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Written Question
Sanctions
Thursday 9th March 2023

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many requests the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has received to grant licenses for legal fees to people designated under sanctions in the last 12 months; and how many and what proportion of those requests it has granted.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) publishes the number of financial sanctions licences issued in its Annual Review. Information about the total number of licences and the total number of legal fees licences that OFSI has granted for the last five financial years can be found in OFSI’s Annual Review documents, which are publicly available on OFSI’s website. OFSI will publish the latest figures in the next Annual Review in due course.
Written Question
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Wednesday 8th February 2023

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the special licenses granted by his Department to the law firm undertaking work on behalf of Yevgeny Prigozhin required Ministerial approval.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

HM Treasury does not comment on individual licensing cases.

HM Treasury’s Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) takes operational decisions relating to the implementation of financial sanctions in line with the relevant regulations. OFSI has not considered it appropriate for the Treasury to effectively decide on whether a case has sufficient merit to be permitted to proceed by deciding whether to license legal fees. Rather, OFSI's position has been that the merits should be decided by the appropriate court. OFSI assesses cases on a costs-basis only, ensuring that the fees requested are reasonable in accordance with the derogations available under the sanctions regimes.

We need to carefully balance the right to legal representation - which is a fundamental one - with wider issues, including the aim and purpose of the sanctions. It is right therefore that Ministers are examining whether there are any changes that can be made to this policy.


Written Question
Treasury: Buildings
Wednesday 19th October 2022

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many workstations were available for civil servants to use in his Department's offices as of 11 October 2022.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

HM Treasury has over 1000 workstations available to use across its 3 sites (London, Darlington and Norwich) which is sufficient to support staff attending the office at least 50% of the time.
Written Question
Child Benefit
Wednesday 22nd June 2022

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the fairness of the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is a tax charge which applies to anyone with an income of over £50,000 who gets Child Benefit, or whose partner receives it. The charge increases gradually for those with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000 and is equal to one per cent of a family’s Child Benefit for every extra £100 of income that is over £50,000 each year. Where income exceeds £60,000, the tax charge is equal to the amount payable in Child Benefit. HICBC is calculated on an individual rather than a household basis, in line with other income tax policy.

Basing HICBC on household incomes would mean finding out the incomes of everyone in each of the 7.7 million households currently registered for Child Benefit. This would effectively introduce a new means test, which would be costly to administer and create burdens on the majority of families who receive Child Benefit. The Government decided that charging HICBC to those on higher incomes ensures that everyone makes a fair contribution, while those with the lowest incomes continue to be supported.

The Government set the HICBC thresholds at these levels to help target public expenditure in the way it considered most effective. As with all elements of tax policy, the Government keeps this under review as part of the annual Budget process.


Written Question
Car Allowances
Thursday 16th June 2022

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the mileage allowance payment per mile in light of the increasing cost of fuel.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government sets the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rates to minimise administrative burdens. AMAPs aim to reflect running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Depreciation is estimated to constitute the most significant proportion of the AMAPs.

Employers are not required to use the AMAPs. Instead, they can agree to reimburse the actual cost incurred, where individuals can provide evidence of the expenditure, without an Income Tax or National Insurance charge arising.

Alternatively, they can choose to pay a different mileage rate that better reflects their employees’ circumstances. However, if the payment exceeds the amount due under AMAPs, and this results in a profit for the individual, they will be liable to pay Income Tax and National Insurance contributions on the difference.

The Government keeps this policy under review.


Written Question
Philips Trust Corporation: Insolvency
Tuesday 7th June 2022

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing support for those who held policies with the Philips Trust Corporation Limited, following the company going into administration on 22 April 2022.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The administrators of Philips Trust Corporation are working to secure the best results for customers and creditors.

As the Philips Trust Corporation was not a regulated firm, any losses are unlikely to be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, except in limited circumstances.


Written Question
Immunosuppression: Coronavirus
Wednesday 12th January 2022

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing financial support to people who are clinically extremely vulnerable and who work in (a) the health and social sector and (b) other sectors that may put them at further risk of infection from covid-19.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Government has been clear on the need to balance the risk of infection for those who were previously identified as clinically extremely vulnerable with the benefits of gradually returning to normal life. The Government will continue to assess the situation and the risks posed by COVID-19 and, based on clinical advice, will respond accordingly to keep the most vulnerable safe.

Vaccines are expected to be largely effective against severe disease. Those at higher clinical risk have been prioritised for third doses or booster vaccines and are being encouraged to take up that offer as soon as possible. In addition, there are new therapeutic and antiviral treatments being made available within the community to NHS patients at greater risk.

On 8 December 2021, the Government implemented its Plan B response to managing COVID-19. Plan B has been designed to help control the virus’s spread while avoiding unduly damaging economic and social restrictions. The measures under Plan B, including introducing face coverings, mandatory certification, and working from home, will help to reduce transmission, adding a further layer of protection for the most vulnerable.


Written Question
Plastics: Waste Disposal
Tuesday 5th December 2017

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 37 of the Autumn Budget 2017, by what date he plans tax system changes or charges to be implemented to reduce the amount of single-use plastics waste.

Answered by Andrew Jones

At the Budget, the Chancellor announced his intention to publish a call for evidence to examine whether the tax system or charges can be used to reduce the amount of single-use plastic we waste. The government will outline how it plans to proceed once we have analysed the responses to this call for evidence.


Written Question
Young People: Finance
Tuesday 19th April 2016

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure young people are not disproportionately affected by reductions in government expenditure.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The Government published distributional analysis to accompany Budget 2016 which shows that spending is focused towards households with children and young people, who will receive around £1,500 more per person per year in 2019-20 than working age households without children or young people.


Written Question
Flood Control: North of England
Tuesday 29th March 2016

Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 64 of the Budget 2016, how much of the £150 million announced for flood defence schemes he plans will be spent in (a) Leeds, (b) Cumbria, (c) Calderdale and (d) York; and when he expects that funding to be delivered.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Budget announced that over £150m will be invested in flood defence schemes in Leeds, York, Calder Valley, Carlisle and wider Cumbria. Funding will be allocated accordingly: Leeds (£35m), Cumbria (excluding Carlisle) (£33m), Carlisle (up to £25m), Calder Valley (£35m), and York (£45m). This funding will be delivered over the period 2016-17 to 2020-21.