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Written Question
Cultural Heritage: Customs
Friday 20th September 2024

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to reduce the cost of the ATA Carnet for cultural goods.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and its operational unit, the UK National ATA Carnet Organisation, is responsible for the issue of ATA Carnets in the UK. Issuing Chambers charge their own fees to cover their administration costs. The cost of an ATA Carnet also reflects the cost of providing a guarantee through an International Guarantee Chain, which covers any customs charges potentially due on goods in the countries to be visited.

The UK is currently participating in a pilot exercise to digitalise ATA Carnets and their processes as part of a World Customs Organisation (WCO) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) initiative. The Digital Pilot was launched in February 2019, initially involving the UK and five other countries. To date, the UK has successfully processed a number of e-ATA Carnets from Heathrow and is looking to collaborate with more ports to make digital Carnets more readily available.

There are other options for temporarily moving goods between the UK and EU which may be more cost-effective than an ATA Carnet, depending on the specific circumstances. The EU’s Temporary Admission procedure can be used in conjunction with the UK’s Returned Goods Relief to claim relief on goods which are temporarily imported into the EU, and subsequently re-exported back into the UK. More information can be found on GOV.UK.


Written Question
National Insurance
Friday 20th September 2024

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to further improve the provision of A1 forms, in particular for self-employed workers in the music industry touring in the EEA.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Since February 2023 HMRC have delivered three new online A1 application forms. These online forms are more accessible and provide a tailored customer journey for those applying for an A1 certificate.

In addition HMRC are adding automation to these forms, which will enable faster processing and reduce opportunities for error. HMRC expect the CA3837 used by self-employed workers in the music industry touring within the EEA, to be automated by October 2024.


Written Question
Private Education: VAT
Thursday 19th September 2024

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to exempt foreign schools, including members of International French Schools UK, from the requirement for independent schools to pay VAT on their fees; and what discussions they have had on this both with the foreign schools concerned and with the ambassadors of their countries.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. This will also apply to international schools in the UK who provide education and vocational services for a charge.

This will secure additional funding to help deliver the Government’s commitments relating to education and young people, including opening 3,000 new nurseries, rolling out breakfast clubs to all primary schools, and recruiting 6,500 new teachers.

A technical note setting out the details of this policy has been published online here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees-removing-the-charitable-rates-relief-for-private-schools.

Draft VAT legislation has also been published alongside this technical note forming a technical consultation. The Government is engaging with a wide range of stakeholders as part of this consultation, to assess the impacts of these reforms.


Written Question
Tourism: VAT
Monday 5th August 2024

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will reintroduce VAT-free shopping for tourists.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events. The government will set out its fiscal plans at a budget on 30th October alongside a full economic and fiscal forecast.


Written Question
National Insurance Contributions
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 12 February (HL Deb col 10) that HMRC expects processing times for A1 forms to return to normal by April, what assessment they have made of progress so far, and what steps they are taking to improve processing times.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Shadow Minister (Treasury)

HMRC has taken steps to address the backlog of A1 applications, have achieved their recovery strategy ahead of time and they are now achieving service levels. Since September 2023 the processing times for online applications have decreased to 6 days from 15 weeks previously, and for post applications, it is now also 6 days, down from 33 weeks. The Standard Level of Service Agreement targets for both are 15 days and 40 days respectively. As of 3rd May, HMRC has reduced the number of cases on hand to approximately 2500.


Written Question
National Insurance Contributions: Overseas Workers
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 12 February (HL Deb col 10) that HMRC expected processing times for A1 forms to return to normal by April, what are the "normal" target processing times.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Shadow Minister (Treasury)

HMRC processing timescales for A1 forms are to clear 75% of online applications within 15 working-days, for postal applications it is to clear 75% within 40 working-days.


Written Question
National Insurance: British Nationals Abroad
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their current target time for processing (1) online, and (2) postal, applications for certificates confirming payment of UK National Insurance when working temporarily abroad ("A1 Forms"), and when they expect to achieve these target times.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Shadow Minister (Treasury)

HMRC’s Service Level Standards (SLA) for responding to A1 certificate applications are 15 working days, where received through the online application forms, and 40 working days, where received by post.

HMRC has implemented measures to bring processing back within the SLA by the end of April 2024.


Written Question
Self-employed: National Insurance
Wednesday 27th September 2023

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer from Baroness Penn on 13 September (HL9883) stating that HMRC "introduced a new online version of the form CA3837 in June 2023", whether the final form will appear in digital format as well as, or as an alternative to, being sent out by post.

Answered by Baroness Penn - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

We are moving the full A1 application process to an online service. This will improve the speed at which customers have applications processed. This digital approach will be phased in over a number of months and the print and post version that is on GOV.UK will be removed. This will hugely improve the user experience when completing the form and sending necessary supporting documents. We cannot be specific on the timescales for this change but please continue to review GOV.UK where we will publish updated information on the services we offer, for customers going to work overseas.

We do not have any plans to allow customers to apply to work overseas via the A1/S1 application process by telephone. This is due to the level of detailed information that is needed when submitting the form.


Written Question
Self-employed: National Insurance
Wednesday 27th September 2023

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there are plans to ensure that all queries about A1 (CA3837) forms can be dealt with online, by telephone, or both, rather than by post.

Answered by Baroness Penn - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

We are moving the full A1 application process to an online service. This will improve the speed at which customers have applications processed. This digital approach will be phased in over a number of months and the print and post version that is on GOV.UK will be removed. This will hugely improve the user experience when completing the form and sending necessary supporting documents. We cannot be specific on the timescales for this change but please continue to review GOV.UK where we will publish updated information on the services we offer, for customers going to work overseas.

We do not have any plans to allow customers to apply to work overseas via the A1/S1 application process by telephone. This is due to the level of detailed information that is needed when submitting the form.


Written Question
Self-employed: National Insurance
Wednesday 13th September 2023

Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average time between the (1) application for, and (2) issuing of, an A1 (CA3837) document for UK self-employed workers; and whether they have any plans to reduce the processing time for such applications.

Answered by Baroness Penn - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The average time it is taking HMRC to process/issue A1s received online is 15 weeks as it stands today. HMRC processes 3 different applications forms (CA3822, CA3837 and CA8421) that can result in A1s being issued.

It is not possible to break it down to average processing times for each application due to the complexities of HMRC’s internal digital mail systems.

In quarter 3, HMRC plans to upskill additional colleagues to help process the backlog of CA3822s and this will include CA3837s and CA8421s which will help to reduce processing times.

HMRC intend to automate the CA3837 application process in the Autumn which will improve processing times and remove opportunities for error.