Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increasing employment costs on employers and the effect that this will have on the economy.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Repairing the public finances, rebuilding public services and restoring public services requires very difficult decisions on spending, welfare and tax.
Overall, once the impact of all measures in the Budget are taken into consideration, the OBR expect the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of rising labour costs on employment levels.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Repairing the public finances, rebuilding public services and restoring public services requires very difficult decisions on spending, welfare and tax.
Overall, once the impact of all measures in the Budget are taken into consideration, the OBR expect the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the impact of rising mortgage rates on the length of mortgage terms and the resulting effect on the retirement age of mortgagors.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Average mortgage rates remain well below the recent peaks seen in Summer 2023 and Autumn 2022. However, this Government recognises that many households have been faced with higher mortgage rates in recent years. That is why we are committed to delivering economic stability to grow the economy and keep taxes, inflation and mortgage rates as low as possible.
Longer terms can help buyers to take their first steps onto the property ladder, and Financial Conduct Authority rules are in place to ensure that lending decisions take borrowers’ ability to repay into account.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Confederation of British Industry’s growth indicator, published on 2 December, which forecasts a decline in private sector growth.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government monitors a wide range of indicators linked to economic growth. Multiple surveys and indicators are released by different data providers every month. Many of these are volatile and can move materially from month to month. Long-term growth forecasts are those published by the Government’s official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The government has set out how it will deliver a decade of national renewal through its growth mission. We are taking ambitious action to support growth, including through planning reforms, a modern Industrial Strategy and the development of a 10-year infrastructure strategy.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage people to complete their self-assessment tax return forms on time.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC runs a comprehensive, integrated communications campaign to support Self Assessment customers in completing their tax returns accurately and on time. This campaign includes direct communications such as emails, letters, and text messages; social media; press and radio coverage; informative videos and webinars; stakeholder engagement; and targeted paid marketing activities.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce borrowing.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has confirmed new fiscal rules and is putting the public finances on a sustainable path.
The stability rule will move the current budget into balance, so day-to-day spending is met by revenues, meaning that the government will only borrow for investment. The investment rule will reduce net financial debt as a share of the economy.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) have confirmed that the fiscal rules are met two years ahead of target in 2027-28.
Public Sector Net Borrowing (PSNB) will fall in every year of the forecast.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the increased value of cryptocurrency; and whether they intend to introduce regulations to ensure oversight of the crypto market.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Price volatility is a defining characteristic of cryptoasset markets and speaks to the importance of having appropriate regulatory protections in place. That is why the government intends to proceed with creating a new financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets.
This will include the creation of new regulated activities for cryptoassets, such as operating a cryptoasset trading platform, and stablecoin issuance. The new framework will also include admissions and disclosures, and market abuse regimes.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the Resolution Foundation report Get Britain's Stats Working, published on 20 November, that official labour force data has potentially overlooked nearly one million workers.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) remains subject to a number of quality concerns following a fall in response rates and are currently badged as official statistics in development.
As set out in its November 2024 Labour Market Overview, [1] the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recommend using LFS data alongside other labour market indicators, including Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real-Time Information (RTI) and Workforce Jobs (WFJ). The ONS note that the long-term coherence between the RTI and WFJ suggests that these sources may be likely to provide a more reliable estimate of employment, particularly for employees.
The ONS are continuing to improve the quality of the LFS, as described in its latest report LFS performance and quality monitoring report, [2] and will carry out a further reweighting of LFS estimates, detailed in its Labour market transformation article [3], that will bring them into line with the ONS’ latest assessment of population numbers. The ONS is continuing to develop the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) as the long-term solution for collecting labour market data [4].
[2] LFS performance and quality monitoring report: July to September 2024
[3] Labour market transformation article
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the meeting of employment targets is not affected by the increase in National Insurance contributions for businesses.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to reducing labour market inactivity and has set a bold long-term ambition to reach an 80% employment rate. To support this ambition, the government will soon publish the Get Britain Working White Paper which sets out plans focused on supporting young people and those out of work due to ill-health to enter and stay in work.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that small businesses are considering relocating overseas due to concerns about changes announced in the Autumn Budget.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Budget announced generous tax reforms to support small businesses. Most notably, more than doubling the Employment Allowance to £10,500; commitments in the Corporate Tax Roadmap to maintain the Small Profits Rate and marginal relief at their current rates and thresholds, as well as maintaining the Annual Investment Allowance; and freezing the small businesses multiplier for 2025/26.
The UK tax system remains internationally competitive and one of the best places to grow a business. Commitments to not raise Corporation Tax, as well as assurance over future tax changes, provide businesses with the stability and certainty necessary to plan and invest with confidence.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) “welcomed the record increase to the Employment Allowance for small businesses, as well as the protection for small businesses in England from inflationary business rate hikes.”