Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he had with representatives of the Local Government Association before the announcement of 9 October 2019 of a 1 per cent increase in the interest rate on new loans from the Public Works Loan Board.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government engages sector representatives in policy development where possible. It was not possible to do that in this case because the change was market sensitive. The Local Government Association was notified of the decision after markets closed on 8 October 2019.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he had with representatives of local government before the announcement of 9 October 2019 of a 1 per cent increase in the interest rate on new loans from the Public Works Loan Board.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government engages sector representatives in policy development where possible. It was not possible to do that in this case because the change was market sensitive. The Local Government Association was notified of the decision after markets closed on 8 October 2019.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect the one per cent increase in the interest rate on new loans from the Public Works Loan Board will have on local authorities’ capital investment plans.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In raising interest rates for new loans from the Public Works Loan Board, the Treasury assessed the potential impact on local government capital plans. This increase returned Public Works Loan Board rates to levels that were available in 2018.
The Government will continue to work with individual authorities on a case-by-case basis if they raise concerns over their finance position.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contribution to the pubic purse has been made by non-EU citizens in employment via (a) National Insurance contributions, (b) income tax, and (c) indirect taxation in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The table below shows the total Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (class 1 and class 4) paid by non-EU citizens in the tax years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. Estimates for 2016-17 will be published as official statistics in August 2019. It is not possible to identify from indirect tax receipts how much was paid by non-EU nationals.
Tax Year | Total Income Tax (£millions) | Total National Insurance Contributions (£millions) |
2013-14 | 10,312 | 6,771 |
2014-15 | 10,502 | 6,943 |
2015-16 | 11,316 | 7,350 |
The estimates provided are based on HMRC’s Survey of Personal Incomes and HMRC’s records of individuals’ nationality at the point of registering for a National Insurance number. Nationality in this dataset does not update if the individual changes their nationality.
Equivalent statistics for EU and EEA nationals are published by HMRC: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-tax-nics-tax-credits-and-child-benefit-statistics-for-eea-nationals-2015-to-2016
The estimates have been produced using the same methodology as for the published statistics on EEA nationals
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of projected local government finance settlement spending for each of the next five years as (a) total expenditure and (b) a percentage of gross domestic product.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Local government Core Spending Power is £45.1 billion in 2018-19, equivalent to 2.1% of forecast nominal Gross Domestic Product, as outlined in the OBR October 2018 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The provisional Local Government Finance Settlement published on Thursday 13th December set out that Core Spending Power is forecast to increase to £46.4 billion in 2019-20, equivalent to 2.1% of forecast nominal Gross Domestic Product. Longer term funding decisions will be made at the Spending Review next year.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials in his office have had with representatives of Talk Money Week.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HM Treasury is in regular discussions with the Money Advice (MAS), the main organisers of Talk Money Week, about debt advice, financial capability and financial education policy. The Government strongly supports and looks forward to Talk Money Week and I am providing the keynote speech at the Talk Money Conference on the 14th November.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of Talk Money Week.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HM Treasury is in regular discussions with the Money Advice (MAS), the main organisers of Talk Money Week, about debt advice, financial capability and financial education policy. The Government strongly supports and looks forward to Talk Money Week and I am providing the keynote speech at the Talk Money Conference on the 14th November.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June to Question 149630 on student private rented housing; what estimate his Department has made of the expected contribution to the public purse of the removal of tax advantages from holding UK property through offshore companies.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
At Budget 2016 it was announced that, from July 2016, offshore property developers would be taxed on all the profits they make from developing UK land. The latest estimate of this measure’s yield is set out on page 212 of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook: March 2018.
The government announced at Autumn Budget 2017 that from April 2019 non-residents would be taxed on all the gains they make from UK land and buildings and from April 2020 the rental income received by offshore companies would be subject to the same tax rules and rates which apply to property income as UK companies. The estimated yield of these measures is set out in table 2.1 of the Autumn Budget 2017 document.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June to Question 149631 on students: private rented housing, whether he plans to devise a method to identify businesses that collect rental income from student accommodation.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC do not collect this information because identifying lettings expressly to students rather than to other persons does not lead to any specific tax effect.
Collection of this further information by HMRC would require businesses to identify and distinguish between income received from the rental of student accommodation and that received through other rentals. This would impose additional reporting obligations on businesses.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has held recent discussions with the insurance industry on consumer rights relating to life insurance products; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The government remains in regular discussion with the insurance industry, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other interested parties on the functioning of the insurance industry in the UK.
The government is focused on ensuring that everyone has access to suitable insurance products.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is directly responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry, including insurance firms. It sets the conduct standards required of insurers, which aim to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and can access appropriate insurance products.