The Government remains committed to tackling tax avoidance schemes, but it has listened to concerns about the impact of the Loan Charge on individuals. An independent review is under way to consider the appropriateness of the Loan Charge as a policy response, and its impact on individuals.

The reviewer, Sir Amyas Morse, has been asked to provide recommendations by mid-November so that any individuals affected can have certainty about their next steps in advance of the 31 January 2020 Self - Assessment deadline.

While the Review is under way, it is right that the Loan Charge remains in force, in line with current legislation.

HMRC has made clear it will consider all personal circumstances to agree a manageable and sustainable payment plan wherever possible and there is no maximum limit on how long a customer can be given to pay the charge.

Further information about the Review and guidance for affected taxpayers is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/disguised-remuneration-independent-loan-charge-review.

We are clear that any repatriation of refugees must be safe, voluntary, dignified and meet international humanitarian principles and standards. We agree with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that the conditions for such repatriation do not yet exist in Rakhine.

Following recent reports of potential repatriations, we worked closely with the UNHCR, and engaged with the Governments in Bangladesh and Myanmar to underline that returns must be safe, voluntary and dignified. We welcome Bangladesh's continued commitment to the principle of voluntariness and note Myanmar's acknowledgement that some Rohingya have a right to return. We will continue to make representations to the Governments of both Bangladesh and Myanmar.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

To provide support for pubs, the Government announced a freeze on beer duty at Budget 2018. The price of a typical pint of beer in 2019 will be 2p lower than it would have been had duty increased with inflation. Cuts and freezes to alcohol duty since 2013 have provided over £5.2 billion in support for the alcoholic drinks sector; revenues that would have otherwise gone to the Exchequer.

Many pubs are also benefitting from the business rates retail discount announced at Budget 2018, which is cutting bills by one third for two years. It is available to properties with a rateable value below £51,000, and is worth an estimated £1 billion to businesses. Up to 75% of pubs in England could be eligible for the discount, subject to state aid limits and eligibility for other reliefs.

Pubs are also benefitting from wider reforms and reductions to business rates. In total, since Budget 2016 the Government has announced measures which are saving businesses more than £13 billion over the next five years.

Our adult skills system seeks to improve productivity, employment levels and social inclusion. It supports people who are starting out in their careers, those who want to upskill and those who want or need to change careers.

Adult skills and lifelong learning provision includes:

• Apprenticeships: Our reforms to apprenticeships are benefiting people of all ages and backgrounds, including adults developing their skills. We have given employers the flexibility to offer apprenticeships to both new recruits and existing staff, supporting the creation of quality workplace training opportunities and life-long learning.

• Adult Education Budget (AEB) funded provision: The AEB fully funds or co-fund skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3 (including traineeships) to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. It also enables flexible tailored programmes of learning to be made available which do not need to include a qualification.

• From 1 August 2019, approximately half of the AEB has been devolved to 6 Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and the Mayor of London acting through the Greater London Authority (GLA). From this date the MCAs and GLA can use the devolved AEB to shape education and skills provision in a way that best fits the needs of their residents and local economy. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will be responsible for funding AEB learners resident in non-devolved areas.

• Part-time higher education (HE) provision: Flexible and part-time HE has a key role in terms of widening choice and participation in HE for adults.

• The National Retraining Scheme: The National Retraining Scheme is a new programme which is currently being developed as part of the government’s answer to the transforming world of work. The National Retraining Scheme will help prepare adults for the future changes to the economy, including those brought about by automation, and help them retrain into better jobs.

• Advanced Learner Loans support clear routes into work, progression within work and progression to higher education, by providing fees support for level 3 to level 6 qualifications. Access to multiple Advanced Learner Loans enables adults to progress or re-skill.

• European Social Fund (ESF) funded provision: The ESF is an EU programme that delivers £3 billion (over 7 years) of employment/training provision to support those furthest from learning and the labour market. DfE and ESFA are one of several Co-Financing Organisations that procure provision on behalf of Local Enterprise Partnerships and deliver on average £150 million of skills provision per annum. Provision is a mixture of regulated and unregulated employment and skills courses with a strong focus on additional and ‘wraparound’ support (for example, employability skills, confidence building, mentoring to overcome personal barriers to learning and/or employment).

Our ambitions for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are exactly the same as for every other child and young person. As part of this, we are pleased to announce that we will be providing an additional £700 million, 10% in high needs funding next year alone, which will help local authorities to ensure that they can continue to offer the right support for children and young people with the most complex SEND.

The UK has been independently ranked as the best place in the world to start and grow a Fintech firm, and the government is committed to maintaining the UK’s leading edge in the sector. That is why the government has delivered against all of the commitments made in the Fintech Sector Strategy, which was launched last year.

The government announced at Mansion House 2019 that HM Treasury would launch a review into the payments landscape, which looks to ensure that regulation and infrastructure is able to keep pace with new payments models. The government also announced that it would explore building on the success of Open Banking by developing an agenda for ‘Open Finance’, looking at ways to safely and securely share data across a wider range of financial services products. This will further revolutionise the sector and increase the ability of Fintech firms to compete with traditional financial services firms.

Both the assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) are functional assessments designed to respectively contribute towards the extra costs that arise as a result of a long-term health condition or disability, and to assess an individual’s capability to work. Both benefits are based on the impact of a person’s disability or health condition, not on the condition itself. This is important, as we recognise that the same condition can affect different people in different ways.

