Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the effective use of data to drive productivity will be included in the proposed industrial strategy council's remit.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Industrial Strategy Council (ISC) will be responsible for informing and monitoring the development and delivery of the long-term industrial strategy, ensuring that policy interventions are based on a high-quality evidence base. The ISC will recommend actions, focusing on growth-driving sectors and the pro-business environment. It will also evaluate impacts. Use of effective data is central to the ISC’s role.

The government will legislate to establish this statutory body in due course. Ahead of legislation, we are introducing an interim Industrial Strategy Advisory Council to ensure the Industrial Strategy is developed with independent expert advice.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to encourage businesses to use data more effectively to increase productivity.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Invest 2035: Industrial Strategy Green Paper sets out our vision for a credible, 10-year plan to deliver the certainty and stability businesses need to invest in the high-growth sectors that will drive our growth mission.

The Industrial Strategy Green Paper demonstrates our ambition to support businesses in using data more effectively, including exploring interventions that will: improve the use of public sector data (as a driver of growth); better empower individuals and businesses with their data through the development of Smart Data schemes; and help improve data maturity in businesses. The consultation is open until 24 November 2024.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact on small and medium-sized wine traders of the introduction of a tax-by-strength alcohol excise duty regime within one year.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

In August 2023 the Government introduced reforms to alcohol duty so that products are taxed in proportion to their alcoholic strength, not volume.

To help the wine industry adapt to the new duty system, the temporary duty easement was introduced as a transitional measure, which was intended to allow time for wine producers to adapt to calculating duty based on alcohol by volume.

Whilst the new system of wine labelling allows product labelling to 0.1 per cent ABV, this is optional, and wine can still be labelled to the nearest 0.5 per cent ABV.

By the planned end-date of 31 January 2025, the wine industry will have had over two years to adapt to the new strength-based system.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an estimate of the administrative cost to wine sellers of the an alcohol excise duty regime based on taxing wine by strength.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

In August 2023 the Government introduced reforms to alcohol duty so that products are taxed in proportion to their alcoholic strength, not volume.

To help the wine industry adapt to the new duty system, the temporary duty easement was introduced as a transitional measure, which was intended to allow time for wine producers to adapt to calculating duty based on alcohol by volume.

Whilst the new system of wine labelling allows product labelling to 0.1 per cent ABV, this is optional, and wine can still be labelled to the nearest 0.5 per cent ABV.

By the planned end-date of 31 January 2025, the wine industry will have had over two years to adapt to the new strength-based system.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a separate duty charge for wine for each 0.1% of ABV.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

In August 2023 the Government introduced reforms to alcohol duty so that products are taxed in proportion to their alcoholic strength, not volume.

To help the wine industry adapt to the new duty system, the temporary duty easement was introduced as a transitional measure, which was intended to allow time for wine producers to adapt to calculating duty based on alcohol by volume.

Whilst the new system of wine labelling allows product labelling to 0.1 per cent ABV, this is optional, and wine can still be labelled to the nearest 0.5 per cent ABV.

By the planned end-date of 31 January 2025, the wine industry will have had over two years to adapt to the new strength-based system.

Submit Evidence (by 11 Dec 2024)

Successive governments have presented reform ideas for adult social care, yet few of these have been implemented. This inquiry seeks to understand what this inaction is costing. We will investigate the cost of inaction to individuals, the NHS, local authorities and also to the wider economy and HM Treasury, focussing not only on the financial cost, but also on the personal costs and on potential benefits that are being missed. The inquiry will consider social care for both older and working age adults.

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