Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to enable mortgage customers who were trapped when their mortgages were sold to vulture funds to take advantage of lower interest rates; and if he will launch an inquiry.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Treasury recognises that mortgage prisoners can be in a difficult and sometimes stressful situation. However, the servicer of these mortgages must be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This means that customers are protected by the FCA’s principle of Treating Customers Fairly; their Mortgage Conduct of Business rules; and customers have recourse to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The Treasury has also worked closely with the FCA to consider how to remove the regulatory barriers that might prevent some customers from accessing better deals.
The FCA are now consulting on changes that will move the required affordability assessment from an absolute test to a relative one. This will enable lenders to more easily accept switching consumers, providing they are up-to-date with repayments and are not borrowing more.
The FCA consultation closes on 26 June 2019.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will limit disguised remuneration loan charges to loans entered into after the Finance Act 2017 received Royal Assent; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The charge on disguised remuneration (DR) loans is targeted at artificial tax avoidance schemes where earnings were paid via a third party in the form of ‘loans’ which in reality were never repaid.
DR scheme users took home almost all of their pay tax-free. However, despite the claims made by promoters, these schemes never worked and the amounts paid were always taxable under the law at the time.
The Government has decided that the charge on DR loans is the right way to ensure that everybody pays the taxes they owe and contributes towards the public-funded services from which they benefit.
Restricting the charge only to DR loans entered into after Finance Act 2017 received Royal Assent would not be fair to ordinary taxpayers, who have always paid the right amount of tax and have not engaged in tax avoidance schemes.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed abolition of Class 2 National Insurance Contributions on creators earning less than £6,205 per year.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
On November 2nd 2017, the Government announced a one year delay to the abolition of Class 2 National Insurance contributions (NICs) to allow time to engage with interested parties and Parliamentarians with concerns relating to the impact on self-employed individuals with low profits. The Government is considering these concerns, including those you have raised, and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will set out all films that benefited from UK film tax relief in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
This information cannot be released because of HMRC’s duty of taxpayer confidentiality.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to extend museums and galleries tax relief to permanent exhibitions.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Autumn Statement 2016 announced that the Museums and Galleries Tax Relief would be extended to include permanent exhibitions.
This tax relief will provide support to museums and galleries to encourage them to develop creative new exhibitions and display their collections to a wider audience.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will undertake a comparative assessment of levels of business rates applying to steel producers in the UK and in other EU member states.
Answered by David Gauke
The government concluded the Business Rates Review at Budget 2016. The government consulted with stakeholders, including the steel industry.
From April 2020, business rates for all businesses, including the steel industry, will be cut through a switch in the indexation of business rates from RPI to the main measure of inflation currently CPI.
The government has worked hard to deliver on the steel industry’s key asks. We (a) secured state aid approval to compensate for energy costs, (b) secured flexibility over EU emissions regulations, (c) published guidance so that the true value of UK steel can be taken into account in major procurement decisions, and (d) continue to tackle unfair trading practices at an EU and an international level
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effects of the level of business rates on capital investment in the UK steel industry.
Answered by David Gauke
The government concluded the Business Rates Review at Budget 2016. The government consulted with stakeholders, including the steel industry.
From April 2020, business rates for all businesses, including the steel industry, will be cut through a switch in the indexation of business rates from RPI to the main measure of inflation currently CPI.
The government has worked hard to deliver on the steel industry’s key asks. We (a) secured state aid approval to compensate for energy costs, (b) secured flexibility over EU emissions regulations, (c) published guidance so that the true value of UK steel can be taken into account in major procurement decisions, and (d) continue to tackle unfair trading practices at an EU and an international level
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his most recent estimate is of when the public sector exit payments cap will be introduced in (a) England and (b) Wales; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government announced on 31st July 2015 that it intended to end six-figure exit payments for public sector workers, acting on its manifesto commitment. A public consultation over the summer of 2015 asked for views on the details of the policy, which received over 4,000 replies.
The public sector exit payment cap has now been legislated for in the Enterprise Act. The Government intends to publish draft regulations over the summer setting out the detail of how the policy will be introduced, alongside accompanying guidance. All affected parties, including public sector workers, will have a further opportunity to comment on the regulations and supporting guidance during that time.
The regulations implementing the public sector exit cap will not come into force before 1 October 2016 at the earliest. They will apply to bodies in England and those in Wales where the workforce is not devolved in this context. It will be for Welsh Ministers to determine when they bring into force the regulations in the Enterprise Act for bodies devolved to Wales.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to inform public sector workers of the implications of the public sector exit payment cap.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government announced on 31st July 2015 that it intended to end six-figure exit payments for public sector workers, acting on its manifesto commitment. A public consultation over the summer of 2015 asked for views on the details of the policy, which received over 4,000 replies.
The public sector exit payment cap has now been legislated for in the Enterprise Act. The Government intends to publish draft regulations over the summer setting out the detail of how the policy will be introduced, alongside accompanying guidance. All affected parties, including public sector workers, will have a further opportunity to comment on the regulations and supporting guidance during that time.
The regulations implementing the public sector exit cap will not come into force before 1 October 2016 at the earliest. They will apply to bodies in England and those in Wales where the workforce is not devolved in this context. It will be for Welsh Ministers to determine when they bring into force the regulations in the Enterprise Act for bodies devolved to Wales.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of a non domestic rates appeal was in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Gauke
The time taken to resolve an appeal can be affected by a number of factors, such as the complexity of the case or whether the case proceeds to be listed for hearing by the independent Valuation Tribunal. Some cases can be held up in litigation or placed on hold at the ratepayer's request. The average (median) time taken to resolve challenges for non-domestic properties in each of the last five years is shown in the attached table. This table covers the 2010 Local Rating Lists.
Year | Median (days) |
2010-11 | 135* |
2011-12 | 335 |
2012-13 | 413 |
2013-14 | 390 |
2014-15 | 395 |
*The 2010 list began on 1 April 2010 so only those challenges received in 2010-11 were resolved in 2010-11. In subsequent years, however, challenges received in previous years can also be resolved so the median clearance time may include more complex challenges which took longer to resolve.