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1167484

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	British Nationals Abroad: Syria
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prepare for the return of British children trapped in north-east Syria.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	7788
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>There may be British children in Internally Displaced Persons camps in Syria, who because of their age, are innocent victims of the conflict, however, the process of providing any assistance is extremely complex. If we become aware of British unaccompanied or orphaned children or if British children are able to seek consular assistance, then we will work with the local and UK authorities to facilitate their return if feasible.</p><p>Children returning from Syria are likely to have been exposed to the conflict and to have experienced trauma. In some circumstances they may also pose national security concerns that need to be carefully managed. A range of specialised support – some of which is funded directly by the Home Office – is offered to address concerns ranging from safeguarding to national security. Our support will be tailored to the needs of each individual child.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 04/11/2019 17:24:10 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont

1167485

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Syria: British Nationals Abroad
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the care needs of British children trapped in north-east Syria.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	7789
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>​The UK has no consular presence within Syria from which to assess the needs of or provide assistance to British children, but we carefully consider all requests for consular assistance on a case by case basis. The Foreign Secretary has made clear that the Government will seek to assist any British unaccompanied minors and orphans in Syria who are brought to our attention, where feasible and subject to national security concerns.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 05/11/2019 10:09:14 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont

1150476

registered interest
date	17/10/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Syria: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has had discussions with the Kurdish authorities on their ability to deliver repatriated children to the Syrian border.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	1761
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2019 answer text <p>Officials have discussed the evacuation and repatriation of British orphans and unaccompanied minors with representatives of the civilian de facto authorities in north east Syria on several occasions, most recently on 21 October. Any repatriation will be subject to national security concerns.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 24/10/2019 13:32:37 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont

1150092

registered interest
date	16/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Working Hours
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on the economy of reducing the working week to 32 hours.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	1122
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>A shorter week can create practical challenges in treating all parts of the organisation fairly, and may even limit some employees’ flexibility. While there is evidence that a shorter working week can lead to higher productivity, the extent to which this would offset lost output from reduced hours is unclear.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 21/10/2019 16:22:59 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont

1148474

registered interest
date	08/10/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Accommodation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps his Department is taking to increase prison capacity.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	912615
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>The Prime Minister has made clear his focus on tackling crime and announced in August an investment of up to £2.5 billion to transform the prison estate and provide 10,000 additional prison places.</p><p> </p><p>Our recent Spending Round settlement provides the funding for MoJ to begin delivering this commitment and outline planning permission has been approved for a new prison at Full Sutton.</p><p> </p><p>The 10,000 places are additional to the 3,500 places, which we have begun at Wellingborough; that we will start building at Glen Parva next year, and; that we have already built at HMP Stocken.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 08/10/2019 16:27:10 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont

1146484

registered interest
date	26/09/2019
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Borders Railway Line: Carlisle
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to make an assessment of the feasibility of extending the Borders railway to Carlisle.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	291414
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/10/2019 answer text <p>Work on this is ongoing. On 1 July 2019, Ministers of the UK and Scottish Governments and the Leaders of the five councils of the Borderlands Partnership signed the ‘Heads of Terms’ for the £394.5 million Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal. This includes up to £10 million joint funding with Scottish Government to assess the feasibility of extending the Borders Railway from Tweedbank to Carlisle.</p><p> </p><p>The full Heads of Terms document sets out further details of the projects being proposed and is available on the GOV.UK website at: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/816873/Borderlands_Growth_Deal_-_Heads_of_Terms_2019.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/816873/Borderlands_Growth_Deal_-_Heads_of_Terms_2019.pdf</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Daventry answering member printed Chris Heaton-Harris question first answered 02/10/2019 15:57:38 answering member 3977 label Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont

