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Written Question
Defibrillators: VAT
Monday 11th March 2024

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making defibrillator sales VAT exempt.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government maintains VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of AEDs, including VAT relief on purchases made by local authorities and those made through voluntary contributions, where the AED is donated to eligible charities or the NHS. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT.

The Government is currently inviting community organisations to bid for funding as part of a £1 million grant scheme that expands public access to AEDs, particularly in public places where they are most needed. In addition, last year the Government committed to supplying state-funded schools in England with defibrillators to make sure there is a device in every school, with deliveries completed in June 2023. This means that every state-funded school in England, over 21,500 schools, now has access to an AED.

The Government keeps all taxes under review.


Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Tuesday 19th July 2022

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of the Government's Official Development Assistance budget has been spent on supporting Ukrainian refugees in the UK in the 2022-23 financial year.

Answered by Simon Clarke

The cost of supporting refugees from Ukraine in the 2022-23 financial year will be determined by the number of arrivals by end March 2023. As of 14 July 2022, total arrivals of Ukraine Scheme visa holders in the UK are 95,400, of which 29,700 have arrived under the Ukraine Family Scheme and 65,600 have arrived under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.

Eligible costs will be reported as ODA and counted towards the 0.5% GNI ODA spending commitment. ODA spend is measured on a calendar year basis, so ODA costs incurred for the 2022-23 financial year will be included in the ODA reporting for the 2022 and 2023 calendar years. ODA eligible spend is reported in the government’s annual Statistics on International Development publication.[1]

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development


Written Question
Debts
Thursday 14th July 2022

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the regional variations in problem debt levels in the UK, (b) which regions in the UK have the highest problem debt levels and (c) which towns and cities in the UK have the highest problem debt levels.

Answered by Richard Fuller

To inform policy making, the Government is committed to understanding personal debt levels across the UK and at a regional level; it does this by drawing on a number of different data sources. This is used to help individuals manage their money well, encourage them to build their financial resilience and seek appropriate help if they need support with their personal finances

Relevant organisations measure personal debt levels and define ‘problem debt’ in different ways. HM Treasury do not hold data on levels of personal debt or problem debt but monitors these measures regularly by working closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), the Financial Conduct Authority and by engaging with the debt advice sector and other relevant stakeholders on their research and findings.

The latest data on people’s personal finances were published by MaPS on 23 February 2022. MaPS monitors financial difficulty through an annual survey of 22,000 individuals. This includes a regional breakdown of how the need for debt advice changed since 2019 across the UK. The MaPS data shows that every region and nation of the UK has seen an increase in the number of people needing advice since 2019, and that the concentration of need is highest in London, the West Midlands and the North of England. The summary of their findings can be found in the link below:

Who needs debt advice in 2022? | The Money and Pensions Service (maps.org.uk)

MaPS also intends to publish constituency-level results later this year.


Written Question
Debts
Thursday 14th July 2022

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of (a) regional variations in and (b) which (i) regions and (ii) towns and cities have the highest personal debt levels.

Answered by Richard Fuller

To inform policy making, the Government is committed to understanding personal debt levels across the UK and at a regional level; it does this by drawing on a number of different data sources. This is used to help individuals manage their money well, encourage them to build their financial resilience and seek appropriate help if they need support with their personal finances

Relevant organisations measure personal debt levels and define ‘problem debt’ in different ways. HM Treasury do not hold data on levels of personal debt or problem debt but monitors these measures regularly by working closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), the Financial Conduct Authority and by engaging with the debt advice sector and other relevant stakeholders on their research and findings.

The latest data on people’s personal finances were published by MaPS on 23 February 2022. MaPS monitors financial difficulty through an annual survey of 22,000 individuals. This includes a regional breakdown of how the need for debt advice changed since 2019 across the UK. The MaPS data shows that every region and nation of the UK has seen an increase in the number of people needing advice since 2019, and that the concentration of need is highest in London, the West Midlands and the North of England. The summary of their findings can be found in the link below:

Who needs debt advice in 2022? | The Money and Pensions Service (maps.org.uk)

MaPS also intends to publish constituency-level results later this year.


Written Question
Economic Situation: Coronavirus
Monday 11th July 2022

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the rate of economic recovery from the covid-19 outbreak across each of the regions of the UK.

Answered by Simon Clarke

Encouraging regional growth is a key part of our ambition to level up opportunities right across the UK, which is why at Spending Review 2021 we announced a comprehensive spending package to boost investment in places in need and improve people’s everyday lives. This included launching the new £1.4bn Global Britain Investment Fund to ensure that economic opportunities are spread more evenly across the UK and ensuring SMEs across the UK can access the finance they need including through British Business Bank programme.

