Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Budget 2026, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of levels of Machine Game Duty on community bingo clubs.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
At Budget 2026, the government announced the rate of Machines Games Duty will increase from 20% to 25% on higher stake machines from 1 April 2027. The increase is targeted at higher risk machine games which are more associated with gambling harm.
An assessment of the impacts is published within the Tax Impact and Information Note, which can be found at the following link: Machine Games Duty: increasing the rate on higher stake and prize machines - GOV.UK
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 27th February 2018 to Question 129366, what financial support he plans to provide to working parents of disabled children in full-time education aged 16 to 20 and whose earnings status makes them ineligible for carer's allowance.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Low income households can be eligible for in-work benefits, such as Working Tax Credit, if the household works a minimum number of hours, for example a couple with children must work at least 24 hours, with one partner working at least 16 hours. The government is also reforming the current system of working age benefits. Universal Credit will ensure that individuals working more hours always end up with more income in their pockets.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 125989, whether he plans to take steps to support financially the working parents of disabled children aged 16 to 20 who are ineligible for carers' allowance owing to their earnings status; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The government is committed to supporting parents with caring responsibilities. Parents caring for disabled children aged 16-20 for at least 35 hours a week continue to be entitled to Carer’s Allowance, subject to their earnings. The government is also committed to supporting low earners to earn more. From this April, the National Living Wage will be increased by 4.4% to £7.83, this is equivalent to a pay rise of £2,000 for a full-time worker on the NLW since its introduction.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 124887, what additional funding he plans to make available to support the working parents of disabled people aged between 16 and 20 for the finance of their care.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Child Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a benefit for children under the age of 16 who, due to a disability or health condition, have mobility issues and/or require substantially more care, attention & supervision than children their age normally would. If a parent or carer is claiming Child Tax Credits (CTC) and their child is in receipt of DLA or Personal Independence Payments (PIP), they are also eligible for additional premiums on their award and for childcare support.
When a child approaches 16, they are informed that their DLA award will soon end and are invited to claim PIP. Spending on main disability benefits – PIP, DLA and Attendance Allowance – has risen by £4.1bn since 2010.
Parents of disabled people between 16 and 20 may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance. More information about eligibility can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/eligibility
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to increase the age of eligibility for the childcare cost element of child tax credit from 16 to 20 years old for families with disabled children until adult social care provision becomes available; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and is spending over £50bn a year on benefits to support people with disabilities and health conditions, this includes spending to support 16-20 year olds with disabilities. Spending on disability benefits will be higher in every year to 2020 than it was in 2010, and as a share of GDP our spending on disability and incapacity benefits is the second highest in the G7.
Childcare support in working tax credits is currently available to disabled children in receipt of DLA or PIP up to the September following their 16th birthday.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with disabilities are not disproportionately affected by the Government's fiscal policies.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government has protected the value of disability benefits, exempting these payments from the uprating freeze and exempting those in receipt of them from the benefit cap.
Since 2010, real-terms spending on disability benefits has increased by more than £3bn, and disability spending will be higher in every year to 2020, compared to both 2010 and today.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposed changes to tax credits on child poverty.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is making changes to Tax Credits which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The Government wants to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.
We know that work is the best route out of poverty. The intended impact of these reforms is to incentivise work, ensure work always pays, and then allow people to keep more of what they earn.