Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allocate funds to compensate victims of the infected blood scandal in the forthcoming Budget.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor will set out his Budget on 6 March.
The Government has accepted the moral case for compensation and acknowledged that justice needs to be delivered for the victims. The Government will respond to the Inquiry's recommendations following the publication of the final report in May.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has held meetings with the devolved Administrations on the infected blood (a) inquiry and (b) compensation framework since 1 January 2023.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As the Minister for the Cabinet Office set out in his answers of 24 April and 10 May, the Government is committed to liaising with the Devolved Administrations on this issue, and this has continued at official level by the Cabinet Office following the close joint working that supported the delivery of interim compensation in October last year.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list (a) dates and (b) attendees of his Department's meetings on the infected blood (i) inquiry and (ii) compensation framework since January 1st 2023.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As the Minister for the Cabinet Office set out in his statement of 19 April, the Government welcome the publication of the infected blood inquiry’s second interim report, and is considering its recommendations carefully.
HM Treasury officials are working closely with colleagues in the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care, among others, who are leading on the consideration and analysis of the recommendations.
As the Minister for the Cabinet Office set out in his answer to your question of 20 April, Ministers and officials at all levels meet regularly to discuss this issue. My officials and I are involved in those discussions, and will continue to be so.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimates his department has made of the cost to the public purse of the compensation scheme for victims of the infected blood scandal.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As the Minister for the Cabinet Office set out in his statement of 19 April, the Government welcome the publication of the infected blood inquiry’s second interim report, and is considering its recommendations carefully.
HM Treasury officials are working closely with colleagues in the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care, among others, who are leading on the consideration and analysis of the recommendations.
As the Minister for the Cabinet Office set out in his answer to your question of 20 April, Ministers and officials at all levels meet regularly to discuss this issue. My officials and I are involved in those discussions, and will continue to be so.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to help ensure value for money in public spending.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Spending Review 2021 placed a renewed emphasis on ensuring that every pound of taxpayers’ money is spent well and focused on the areas that make the most difference to people’s daily lives. The government set clear outcomes for what spending will buy; ensured that all decisions are informed by the best quality evidence; encouraged joint working between departments; and took further action to drive out low value or inefficient spend.
At the Spring Statement, the government also set out plans to tackle waste and inefficiency across the public sector through a comprehensive efficiency agenda. This includes a new Public Sector Fraud Authority that will tackle fraud and a further £12 million investment in HMRC to help prevent error and fraud in tax credits. Work on ensuring value for money is being driven by the Chancellor-chaired Committee on Efficiency and Value for Money.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to help reduce the impact of inflation on households' cost of living.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Millions of households across the UK are struggling to make their incomes stretch to cover the rising cost of living. The government is providing over £15bn of additional support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package builds on the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year.
The government is helping all domestic electricity customers in Great Britain to cope with the impact of higher energy bills, with £400 off their bills from October through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS). This is a doubling of the £200 of support announced in February, and there will no longer be any repayments. The government will deliver equivalent support to people in Northern Ireland.
The government is supporting over 8 million households across the UK in receipt of means tested benefits with a one-off Cost of Living Payment of £650, paid in two instalments.
The government is giving additional UK-wide support to help disabled people with the particular extra costs they will face, with 6 million people who receive non-means tested disability benefits receiving a one-off disability Cost of Living Payment of £150.
The government is also providing extra support to help all pensioners across the UK stay warm this winter. Over eight million pensioner households will receive an extra one-off £300 this year to help them cover the rising cost of energy this winter.
For households that are not eligible for Cost of Living Payments or for families that still need additional support; the government is providing an extra £500 million of local support, via the Household Support Fund. The Fund will be extended from this October to March 2023, bringing total funding for the scheme to £1.5 billion.
Millions of the most vulnerable households will receive at least £1,200 of one-off support in total this year to help with the cost of living.
The government is also committed to tackling the underlying, long-term factors driving cost of living challenges. This includes: helping people into work and supporting them to keep more of what they earn; solidifying our supply chains and boosting our energy security; and driving economic growth through a lower tax, dynamic market economy.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that working people’s pay aligns with the rising cost of living.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living because of high inflation. The government is providing over £15bn of additional support, building on the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totaling over £37bn this year. Support includes helping all domestic electricity customers in Great Britain with the impact of higher energy bills, with £400 off their bills from October.
In addition, the government has also increased the National Living Wage (NLW) by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour for workers aged 23 and over, which will benefit more than 2 million workers. This means an increase of over £1,000 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW. In the long term, the best approach to managing the cost of living is to help people into work, supporting them to increase their incomes, helping them keep more of what they earn and growing the economy sustainably.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2022 to Question 147039, on Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid, whether there are customs restrictions on volunteer aid organisations taking battery packs and other power packs to (a) Ukraine and (b) surrounding countries.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Dual-use, prohibited and restricted goods are excluded from the Humanitarian Aid easement to Ukraine. Exporters will need to ascertain the control status of the battery or power packs they wish to export to see if an export licence is required. Enquiries can be made with the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) within the Department for International Trade. The contact details for ECJU can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the impact of re-introducing the universal credit temporary uplift on the cost of living.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government has always been clear that the £20 per week increase to Universal Credit (UC) was a temporary measure to support households whose incomes and earnings were affected by the economic shock of COVID-19.
To help with the cost of living, the Government is taking action worth around £12bn this financial year and next. This includes cutting the Universal Credit taper rate and increasing Universal Credit work allowances to make sure work pays, freezing alcohol and fuel duties to keep costs down, and providing targeted support to help vulnerable households with their energy bills and other essentials through the £500m Household Support Fund.
In addition, the Government announced last week that we are providing further financial support to help households with the rising costs of energy. Support of up to £350 will be provided to protect the majority of households from half of the forecast £700 rise in average energy bills. This support is worth £9.1bn in 2022-23 (on top of the £12bn already announced) and is composed of:
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of how much money a windfall tax on the profits of the North Sea Oil and Gas companies would raise.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Government places additional taxes on the extraction of oil and gas, with companies engaged in the production of oil and gas on the UK Continental Shelf subject to headline tax rates on their profits that are currently more than double those paid by other businesses. To date, the sector has paid more than £375 billion in production taxes.
All taxes are kept under review and any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor.