Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the distributional effect of a further £1,000 increase to the same work allowances which were increased in Budget 2018 on the percentage increase in the incomes of each decile.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The £1,000 increase to the Universal Credit (UC) work allowance, announced in Budget 2018, will increase the amount that 2.4 million households can earn before their UC begins to be withdrawn. This change will enable working parents and people with disabilities on Universal Credit to keep over £630 extra income each year. The Budget 2018 work allowance change increased government support for UC by £1.7bn per year by 2023-24. No assessment has been made of the cost of a further £1,000 increase in the work allowances over and above those which were increased in Budget 2018.
HM Treasury’s distributional analysis, published alongside Budget 2018, shows the cumulative effect on household incomes of policies on welfare, tax, and public service spending measures. Because different measures often interact with each other, this cumulative assessment provides the best representation of the overall intended policy effect. This shows that since this Chancellor and Prime Minister took office, their decisions have benefited households throughout the income distribution, with the poorest households gaining the most as a percentage of net income.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
What progress has been made on the creation of local industrial strategies.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We will work with all Local Enterprise Partnerships and Mayoral Combined Authorities across England to develop Local Industrial Strategies.
We have already been working with Greater Manchester, West Midlands, and partners across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc to develop ‘trailblazer’ Local Industrial Strategies, which we expect to be completed in the first half of next year.
We will then be working with a second ‘wave’ of places including the Leicester & Leicestershire LEP that covers Harborough.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money was accrued to the public purse from Capital Gains Tax paid on residential property in each year since 2000.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The amount of money accrued to the public purse from Capital Gains Tax paid on residential property in each year since 2000 is not readily available.
Tax data from residential property gains is not readily available because, historically, it has not been collected separately as part of Self Assessment returns. It could be provided only at disproportionate cost using significant analytical resource to compute estimates. However, from 2016/17 the Capital Gains Tax Self Assessment return includes a separate section that will collect information on tax payable on residential property gains.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the monies accrued to the public purse of (a) freezing the personal allowance at £12,000 and (b) freezing the higher-rate threshold at £50,000 in each of the years after 2020-21.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The estimated Exchequer impact of freezing the personal allowance at £12,000 and freezing the higher-rate threshold at £50,000 in 2021-22 and 2022-23 is:
£m | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
Exchequer Impact of a Freeze of the PA at £12,000 and the HRT at £50,000 | 1,800 | 3,900 |
Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100 million. The The impact is shown on a National Accounts basis consistent with the presentation in table 2.1 of Budget documents | ||
The government remains committed to increasing the PA to £12,500 by 2020-21. The estimated Exchequer impact of freezing the personal allowance at £12,500 and freezing the higher-rate threshold at £50,000 in 2021-22 and 2022-23 is:
£m | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
Exchequer Impact of a Freeze of the PA at £12,500 and the HRT at £50,000 | 1,800 | 4,000 |
Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100 million. Therefore the modelling simulation above has been repeated with the PA set to £12,500 in 2020-21, frozen thereafter (the HRT was as in the £12,000 scenario above). | ||
Both of these estimates are sensitive to any changes in the projected economic determinants used, and modelling assumptions, and are therefore subject to revision.
To answer this question a number of assumptions have been made as set out below. These estimates are consistent with the methodology used to estimate the impact of policy changes to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs).
The question implies that the Personal Allowance (PA) and Higher Rate Threshold (HRT) would be at the stated levels in 2020-21 in order that they be frozen at those levels (rather than indexed with Consumer Price Index (CPI) indexation as is the convention) for the years after that.
The Exchequer impact of meeting the thresholds in 2020-21 has is not included in these figures.
The estimated impact from freezing the PA and HRT has been modelled using the 2014-15 Survey of Personal Incomes projected using assumptions from the Office of Budget Responsibility’s November 2017 economic and fiscal outlook. The costs set out below include assumptions on the likely behavioral responses of affected taxpayers, which is in line with previous similar costings agreed with the OBR.
The costing include the impact on NICs, as the Upper Earnings Limit and Upper Profits Limit are aligned to the Higher Rate Threshold which has been frozen at £50,000 for this policy.
The simulation assumes the HRT freeze does not apply in Scotland where this threshold is devolved. Therefore the Scottish Basic Rate Limit (BRL) is amended to maintain the Scottish HRT at the current projected levels after any changes to the PA. The simulation includes an estimate for the change in the Scottish block grant adjustment under this policy change scenario.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list by country flows of interest payments on UK central Government debt held by overseas investors and foreign central banks.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Treasury does not hold information on the organisations or individuals who hold gilts. However, information on gilt holdings by different sectors is published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The most recent publication shows that at the end of March 2017, overseas investors hold 27% of gilts in issuance, but this does not include a breakdown of gilt holdings by country.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list by country where stocks of gilts are held by overseas investors and foreign central banks; and how much and what proportion of such stocks are held in different countries.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Treasury does not hold information on the organisations or individuals who hold gilts. However, information on gilt holdings by different sectors is published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The most recent publication shows that at the end of March 2017, overseas investors hold 27% of gilts in issuance, but this does not include a breakdown of gilt holdings by country.