Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to remove VAT from school uniforms.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Under the current VAT rules, all children’s clothing and footwear designed for young children who are less than 14 years of age, including school uniforms, attract a zero-rate of VAT, meaning that no VAT is charged on the sale of these items.
The UK is one of only two countries among the 37 OECD member countries to maintain a VAT relief for children’s clothing.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the effect on local government funding of using the Consumer Prices Index rather than the Retail Prices Index for assessing the increase in non-domestic rates in April 2018.
Answered by Lord Bates
Autumn Budget 2017 announced that the planned switch in the indexation of business rates from RPI to CPI will be brought forward by two years to April 2018. Central government will fully compensate local authorities for income lost as a result of this measure.