Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to bring inflation back to the target of two per cent; and when they expect that to be achieved.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Inflation has halved and was lower in Q4 2023 than had been forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in the Autumn. Despite the progress there are four key things the government is doing to reduce it further.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure there is a sufficient and reliable supply of medicines to help patients suffering from ADHD.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. The Department has been working closely with the respective manufacturers and some issues have now been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, which should largely resolve by April or May 2024. We have also added ADHD products to the list of medicines that cannot be exported from, or hoarded in, the United Kingdom to protect UK supplies for patients.
There is a team within the Department that deals specifically with medicine supply problems arising both in the community and in hospitals. It has well-established procedures to manage medicine supply issues, whatever the cause, and help to prevent shortages and minimise risks to patients by working closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, and others operating in the supply chain.
We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine supply issues can be and we want to assure patients that we are working with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues with ADHD medicine supply in the UK as soon as possible and to help ensure patients are able to access these medicines in the short and long term.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the threshold for compulsory registration for VAT; and what plans they have to reinstate the policy of annually updating the threshold in line with inflation.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Views on the VAT registration threshold are divided and the case for change has been regularly reviewed over the years.
In 2018, the Government consulted on how the design of the VAT registration threshold could better incentivise growth. However, there was no clear option for reform.
While the Government keeps all taxes under review, it was announced at Autumn Budget 2022 that the VAT threshold will be maintained at its current level of £85,000 until 31 March 2026.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the withdrawal of the VAT Retail Export Scheme; and if they have any plans to reintroduce the scheme.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s assessment of the anticipated impact of the withdrawal of the VAT Retail Export Scheme (VAT RES) was set out in the original policy costing note which can be found in the Policy costings document from November 2020 p42-43.
Government analysis conducted in 2022 found that introducing a worldwide scheme could come at a fiscal cost of around £2 billion each year. This figure consists of the cost from EU and non-EU visitors and is calculated based on methodology signed off and certified by the OBR in 2020.
Whilst there are no current plans to re-introduce VAT RES, this Government keeps all tax policy under review, and we are very grateful to industry for their contribution to our invitation to provide evidence on this matter.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to regularise the treatment of training expenses against profits subject to Schedule D income tax and profits subject to corporation tax.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In calculating taxable business profits, expenditure on training to update existing skills would be a deductible business expense when the expenditure is incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business and is not capital in nature. The treatment of these training expenses is the same irrespective of whether the taxpayer pays income tax or corporation tax.
Any changes to tax policy are a matter for future Budgets and it would not be appropriate to comment on tax measures at this stage of the policy development cycle.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their current target for expenditure with small and medium-sized enterprises, directly and indirectly through procurement; and whether they expect to meet it.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department will be updating our SME Action Plan later this year and it will set an ambition for future spending aligned with our procurement strategy.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many senior civil servants are based for work outside London and the South East and, of those, how many (1) transferred from London and the South East and (2) were recruited locally.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
As at December 2022, the number of Senior Civil Servants (SCS) based outside London and the South East is 2,130 (33.7%) on a full-time equivalent basis (FTE), including around 50 SCS who work overseas in a variety of roles. This data is provisional and subject to routine revisions over time.
Through the Places for Growth Programme, we aim to have 50% of UK-based SCS roles based outside of London by 2030. There have been 316 SCS roles relocated since March 2020, bringing more opportunities for civil servants to progress their careers in the regions and nations of the UK.
We do not hold a breakdown of SCS that have relocated from London and the South East or those that have been recruited into SCS roles locally.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of The Mortgage Crunch report, published by the Resolution Foundation on 17 June; and what plans they have, if any, to assist mortgage holders affected by rising mortgage costs.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government does not set mortgage or interest rates. The Bank Rate - which is one factor that lenders use to set mortgage and retail interest rates - is set by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England, which is independent of Government. Commercial Banks and Building Societies also make other commercial judgements that influence the degree of pass‐through from changes in Bank Rate into mortgage and retail interest rates. The Government does not seek to intervene in these commercial decisions.
However, we recognise this will be a concerning time for mortgage holders, particularly those who are due to come to the end of their existing deal in the immediate future. The Prime Minister has been clear, the best and most important way that we can keep costs and interest rates down for people is to halve inflation, and then return it to the 2% target.
On Friday 23 June the Chancellor met with mortgage lenders, UK Finance and the FCA to discuss a new package of support for those who encounter problems keeping up with their mortgage payments. These commitments include an agreement permitting customers to switch to an interest only mortgage, or extend their mortgage term, for 6 months, after which they can switch back without a new affordability check or it affecting their credit score. Lenders also agreed borrowers won’t have their home repossessed within 12 months from a first missed payment without their consent or unless in exceptional circumstances.
If mortgage holders are concerned about making their mortgage repayment, they must speak to their lender as soon as possible. Contacting them will not affect their credit score.
The Government has also already taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans for those in receipt of an income-related benefit, and protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, which makes it clear that repossession must always be the last resort for lenders.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to introduce price controls for food and other consumer products.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has no plans to introduce price controls for food.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the data published by the Trussell Trust on 26 April which showed an increase in its emergency food parcel distribution over the period April 2022 to March 2023; and what steps they will take in response.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We take the issue of food security seriously, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 19/20. These questions remain in the survey and will allow us to track food security over time.
Building on the food insecurity data which this Government first published in 2019/20, we have published official estimates of foodbank use for the first time this year covering the period 2021/22. These will, alongside the broad suite of poverty data, help shape future policy considerations. The new statistics on foodbank usage will help Government to understand more about the characteristics of people most in need and we will continue to work across Government to support the most vulnerable.
The Government recognises the pressures people are facing and has acted, providing total support of over £94bn over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living. In April 2023 we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1 per cent, as well as increasing benefit cap levels by the same amount.