Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have received an income tax reduction in Dover constituency since 2010.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Increases to the personal allowance between 2010-11 and 2015-16 are estimated to have reduced the income tax liability of 28 million individuals in the UK in 2015-16. This includes taking 4 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether. The corresponding figures for the South East, which includes Dover constituency, are 4 million and 532,000 respectively.
Estimates for the equivalent figures at constituency level are not sufficiently reliable.
Further increases, since 2015-16 to the personal allowance (up to £12,500 in 2019-20) and higher rate threshold (up to £50,000 in 2019-20) are expected to cut tax for 32 million individuals in 2019-20 compared with 2015-16. This includes taking 1.7 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether. The corresponding figures for the South East, which includes Dover constituency, are 4.8 million and 234,000 respectively.
Estimates of the average amount of Income Tax as a proportion of Income for taxpayers in the parliamentary constituency of Dover between the tax years 2009-10 and 2015-16 are shown in the table below. Tax year 2015-16 is currently the latest year available.
Tax year | Average amount of Income Tax as a proportion of Income, Dover parliamentary constituency (taxpayers only) |
2009-10 | 14.7% |
2010-11 | 14.8% |
2011-12 | 14.4% |
2012-13 | 12.7% |
2013-14 | 13.3% |
2014-15 | 12.9% |
2015-16 | 13.1% |
These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have been taken out of paying income tax altogether in Dover constituency since 2010.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Increases to the personal allowance between 2010-11 and 2015-16 are estimated to have reduced the income tax liability of 28 million individuals in the UK in 2015-16. This includes taking 4 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether. The corresponding figures for the South East, which includes Dover constituency, are 4 million and 532,000 respectively.
Estimates for the equivalent figures at constituency level are not sufficiently reliable.
Further increases, since 2015-16 to the personal allowance (up to £12,500 in 2019-20) and higher rate threshold (up to £50,000 in 2019-20) are expected to cut tax for 32 million individuals in 2019-20 compared with 2015-16. This includes taking 1.7 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether. The corresponding figures for the South East, which includes Dover constituency, are 4.8 million and 234,000 respectively.
Estimates of the average amount of Income Tax as a proportion of Income for taxpayers in the parliamentary constituency of Dover between the tax years 2009-10 and 2015-16 are shown in the table below. Tax year 2015-16 is currently the latest year available.
Tax year | Average amount of Income Tax as a proportion of Income, Dover parliamentary constituency (taxpayers only) |
2009-10 | 14.7% |
2010-11 | 14.8% |
2011-12 | 14.4% |
2012-13 | 12.7% |
2013-14 | 13.3% |
2014-15 | 12.9% |
2015-16 | 13.1% |
These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the capital account spending has been in Dover constituency in each year between 2009 and 2018.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HM Treasury does not centrally hold information on historical capital spending per constituency. However, HM Treasury does publish regional breakdowns of capital spending by economic category in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2018. For example, on p.138 (attached) is a breakdown of capital spending on transport per region, including capital spending in the South East.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total government spending per person in the Dover constituency has been in each year between 2009 and 2018.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
This information is not held centrally. HM Treasury do not collect expenditure information at a constituency level. The Ministry of Housing and Local Government produce local government expenditure statistics but this doesn’t align with constituency boundaries.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings have taken place between officials of his Department and representatives of (a) CER, (b) the CBI, (c) the Institute of Directors, (d) Greenpeace, (e) Oxfam, (f) Friends of the Earth, (g) British Chambers of Commerce, (h) the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and (i) the EEF in the last twelve months.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There were no meetings held between senior Treasury officials and the organisations listed during April 2017 to March 2018.
Senior Treasury officials’ meetings and hospitality are published quarterly and can be found at the following link.
Details of meetings taking place between non-senior officials and the listed companies are not readily available and would cost a disproportionate amount to identify and report
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK firms are prevented from avoiding tax by merging with dormant EEA companies during and after the the implementation phase of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government has taken significant steps – domestically and internationally – to ensure companies must pay the right amount of tax.
The UK has consistently led international efforts to tackle multinational tax avoidance, including being at the forefront of the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. Leaving the European Union will not reduce our resolve to tackle these issues.
We will continue to ensure that appropriate anti-avoidance protections are in place and remain effective during and after the implementation phase.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which other Government Department contributes to the Borders Planning Group.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Border Planning Group is a cross-Whitehall group of senior officials set up by Permanent Secretaries. It is chaired by Permanent Secretaries and includes senior level (Director General and Director level) civil servants from all relevant Departments with responsibility for border related activities or policy.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any action has been taken to date following and as a result of the meetings of the Borders Planning Group.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Border Planning Group is a cross-Whitehall senior officials group. It provides strategic oversight and assurance of Departmental plans to manage the impact at the border of withdrawal from the EU. It ensures that individual departments’ border-related projects and programmes are coordinated and deliverable. Recommendations and meeting outcomes cannot be disclosed as these relate to the formulation or development of government policy.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the HM Revenue and Customs Group's work programme since its establishment.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Chancellor sets out his priorities for HM Revenue and Customs in an annual remit letter to the Permanent Secretaries of the department. The Chancellor receives regular updates from HMRC on their progress against the Chancellor’s priorities and targets set out in his letter.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Borders Planning Group has made any recommendations to date.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Border Planning Group made recommendations to ministers but the details will not be disclosed as these relate to the formulation or development of government policy and are ministerial communications.