Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to allow payments of child tax credits to bereaved partners to be backdated to the date of the death of their partner.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recognises that this will be a difficult time for claimants. HMRC is therefore part of the “tell us once” service that allows people to report a death and inform a number of government services at one time rather than individually. When HMRC is informed of the death of a claimant it makes contact with any surviving partner to help them make a new claim, if they are entitled to it.
Child Tax Credit claimants can have their claim backdated for up to 31 days. This includes those who are making a claim following a bereavement. There are no plans to change this.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce the level of regulation on community and amateur sports clubs.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Following a consultation across the sector, new regulations were put in place on 1 April 2015. These regulations seek to balance necessary regulation of a varied sector and support for this important group. The Government will continue to monitor the regulation and effectiveness of charitable tax reliefs within the scheme and more widely.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reduce the tax burden on amateur sports clubs in order to promote healthy lifestyles and build on the Olympic legacy.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government provides a range of tax reliefs to amateur sports clubs through the Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) regime. This recognises the invaluable role sports clubs play within their communities. The regime is a key part of the Government's support for community sports clubs and the part they can play in consolidating our Olympic legacy, helping to encourage participation in a range of eligible sports and inspiring the champions of the future.
Sports clubs registered as CASCs benefit from a range of tax reliefs, including mandatory 80% business rates relief and Gift Aid on qualifying donations.
In April 2015, following extensive consultation with stakeholders, a number of changes were made to the CASC scheme to strengthen the support it provides whilst ensuring that this support is correctly targeted. These changes were designed to help even more clubs to join and benefit from the scheme, encouraging many thousands of participants in a wide range of sporting activities.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) North Swindon constituency and (b) the UK have (i) had a reduction in the income tax they pay and (ii) been taken out of paying income tax since 2010.
Answered by Jane Ellison
By 2015-16 increases in the personal allowance since 2010-11 are estimated to have reduced the income tax liability of 27.9 million individuals in the UK and taken 3.97 million out of tax. The corresponding figures for the South West, which includes the Parliamentary Constituency of North Swindon, are 2.4 million and 344,000 respectively.
These estimates are based on the 2013-14 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2016 economic and fiscal outlook.
HM Treasury does not publish this information at constituency level.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the benefits to the UK economy of video games tax relief.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The creative industries make a valuable cultural contribution to the UK, they are also an important part of a dynamic and diversified economy.
In its first two years the video games tax relief aided the production of 135 games, supporting £417 million of production spending in this country.
The latest statistics on all of the creative sector tax reliefs can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-july-2016
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with type 1 diabetes are not disproportionately affected by the introduction of the soft drinks industry levy.
Answered by Jane Ellison
There will continue to be a range of drinks containing natural sugars which will not be subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. These include fruit juices and smoothies. The NHS recommends drinking pure fruit juice as a way to combat low sugar levels that can affect type 1 diabetics.
On 18th August, the Government published a consultation on the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and we will carefully consider all the points raised.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that money and debt advice is available to people who do not have access to the internet.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government believes that everyone, regardless of circumstance, should have access to money and debt advice. The Money Advice Service (MAS) was set up to give people the support they need to manage their money well; it provides information on money matters via telephone and face-to-face channels, as well as online. MAS took on statutory responsibility for coordinating provision of debt advice in 2012 – funding for debt advice principally goes to support face-to-face debt advice.
The Independent Review of MAS, due to be published soon, was tasked with considering how MAS can most effectively and efficiently meet the need for money and debt advice.