To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Taxpayer Protection Taskforce
Thursday 14th March 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many fraudulent payments of what total value were recovered by the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

In December 2023, HMRC wrote a letter to the chair of the Committee of Public Accounts with the latest information on HMRC’s compliance activity on the COVID-19 support schemes up to the end of September 2023, when the Taxpayer’s Protection Taskforce transitioned into business-as-usual.


Written Question
Treasury: Recruitment
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on external recruitment consultants in the (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23 financial year.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Consistent to answers given to written questions on 28 March 2023, 23 February 2023 and 17 May 2022, the information requested on external recruitment consultant expenditure is not available as we do not centrally hold data with this level of granularity on recruitment costs for the financial years in question.


Written Question
Education: Expenditure
Thursday 13th July 2023

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Table 6.6 of the Public Expenditure - Statistical Analyses 2022, published July 2022, if he will provide a breakdown by (a) Department group and (b) segment programme of the outturn spend on education for (i) 2017-18 to (ii) 2021-22.

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

Expenditure for the Education COFOG function, further broken down by department and by subsegment, covering the periods 2017-18 to 2021-22 are available from the OSCAR annual transparency release:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oscar-annual-release-november-2022.


Written Question
Employment: Finance
Monday 10th July 2023

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2023 to Question 188928 on Employment: Finance, if he will publish further details on what comprises (a) S032A001-Employment Programmes, (b) S032A074-Labour Market-Operational Delivery, (c) S032A085-Labour Market-Corporate and (d) Other spending.

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

The selected segments in the question are from the OSCAR online database. In order to see what these comprise of we can direct you to the OSCAR annual transparency release:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oscar-annual-release-november-2022

Please note that the cut of data for the transparency release was taken at a later point than the PESA dataset, the figures therefore, may show differences when compared to PESA.


Written Question
Public Expenditure: Training
Monday 26th June 2023

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for National Statistics publication entitled Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2022, if he will provide a breakdown of public spending on functions associated with skills.

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

Information based on the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) is not available in the form requested. ‘Skills’ is not a functional category that can be defined using the Classifications of Functions of Government.


Written Question
Public Expenditure: Training
Monday 26th June 2023

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2022, if he will publish a breakdown of planned spending on skills by Department.

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

Information based on the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) is not available in the form requested. ‘Skills’ is not a functional category that can be defined using the Classifications of Functions of Government.


Written Question
Government Departments: Employment
Thursday 15th June 2023

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Table 6.6 on Central government own current and capital expenditure on services by function, 2017-18 to 2024-25, of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2022, published on 20 July 2022, if he will publish a breakdown by Department of planned spending on Economic affairs, of which: employment policies.

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

As plans data is provisional and subject to change, outturn only is provided in the table below. The table shows PESA 2022 table 6.6 data for Economic affairs broken down by department:

Central government own current and capital spending on employment policies by department group, 2017-18 to 2021-22

£ million

Spending Function

Department Group

2017-18 Outturn

2018-19 Outturn

2019-20 Outturn

2020-21 Outturn

2021-22 Outturn

Current expenditure on employment policies

Cabinet Office

22

17

17

17

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

56

56

56

58

58

Education

0

Work and Pensions

2,354

2,441

2,092

2,395

3,924

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

18

0

Home Office

21

Northern Ireland

80

96

86

74

100

Wales

0

CURRENT Total

2,512

2,632

2,253

2,543

4,098

Capital expenditure on employment policies

Cabinet Office

0

0

0

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

1

1

1

1

0

Work and Pensions

103

44

0

74

121

Northern Ireland

0

2

1

1

2

CAPITAL Total

105

47

2

77

124

Grand Total

2,617

2,679

2,254

2,620

4,222


Written Question
Employment: Finance
Thursday 15th June 2023

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Table 6.6 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2022, if he will provide a breakdown of the £2.5 billion projected to be spent on employment policies in 2024-25.

