Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish guidance on the tax regime for furnished holiday lets after April 2025.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government will publish draft legislation, explanatory notes, and a tax information and impacts note in due course. These will set out how the announced changes will apply in practice.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of removing VAT on defibrillators on their (a) affordability and (b) accessibility.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government maintains VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), including VAT relief on purchases made by local authorities and those made through voluntary contributions, where the AED is donated to eligible charities or the NHS. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT.
The Government is currently inviting community organisations to bid for funding as part of a £1 million grant scheme that expands access to AEDs, particularly in public places where they are most needed. In addition, last year the Government committed to supplying state-funded schools in England with defibrillators to make sure there is a device in device in every school, with deliveries completed in June 2023. This means that every state-funded school in England, over 21,500 schools, now has access to an AED.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs has taken to improve tax compliance yield.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK tax gap is currently low and stable, falling from 7.5 per cent in 2005 to 2006 to 4.8 per cent in 2021 to 2022.
In 2022 to 2023, compliance action from HMRC secured and protected £34 billion for public services that would otherwise have gone unpaid. 2023 to 2024 compliance yield figures indicate that they are on track to exceed last year’s performance.
HMRC is making it easier for customers to get it right first time and hard to get wrong by investing in digital systems, simplifying policies and processes, and improving guidance and support to improve compliance.
Since 2010, the Government has also introduced over 200 new measures to tackle many different forms of non-compliance. Most recently, at Spring Budget 2024, the government announced a new package of measures to tackle the tax gap, which will raise over £4.5 billion over the next five years.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimates his Department has made of the number of claimants who are receiving tax credits with savings above £16,000 that will no longer be entitled to Universal Credit.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
No estimate has been made of the number of those receiving tax credits with savings above £16,000 that will no longer be entitled to Universal Credit.
Tax credits recipients are not required to report savings in order to claim tax credits.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide additional funding for charities that support women who are victims of domestic violence.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night Funds, the Home Office has invested over £150 million to deliver interventions to tackle violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime.
In 2023/24, the Ministry of Justice provided £21 million for community-based serious violence and domestic abuse services, and £38 million for Independent Sexual Violence Advisors and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors posts. In all, the Ministry of Justice is quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.
And at Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced £10 million of additional funding available in 2024/25 for projects that aim to understand the impacts of domestic abuse on the labour market, support victims of domestic abuse in the workplace or prevent victims experiencing further abuse.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of staff who left HMT each year since 2015 is available via Civil Service statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of cash withdrawal facilities in Suffolk.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including by those in vulnerable groups.
The government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities, on both a national and local basis. The FCA expects to finalise its regulatory rules in the third quarter of this year.
The most recent analysis undertaken by the FCA on cash access coverage across the UK found that in Q1 2023, over 99% of people in urban areas are within 1 mile of a cash access point offering withdrawals, and over 98% of people in rural areas are within 3 miles of a cash access point offering withdrawals. Further details of this analysis, including a breakdown of cash access coverage by Local Authority District is available on the FCA website: Access to cash coverage in the UK 2023 Q1
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2024 to Question 15211 on Mortgages: Misrepresentation, what redress is available to people missold shared appreciation mortgages not covered by Financial Ombudsman Service rules.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent of Government, has responsibility for the conduct regulation of shared appreciation mortgages. The FCA sets the rules regarding the information that must be disclosed before, during and after sale of mortgages and, in addition, the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
Products like shared appreciation mortgages have been regulated since 2004 when wider mortgage regulations were first introduced, however a consumer’s right to pursue redress through legal channels is unaffected by the jurisdiction of the FOS. Anyone considering this option should consider seeking independent legal advice.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to include nuclear (a) power generation and (b) fuel manufacture as sustainable activities within the UK Green Taxonomy.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has stated its intention to include nuclear in the UK Green Taxonomy, subject to consultation. This will incentivise private investment in this important technology alongside renewables and other sectors that are key to reaching our Net Zero goal. The Government expects to publish the consultation on the UK Green Taxonomy shortly.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will have discussions with the Association of British Insurers on reducing insurance premiums for households.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors on an ongoing basis.
Insurers make decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. The Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions as this could damage competition in the market.
However, the Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly. The Financial Conduct Authority requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to ensure they are providing products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it will take action.