Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the difference in tax taken from (a) VAT on fuel, (b) North Sea oil production and profits taxes and (c) all taxes on petrol and diesel sales in 2022 compared with the last Budget forecasts.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Forecasts for Government tax revenues are provided by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Their most recent published forecast, provided for Spring Statement 2022 on 23 March, is available on the OBR website at the following link https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2022/.
For the financial year 2022-23, Value Added Tax is forecast to be £154.2bn; UK oil and gas revenues are forecast to be £7.8bn; and fuel duty revenues are forecast to be £26.2bn. An updated forecast will be published by the OBR at the next Fiscal Event.
HM Revenue and Customs publishes monthly tax receipts statistics, including for UK oil and gas production, VAT, and fuel duties, on a cash receipts basis, at GOV.UK at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his latest estimate is of the Bank of England's loss on bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility guaranteed by his Department.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
To date, £120 billion has been transferred to HM Treasury from the Asset Purchase Facility (APF) which has been used to reduce the government’s debt issuance. The size of future cash flows is uncertain and depends on developments in Bank rate, the speed of APF unwind, and the evolution of bond market prices. It is likely that as monetary conditions normalise HM Treasury will make cash transfers to the APF to cover losses.
However, the eventual size of the net payments to or from HMT should not be used as a measure of the success of asset purchases, or of the impact of the scheme on the public sector accounts as a whole. The scheme should instead be judged by the degree to which it helps the Monetary Policy Committee meet its objectives.
In their most recent forecast in March 2022, the Office of Budget Responsibility forecasted net cash transfers from the APF to the Treasury of £3.5bn between 2022-23 and 2026-27.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on fiscal plans to tackle potential supply shortages of (a) energy and (b) food.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Arrangements are in place to ensure security of supply of electricity and gas. We are confident that the UK’s energy security will be maintained.
The UK food supply chain is highly resilient and our food import dependency on the Eastern Europe region is very low. We do not expect any significant direct impact on overall UK food supply as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. The Government continues to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. We have also increased our engagement with industry to supplement our analysis with real time intelligence.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on quantitative easing.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England and this includes decisions on Bank Rate and quantitative easing. The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic framework, and essential for the effective delivery of monetary policy, so the Government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.
The Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England meet regularly to discuss economic developments and the outlook for the economy. The Government continually monitors such developments to consider their impact on businesses and households.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the reasons for which the rate of inflation is above the Government's target of two per cent.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As the global economy recovers from COVID-19, many economies are experiencing high inflation. Rising global energy and commodity prices, along with disruptions to global supply chains caused by a mismatch between elevated global demand for goods and bottlenecks in supply as a result of the pandemic, have combined to push up inflation. Additionally, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has added to inflationary pressures and created economic uncertainty. It has increased the price and volatility of energy and some other commodities and has added to disruption in global supply chains.
The government’s commitment to price stability remains absolute. The Bank of England is responsible for controlling inflation – since the Bank became responsible for controlling inflation it has averaged close to the 2% target.
We are providing significant support where we can and stand ready to take further action. We’re saving the average worker £330 a year through reducing National Insurance Contributions, changing Universal Credit to save over a million families around £1,000 a year, and providing millions of families with £350 each this year to help their energy bills.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what analysis he has undertaken on the potential impact of recent tax rises on consumer confidence and retail sales.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish monthly statistics on retail sales. According to latest data, retail sales volumes in Great Britain decreased by 1.4 per cent on the month in March 2022 but remain 2.2 per cent above February 2020 levels. The ONS does not publish official data on consumer confidence.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) set out its latest assessment of the impact of tax changes on the economy in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published at Spring Statement 2022. In its latest forecast, the OBR expects household consumption to grow by 5.4 per cent in 2022.
Further details can be found in the OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in March 2022: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2022/.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent comparative assessment he has made of corporation tax revenue per head in the (a) UK and (b) Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government publishes statistics on Corporation Tax receipts online at:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/corporation-tax-statistics-2021
These statistics do not include international comparisons of per capita Corporation Tax receipts.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the impact on annual revenue for (a) VAT, (b) corporation tax and (c) duties of oil, gas and vehicle fuels in the event that recent high prices persist for 12 months.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) provides independent analysis of the UK public finances, publishing its latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) on the 23rd of March 2022.
The EFO contains a comprehensive forecast of tax receipts over a 5 year period. Their forecast is based on market expectations for oil and gas prices, based on those expectations in the 5 working days to 2 March.
For the financial year 2022-23, Value Added Tax is forecast to be £154.2bn; Corporation Tax is forecast to be £56.8bn; Vehicle excise duties are forecast to be £7.2bn; and Fuel duties are forecast to be £26.2bn.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent comparative assessment he has made of business investment per capita in the (a) UK and (b) Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Chancellor has not made an assessment on this basis. However, capital investment by UK businesses averages 10% of GDP, considerably lower than the current OECD average of 14%.
April 1st will mark one year since the super-deduction – the biggest two year business tax cut on modern British history – took effect. Since taking effect, business investment has increased by 9%.
In his recent Mais lecture on 24th February, the Chancellor set out that the government will focus on capital as one of its priorities, cutting and reforming taxes on business investment to encourage firms to invest in productivity-enhancing assets.
In Spring Statement 2022, the government recognised that the best way to support households in the long run is through encouraging strong and sustainable growth across the UK, by promoting investment and innovation; and then sharing more of the proceeds of growth by reducing the tax burden for working people.