Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many photographers were employed by the Treasury to accompany the Prime Minister while he was in post as Chancellor of the Exchequer; and what was the cost of their salary to his Department.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Photographs of the Chancellor were taken by members of the Communications team alongside other duties, as is common across Government Departments. These photographs were then used to communicate Departmental policy aims.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of non-UK passport holders employed in hospitality in the UK in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on the passports held by individuals.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of non-UK passport holder seasonal workers employed in fruit picking in the UK in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on the passports held by individuals.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of stay is of individuals resident in the UK and claiming non-domiciled tax status.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HM Revenue and Customs published a full set of annual statistics on non-domiciled taxpayers.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when mileage rates were last reviewed; and if his Department will conduct a new review of rates.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are used by employers to reimburse an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle.
AMAPs are intended to create administrative simplicity and certainty by using an average rate, which reflects vehicle running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Fuel is therefore only one component.
The AMAP rate is advisory and employers can choose to pay more or less than the advisory rate. It is therefore ultimately up to employers, including public sector organisations, to determine the rate at which they reimburse their employees. Employees who receive less than the AMAP rate can claim tax relief on the difference. Employees who receive more will be taxed on the difference.
Like all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rate under review.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received a penalty from HMRC in Stratford-on-Avon constituency in 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We cannot provide a response on behavioural penalties by constituency, as different types of entities (businesses, partnerships and individuals) can have addresses that differ from where the business takes place.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many physical bank branches there were in the West Midlands in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government believes that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking services. Nonetheless, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies. The Government does not intervene in these decisions or make direct assessments of these branch networks.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to close their branches. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on the everyday banking and cash access needs of their customers and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK. New shared bank hubs are also being piloted, providing basic banking services and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet customers of that bank.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) Football League and (b) non-league football clubs have received winding up petitions from HMRC in the last five years; and what assessment she has made of the financial sustainability of those clubs.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HMRC take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and only file winding-up petitions after exhausting all other options, in order to protect taxpayers’ money.
Details of how assessments of financial sustainability of customers are used to assess Time to Pay offers and consequences of non-payment can be found at GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-will-happen-if-you-do-not-pay-your-tax-bill
How to pay a debt to HMRC with a Time to Pay arrangement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)