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 - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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).
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 - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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.
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 - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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.
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 - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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.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
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.