Furthermore, we announced the first 105 places to receive support for regeneration from the £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund, alongside unprecedented investment of £5.7bn in five-year consolidated transport settlements for eight city regions.


Written Question
Public Finance: Wales
Monday 25th April 2022

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an impact assessment of the potential effect of measures included in the Spring Statement 2022 on Wales.

Answered by Simon Clarke

The Chancellor’s Spring Statement on 23 March 2022 announced a number of measures to support households and businesses in every region and nation of the UK and to relieve the immediate pressure on our cost of living. It sets out that taxes are being cut, debt is falling and public spending is increasing.

For example, raising the National Insurance thresholds is a tax cut for 1.2 million workers in Wales, saving the typical employee over £330 a year, and the 1ppt cut to the basic rate of income tax from 2024 will benefit 1.5 million taxpayers in Wales.

Further support for UK households and businesses included the £1,000 increase to the Employment Allowance, which will benefit around half a million businesses across the UK, as well as the cuts to fuel duty on petrol and diesel, by 5p per litre, for the next 12 months.

In addition to this UK-wide action, the Chancellor also announced that the UK government is providing the Welsh Government with an additional £27 million through the Barnett formula in 2022/23 as a result of measures announced in the Spring Statement.


Written Question
Public Finance: Northern Ireland
Monday 25th April 2022

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of provisions included in the Spring Statement 2022 on Northern Ireland.

Answered by Simon Clarke

The Chancellor’s Spring Statement on 23 March 2022 announced a number of measures to support households and businesses in every region and nation of the UK and to relieve the immediate pressure on our cost of living. It sets out that taxes are being cut, debt is falling and public spending is increasing.

For example, raising the National Insurance thresholds is a tax cut for 800,000 workers in Northern Ireland, saving the typical employee over £330 a year, and the 1ppt cut to the basic rate of income tax from 2024 will benefit 870,000 taxpayers in Northern Ireland.

Further support for UK households and businesses included the £1,000 increase to the Employment Allowance, which will benefit around half a million businesses across the UK, as well as the cuts to fuel duty on petrol and diesel, by 5p per litre, for the next 12 months.

In addition to this UK-wide action, the Chancellor also announced that the UK government is providing the Northern Ireland Executive with an additional £47 million through the Barnett formula in 2022/23 as a result of measures announced in the Spring Statement.


Written Question
Public Finance: East of England
Wednesday 20th April 2022

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of provisions included in the Spring Statement 2022 on the east of England.

Answered by Simon Clarke

The Chancellor’s Spring Statement on 23 March 2022 announced a number of measures to support households and businesses in every region and nation of the UK and to relieve the immediate pressure on the cost of living. This includes cutting National Insurance by aligning the Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit with the income tax personal allowance from July 2022 – a tax cut worth over £6 billion – and cutting the duty rate on petrol and diesel by 5p per litre for a year, saving the average UK car driver around £100.

It sets out that taxes are being cut, debt is falling and public spending is increasing, for the benefit of every region and nation in the UK.


Written Question
Public Finance: North West
Wednesday 20th April 2022

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of provisions included in the Spring Statement 2022 on the North West.

Answered by Simon Clarke

The Chancellor’s Spring Statement on 23 March 2022 announced a number of measures to support households and businesses in every region and nation of the UK and to relieve the immediate pressure on the cost of living. This includes cutting National Insurance by aligning the Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit with the income tax personal allowance from July 2022 – a tax cut worth over £6 billion – and cutting the duty rate on petrol and diesel by 5p per litre for a year, saving the average UK car driver around £100.

It sets out that taxes are being cut, debt is falling and public spending is increasing, for the benefit of every region and nation in the UK.


Written Question
Public Finance: North East
Wednesday 20th April 2022

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an impact assessment of the potential effect of measures included in the Spring Statement 2022 on the North East.

Answered by Simon Clarke

The Chancellor’s Spring Statement on 23 March 2022 announced a number of measures to support households and businesses in every region and nation of the UK and to relieve the immediate pressure on the cost of living. This includes cutting National Insurance by aligning the Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit with the income tax personal allowance from July 2022 – a tax cut worth over £6 billion – and cutting the duty rate on petrol and diesel by 5p per litre for a year, saving the average UK car driver around £100.

It sets out that taxes are being cut, debt is falling and public spending is increasing, for the benefit of every region and nation in the UK.