Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the impact that changes in the national (a) living and (b) minimum wage commencing on 1 April 2024 will have on staffing costs in his Department; and how many staff in his Department will receive a pay uplift as a result of those changes.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
All HM Treasury staff are paid above the National Living Wage. The changes that take effect on 1 April 2024 will therefore have no impact on staffing costs to the Department.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to increase the relative value of the Sterling to ease cost of living pressures.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government does not have a preferred level for sterling, or other financial market variables, and has not intervened for the purposes of influencing the sterling exchange rate since 1992.
Over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years, the Government has provided £96bn of cost of living support to households – that’s an average of £3400 per household. The Government remains committed to improving living standards and building a more prosperous future.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the press statement issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, published on 30 March 2022, if he will list the targeted enforcement activities that HMRC NMW Enforcement have carried out for seafarers employed in the (a) ferries and (b) wider shipping industry as of 15 September 2023; and what the outcomes of those investigations were.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC enforces the UK NMW and national living wage in line with the legislative framework owned by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).
HMRC don’t hesitate to use their powers if they suspect a business isn’t paying their workers at least the correct rate of National Minimum Wage. HMRC deploy resource across all sectors proportionate to the level of risk.
Since the UK NMW changes for the maritime sector in October 2020, HMRC have worked with the domestic maritime sector and unions to ensure obligations and worker rights are understood and are being complied with. HMRC wrote to employers in the Maritime sector asking them to check that they are paying all their workers the correct minimum wage.
HMRC have produced multi-lingual leaflets for seafarers regarding their entitlement and routes of redress and these have been distributed via the RMT and Nautilus International unions. HMRC also provided an article on seafarer minimum wage entitlement published on Nautilus International website encouraging seafarers to make a complaint if they are not receiving National Minimum Wage.
Anyone who thinks they are not being paid what they are entitled to can complain online at https://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-complaint or can contact ACAS, on 0300 123 1100. HMRC won’t tell an employer who complained without the person’s consent.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to tackle excess profits in the energy sector.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government introduced the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) to respond the exceptional profits being made by the oil and gas sector driven by global circumstances. The EPL is a temporary 35 per cent surcharge on the exceptional profits being made by the sector and comes on top of the default 40 per cent headline tax rate applied to profits from UK oil and gas production, bringing the overall combined tax rate to 75 per cent. The EPL will end in 2028 if the Energy Security Investment Mechanism (ESIM) is not triggered.
Additionally, the Government introduced the Electricity Generator Levy (EGL), a temporary 45% tax on extraordinary returns made by some UK electricity generators from 1 January 2023. The levy will end in 2028. EGL is applied to extraordinary returns defined as selling electricity for a period at an average price of more than £75/MWh, which is approximately 1.5 times the average price of electricity over the last decade and well beyond pre-crisis expectations.
At its most recent forecast, the OBR forecasted that together, the EPL and EGL would raise approximately £40 billion while in force. This significant source of tax revenue has helped fund vital cost of living support.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answers of 11 May 2023 to Question 183809 on Prisons: Education and of 10 May 2023 to Question 183703 on Prisons: Education, what steps his Department is taking to clarify the application of the New Fair Deal pensions policy on Prison Education Service contracts.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Following the ONS reclassification of FE colleges as public sector bodies, HM Treasury is reviewing the New Fair Deal policy in relation to Further Education colleges, including those involved in the Prison Education Service.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses financially impacted by the tax reforms to red diesel that took effect on 1 April 2022.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At Budget 2020, the Chancellor announced that he would remove the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022. These tax changes mean that most businesses in the UK which used red diesel prior to April 2022 no longer get a significant tax break compared with ordinary motorists; they instead now need to use diesel fuel taxed at the standard rate for diesel, which more fairly reflects the harmful impact of the emissions produced. These reforms are also designed to ensure that the tax system incentivises users of polluting fuels like diesel to improve the energy efficiency of their vehicles and machinery, invest in cleaner alternatives or use less fuel.
The Government recognised that this would be a significant change for some businesses and ran a consultation to gather information from affected users on the expected impact of these tax changes and make sure it had not overlooked any exceptional reasons why affected sectors should be allowed to continue to use red diesel beyond April 2022. During the consultation period, the Government engaged directly with a wide variety of organisations from all parts of the UK.
Following the consultation, the Chancellor announced at Spring Budget 2021 that the Government will grant further entitlements to use red diesel after April 2022 for a limited number of users. However, the Government did not believe that the case made by sectors that have not retained their red diesel entitlement outweighed the need to ensure fairness between the different users of diesel fuels and the Government’s environmental objectives.
Further details on the impact of the reforms has been published as part of the Tax Impact and Information Note: www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-rebated-diesel-and-biofuels-from-1-april-2022
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many operators of international ferry routes qualify for the Tonnage Tax concession from Corporation Tax as of 10 May 2022.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest data on the total number of Tonnage Tax regime participants since tax year 2016-17 can be found on GOV.UK. The data is available within the “Estimated cost of non-structural tax reliefs (December 2021)” publication.[1]
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review P&O Ferries' eligibility for Tonnage Tax concession from Corporation Tax.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
HMRC oversees the tonnage tax regime. HMRC has a statutory duty of taxpayer confidentiality and cannot comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Government's proposed reforms to the tax treatment of red diesel on (a) business costs, (b) business closures and (c) jobs.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At Budget 2020, the Chancellor announced that the Government would remove the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022. This more fairly reflects the negative environmental impact of the emissions produced and helps to ensure that the tax system incentivises the development and adoption of greener alternative technologies.
The Government recognised that this would be a significant change for some businesses and ran a consultation to gather information from affected users on the expected impact of these tax changes and make sure it had not overlooked any exceptional reasons why affected sectors should be allowed to continue to use red diesel. During the consultation period, the Government engaged directly with a wide variety of organisations from all parts of the UK.
Following the consultation, the Chancellor announced at Spring Budget 2021 that the Government would grant further entitlements to use red diesel after April 2022 for a limited number of users. However, the Government did not believe that the case made by sectors that will not retain their red diesel entitlement outweighed the need to ensure fairness between the different users of diesel fuels and the Government’s environmental objectives.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) qualifying company groups and (b) merchant ships there were in the Tonnage Tax scheme in each year from 2000-01 to 2021-22.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest data on the total number of Tonnage Tax regime participants since tax year 2016-17 can be found on GOV.UK. The data is available within the “Estimated cost of non-structural tax reliefs (December 2021)” publication. [1]