Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to employer National Insurance contributions on the voluntary drug and alcohol treatment sector.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the employer NICs changes was published by HMRC on 13 November and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl .
The Government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all next year, more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package, and all eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence on increasing the fund for reparations payments to LGBT+ veterans.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Treasury Ministers regularly meets with Ministerial colleagues to discuss a range of issues. The LGBT Veterans Independent Report recommended a level of funding to be made available for those dismissed or discharged from service as a result of policy prohibiting homosexuality in the Armed Forces (‘the ban’). The details of the financial recognition scheme recommended by the report are still in development and approval, including the total fund to be made available by MoD in recognition of those dismissed, discharged, or otherwise impacted by the ban. The Scheme details will be announced in Parliament when the Government is ready to publish its response.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of exempting charities from the increase to employer National Insurance contributions.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the important role charities play in our society, and has made it a priority to reset the relationship with civil society by developing a Civil Society Covenant.
To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance.
The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of employers with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.
More broadly, within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving, with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities, CASCs and their donors in 2023 to 2024.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Institute of Alcohol Studies' article entitled £27.4 billion cost of alcohol harm in England every year, published on 20 May 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following the recent alcohol duty reforms, all alcoholic products are now taxed by strength. This reflects public health priorities and helps to address potentially harmful products like ‘white’ ciders and strong fortified wines, which are often cited by health groups as being abused.
The Chancellor has confirmed that she will set out plans for tax – as well as spending and borrowing – in the usual way at the Budget on 30 October.
HM Treasury welcomes representations as part of this policy making process and Budget submissions will be received through the online portal until 10 September.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria she plans to use to identify potential locations for new banking hubs.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of banking to communities and high streets. The Government has therefore committed to work closely with banks to roll out at least 350 banking hubs, which provide individuals and businesses up and down the country with critical cash and banking services.
Currently, when a branch closes or a community makes a request, LINK (the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network) is responsible for assessing whether a banking hub would be a suitable recommendation for a community. The criteria that LINK uses to assess the needs of a local community can be found on LINK’s website.
In December last year, the Financial Conduct Authority consulted on its regulatory approach to access to cash, including the criteria it proposes designated entities should use when assessing the needs of local communities. This can be found here. The FCA intends to publish its final rules in the third quarter of this year.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department plans to take to support co-operatives.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the important contribution that co-operatives make to the economy, serving local communities around the UK and ensuring the UK has a diverse business sector with their model of shared ownership. Co-operatives, alongside other mutuals in the UK, had combined annual revenues of £87.9 billion in 2022, equating to 3.5% of UK GDP.
The Government is committed to supporting the UK’s co-operative and mutuals sector and will be working closely with the sector to address any barriers that it currently faces.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Money and Health Policy Institute report entitled Debts and Despair, published in December 2023, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of instructing the Financial Conduct Authority to place limits on how often creditors can contact people in debt.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The Government wants to see fair treatment of individuals in problem debt, and there is a range of work underway across government and regulators to promote responsible debt collection practices.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new Consumer Duty aims to ensure firms provide a higher standard of care to their customers. This includes that firms take reasonable steps to contact customers at a suitable time, taking individual needs into account.
The Government and the FCA will continue to work closely together to ensure consumer protections are fit for purpose, including through the upcoming reform of the Consumer Credit Act.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations of Debt Justice's Together Against Debt Manifesto, published in March 2024.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The Government is committed to supporting people in problem debt. This is why at Spring Budget 2024 the Chancellor announced changes to make it easier to access a Debt Relief Order (DRO) in England and Wales.
In May 2021, the Government launched the Breathing Space scheme, providing a period of protections from creditor enforcement action for individuals in problem debt. The Government Debt Management Function (GDMF) have also recently developed and published a toolkit to help public sector creditors identity and support vulnerable individuals.
The Government provides a range of debt advice services through the Money and Pensions Service to meet the needs of individuals in problem debt, including national and community-based services.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the temporary easement for wine products will end on 1 February 2025.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
As part of the new alcohol duty system, the Government introduced the temporary wine easement. During this period, all wine between 11.5-14.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) will pay duty as if it were 12.5% ABV. The temporary wine easement will last until 1 February 2025, giving the wine industry over two years to adapt to the new system.
The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the recent reforms and will evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023. This will allow time to understand the impacts on the alcohol market, and for HMRC to gather useful and accurate data with which to evaluate the effects of the reform.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review during its yearly Budget process.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to improve the regulation of debt collection practices.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The Government wants to see fair treatment of individuals in problem debt, and there is a range of work underway across government and regulators to promote responsible debt collection practices.
In June 2023 the FCA, Ofgem, Ofwat and Ofcom published a joint letter via the UK Regulators’ Network (UKRN) setting out how firms in their respective sectors should support customers in financial difficulty. On 18 March 2024, the same group of regulators issued further guidance, setting out their shared expectations on firms’ debt collection practices. This is to ensure that firms support customers in debt and that firms’ collection practices are not causing harm to customers.