Written Statements

Thursday 18th April 2024 Written Statements

Thursday 18 April 2024

Smart Data Road Map

Thursday 18th April 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade (Kevin Hollinrake)]

The Government have today published a road map which sets out what action they will take over the coming year to progress a smart data economy as a result of the new powers in the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill.

The data economy is a large and growing part of the economy. Smart data unlocks data for individuals and businesses that is currently held and underutilised in a small number of existing companies. It allows businesses to easily access this data, with consumers’ consent, to provide new services that drive investment, productivity, competitive outcomes and, ultimately, economic growth.

The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill was introduced to the House of Commons in March 2023 and passed Second Reading in the House of Lords on 19 December 2023. The Bill will provide the Government with the powers we need to deliver the benefits and safeguards required for a smart data economy, including the ability to mandate industry involvement in smart data schemes.

The road map sets out how the Government will use these powers over the coming year by identifying the opportunities and challenges in implementing smart data schemes in seven sectors: energy, banking, finance, retail, homebuying, transport and telecoms. This will help business and interested groups plan for and benefit from action in this area.

This delivers on the commitment made at autumn statement 2023 to kickstart the smart data big bang.

A copy of the road map will be deposited in the Library of the House.

[HCWS416]

Economic Security

Thursday 18th April 2024 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office (Oliver Dowden)]

Today, I am setting out a series of new steps to boost the UK’s economic defences and enhance the capabilities of the Government to respond to economic security threats.

The openness of the UK economy is a reflection of our values, the driver of our prosperity and that which distinguishes us as democracies. As the integrated review refresh set out last year, we are experiencing rising geopolitical competition alongside a more integrated global economy in which our strategic competitors play a far greater role. Our economic and security interests are intertwined as never before, and as we continue to promote the many benefits of an open economy, we must also protect ourselves from the vulnerabilities which arise from this openness.

In order to respond to the rapid evolutions in emerging technologies and to keep our export control toolkit up to date, the Department for Business and Trade will shortly be consulting on steps to strengthen our work with UK academics and businesses to ensure we can respond quickly to cutting-edge developments. We have also been reviewing our recently enhanced military end use control. The Department for Business and Trade will be providing more details on the outcome of this review. We are confident we have a robust regime, supporting human rights and national security objectives while helping our business to grow. We do however recognise that enhanced controls have an impact on UK exporters, and we are keen to make sure decision making for business is as timely and transparent as possible.

The ability of UK companies to seek growth and opportunity by investing overseas is a fundamental source of our economic strength. However, the Government recognise the potential for a small number of outward direct investments to be of national security concern through fuelling technological advances that enhance military and intelligence capabilities of countries of concern. The available data is extremely limited, meaning that evidence of this risk is scarce in the UK. Over the next 12 months, we will engage allies and businesses to better understand and assess this risk and how HMG’s existing tools can mitigate it. In parallel, we will evaluate whether further action is warranted. We will also provide public guidance on how the existing powers in the National Security and Investment Act 2021 allow the Government to intervene in certain outward direct investment transactions. We will update the National Protective Security Authority’s “Secure Business” campaign to ensure businesses can make informed investment decisions and are aware of these risks.

I am also publishing the Cabinet Office’s response to the call for evidence on the NSI Act, which ran between November 2023 and January 2024. The Act continues to function well, but the Cabinet Office will bring forward updates to fine-tune the system to ensure it stays ahead of the threats facing the UK, and remains as pro-business as possible, without compromising the Government’s ability to conduct proper scrutiny and protect our national security. This includes considering a small number of targeted exemptions from the Act’s mandatory notification requirements, the publication of further guidance, and a new consultation on updates to the mandatory area definitions, which set out the areas of the economy subject to the NSI Act’s mandatory notification requirements.

[HCWS415]

Tax Administration and Maintenance: Spring 2024

Thursday 18th April 2024 Written Statements

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston)]

At spring Budget, the Government cut taxes for working people and announced a range of reforms to support the ambition for a tax system that is simple, fair, and supports growth.

The Government also committed at spring Budget to launch a consultation on the impacts of recent High Court rulings on the private-hire vehicle sector and provide an update on the recent consultation on tackling non-compliance in the umbrella company market.

Today, the Government deliver on these commitments, supporting businesses and consumers, protecting workers and ensuring fair competition.

The Government are also announcing two further technical tax policy proposals that make the tax system fairer and tackle non-compliance.

The announcements today are:

Consultation on the VAT treatment of private-hire vehicles: The Government are publishing a consultation on the potential tax impacts of the recent High Court rulings on the private-hire vehicle sector. This consultation also invites views on potential Government interventions that could help to mitigate any undue adverse effects on the PHV sector and its passengers.

Tackling non-compliance in the umbrella companies market: The Government will publish a response to their consultation on reducing tax non-compliance in the umbrella company market in due course. To support workers and businesses that use umbrella companies, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will publish new guidance later this year which includes an online pay-checking tool. The Government are minded to introduce a statutory due diligence regime for businesses that use umbrella companies and will continue to engage with the recruitment industry and other key stakeholders on the detail of this.

VAT treatment of charitable donations: In order to encourage charitable giving, the Government will consult on introducing a targeted VAT relief for low-value goods that businesses donate to charities for them to give away free of charge to people in need. The consultation will be launched later this year.

Mandating postcode provision for freeports and investment zones NICs reliefs: The Government are announcing their intention to bring forward a legislative change to mandate employers operating in a freeport or investment zone special tax site to provide their employee’s workplace postcode to HMRC if they are claiming the relevant secondary class 1 NICs relief through their payroll, in due course. To support this, it will also publish a four-week technical consultation on draft regulations.

The publications and announcements can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summary-of-tax-administration-and-maintenance-spring-2024.

[HCWS414]