Every parliamentary written question tabled by Alex Burghart this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 321–331 of 331 · this parliament
Pursuant to the Answer of 14 October to Question 7835 on Terrorism: Northern Ireland, if he will publish details of all requests for public inquiries that he has considered.
I do not intend to publish details of the requests I receive for public inquiries. I have written to those whose requests I have recently considered.
What the VAT status is of further education colleges.
Education services supplied by an “eligible body” are exempt from VAT. For VAT purposes, an “eligible body” broadly refers to most regulated, publicly funded, or not-for-profit education providers. This means no VAT is charged on supplies of education made by further education colleges, nor are further education colleges able to recover the VAT they have incurred on their expenditure.We are ending the VAT exemption for private schools. The government will introduce 20% VAT on education and boarding services provided for a charge from 1 January 2025. This will include education and vocational training provided either at sixth forms attached to private schools or stand-alone private sixth form colleges. However, education and vocational training provided by further education colleges will not be subject to VAT.
With reference to his Department's publication entitled Safeguarding the Union, published on 31 January 2024, what progress his Department has made on the implementation of the measures set out in paragraph 43.
The Government is committed to taking all steps necessary to protect the UK internal market. We continue to make significant progress on measures set out in paragraph 43 of the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper. Recent progress includes confirmation of the appointment of Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee as Chair of Intertrade UK; the establishment of the Independent Monitoring Panel; and statutory guidance to public authorities on how they should ensure they have special regard to Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market.
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2024 to Question 5643 on Terrorism: Northern Ireland, how many requests for public inquiries he is considering.
I have recently considered several requests for public inquiries and decided to ask all the families involved to get in touch with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR). The Government will consider any further requests on a case-by-case basis.
What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Multiply maths initiative.
Multiply is the government’s UK wide programme for improving adult numeracy. Multiply provision spans from supporting to build confidence with numbers through to full maths qualifications.The department provides funding to all local areas in England to deliver adult maths programmes with a focus on improving the functional numeracy of adults, breaking down barriers to participation in adult basic skills, and improving labour market outcomes. The following information therefore relates to the Multiply programme in England.Local areas have welcomed the programme and the flexibility to deliver innovative approaches to drive learner demand. As of April 2024, over 120,000 learners have participated in a Multiply course in England. There was a 5.8% increase in adult participation in education and training in 2022/23 and an increase of 4.6% in 2023/24. Local areas have informed us that most of this rise is driven by Multiply courses.The extensive Multiply programme evaluation is ongoing and will conclude in winter 2025/26.
How many skills bootcamps have been delivered in each of the last three years, by (a) local authority area and (b) discipline.
The department is awaiting finalised data for the 2023/24 financial year from providers so cannot provide data for this year.The department has published separate reports on the implementation of Skills Bootcamps for the 2022/23 (Wave 3) and 2021/22 (Wave 2) financial years, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66e9a3f824c4f1826d81bcbd/Skills_Bootcamps_Wave_3_Implementation_Report.pdf and here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66d5bdfd701781e1b341db13/Evaluation_of_Skills_Bootcamps_Wave_2_Implementation_Report_updated_2024.pdf.These reports include breakdown of Skills Bootcamp starts by region and course type (discipline). The department does not include breakdowns by local authority area in these reports and is referring to Skills Bootcamps starts with these figures.Table 1 (page 21) of Wave 3 report: Breakdown of applicants and starts for Wave 3 and Wave 2 Skills Bootcamps (course type)Table 5 (page 25) of the Wave 3 report: Applications and starts by Government Office RegionTable 4 (page 26) of Wave 2 report: Applications and starts by Government Office RegionTo note:Totals are lower than the reported total starts because some management information (MI) records do not have an accurate postcode, or no postcode listed. Totals also do not reflect any updates to starts figures that the department makes to its published statistics releases, following publication of the implementation report.The number of starts in the Wave 3 MI data is slightly higher than the published starts data which was due to challenges with the HGV data and accurately calculating starts. The starts release was a more conservate estimate of starts compared to the MI.At Wave 2, Rail was classified as part of Skills Bootcamps in Green Skills.
