Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow local authorities to retain part of the income from vehicle tax in their area for use by highways departments.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government uses the proceeds of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and other tax revenues to support public services and investment in infrastructure including the road network. There are no current plans to devolve or hypothecate VED revenues in part or in full to local authorities.
The Government is going well beyond its promise to fix an additional one million potholes per year, by providing a £500 million cash increase on 2024/25 local roads maintenance baseline funding. This will be enough to fix the equivalent of more than seven million extra potholes in 2025/26.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have had discussions with local authorities regarding the prospect of providing interest repayment holidays on loans issued to local authorities by the Public Works Loan Board.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government engages regularly with local authorities on a range of issues and is committed to working in partnership with local authorities to deliver for their residents. The Public Works Loan Board lending facility provides cost-effective loans to local authorities and the terms of lending and requirements for interest repayments are set out in published guidance.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average length of time taken by HMRC to process tax payments.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The average time taken to process tax payments is two working days. This is from the date the customer makes payment to the date it is shown on the customer’s HMRC record (plus postage time if the customer pays by cheque).
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the expenditure on Marriage Allowance in (1) 2018–19, (2) 2019–20, and (3) 2020–21.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The most recent estimates for the expenditure and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the Non-structural tax reliefs publication[1], last updated in December 2021. The estimated expenditure for Marriage Allowance is £490 million in 2018-19, £540 million in 2019-20, and £560 million in 2020-21. The number of claimants was estimated at 2,020,000 in 2019-20. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the uptake figures for Marriage Allowance in the latest available year.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The most recent estimates for the expenditure and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the Non-structural tax reliefs publication[1], last updated in December 2021. The estimated expenditure for Marriage Allowance is £490 million in 2018-19, £540 million in 2019-20, and £560 million in 2020-21. The number of claimants was estimated at 2,020,000 in 2019-20. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to audit the proportion of the UK's cash network that uses technology either (1) developed, or (2) manufactured, in states which may be hostile to the UK's interests.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Ensuring the operational resilience of the financial services sector and the protection of consumers is a key priority for the Government.
Responsibility for the UK financial services sector’s networks and online services is primarily for the firms themselves. However, Government, in partnership with the financial regulators, is committed to driving improvements in resilience and reducing vulnerabilities within the finance sector, including those posed by advances in digital technology.
In March 2021, the financial regulators published their new operational resilience policy which will increase the finance sector’s resilience to threats posed by technological failure and disruption. It will ensure firms are better equipped to prevent, adapt, respond to, recover and learn from operational disruption.
Increasing the sector’s resilience to advancements in technology remains a key priority for the Government and financial regulators, including through close cooperation with other sectoral regulators and financial regulators internationally. The financial regulators will publish a Discussion Paper focusing on risks stemming from critical third parties in 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat posed by cyber attacks on the UK's cash network.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
HM Treasury works closely with the other Financial Authorities (the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority, and the Financial Conduct Authority), Intelligence Agencies and Law Enforcement to understand the range of threats posed to finance sector organisations and to ensure that the system is robust to a wide range of operational risks, including cyber.
The Financial Authorities also work together to assess, test and improve the operational resilience, including the cyber resilience, of the finance sector.
The UK's Financial Authorities have well-established mechanisms for responding to operational disruption were it to occur, including providing the support of the National Cyber Security Centre where necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2020 require the amount of employer’s national insurance contributions in relation to an exit payment to be included when calculating the value of an individual’s total exit payment.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
For the purpose of the Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payment Regulations, employer’s national insurance contributions in relation to an exit payment should not be included when calculating the value of an individual’s total exit payment.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide domestic replacements for each of the funding streams that the UK receives from the EU.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Having left the EU, from 2021 the UK will no longer contribute to the EU budget as a Member State, leaving only payments due as part of Financial Settlement obligations. As set out at Spring Budget 2020, the government has accounted for this when setting its spending plans, allowing it to determine how an additional £14.6 billion of spending by 2024-25 can be allocated to its domestic priorities, rather than be sent in contributions to the EU. This will be allocated as part of the overall spending envelope at the Comprehensive Spending Review, and will include meeting our commitments to replace the Common Agricultural Policy and EU structural funds.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Marriage Allowance; and what plans they have to review that allowance.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Marriage Allowance was introduced in April 2015 to recognise the importance of marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system, and support those on low incomes by helping them keep more of the money they earn.
The Marriage Allowance is effective as it gives extra financial support to those couples eligible for it. In 2018/19, 1.78m couples benefitted from the Marriage Allowance which is worth up to £250 a year. The Marriage Allowance can be backdated to 2015-16 when it was introduced. This means eligible couples can claim a total of £1,150 if not claimed before.
As with all aspects of Government policy, the Marriage Allowance will be kept under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken as part of the annual Budget process in the context of the wider public finances.