Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what specific changes have been made to the criteria for assessing freeport bids to take account of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) the economy and (b) employment.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Specific locations were chosen in a fair, open and transparent allocation process, as set out in the Bidding Prospectus.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government will shortly publish the rationale behind the selection of these Freeport locations according to the process laid out in the Prospectus.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether employers within freeports will be required to recognise trades unions for collective bargaining purposes.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
I can confirm that the same rules and regulations regarding trade unions which apply across the UK will apply within Freeports.
Our Freeport model ensures that the UK’s high standards with respect to security, safety, workers’ rights, data protection, biosecurity and the environment will not be compromised.
There is no deregulatory agenda in Freeports. Businesses in Freeports – like any other business in the UK – will have to adhere to the UK’s high regulatory standards.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the timetable is for the transference of jobs to the new HMT economic campus in the North of England.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The plan for the Darlington economic campus is to base at least 750 roles from across HM Treasury, the Department for International Trade, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Office for National Statistics will be based at the Darlington economic campus. It is the Treasury’s policy that all relocations will be voluntary and, following the announcement the campus will be based in Darlington, we are consulting all Treasury staff on the establishment of the new office, including voluntary relocation. We will be filling roles through both voluntary relocation and direct recruitment and the mixture of the two will be determined through this process. The new office will include a range of roles and levels of seniority, including senior Civil Servants. The Darlington economic campus will have a phased opening and will be fully operational by the end of this Parliament.Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consultation his Department undertook before Budget 2021 with officials that are to be transferred from London to the new economic campus in the North of England; and whether that consultation is complete.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The plan for the Darlington economic campus is to base at least 750 roles from across HM Treasury, the Department for International Trade, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Office for National Statistics will be based at the Darlington economic campus. It is the Treasury’s policy that all relocations will be voluntary and, following the announcement the campus will be based in Darlington, we are consulting all Treasury staff on the establishment of the new office, including voluntary relocation. We will be filling roles through both voluntary relocation and direct recruitment and the mixture of the two will be determined through this process. The new office will include a range of roles and levels of seniority, including senior Civil Servants. The Darlington economic campus will have a phased opening and will be fully operational by the end of this Parliament.Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of jobs at the his Department's new economic campus in the North of England are planned to be filled by staff transferring from London; and what the (a) level and (b) range of seniority is of those jobs that are planned to be transferred.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The plan for the Darlington economic campus is to base at least 750 roles from across HM Treasury, the Department for International Trade, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Office for National Statistics will be based at the Darlington economic campus. It is the Treasury’s policy that all relocations will be voluntary and, following the announcement the campus will be based in Darlington, we are consulting all Treasury staff on the establishment of the new office, including voluntary relocation. We will be filling roles through both voluntary relocation and direct recruitment and the mixture of the two will be determined through this process. The new office will include a range of roles and levels of seniority, including senior Civil Servants. The Darlington economic campus will have a phased opening and will be fully operational by the end of this Parliament.Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the national minimum wage will apply in freeports.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
I can confirm that the national minimum wage will apply in Freeports.
Our Freeport model ensures that the UK’s high standards with respect to security, safety, workers’ rights, data protection, biosecurity and the environment will not be compromised.
That means businesses in Freeports – like any other business in the UK – will have to adhere to the UK’s high regulatory standards.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) terms of reference, (b) criterion applied in the decision-making process, (c) locations and sites being considered and (d) scorings and assessments are of the considered locations for the Treasury North campus.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Budget 20 committed to establishing a significant new campus in the north of England focused on economic decision making, which will include teams from HM Treasury, DIT, BEIS and MHCLG. Potential locations for the economic campus in the north of England have been considered against a broad range of criteria. Our aim is to ensure the campus meets Departments’ needs and supports the Government’s wider levelling up agenda.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Middlesbrough has been shortlisted as a location for the Treasury North campus.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Budget 20 committed to establishing a significant new campus in the north of England focused on economic decision making, which will include teams from HM Treasury, DIT, BEIS and MHCLG. Potential locations for the economic campus in the north of England have been considered against a broad range of criteria. Our aim is to ensure the campus meets Departments’ needs and supports the Government’s wider levelling up agenda.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of income tax revenue lost to the public purse from the underpayment of the national minimum wage in each year since 2009-10.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC enforce the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) in line with the law and policy set out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) publishes an annual report that provides an assessment of the nature and extent of NMW underpayment. The latest report published by the LPC in April 2019 can be found here:
There is no robust estimate available of the income tax revenue lost as a result of NMW underpayment.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of income tax revenue lost to the public purse from workers being wrongly categorised as self-employed in each year since 2009-10.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is committed to tackling false self-employment. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) take a risk-based approach to investigating employers who may have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. In these cases, HMRC establish the facts and take steps to ensure the right tax and National Insurance contributions are paid.
Income Tax and National Insurance contributions lost due to false self-employment are part of the tax gap related to employers. HMRC publish an assessment of the tax gap: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps.
A separate estimate of the tax gap relating to false self-employment is not available.