Whether he plans to appeal against the judgment of the Belfast Court of Appeal in the challenge to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, delivered on 20 September 2024.
On 7 October 2024, I laid a Written Ministerial Statement in Parliament providing the Government’s initial response to the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal’s judgment in Dillon & Others. The statement can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-10-07/hcws108. This is a complex and wide-ranging judgment with significant implications. The Government is therefore carefully considering its findings to inform a decision on the way forward.
What progress he has made with Moderna on the (a) manufacture of mRNA vaccines in the UK, (b) establishment of a global clinical trials base and (c) investment in UK-based research and development activities.
As part of the Moderna-UK Strategic Partnership signed in December 2022, Moderna is building an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Harwell, Oxfordshire. The Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre will support the United Kingdom to be more resilient in the face of future pandemics and health emergencies. It is expected to become operational in 2025.Moderna is also committed to substantial investment in research and development activities in the UK over the 10-year partnership. This includes running a significant number of clinical trials in the UK and funding grants for UK universities, including PhD places and research programmes.Since the partnership was established, Moderna has launched 13 trials at over 80 sites in England, Scotland, and Wales, including for Mpox, respiratory syncytial virus, and COVID-19 vaccines. Moderna has funded a PhD at the University of Cambridge and four mRNA Access Partnerships across UK universities. This partnership will also create over 150 skilled jobs in the UK.
With reference to page 37 of his Department's publication entitled Transforming public procurement, what progress has been made on readying the Central Digital Platform.
The Central Digital Platform is an online system that will be established by the Procurement Act 2023 to improve transparency and efficiency in public procurement. The Central Digital Platform is currently being developed and will be operational and ready for use when the new procurement regime comes into force on 24 February 2025. Cabinet Office is working with e-procurement systems providers and contracting authorities to ensure their readiness.
If she will give further education corporations the same VAT status as Multi Academy Trusts and 16 to 19 Free Schools.
On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. This will also apply to boarding services provided by private schools. Any fees paid from 29 July 2024 relating to the term starting in January 2025 onwards will be subject to VAT. Furthermore, where a school in England has charitable status, the Government will legislate to remove their eligibility to business rates charitable rate relief. This is intended to take effect from April 2025, subject to Parliamentary passage. This includes independent schools, part-funded by overseas governments, bi-lingual schools, and faith schools. The final policy design will be confirmed at the Budget. A technical note setting out the details, alongside draft VAT legislation, was published in July and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees-removing-the-charitable-rates-relief-for-private-schools. Business rates are administered by local government. Therefore, local authorities are responsible for determining eligibility for reliefs, including with respect to dual-use locations. Charitable rates relief is available to properties deemed to be ‘wholly or mainly’ used for charitable purposes. Certain properties are exempt from business rates including buildings that are places of public religious worship and buildings used for the training and/or welfare of disabled persons. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for determining whether a property meets the necessary legal requirements to be exempt. Details on final policy decisions regarding the removal of private schools’ eligibility for charitable rate relief will be set out at the Budget.The Government has carefully considered the impact that changes to the tax treatment of private schools will have on pupils and their families across both the state and private sector, as well as the impact they will have on state and private schools. Following scrutiny of the Government’s costing by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, the Government will confirm its approach to these reforms at the Budget on 30 October, and set out its assessment of the expected impacts of these policy changes in a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN). TIINs give a clear explanation of the policy objective, including details of the tax impact on the Exchequer, business, individuals and any equalities impacts.These changes will not affect the VAT status of FE Colleges. Maintained schools are funded by local authorities, who are able to recover their VAT through the s33 VAT refund scheme, which aims to ensure VAT is not a burden on local taxation. Academies can also recover their VAT under s33B, to ensure they are not disincentivised from leaving LA control. FE colleges do not meet the rationale for admission to either refund scheme.
Whether he plans to use 36 Whitehall.
The 36 Whitehall building is not in use and there are no current plans to bring it back into use.