Every parliamentary written question tabled by Luke Evans this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 861–868 of 868 · this parliament
Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the Government’s response to the consultation entitled The Enterprise Act 2002 (Mergers Involving Newspaper Enterprises and Foreign Powers) Regulations 2024.
We are currently considering the responses to the consultation that we received, and hope to publish a response in the near future.
Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of Universal Studios’ proposed theme park to be situated in Bedfordshire.
DCMS supports NBCUniversal’s proposal to invest in Bedfordshire. A world-class, large-scale resort and theme park has the potential to transform the area, drive growth, create thousands of jobs and boost UK tourism.The details of conversations between private investors and the Government are confidential.
Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department plans to take through the new joint government working group on children’s online safety to assess the impact of digitally-manipulated body images on young people’s mental health.
Under the UK’s Online Safety Act relevant services will need to prevent children from accessing the most harmful content, including content promoting eating disorders. Ofcom has also proposed in its draft child safety codes that platforms take steps to protect children from depressive content and body image content.The government recognises that these issues must also be addressed working with our international partners. Once established, the new UK-US working group will facilitate the sharing of expertise and evidence, including from implementation of the UK’s Online Safety Act, on the impact of social media on children’s mental health and well-being.
What recent discussions she has had with local educational authorities on the potential costs of supporting displaced former private school children with special educational needs.
This government is committed to ending the VAT exemption that private schools enjoy and will confirm the introduction of these changes at the Budget on 30 October. The Office for Budget Responsibility will also certify the government’s costings for these measures at that time. The right time to discuss any funding for state funded schools is at the Spending Review.Children with Education, Health and Care plans that provide a necessary local authority funded place at a private school will not be impacted by this policy. This is because local authorities can reclaim VAT on service expenditure through existing routes.Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) assumes a net gain to the public finances of £1.3 to 1.5 billion per year in the medium to long run as a result of removing tax exemptions from private schools. This would allow for about a 2% increase in state school spending in England. This analysis can be found here: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/tax-private-school-fees-and-state-school-spending.The IFS report also projects that transfers from the private to the state-sector will be low at equivalent to less than 1% of state funded places.The department regularly speaks to local authorities about all local pupil place planning pressures.
If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of charging VAT on independent school fees on local authority costings to support displaced former private school children with special education needs.
This government is committed to ending the VAT exemption that private schools enjoy and will confirm the introduction of these changes at the Budget on 30 October. The Office for Budget Responsibility will also certify the government’s costings for these measures at that time. The right time to discuss any funding for state funded schools is at the Spending Review.Children with Education, Health and Care plans that provide a necessary local authority funded place at a private school will not be impacted by this policy. This is because local authorities can reclaim VAT on service expenditure through existing routes.Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) assumes a net gain to the public finances of £1.3 to 1.5 billion per year in the medium to long run as a result of removing tax exemptions from private schools. This would allow for about a 2% increase in state school spending in England. This analysis can be found here: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/tax-private-school-fees-and-state-school-spending.The IFS report also projects that transfers from the private to the state-sector will be low at equivalent to less than 1% of state funded places.The department regularly speaks to local authorities about all local pupil place planning pressures.
What initial steps her Department is taking to progress the Government’s objective to halve knife crime in a decade.
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a moral mission for this Government and we are already taking a range of initial steps to realise this ambition.We implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes approved by Parliament in April. It is now illegal to manufacture, supply, sell or possess these dangerous weapons. We will also introduce a ban on Ninja swords as soon as possible. We will be launching a consultation shortly and plan to introduce the legislation afterwards when Parliamentary time allows.Intervening early to stop young people being drawn into crime is a fundamental part of our approach and that is why we are creating a new Young Futures Programme. It is vital that we have a system to identify and support this cohort who need it most and we will be introducing Local Prevention Partnerships and Young Futures Hubs to help deliver this.The Prime Minister launched a Coalition to tackle the scourge of knife crime last month. The Coalition will bring together key stakeholders to work with experts to develop an extensive understanding of what causes young people to be dragged into violence.
What recent discussions she has had with (a) police chiefs, (b) other statutory bodies and (c) third party bodies and community organisations to progress the her Department's objective to halve knife crime in a decade.
The government has launched a coalition to tackle knife crime with campaign groups, charities and victims’ families alongside key partners.The coalition will bring together key stakeholders and work with experts to develop an extensive understanding of what causes young people to be involved in knife crime as well as holding government departments to account for progress in halving knife crime in a decade
What recent assessment he has made of trends in petrol and diesel prices.
UK government statistics show average retail prices of petrol and diesel were approximately 134 and 138 pence per litre respectively on 7th October. These are 58 and 61 pence per litre lower than the all-time peak of 4th July 2022.