5m provided for the 2024-25 pay award which has been allocated outside of the police funding settlement.The Home Secretary has already announced over half a billion of ad...
Answered 12 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAnimal Products: SmugglingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 4 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12669More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the new Border Target Operating Model (a) generally and (b) at tackling the illegal import of products of animal origin.
Answer: Defra continues to monitor and review the impact of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), including the Border Control Post at Sevington. We are working closely with industry, trade partners and enforcement agencies to minimise disruption and costs to...
Answered 11 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordAfrican Swine Fever: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 4 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12667More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Immediate measures to step up safeguards against African swine fever from Europe, published on 26 September 2024, to help prev
Answer: Defra has made additional funding of £1.9 million available to Dover District Council for the Port Health Authority, for the remainder of this financial year (2024 to 2025), to support Border Force to conduct safeguarding checks on the illegal import of p...
Answered 11 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordAfrican Swine Fever: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 4 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12666More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled African swine fever: how to spot and report the disease, updated on 27 September 2024, whether he plans to ban all personal imports
Answer: Preventing an outbreak of African swine fever in the UK is one of Defra’s key biosecurity priorities. The Department keeps policy on personal imports under constant review and works closely with the devolved governments on contingency planning and prevent...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAfrican Swine FeverDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 4 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12665More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) likelihood of an African Swine Fever outbreak in the UK and (b) economic impact of such an outbreak.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Epping Forest, on 28 October 2024 PQ 10798.
Answered 11 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordFarming Recovery FundDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 22 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 10566More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the eligibility criteria was for the expanded Farming Recovery Fund.
Answer: Defra is aware of the ongoing challenges farmers have been facing following the winter storms and the wet weather in late 2023 and early 2024. Defra is committed to maintaining food production and supporting thriving farm businesses as well as protecting ...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPension Credit and Winter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 17 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9892More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2024 to question 4377 on Pension Credit, what progress her Department has made contacting pensioner households that are in receipt of Housing Benefit; and if she w
Answer: We will be writing shortly to the approximately 120,000 pensioners we have identified who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit. As a result of the Winter Fuel Payment changes announ...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFlood ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9554More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to support for landowners to maintain stretches of waterways on their land to help mitigate future flooding risk.
Answer: All farmers and land managers are encouraged to manage the land in a way that supports and enhances the environment while reducing impacts on others, such as climate risks. Where there is a watercourse, riparian landowners are required under common law to...
Answered 21 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFlood ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9553More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with the Environment Agency on clarifying its position relating to the ability of landowners to maintain stretches of waterway on their land to help reduce
Answer: The Environment Agency has proactively engaged riparian landowners setting out responsibilities, where there might be exemptions and how they can get help. This has already reached several communities affected in Storm Babet – in Central Suffolk and North...
Answered 21 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFlood Control: Central Suffolk and North IpswichDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9552More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support flood defence and preparedness works in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.
Answer: The Environment Agency (EA) serves as a Category 1 responder, offering flood warning services and managing various flood management projects. Post-2023 floods, Suffolk’s flood warning areas were refined for enhanced accuracy, with changes effective from N...
Answered 21 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFlood Control: Central Suffolk and North IpswichDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9551More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing levels of funding to help (a) support residents who experienced flooding during Storm Babet in 2023 and (b) mitigate
Answer: Following Storm Babet, the Flood Recovery Framework was activated by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Alongside this, the Property Flood Resilience Grant Scheme was activated by Defra. A post activation review of the Flood Recov...
Answered 21 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFlood Control: Central Suffolk and North IpswichDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9550More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Suffolk County Council on the costs of implementing section 19 actions in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency.
Answer: S19 recommendations are far reaching and span across several organisations. If all recommendations were to be implemented the cost in central Suffolk and North Ipswich would be in the tens of millions. Efficiency is gained through close partnership workin...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordNational Grid: East of EnglandDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 10 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8600More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Norwich-to-Tilbury pylon route on the local agricultural sector.
Answer: It is the responsibility of the developers of electricity network projects, in this case National Grid Electricity Transmission, to propose a route and obtain planning permission for that route including assessment of any agricultural impacts. The Governm...
Answered 16 Oct 2024
Original Parliament record
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