1142920

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Banks: Closures
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he will take to reduce bank closures in rural areas.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	284386
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises that the closure of bank branches is a very important issue for many people, particularly in rural communities. However, banking service providers need to balance customer interests and other commercial factors when considering their strategies. Although the Government understands the dissatisfaction, it is right that decisions on opening and closing branches are taken by the management team of each bank on a commercial basis and the Government does not intervene in these decisions.</p><p> </p><p>Government cannot reverse the changes in the market and in customer behaviour; nor can it determine firms’ commercial strategies in response to those changes. In 2018, two-thirds of UK adults used contactless payments, 72% used online banking and 48% used mobile banking, according to UK Finance. The Government is committed to ensuring that all areas of the UK benefit from world class digital connectivity, and we have invested heavily to meet that ambition. The £1.8bn superfast programme has ensured that 96% of the UK has access to download speeds of at least 24Mbps. For those premises that do not have access to download speeds of at least 10 Mbps, the Government have introduced the Universal Service Obligation (USO), which allows people to request a USO connection from the designated Universal Service provider, BT, from March 2020.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Government still firmly believes that the impact of branch closures should be understood, considered, and mitigated where possible so that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have access to over-the-counter banking services if they wish to use them. That is why the Government is in full support of the voluntary Access to Banking Standard that the major high-street banks are signed up to. This commits them to keep customers well informed about branch closures, and to set out their reasons for closures and the alternative options for continued access to services. It is also why the Government supports the Post Office Banking Framework Agreement, which enables 99% of personal customers and 95% of small business customers to carry out their everyday banking at one of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 05/09/2019 11:50:09 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont

1142921

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Corporation Tax
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has any plans to reduce corporation tax.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	284389
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Since 2010 the Government has successively reduced the UK Corporation Tax rate to support businesses both large and small. Now at 19% the UK Corporation Tax is currently the lowest in the G20. In April 2020 the Government will reduce the UK Corporation tax rate further to 17%.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 09/09/2019 14:58:37 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont

1142922

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	National Insurance Contributions: Scotland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to change the level of national insurance paid at the upper earnings limit and what assessment he has made of the potential of effect of that change on the (a) Scottish Government block grant and (b) tax differential between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	284394
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to keeping taxes low to support working people to keep more of what they earn and to encourage individuals to progress.</p><p> </p><p>This is why the Government met its commitment to raise the higher rate threshold to £50,000, one year early. This has ensured that nearly 1 million fewer people pay the higher rate of tax compared to 2015-16.</p><p> </p><p>Decisions on the Higher Rate Threshold and the National Insurance Contributions (NICs)s Upper Earnings Limit and Upper Profits Limit are taken by the Chancellor at fiscal events.</p><p> </p><p>The mechanism through which the changes to income tax policy affect the Scottish Government’s block grant are set out in the Scottish Government’s Fiscal Framework. When the UK Governments increases the Higher Rate Threshold, the Scottish Government receives an increase to their block grant commensurate to the Higher Rate Threshold increase. National Insurance Contributions are reserved to the UK government, and therefore any changes to NICs do not affect the Scottish Government’s block grant.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman grouped question UIN 284548 question first answered 09/09/2019 15:14:48 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont

1142927

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has any plans to (a) change the rules on the state pension age for women and (b) compensate those affected by the change in rules.
tabling member constituency	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
tabling member printed	John Lamont
uin	284405
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2019 answer text <p>Successive Governments have made necessary decisions to equalise and increase the State Pension age. State Pension age reform has focused on maintaining the right balance between sustainability of State Pension, equality and fairness between generations in the face of demographic change.</p><p> </p><p>Even after equalising women’s State Pension age with men’s, women will spend more than 2 years longer on average in receipt of their state pension because of their longer life expectancy. If we had not equalised State Pension age, women would be expected to spend on average over 40 per cent of their adult lives in retirement.</p><p> </p><p>During the passage of the Pensions Act 2011, the Government listened to the concerns of those affected and this is why we introduced a concession worth over £1 billion in order to limit the impact on those women who would be most affected by the changes. This concession reduced the proposed increase in State Pension age for over 450,000 men and women, and means that no woman will see her pension age change by more than 18 months, relative to the 1995 Act timetable.</p><p> </p><p>For people who simply can’t work, our welfare system will continue to provide a strong safety net, as it does for people of all ages now. Any women experiencing hardship, including problems such as unemployment, disability, and coping with caring responsibilities, can already claim support from the welfare system. The Government is committed to supporting the vulnerable and spends over £50 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. The new State Pension is more generous for many women. Over three million women stand to gain an average of £550 extra per year by 2030 as a result of recent State Pension reforms.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 06/09/2019 13:22:12 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4608 label Biography information for John Lamont