Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will introduce a national pay-per-mile road tax.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Revenue from motoring taxes and associated VAT ensures that the Government can continue to fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people and families across the UK expect.
Following the spending audit, the Chancellor has been clear that difficult decisions lie ahead on spending, welfare and tax to fix the foundations of our economy and address the £22 billion hole the government has inherited. Decisions on how to do that will be taken at the Budget in the round; the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events.
The Government continuously reviews the tax system to ensure that it raises revenue in a way that supports growth. This involves considering representations from a range of stakeholders on various taxes and tax issues, including motoring taxes.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 11 of her Department's document entitled Fixing the Foundations: Public spending audit 2024-25, CP 1133, how her Department evaluated which transport commitments were considered low value.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
This government wants to ensure that public spending on transport infrastructure drives economic growth and delivers value for money for taxpayers.
Transport schemes are assessed in accordance with the principles set out in the Green Book. The Green Book is the central government guidance on appraising policy options and ensuring that they represent good value for money. In this context, ‘low value’ means low value for money, taking account of the costs and benefits of these schemes.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 25 of her Department's document entitled Fixing the Foundations: Public spending audit 2024-25, CP 1133, what the evidential basis is for saying there was an additional £1.6 billion cost to the rail system in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The £1.6 billion cost referenced is an HMT assessment of the additional cost to run rail services in 2024/25 compared to SR21 plans. This assessment was made at the point at which this government entered office. The additional cost is primarily driven by the impact of weaker-than-expected passenger demand recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Table 1 of her Department's document entitled Fixing the Foundations: Public spending audit 2024-25, CP 1133, what the evidential basis is for saying there was an additional £1.3 billion cost for rail maintenance in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
Rail infrastructure is managed by Network Rail (NR). The Department for Transport (DfT) provides grant funding to NR for operations, maintenance, and renewals via five-year regulated ‘Control Periods’. Funding for each Control Period is established through a statutory process of Periodic Reviews, the timelines for which have not aligned with Spending Review periods.
At Spending Review 2021, DfT’s budgets were set for a period (2021/22-2024/25) which extended beyond the end of the previous Control Period (Control Period 6, 2019/20-2023/24). The periodic review to determine Control Period 7 (2024/25-2028/29) concluded in October 2023, confirming the funding requirements for 2024/25. Therefore, the assumption for maintenance costs in 2024/25 had to be revised following the periodic review in 2023 as these costs were higher than budgeted at SR21.