Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to review the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasting methodology for revenue from alcohol duty tax receipts.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The OBR regularly reviews its forecasting methodology. Its forecast is informed by economic factors including real household consumption and underlying trends in alcohol consumption.
The OBR published updated price elasticities for alcohol in July 2024.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to help ensure that tobacco duty contributes to the costs of (a) tobacco control and (b) public health initiatives.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK has some of the highest tobacco duty rates in the world, payable at £316.70 per thousand cigarettes, plus 16.5% of the retail price and £412.32 per kilogram for hand rolling tobacco. These have helped to support a significant fall in smoking prevalence over the last 10 years to 11.9%. The Chief Medical Officer considers them a key part of the wider anti-smoking strategy.
The government is also funding more smoking cessation services. This includes providing an additional £70 million per annum for local Stop Smoking Services, working to ensure all NHS hospitals offer 'opt-out' smoking cessation services and delivering the national Smoke-free Pregnancy Financial Incentives scheme and the Swap to Stop scheme.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps tobacco duty rates under review during its Budget process.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the importance of banking hubs in rural areas.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to ensure that 350 banking hubs are delivered across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this parliament. Over 80 banking hubs are already open and Cash Access UK, who oversee banking hub rollout, expect 100 hubs to be open by Christmas.
The specific location of these hubs is determined independently by LINK, the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network. Criteria that LINK considers includes whether another bank branch remains nearby, local population, number of cash-accepting businesses and the financial vulnerability of the community.
An alternative option for accessing face-to-face banking services in rural areas is via the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, cash cheques, and check their balance at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.