Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been saved in 2017 prices as a result of the imposition of the public sector pay cap.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Projected savings were outlined in the Summer Budget 2015. Over the parliament 2010-2015, the government’s firm restraint over public sector pay delivered reductions to departmental spending, saving approximately £8 billion.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has discussed with the Governor of the Bank of England the recent rise in the Consumer Price Index; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Chancellor has regular discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England on the economy. Maintaining price stability is the primary objective of the Monetary Policy Committee. This objective is defined as an inflation target of 2 per cent as measured by the twelve month increase in the Consumer Prices Index.
Members of the Monetary Policy Committee are committed to transparency, publicly setting out their views of the outlook for the economy. The Committee publishes detailed forecasts for a range of economic variables in their quarterly Inflation Report, forecasting in May that average CPI inflation would fall to 2.4% in 2018 and 2.2% in 2019.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of single parents who have been affected by the public sector one per cent pay cap.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of inflation on public sector workers who have had their pay capped.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
A range of factors are taken into consideration when formulating the government’s public sector pay policy including the impact on jobs, recruitment and retention, earnings in both the public and private sector and inflation. Government will continually assess that balance when considering public pay policy. The Government has introduced the National Living Wage and committed to raising the personal allowance further, to £12,500, by the end of this Parliament. By 2017-18, 1.3 million people on the lowest incomes will have been taken out of income tax altogether, and a typical taxpayer will pay over £1,000 less income tax, compared to 2010-11.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent rise in consumer credit on household debt.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Consumer credit growth remains below its pre-crisis average (from 1997-2007), and household debt-to-income stands at 145% in Q1 2017, significantly below the pre-crisis peak of 160% in Q1 2008.
The government has made significant changes to strengthen regulation of the UK’s consumer credit market. In addition, the independent Financial Policy Committee was set up by the government to assess and mitigate financial stability risks, and has taken action to ensure against a significant rise in highly indebted households.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has discussed with the Governor of the Bank of England the recent rise in consumer credit; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Chancellor has regular discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England on the economy and matters relating to financial stability.
The independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which includes the Governor and a non-voting member from HM Treasury, was set up by the government to assess and mitigate financial stability risks. The FPC recently published the Financial Stability Report (FSR) which included an assessment of recent trends in the consumer credit market. The FSR noted that consumer credit has been growing rapidly but that loss rates on consumer credit lending are low at present.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) estimate he has made of the annual revenue forgone by the Treasury as a result of and (b) assessment he has made of the efficacy of the tax relief introduced in the Finance Act 2012 related to the gift of pre-eminent objects.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Details of items donated under the Cultural Gifts Scheme and the amount of revenue forgone are published by Arts Council England, who administer the Scheme, in their Cultural Gifts Scheme & Acceptance in Lieu annual report, which is available at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/programme/acceptance-lieu.
The Scheme has proved itself to be a valuable resource for allowing owners of important works of art to donate them to the nation in exchange for tax reductions. Institutions across the whole of the UK have benefited from the Scheme.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the (a) annual cost to the public purse and (b) efficacy of the tax relief introduced under the Finance Act 2013 relating to disincorporation.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs routinely monitors the number and value of disincorporation relief claims made. The annual cost of the relief is negligible. The Government will continue to review the effectiveness of all tax reliefs.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the (a) annual cost to the public purse and (b) efficacy of the tax relief introduced under the Finance Act 2014 relating to the transferable tax allowance for married couples and civil partners.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Marriage Allowance was introduced in April 2015, to recognise the importance of marriage in the tax system, and support those on low incomes. It allows a non-taxpayer who is married or in a civil partnership to transfer 10 per cent of their personal allowance to their spouse, provided they are a basic rate taxpayer. In 2016-17, eligible couples can receive a tax reduction of £220, or £432 if they make a backdated claim to 2015-16. Around 1.2 million couples have successfully applied for Marriage Allowance.
The Government remains committed to ensuring all eligible couples are aware they can claim the allowance, and HM Revenue and Customs recently launched a campaign to raise awareness of the savings the allowance can bring to eligible couples across the country. The estimates published at Budget 2015 projected that the Marriage Allowance will be worth £595 million to eligible couples in 2016-17.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the (a) annual cost to the public purse and (b) efficacy of the tax relief introduced under the Finance Act 2014 relating to investments in social enterprises.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government announced the enlargement of Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) at Autumn Statement 2016. By 2021-22, SITR is forecast to cost £65m per year. Further information can be found in the Tax Impact Information Note, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/autumn-statement-2016-tax-related-documents
The Government will also review the design and operation of SITR within two years of its enlargement to ensure that it is being used as intended, that it supports social enterprises which would otherwise struggle to access finance, and that it delivers value for money.