Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on business and investor confidence of potential retroactive changes being made to (a) Enterprise Investment Schemes, (b) Venture Capital Trusts and (c) other investment incentives.
Answered by David Gauke
Finance Bill 2016 contains provisions to exclude all remaining energy generation from the tax advantaged venture capital schemes, and makes technical clarifications to ensure the rules work as intended. These measures were announced at Autumn Statement 2015 and Budget 2016 respectively. These changes apply for investments made on or after 6 April 2016.
The government published tax information and impact notes for these measures, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-exclusion-of-energy-generation-from-venture-capital-schemes and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-enterprise-investment-scheme-and-venture-capital-trusts.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which banks are permitted by his Department to hold government funds.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The vast majority of funds is held within the exchequer at the Government Banking Service. It is not held in commercial bank accounts. Public sector organisations require permission from HM Treasury and the Crown Commercial Representative for banking, currently the Head of the Government Banking Service, to open a commercial bank account. Public sector organisations should follow guidelines set out in the banking annex of “Managing Public Money”. The key points within these guidelines are that the balances held in commercial accounts should be minimised and the commercial bank providing the banking service needs to be a member of relevant UK clearing bodies.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, by what process the Treasury determines whether an item of public spending should trigger a consequential payment to the devolved administrations under the Barnett formula.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Barnett Formula determines changes to the block grant funding allocated to the devolved administrations by the UK Government in relation to departmental spending within Departmental Expenditure Limits.
Under the Formula, the Scottish Government, Northern Ireland Executive and Welsh Government receive a population-based proportion of changes in planned UK Government spending on comparable services in England, where those services correspond to devolved responsibilities in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff work in his Department's Major Infrastructure Tracking Unit.
Answered by Danny Alexander
The Major Infrastructure Tracking Unit is part of Infrastructure UK, a team of 70 FTE staff.