Assessors are provided with training and guidance in the full range of health conditions, including ME. For instance, all WCA assessors have access to a learning module on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/ME, that is externally quality assured by an expert clinician. Furthermore, the PIP providers have recently been involved in a programme of engagement with CFS/ME stakeholders, and have developed a comprehensive suite of training products on CFS/ME.

We are very disappointed with Japan’s decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission and restart commercial whaling. The Prime Minister raised concerns with Prime Minister Abe during his visit to the UK in January. The Secretary of State has written to his Japanese counterpart on this matter. We will continue to work with the Japanese Government to engage with them and raise our concerns at every level, and we urge them to rethink their decision.

The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published in December last year, sets out how we will reduce plastic pollution and preserve material resources by minimising waste, increasing recycling rates, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a more circular economy. We have consulted on reforms to household and business recycling collections which are intended to improve the quantity and quality of materials collected for recycling, including plastic, and on proposals to make producers pay the full net cost for dealing with the packaging they put on the market at end-of-life, and on the potential introduction of a deposit return scheme. Her Majesty’s Treasury have also consulted on a world-leading tax on plastic packaging which does not contain at least 30% recycled material. These reforms should help reduce waste and increase the amount of packaging recycled.

Defra also supports the UK Plastics Pact, a unique collaboration launched by Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) that will create a circular economy for plastics. WRAP estimates these members are responsible for over 80% of the plastic packaging on products sold through UK supermarkets, and approximately 50% of the total plastic packaging placed on the UK market.

The Government is also acting to help ensure the right infrastructure is in place to deliver high quality secondary materials for recycling. It is investing around £3 billion of grant funding in waste infrastructure projects. These grants support infrastructure including material recovery, mechanical biological treatment and anaerobic digestion facilities, as well as implementation and expanding kerbside recycling services. It also recently announced £4.7 million of grant funding for recycling infrastructure projects that will help to recycle difficult plastic packaging and textile materials. Further grant opportunities around recycling will follow in due course.

The Department for International Development is supporting developing countries address problems around marine litter and has committed £39 million over the last year to tackle the problem of plastic pollution. We are supporting governments to consider what practical steps they can take to reduce the pollution of our oceans, such as restricting the use of plastic bags. We are starting to work with businesses and NGOs in Africa and Asia to trial new approaches to increase plastic recycling rates, thereby helping the environment while creating new jobs. This includes our work in Bangladesh where we will work with industry to increase the quality and volume of local plastic recycled and the percentage of locally recycled plastic used, particularly in garment manufacturing.

Through UK Aid Match, we are supporting the Tearfund plastics appeal (up to £3m) to set up recycling hubs across Pakistan. We are also investing in research to find ways in which manufacturing processes can help reduce plastic pollution.

In addition, the UK provides considerable funding to multilateral organisations who are working with countries to tackle this problem, including some major investments in waste management services.

The Department for International Development is committed to helping developing countries tackle the problem of marine plastic pollution. We developed the Tackling Waste and Plastic Pollution programme as part of wider UK Government efforts to address this. The programme provides up to £13 million, plus technical assistance and practical support to a number of Commonwealth countries to improve waste management, and to reduce marine plastic pollution. Bangladesh is one of the beneficiary countries. A pilot project is now being developed in Dhaka to understand what works to reduce and manage plastic waste in low income city contexts, including reducing the impact on rivers and oceans.

The Government takes the protection of personal data and the right to privacy extremely seriously.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent regulator for data protection in the UK and is responsible for regulating compliance with data protection legislation. The Information Commissioner has the power to serve fines on a data controller as a result of a data breach. Details of enforcement action, including fines, are published on the ICO website at www.ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken

The Government takes the protection of personal data and the right to privacy extremely seriously.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent regulator for data protection in the UK and is responsible for regulating compliance with data protection legislation. The Information Commissioner has the power to serve fines on a data controller as a result of a data breach. Details of enforcement action, including fines, are published on the ICO website at www.ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken

As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 13 March 2018, HCWS1408, we will make permanent the time-limited right to build larger single storey rear extensions to dwellinghouses, and will introduce a proportionate fee.

The civil courts in England and Wales already offer several different enforcement methods that a creditor may use to recover money or property owed on a court order or judgment. These are individually designed to address the differing financial circumstances of the debtor and collectively they aim to make it as difficult as possible for debtors to avoid their responsibilities.

As part of its Reform Programme, HM Courts and Tribunal Service will be reforming how court judgments and orders are enforced, which will include making the application process available online. The online enforcement service will provide improved guidance and information and will streamline the process making it simple and straight-forward for people to enforce an unpaid debt, providing users with regular and relevant updates about the progress of their case.

More widely, the Ministry of Justice is currently reviewing the implementation of the 2014 enforcement agent reforms introduced by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. The overarching aim of the reforms was to ensure that debts could be collected effectively whilst offering protection against enforcement agents who used aggressive methods. We have recently concluded a Call for Evidence on the 2014 reforms, and will set out our response by the summer recess.

The Government has made it clear that the UK intends to leave the EU with a deal and not take part in the European Parliamentary Elections (EPE) in May.

The Cabinet Office has published a detailed report on the cost of the last European Parliamentary election which cost £108.7M. The publication and the accompanying data can be found at the following link (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/costs-of-the-2014-european-parliamentary-elections).