Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on its review of the treatment of VAT in airside retail shops.
Answered by David Gauke
On 31 December 2015, the Chancellor announced a review of the tax treatment of airside retail sales, with a view to identifying options for passengers to receive more of the direct benefits. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has completed its initial fact finding.
The Government is keen to identify options that provide overall best value for travellers. This means fully understanding the potential impacts of possible changes on travellers, retailers and airports, and I have asked HMRC to explore these thoroughly. Once this work has been completed, decisions on the best way forward will be made in the autumn.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the policy of HM Revenue and Customs is on using debt collection agencies to retrieve outstanding tax payments from (a) individuals and (b) businesses.
Answered by David Gauke
As an integral part of its overall debt policy, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) uses private sector debt collection agencies as additional resource capacity, to extend the reach of its debt recovery activities (currently around 3% of all collection activity), particularly in relation to high volume, low value, debts. This ensures that all debts are kept in active recovery, and releases HMRC staff to focus on higher value more complex cases.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many people will lose their working tax credits as a result of being paid the national living wage.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not available.
The government's target is for the National Living Wage to reach over £9 by 2020, which means that a full-time worker currently on the National Minimum Wage will be earning over £5,200 more per year.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential effect of the tax credit changes announced in Summer Budget 2015 on lone parent families in which the parent works full time on minimum wage with (a) two and (b) three or more children.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on a wide range of topics.
The Government is making changes to Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The Government wants to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society. That means more emphasis on support to hardworking families on low incomes by reducing income tax through increases in the personal allowance and increasing wages, than on topping up low wages through tax credits.
Parents currently on the minimum wage will benefit from the introduction of the National Living Wage from April 2016 which will be set at £7.20 per hour. The Government’s ambition is for the National Living Wage to reach over £9 by 2020. This would equate to a cash rise of £5,200 a year by 2020 for those who are currently working full time on the National Minimum Wage.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential effect of the tax credit changes announced in the Summer Budget 2015 on families with two parents who work full-time on minimum wage with (a) two and (b) three or more children.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on a wide range of topics.
The Government is making changes to Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The Government wants to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society. That means more emphasis on support to hardworking families on low incomes by reducing income tax through increases in the personal allowance and increasing wages, than on topping up low wages through tax credits.
Parents currently on the minimum wage will benefit from the introduction of the National Living Wage from April 2016 which will be set at £7.20 per hour. The Government’s ambition is for the National Living Wage to reach over £9 by 2020. This would equate to a cash rise of £5,200 a year by 2020 for those who are currently working full time on the National Minimum Wage.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that banks maintain a network of local branches.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Decisions on the opening and closing of individual bank branches are taken by the management of each bank on a commercial basis without intervention from Government.
The Government is committed to increasing competition to deliver innovation and good financial products and services for all bank customers, and part of the Government’s long term economic plan is to ensure that banks serve all sections of society.
The Government welcomed the industry-wide Access to Banking protocol announced in March 2015. From the first of May this year, a bank must carry out a number of steps if it is closing a branch. The steps include establishing the impact of a branch closure before it takes place; finding suitable alternative provision; and putting satisfactory alternative measures in place before a branch is closed.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households received the married couple's allowance in Renfrewshire (a) on the last day for which figures are available and (b) in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Gauke
Estimates of the number of households where an individual is in receipt of married couples allowance are not available.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households were in receipt of child tax credit in Renfrewshire (a) on the last date for which figures are available and (b) in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
For the local authority area of Renfrewshire, information detailing the number of families in receipt of Tax Credits can be found in the publication ‘Child and Working Tax Credits statistics finalised annual awards - geographical analysis’ available here:
gov.uk/government/collections/personal-tax-credits-statistics.
Information relating to Child Benefit is available here:
gov.uk/government/publications by searching for publications named ‘Child Benefit geographical analysis’.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households were in receipt of working tax credit in Renfrewshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
For the local authority area of Renfrewshire, information detailing the number of families in receipt of Tax Credits can be found in the publication ‘Child and Working Tax Credits statistics finalised annual awards - geographical analysis’ available here:
gov.uk/government/collections/personal-tax-credits-statistics.
Information relating to Child Benefit is available here:
gov.uk/government/publications by searching for publications named ‘Child Benefit geographical analysis’.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many lone parents have been in receipt of (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit in Renfrewshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
For the local authority area of Renfrewshire, information detailing the number of families in receipt of Tax Credits can be found in the publication ‘Child and Working Tax Credits statistics finalised annual awards - geographical analysis’ available here:
gov.uk/government/collections/personal-tax-credits-statistics.
Information relating to Child Benefit is available here:
gov.uk/government/publications by searching for publications named ‘Child Benefit geographical analysis’.