Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current annual revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Receipts from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy were £240m in 2018/19.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 6 March (HL13927), in how many cases there has been a failure by the claimant to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge which the claimant had then been required to repay.
Answered by Lord Bates
High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is part of the Self-Assessment (SA) process and is reflected in each individual’s overall SA tax charge. This HICBC charge is included in the individual’s annual SA tax return and, where HICBC is recoverable, will form part of the overall tax due by that person. It is therefore not possible to distinguish HICBC charges from other SA charges that may be included for that tax year. For SA overall, 8% of people did not pay by the due date, meaning the vast majority (92%) paid on time.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been required to repay child benefit under the High Income Child Benefit Charge each year since that charge was introduced.
Answered by Lord Bates
Estimates of the numbers paying the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) in respect of each tax year since 2012-13 are shown in the table below.
| 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 |
Thousands | 360 | 366 | 319 | 296 | 289 | 279 |
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of the Observation by the Institute for Fiscal Studies entitled Stealthy changes mean that soon one in five families with children will be losing some Child Benefit, published on 7 January, which states that around 370,000 more families will lose some child benefit in 2019–20 than in 2013–14 because of the freezing of the £50,000 income threshold; what is their estimate of the number of non-higher rate taxpayers who will be affected by that policy as a result; and what saving this will make to the public purse.
Answered by Lord Bates
The government considered the impacts of the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) on individuals and households at Budget 2012 when the policy was announced. These were published in a Tax Information and Impact Note at the time.
The adjusted net income threshold above which an individual becomes liable for the HICBC is £50,000. The government believes this is currently the correct level for the threshold, but as with all elements of tax policy this remains under review.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 29 March (HL6647), whether they will now publish the outcome of the Family Test Assessment on the policy to limit Tax Credits and Universal Credit support to two children.
Answered by Lord Bates
The government does not routinely publish the Family Test assessment of policies.
An impact assessment of the policy of providing support for a maximum of two children in Child Tax Credits and Universal Credit was published and is available here and attached:
https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/ia15-006e.pdf
The impact assessment considered the impact of the policy on families and other protected groups.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 19 February (HL5370), where they have published the outcome of the application of the Family Test; and if it has not been published, when it will be.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government is committed to ensuring that the potential impacts on families of all policies are carefully taken into account as part of the policymaking process. The objective of the Family Test is to introduce an explicit family perspective to the policy making process, and ensure that potential impacts on family relationships and functioning are made explicit and recognised in the process of developing new policy.
While Family Test assessments are not routinely published by the Government, an impact assessment of Limiting Support to Two Children in Tax Credits/Universal Credit is available on the parliament website.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 31 January (HL Deb, col 1584), on what data they base their claim that income inequality is lower than in 2010; and whether those data take account of housing costs.
Answered by Lord Bates
This statistic is based on the ONS’s ‘Household disposable income and inequality in the UK: financial year ending 2017’ report, released January 2018. It shows that the Gini coefficient for disposable income inequality is lower than it was in 2010.
This measure of disposable income takes account of direct taxes and benefits, but does not take account of housing costs. The ONS do not publish a Gini coefficient on an after housing cost basis.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they take to ensure that a mother who has left a domestic violence situation has access to child benefit for any children living with her in cases where the father was previously the child benefit recipient.
Answered by Lord Bates
A mother in such a position can make a claim to receive Child Benefit in respect of any children living with her. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a dedicated team that prioritises any claims in this area and will decide on any issues of child responsibility. HMRC encourages mothers in this situation to make a claim as early as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the cumulative impact assessment of tax, social security and public spending changes between 2010 and 2017 published in November by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Answered by Lord Bates
The government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone and supporting people with protected characteristics. For example, we have increased the personal allowance and the National Living Wage; by 2018-19, over 700,000 women will be taken out of income tax altogether, and over 60% of those currently benefitting from the National Living Wage are women. The female employment rate is at a joint record high, and the gender pay gap for full-time employees is at a record low. The government is also spending over £50bn per year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions.
The EHRC analysis ignores the benefits of a strong economy to reducing inequalities, and ignores the benefit of public services like the NHS and social care. It also makes assumptions about income sharing within households, which are poorly evidenced, and may not reflect reality.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the gender analysis undertaken by the Women’s Budget Group of the proposed national insurance changes relating to the self-employed, published on 20 March in their report <i>Gender impact assessment of the Spring Budget 2017</i>.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
As the Chancellor set out in his statement to Parliament on 15 March, the Government will no longer be proceeding with the changes announced at Spring Budget 2017 to increase Class 4 National NICs in April 2018 and April 2019.