Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the rise in the yields on 30-year gilts to 5.38 per cent, their highest point since 1998, and of the effect of this on sterling.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government does not comment on specific financial market movements. Gilt yields and the value of sterling are determined by a wide range of international and domestic factors, and it is normal for the price of sterling and the yields of gilts to fluctuate when there are wider movements in the global financial markets.
The Chancellor has commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility for an updated economic and fiscal forecast for the 26th of March, which will incorporate the latest data.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 17 September (HC4696), which efficiency savings for the financial years 2024–25 and 2025–26 announced before the 2024 general election have been discontinued since that time, and what was the previously estimated value of each such saving.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Departments are responsible for managing their budgets and delivering efficiency savings, both those in plans from the previous government, and those announced by the new government. Departments are not currently mandated to publish their efficiency savings.
The previous government did not publish a line by line breakdown of specific efficiency savings for 24-25 or 25-26.
The government has secured £5.5 billion of savings in 2024-25 rising to £8.1 billion in 2025-26. That means it has already managed down the £21.9 billion spending pressure to £16.4 billion.
At the recent Spending Review for 2025-26 the government set a 2% target for efficiency, productivity and savings for all departments. The Government will set out its further plans on efficiencies in the multi-year Spending Review that will conclude Spring 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to request an updated Financial Stability Report from the Financial Policy Committee which would assess the cost of servicing the UK’s Government debt following the Autumn 2024 Budget.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the Government took tough decisions on tax, spending and welfare to repair the public finances and restore Britain’s economic stability. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts borrowing to fall every year of the forecast, from 4.5% of GDP in 2024-25 to 2.1% of GDP in 2029-30. The Government has confirmed robust fiscal rules to put the public finances on a sustainable path.
The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) is the UK’s macroprudential authority. Twice per year, the FPC publishes a Financial Stability Report (FSR) setting out its view on the stability of the UK financial system and what it is doing to remove or reduce any risks to it. The latest FSR, published on 29 November 2024, covers developments since June.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 5 November (HCWS188), what assessment they have made of legislative barriers preventing Home Office and HMRC disclosing information collected via safety and security declarations to law enforcement partners; and what steps they are taking to remove such barriers.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC regularly discloses information to the Home Office for customs and immigration purposes, which the Home Office may disclose onwards (with consent as required by legislation) to law enforcement partners. This allows for the effective delivery of those functions.
HMRC is also permitted to share safety and security information with law enforcement partners when that information is directly requested.
HMRC and the Home Office are working together to ensure safety and security information is available to those who need it.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 5 November (HCWS188), what assessment they have made of whether (1) Deloitte, and (2) IBM, have met the requirements of their Single Trade Window contract with HMRC; and what is the status of the formal dispute resolution process between HMRC and Deloitte.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following the decision to pause work on the Single Trade Window, HMRC is working with its delivery partner to assess the impact of this decision on existing contracts, including an assessment of delivery to date. There is no formal dispute resolution process running.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 5 November (HCWS188), what are the specific reasons for the pause in delivery of the UK Single Trade Window programme.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has paused delivery of the Single Trade Window (STW) as part of the allocation of overall SR25 funding, due to the challenging wider fiscal context. We will provide a further update on the STW as part of the next phase of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) the cost of the increase in National Insurance contributions for employers, and (2) the savings from the increase in employment allowance for the smallest businesses, on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note was published on 13 November alongside the legislation when it was introduced to Parliament.
The latest forecasts for tax revenues were published alongside the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) October Economic and Fiscal Outlook. These forecasts are based on economic determinants, including wage growth and employment levels.
The government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all next year.
More than half of employers see no change or gain overall from this package and eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) the cost of the increase in National Insurance contributions for employers, and (2) the savings from the increase in employment allowance for the smallest businesses, on the hospitality sector.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note was published on 13 November alongside the legislation when it was introduced to Parliament.
The latest forecasts for tax revenues were published alongside the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) October Economic and Fiscal Outlook. These forecasts are based on economic determinants, including wage growth and employment levels.
The government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all next year.
More than half of employers see no change or gain overall from this package and eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) the cost of the increase in National Insurance contributions for employers, and (2) the savings from the increase in employment allowance for the smallest businesses, on the retail sector.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note was published on 13 November alongside the legislation when it was introduced to Parliament.
The latest forecasts for tax revenues were published alongside the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) October Economic and Fiscal Outlook. These forecasts are based on economic determinants, including wage growth and employment levels.
The government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all next year.
More than half of employers see no change or gain overall from this package and eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) the cost of the increase in National Insurance contributions for employers, and (2) the savings from the increase in employment allowance for the smallest businesses, on pharmacies.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note was published on 13 November alongside the legislation when it was introduced to Parliament.
The latest forecasts for tax revenues were published alongside the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) October Economic and Fiscal Outlook. These forecasts are based on economic determinants, including wage growth and employment levels.
The government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all next year.
More than half of employers see no change or gain overall from this package and eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.