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

As plans data is provisional and subject to change, outturn only is provided in the table below. The table shows underlying data that is consistent with PESA 2022 table 6.6:

Central government own current and capital spending on employment policies by department group and by segment programme, 2017-18 to 2021-22

£ million

Spending Function

Department Group

Segment

2017-18 Outturn

2018-19 Outturn

2019-20 Outturn

2020-21 Outturn

2021-22 Outturn

Current expenditure on employment policies

Cabinet Office

S010EHR1 - COMMISSION FOR EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS (ALB)

11

0

17

17

17

S010GEO1 - GOVERNMENT EQUALITIES OFFICE

11

0

0

0

0

Cabinet Office Total

22

0

17

17

17

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

S084A094-ACAS

51

55

54

56

56

Other spending

5

2

2

2

2

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Total

56

56

56

58

58

Work and Pensions

S032A001-EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMMES

383

272

230

260

733

S032A074-LABOUR MARKET - OPERATIONAL DELIVERY

962

879

905

1,109

1,176

S032A085-LABOUR MARKET-CORPORATE

804

501

488

619

651

S032A105-KICKSTART

0

0

0

0

853

Other spending

205

789

469

407

509

Work and Pensions Total

2,354

2,441

2,092

2,395

3,924

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

S030A244- GOVERNMENT EQUALITIES OFFICE

0

18

0

0

0

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Total

0

18

0

0

0

Home Office

S034A006-GOVERNMENT EQUALITIES OFFICE

0

21

0

0

0

Home Office Total

0

21

0

0

0

Northern Ireland

S099A018-EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLS - EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

21

19

18

14

19

S099A022-LABOUR MARKET SERVICES

46

59

48

39

57

S099A024-BUSINESS REGULATION/SUPPORT

13

17

20

21

24

Northern Ireland Total

80

96

86

74

100

CURRENT Total

2,512

2,632

2,253

2,543

4,098


Written Question
Child Trust Fund: Mental Capacity
Wednesday 3rd May 2023

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Child Trust Fund accounts have been locked because the account holder lacks mental capacity; and how much is contained in these funds.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

HMRC does not have records of Child Trust Fund (CTF) accounts that cannot be accessed because the account holder lacks mental capacity


When the CTF account holder does not have the mental capacity to provide instructions to the account manager, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland makes provision for another person to provide instructions on their behalf.


Written Question
Child Trust Fund: Terminal Illnesses
Monday 24th April 2023

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to simplify the process by which families of children with terminal health conditions may access Child Trust Funds.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

HMRC has worked closely with Child Trust Fund (CTF) providers, the wider industry and the Money and Pensions Service to ensure that young people are aware of, and can access, their CTFs.

HMRC has:

· required CTF providers to write to their customers informing them of their options in their 17th year and to provide statements annually after the account holder turns 18.

· worked closely with CTF providers to ensure they are meeting regulatory requirements to communicate with CTF customers approaching and reaching maturity.

· developed and improved the ‘Find my CTF’ service on GOV.uk to help customers locate their account.

· added information to the National Insurance Notification (NINO) letter, which is sent out prior to a child’s 16th birthday, to raise awareness of the CTF scheme with children in the appropriate age bracket

· issued a range of communications through regular press releases and social media posts.

Children with maturing CTFs also receive a significant amount of written information pertaining to their account directly from their account provider.

Information on the number of CTFs that have matured and were recorded as continuing as of the 5th of April 2021 is available in HMRC Annual Savings Statistics: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2022.

We cannot provide an estimate of the number of mature continuing CTFs by region, disability, or ethnicity as we do not hold that data.

Estimates of the number of mature continuing CTFs by gender or income decile can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

The scheme has been closed to new entrants for over 12 years. In this time HMRC has been focusing resources on evaluating and improving existing schemes. We will continue to keep the need to evaluate old schemes under review.

The process for accessing CTF accounts for terminally ill children is kept as simple as possible, while protecting the interests of the child. Only a person with parental responsibility can take money out of a terminally ill child’s account.

To access the CTF of a child with a terminal illness, the parent or guardian completes an application form on Gov.uk and provides evidence of receipt of terminal illness benefit from the Department of Work and Pensions or Social Security Scotland. If they are not receiving any such benefit, they can provide evidence from a medical practitioner about the child’s illness.