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Written Question
Cultural Heritage: Finance
Tuesday 11th October 2022

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on financial support for historical and heritage assets.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Government continues to support the heritage and cultural sector. There are several sources of funding from Government Arm’s Length Bodies, such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England’s repair grants. I would encourage the Honourable Gentleman to look into those.


Written Question
Self-employed: Government Assistance
Thursday 16th July 2020

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people working on self-employed PAYE conditions who are not eligible for (a) the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and (b) the Self Employment Income Support Scheme.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Chancellor of the Exchequer regularly meets with parliamentary colleagues and has answered questions on this issue in the House.

The Government has recently announced further measures as part of the comprehensive economic response, taking unprecedented steps to support families, businesses and the most vulnerable. The fiscal response so far totals £160bn.

As well as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), this package includes a comprehensive set of Government-backed loans and grants to businesses, tax deferrals, rental support and mortgage and consumer credit holidays.

This package also includes extra funding for the welfare safety net, in order to help those unable to access other forms of support to get through the coronavirus outbreak. The temporary welfare measures include increases to Universal Credit and Local Housing Allowance, a relaxation of the Universal Credit minimum income floor and making Statutory Sick Pay easier to access.

The Government’s Plan for Jobs will support, protect and create jobs. This plan will make available up to £30bn to help kickstart the nation’s economic recovery ahead of a fuller package of medium-term recovery measures in the forthcoming Autumn Budget and Spending Review.


Written Question
Imports: Occupied Territories
Tuesday 17th March 2020

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of goods imported to the UK from the occupied Palestinian territories was in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, and (c) 2019.

Answered by Jesse Norman

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection of statistics on goods imported to and exported from the United Kingdom, which are published on a monthly basis as the Overseas Trade Statistics.

The value (GB pounds sterling) of goods imported into the UK from the occupied Palestinian Territories in calendar years 2017, 2018 and 2019 is as follows:

UK Goods Imports From:

2017

2018

2019

Occupied Palestinian Territories

£1,246,795

£1,713,290

£1,794,947

Source: HMRC – UK Overseas Trade Statistics (extracted from uktradeinfo.com).


Written Question
Imports: Israel
Tuesday 17th March 2020

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the (a) proportion of goods imported to the UK from Israel that were produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2019 and (b) value of those goods.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The information requested is not available.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection of statistics on goods imported to and exported from the United Kingdom, including (separately) those to and from Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. However, HMRC do not produce estimates or hold data on goods imported into the UK from Israel that were produced in Israeli settlements of the occupied Palestinian Territories.


Written Question
Employment: Taxation
Monday 4th November 2019

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential reduction in the number of contracting roles as a result the roll-out of the off-payroll rules.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The off-payroll working rules (sometimes known as IR35) have been in place since 2000. They are designed to ensure that individuals working like employees pay broadly the same amount of tax and NICs, regardless of the structure they work through. They do not affect the self-employed.

In 2017 the Government reformed the way the rules operate in the public sector in order to address widespread non-compliance. Evidence shows that compliance is improving without reducing the flexibility of the labour market.

Budget 2018 announced that the reform would be extended to all sectors, but not until April 2020, giving businesses more time to prepare. The Government has consulted extensively on the reform and HMRC are rolling out guidance as well as an education and support programme.

On 11 July 2019, HMRC published a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the costs to business and individuals of the reform. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020.


Written Question
Employment: Taxation
Tuesday 8th October 2019

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the roll-out of the off-payroll rules on levels of UK contracting roles.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The off-payroll working rules have been in place since 2000. Reforms to how the off-payroll rules are administered in the public sector have been in place since 6 April 2017. Independent research into the reforms in the public sector showed there was no clear evidence of a reduction in the number of contractor roles, relative to public sector bodies’ overall workforce. Most public sector bodies did not experience any change in their ability to fill vacancies, following the reforms.
Written Question
Brexit
Thursday 3rd October 2019

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the funding for preparations for the UK leaving the EU have been allocated to preparations for leaving (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union

Between 2016 and this summer, the government has provided over £6bn of additional funding for departments and devolved administrations to prepare for EU exit. This has all been core funding, for any scenario.

In addition to this core funding, the Chancellor announced £2.1bn on 1 August 2019 specifically to prepare for leaving the EU without a deal.

Further to these allocations of funding, on 30 September 2019 the government reaffirmed its funding guarantee if the UK leaves the EU without a deal and should the EU cease to fund UK organisations after EU exit. This guarantee relates to UK organisations in receipt of certain EU programme funding. The total amount expected to be covered by the guarantee would be £4.3bn for this financial year.


Written Question
Bank Services: Small Businesses
Monday 23rd April 2018

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that banks maintain records for longer than five years in response to possible legal actions on the mis-selling of (a) tailored business loans and (b) other financial products to small businesses.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Oversight of banks’ record-keeping processes for regulated activities, certain related activities, and other ancillary services specifically covered under EU law is the responsibility of the operationally independent Financial Conduct Authority.

For other activities, such as traditional commercial lending, including Tailored Business Loans, record keeping processes are not subject to FCA requirements and are therefore legal and commercial decisions for banks.


Written Question
Small Businesses: Loans
Thursday 29th October 2015

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to respond to the Eleventh Report of the Treasury Committee, Conduct and competition in SME lending, Session 2014-15, HC 204, published on 10 March 2015.

Answered by Harriett Baldwin

The Parliament, and its then Treasury Select Committee, dissolved shortly after this report was published and HM Treasury was not able to prepare a response before dissolution.


HM Treasury is considering the Committee’s recommendations and will be responding to the new Committee in due course.


Written Question
Interest Rate Swap Transactions
Monday 19th October 2015

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority in dealing with complaints relating to the misselling of interest rate swaps.

Answered by Harriett Baldwin

Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of organisations as part of the usual policy making process.


It might be useful to know that the Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations. This is available online at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm.


As you are aware, the FCA is an independent non-governmental body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the FCA. In particular, the Treasury has no general power of direction over the FCA and cannot intervene in individual cases.


The independence of the FCA is vital to the role it provides as a safety net for consumers with complaints against financial services firms. Their credibility, authority and value to consumers would be undermined if it were possible for the Government to intervene in their decision-making.


The FCA regularly publishes information on the progress of the redress scheme. This can be found here: www.fca.org.uk/consumers/financial-services-products/banking/interest-rate-hedging-products.


You may be aware that the Treasury Select Committee’s report into SME lending, published on 10 March, recommended that the FCA collect the information necessary to establish whether there are systemic failures in the redress scheme. The FCA has responded and the Committee, which published this response on 12 October 2015. It can be found here: www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/treasury/Responses/Financial-Conduct-Authority-response-to-Conduct-and-Competition-in-SME.pdf