Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax revenue his Department received in reimbursements of car mileage set higher than the Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rate in financial year 2022-23; and what proportion of that revenue represented of the overall income tax take for that year.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The requested information is not available as payments above the Approved Mileage Allowance rate are taxable as earnings and are therefore not separately reportable to HMRC, so cannot be separately identified.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to reply to the correspondence dated 16 January 2023 from the Rt Hon Member for Chingford and Woodford Green and others on the fundraising appeal by London’s Air Ambulance; and whether he has held discussions with representatives of that charity on its fundraising appeal since 16 January 2023.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
My Rt Hon Friend the Health secretary has responded to the letter on behalf of the Government commending the fantastic service provided by London Air Ambulance and setting out the benefits of the current charitable funding model for air ambulances which was supported by an additional £10m of central government funding in 2019 and a further £6m during the pandemic.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social care on the approval of the Full Business Case to build a new hospital in the London Borough of Sutton.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, both the Chancellor and I discuss a range of priorities on health with DHSC Secretary of State including delivery of new NHS infrastructure. The Hon member will know that the NHS was funded at the Spending Review 2020 with £3.7bn for 4 years up to 2024/25 to make progress on the 40 hospitals announced as part of the New Hospitals Programme in 2020, of which one is Epsom & St Helier. I know the Secretary of State and his department are working tirelessly to ensure effective delivery as soon as possible across the whole programme.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors recover from the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government has announced a new relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth almost £1.7 billion, to help support high streets.
This is part of a wider package announced at the conclusion of the Government’s review of business rates, which is worth £7 billion over the next five years, including a freeze in the multiplier for 2022-23.
This follows unprecedented business rates support worth £16 billion for high streets throughout the pandemic.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing incentives such as tax credits to encourage rapid adoption of new technologies in the legal services sector.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government regularly receives proposals for sector specific tax reliefs. When considering any new tax reliefs, HM Treasury must ensure they provide support to businesses across the economy in a fair way and effectively target taxpayer money.
At the Budget, the Chancellor announced the Help to Grow programme to support over 100k SMEs across the UK improve their productivity and performance though management training and digital adoption. This includes Help to Grow: Digital, comprising free online advice and a discount on software that could help SMEs from all sectors and across the UK save time and cut costs.
The Help to Grow: Digital platform will help businesses to understand the benefits of different types of software and identify which could help deliver their business goals. Support will be provided through interactive tools and technology-specific guides. Through the platform, eligible businesses will be able to access a voucher providing up to 50% discount on the costs of buying new software, worth up to £5,000 a year per business. Vouchers are expected to be available for software that helps businesses: build customer relationships and increase sales; make the most of selling online; and manage their accounts and finances digitally.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the plastic used in food packaging that will be liable for the plastic packaging tax.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
From April 2022, the Plastic Packaging Tax will encourage the use of recycled plastic instead of new material within plastic packaging. This will create greater demand for recycled plastic, and in turn stimulate increased levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste, diverting it away from landfill or incineration. Hand in hand with Defra’s wider packaging reforms, this tax will provide the necessary incentives for producers to make more sustainable packaging, and ensure the UK does its part in tackling this global issue.
Packaging used to protect food makes up a significant proportion of packaging in the UK and many types of food packaging already include recycled plastic or use alternative materials to plastic. Without being included in the tax, the types of food packaging where it is currently challenging to increase the level of recycled content would have fewer incentives to find new ways to overcome issues for including recycled material in the production of plastic packaging. However, the Government will continue to monitor progress in this area.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish a summary of the evidence provided by brewers to the 2019 consultation as part of the review of Small Brewers’ Relief.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The consultation document for the review of Small Brewers Relief will be published later this year.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many small breweries there are at each of the following levels of production in hectolitres (a) 0-1000, (b) 1001-2000, (c) 2001-3000, (d) 3001-4000, (e) 4001-5000, (f) 5001-6000, (g) 6001-7000, (h) 7001-8000, (i) 8001-9000, (j) 9001-10,000 and (k) above 10,000.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Information on the levels of small brewery production is due to be published within the technical consultation on Small Brewers Relief later this year.