The current exemption was issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to allow a safe and orderly transition to the requirements of the SERA with effect from 12 September 2019. The CAA is taking the necessary measures to meet the aims of the exemption. The SERA requirement gives effect to the international standard set out in Annex 2 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and is already safely applied throughout most of the world.

We are aware that the airspace structure in the UK may give rise to some operational complications in respect of complying with the SERA requirement. The Department is working with the CAA to fully understand any safety implications arising from the application of the requirement in the UK, including whether any safeguarding measures are necessary.

Disguised Remuneration (DR) schemes are contrived arrangements that pay loans in place of ordinary remuneration, with the sole purpose of avoiding income tax and National Insurance contributions. The loans are provided on terms that mean they are not repaid in practice, so they are no different to normal income and are, and always have been, taxable.

The Government estimates that around 50,000 individuals could be affected by the 2019 loan charge. Further information on who the charge affects can be found at page 17 of HM Treasury’s report on time limits and the charge on disguised remuneration loans:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789160/DR_loan_charge_review_web.pdf.

This shows, for example, that 65% of the DR user population worked in business services, and only 3% worked in medical or education services.

Access to justice is a fundamental right. We spent £1.6bn last year on legal aid for the most vulnerable – of which £545m was in family law.

Legal aid is also part of a bigger picture and so we are now making changes to enhance the breadth of legal support available for everyone in society.

The Legal Support Action Plan, published on 7 February, announced that we would be changing the legal aid eligibility criteria to provide non-means tested legal aid for parents, or those with parental responsibility, who wish to oppose applications for placement orders or adoption orders in public family law. In addition, we announced that we will doubling the department’s funding to the Litigants in Person Support Strategy to £3m for the next two years.

We are taking a number of steps to encourage younger people to join the magistracy, including through the use of social media to advertise recruitment campaigns and collaborative work with Universities and employers, providing talks and information to raise the profile of the role amongst a younger audience.

The permitted development right for the change of use from office to residential is making an important contribution to the delivery of new homes across the country. In the three years to March 2018, over 42,000 homes to buy or to rent have been delivered under the right.

Where it is felt that it is necessary to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area, the local planning authority can consult the local community on removing a permitted development right by making an Article 4 direction. This requires that a planning application must be submitted which the local planning authority can determine in accordance with its local plan.

We will maintain and enhance our high animal welfare standards as we leave the EU.

We recently laid legislation to ban travelling circuses from using wild animals and to tackle puppy farming by ending third party sales. We have made CCTV mandatory in slaughterhouses and are introducing one of the world’s toughest bans on ivory sales to protect elephants from poaching. Each of these measures goes further than EU rules require.

As with the vast majority of NHS services, the funding and commissioning of palliative and end of life care is a local matter, over which individual National Health Service commissioners have responsibility. Local commissioners are best placed to understand the needs of local populations and commission services to meet those needs accordingly.

The NHS Long Term Plan, sets out significant investment and activity to improve the quality of patient care and health outcomes, including for end of life care. This includes £4.5 billion of new investment to fund expanded community multidisciplinary teams aligned with new primary care networks. Based on individual needs and choices, people identified as having the greatest risks and needs will be offered targeted support for both their physical and mental health needs, helping them to maintain independence and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. This includes patients approaching the end of life.

The proportion of female court judges has increased by 5 percentage points since 2014, to 29% as at 1 April 2018, and for tribunal judges it has increased by 3 percentage points to 46%, over the same period.

We recognise that more progress is required and the Ministry of Justice has jointly developed and is funding the pre-application judicial education programme (PAJE), which launched on 24 April 2019. This will support and encourage lawyers interested in a judicial career and targets underrepresented groups including women, to help them prepare for a judicial career.

The MoJ continues to work closely with the Lord Chief Justice, Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission and other members of the Judicial Diversity Forum, including the three legal professions, to implement its multi stranded plan to increase judicial diversity.

As of 1 April 2018, 58 judges appointed to the family division were women. This amounts to 48% of the total number of judges in the family division.

The Government has regular discussions with the Civil Aviation Authority concerning the progress of airspace modernisation, and these have included updates on airspace change proposals designed to implement Global Satellite Navigation System approaches at aerodromes.

Global Navigation Satellite System approaches are one element of performance based navigation (PBN). An amendment to EU Regulation 1178/2011 (the Aircrew Regulation), which came into force in 2018, provides that pilots may only fly in accordance with PBN procedures if they hold an instrument rating with PBN privileges. The Aircrew Regulation establishes the training required to obtain PBN privileges. From 25 August 2020, all applicants for an instrument rating will be required to have undertaken PBN training.

Training requirements will be reviewed as and when the carriage and use of other new technologies are mandated. In addition, the Civil Aviation Authority is continuing to engage with the European Aviation Safety Agency to expand training on the use of satellite based technology to help reduce airspace infringements.

Global Navigation Satellite System approaches need to be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The CAA will provide guidance to aerodromes that are considering the implementation of such approaches. In particular the CAA has produced a framework for the safety cases which need to be produced as part of the approval process.

Annual statements are produced for all individuals who owe a debt to the Legal Aid Agency which is secured by way of the statutory charge.

Where legally aided clients successfully gain or retain an asset as a result of the publicly funded legal assistance they receive, they should repay the cost of their legal aid.

The rate in the statutory charge is currently set at 8%, the same as the Judgment Debt Interest Rate. It was reviewed in 2008/09.

Following my meeting with my Rt hon. Friend earlier this year, I wrote to Patrick Verwer, Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR’s) Chief Executive, to raise this issue with him. We would support an increase in off-peak calls along the Welwyn Garden City to Moorgate line, if they can be implemented with no cost and with no detriment to the reliability and punctuality of service across the wider network. This change is dependent on the capabilities of the Class 717 rolling stock, which GTR will be able to assess once it has been fully established in regular service. Once this assessment is complete, GTR will reconsider whether the increase in calls can be implemented with no performance or financial cost.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The bus market outside London is deregulated with the majority of services provided on a commercial basis by private sector bus operators. Smart ticketing is an important element of making buses more attractive and the bus industry has been rolling out smart ticketing and contactless payments on buses in many areas for a number of years. Currently over 60% of buses accept contactless payments. Contactless payment is just one part of the bus user’s experience, and we are taking forward measures to help make bus travel more attractive. I recently announced all operators of local bus services across England (with the exception of Section 19 and Section 22 permit holders) will be required to provide high quality, accurate and open data, including routes and timetables, fares and tickets and location data, from 7 January 2020.

The Department for Exiting the European Union has had no discussions with EU counterparts on the VAT status of aircraft imported into UK territories as this is not a part of our EU Exit remit.

The responsibility for VAT policy rests with Her Majesty’s Treasury.

Treasury Ministers meet regularly with EU counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues.

The free movement of aircraft being used as a means of transport is guaranteed by the Chicago Convention. This allows aircraft to land and take off at airports all over the world without the inconvenience of paying and reclaiming customs duties each time a trip is made. This will continue after the UK exits the EU.

VAT is charged on the sale or import of aircraft at two rates – either 20 % or 0%. The rate applied is dependent on how the aircraft is used. Details of which rate is applicable is available on the government website GOV.UK.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal imports from the EU will be charged VAT in line with the rules currently applicable to imports from outside the EU. However where the aircraft belong to a person or company established outside the UK they can stay in the UK for at least 6 months using temporary admission. Where the aircraft belongs to a person/company established in the UK the person may be eligible for returned goods relief which allows UK companies and persons to re-import their items into the UK without payment of VAT as long as they fulfil the conditions given in HMRC guidance.

References: Notice 301 Customs special procedures for the Union Customs Code Annex C Temporary Admission , end-use relief

Treasury Ministers meet regularly with EU counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues.

The free movement of aircraft being used as a means of transport is guaranteed by the Chicago Convention. This allows aircraft to land and take off at airports all over the world without the inconvenience of paying and reclaiming customs duties each time a trip is made. This will continue after the UK exits the EU.

VAT is charged on the sale or import of aircraft at two rates – either 20 % or 0%. The rate applied is dependent on how the aircraft is used. Details of which rate is applicable is available on the government website GOV.UK.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal imports from the EU will be charged VAT in line with the rules currently applicable to imports from outside the EU. However where the aircraft belong to a person or company established outside the UK they can stay in the UK for at least 6 months using temporary admission. Where the aircraft belongs to a person/company established in the UK the person may be eligible for returned goods relief which allows UK companies and persons to re-import their items into the UK without payment of VAT as long as they fulfil the conditions given in HMRC guidance.

References: Notice 301 Customs special procedures for the Union Customs Code Annex C Temporary Admission , end-use relief