Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of people were not issued a National Insurance number in the three months before their 16th birthday in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC issues National Insurance Numbers to most young people just before their 16th birthday.
In order for a child to be issued a National Insurance Number (NINo) automatically, the child must be part of a live Child Benefit claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old.
If a child has been part of a claim, but is not part of a claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old, HMRC can be contacted to request a NINo. This process takes approximately 15 working days.
If a child has never been part of a Child Benefit claim (or a claim for a childcare service administered by HMRC) HMRC will have no record of them. An online application can be made to the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain a NINo. HMRC does not collate information on the number of young people who cannot be included in the automatic process.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that National Insurance Numbers are issued three months before a person's 16th birthday.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC issues National Insurance Numbers to most young people just before their 16th birthday.
In order for a child to be issued a National Insurance Number (NINo) automatically, the child must be part of a live Child Benefit claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old.
If a child has been part of a claim, but is not part of a claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old, HMRC can be contacted to request a NINo. This process takes approximately 15 working days.
If a child has never been part of a Child Benefit claim (or a claim for a childcare service administered by HMRC) HMRC will have no record of them. An online application can be made to the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain a NINo. HMRC does not collate information on the number of young people who cannot be included in the automatic process.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the business rates holiday for pubs.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The unprecedented full business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure properties for the financial year is worth £10 billion to business in 2020-21. All eligible businesses will pay no business rates in England for 12 months from 1 April 2020.
The Government will continue to look at how to adjust support in a way that ensures people can get back to work, protecting both the UK economy and the livelihoods of people across the country.
The Government considers all reliefs in the round, against the broader fiscal and economic impacts of COVID-19 and as part of the Business Rates Review, and would encourage businesses and individuals to respond to the review’s Call for Evidence document.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that reduced earnings as a result of receiving maternity allowance, are taken into account for self-employed women when calculating average profits from their tax returns for the Self Employment Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme has been designed to deliver support as quickly and effectively as possible to millions of individuals. The Government recognises the challenges faced by those with periods of parental leave, and the existing averaging calculation does account for periods of reduced profits. The Government will continue to work with stakeholders to make sure the correct funding reaches those who need it most, keeping all policies under review while ensuring that any potential changes do not risk the wider delivery of Government schemes.Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing IR35 rules for public sector workers.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In April 2017, the Government changed the off-payroll working rules for those working in the public sector, shifting responsibility for determining employment status from the worker’s own limited company to the organisation they work for. These existing rules continue to apply.
On 17 March 2020, the Government announced that the reform to the off-payroll working rules that would have applied for people contracting their services to large or medium-sized organisations outside the public sector, as well as engagers in the public sector, will be delayed for one year from 6 April 2020 until 6 April 2021. This is part of the additional support for businesses and individuals to deal with the economic impacts of COVID-19. Public authorities will not need to implement the changes on status determination statements or implement status disagreement processes until April 2021.
Independent research by IFF Research and Frontier Economics showed the reform to the off-payroll working rules in the public sector had not resulted in significant disruption to the sector, or to its use of contingent labour. During the recent review into the implementation of the reform, public sector bodies reported that they continued to engage people with specialist skills and had adapted their business models to comply with the reform.
The Government will continue to listen to stakeholders and monitor and evaluate the operation of the rules.