Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of charging tax on (a) scooters and (b) other smaller petrol motor vehicles.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on mechanically propelled vehicles kept or used on public roads. This includes petrol cars and motorcycles.
Rates for cars can vary based on date of first registration, engine size and emissions. Rates for motorcycles can vary based on engine size. For the purposes of VED, a motorcycle is defined as a motorbicycle or motortricycle that does not exceed 450kg unladen and therefore includes some vehicles that are commonly referred to as ‘scooters’.
Currently petrol cars, first registered between March 2001 and March 2017 and with emissions of less than 100g/km CO2 as well as all electrically propelled vehicles are exempt from VED.
At Autumn Statement 2022 the Chancellor announced that from 1 April 2025 all electric cars, vans and motorcycles would pay VED in the same way as petrol and diesel equivalents. This will mean that all cars, vans and motorcycles will pay VED unless otherwise exempt.
As with all taxes, VED is kept under review and any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the changes to the rates of Alcohol Duty on the wine industry.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the assessment of impacts from changes to the duty rates made at the Spring Budget 2023.
The Government had to make some tough decisions at Spring Budget in line with its commitment to managing the UK economy responsibly. However, prior to this, the wine industry has benefitted from freezes at 4 out of the last 5 fiscal events. Further, through the Government’s historic alcohol duty reforms, we are standardising the treatment of still and sparkling wine, providing a substantial duty cut for sparkling wine. In addition, lighter wines below 10.4% will pay less duty from 1 August.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether all callers to HMRC are charged the same rate.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Phone providers set telephone call charges, including for calls to HMRC.
For more information on telephone call charges, please refer to the GOV.UK website here: https://www.gov.uk/call-charges.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much income was accrued by HMRC through telephone call charges applied to incoming calls in financial year (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23 to date.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC does not charge customers for calls to 0845 or 03000 numbers. There is further information about 0300 numbers on the Ofcom website:
http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/phone/numbering/what-are-03-numbers/
For more information on call charges, please refer to GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/call-charges
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's rational is for applying call charges to incoming public telephone calls to His Majesty's Revenue & Customs.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC does not charge customers for calls to 0845 or 03000 numbers. There is further information about 0300 numbers on the Ofcom website:
http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/phone/numbering/what-are-03-numbers/
For more information on call charges, please refer to GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/call-charges
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of rising interest rates on the number of mortgage defaults across England.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government remains watchful for any emerging trends in light of rising interest rates; however, these will be based on arrears levels that are at historic lows: out of a total of 8.4 million residential mortgages, according to the latest UK Finance data, 74,560 were in arrears at the end of June, 10% fewer than in the same period in the previous year.
Interest rates are rising across the world as countries manage rising prices largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. As everyone’s financial situation is unique, the impact of these rate rises on individual households will vary. It is worth noting, however, that around 75% of residential mortgages are on a fixed rate and are therefore shielded from rate rises in the short term.
Nevertheless, the Government understands that people across the UK are worried about the cost of living, and are seeing their disposable incomes decrease as they spend more on the essentials. That is why we have announced £37 billion of support for the cost of living this financial year. In addition to the Energy Price Guarantee, millions of the most vulnerable households will receive £1,200 of support this year, with additional support for pensioners and those claiming disability benefits.
If mortgage borrowers do fall into financial difficulty, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance requires firms to provide support through tailored forbearance options. The Government has also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest loans for those in receipt of an income-related benefit, and protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, which makes it clear that repossession must always be the last resort for lenders.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the increase risked in non-payment of mortgages in the context of a potential increase in Bank of England interest rates in (a) Liverpool Wavertree constituency and (b) the North West of England.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Mortgage arrears levels remain at historically low levels. According to the latest UK Finance data, there were 74,560 homeowner mortgages in arrears at the end of June, 10% fewer than in the same period in the previous year.
Around 75% of residential mortgage borrowers are on fixed-rate deals and are therefore shielded from interest rate rises in the short term.
However, the Government has already taken immediate action to help households, including those in the Liverpool Wavertree constituency and the North West of England, through the Energy Price Guarantee. This is in addition to the £37 billion of targeted support for the cost of living this financial year.
For mortgage borrowers that do enter financial difficulty and struggle to keep up with payments, Financial Conduct Authority guidance requires firms to provide support through tailored forbearance options. This could include a range of measures depending on individual circumstances.
The Government has also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest loans for those in receipt of an income-related benefit, and protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, which makes it clear that repossession must always be the last resort for lenders.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the age limit for a Lifetime ISA, in the context of people saving to buy a home.
Answered by Richard Fuller
The Lifetime ISA (LISA) was designed as a long-term savings product intended to support younger people saving for their first home, or for later life. Since April 2017, adults under 40 have been able to open a LISA and save up to £4,000 each year until they reach 50. The government provides a 25% bonus on all LISA contributions within these limits.
The government considers that those over the age of 40 are less likely to be first time buyers, and the Government's consultation on pensions tax relief in 2015 showed that younger people were in particular need of alternative support to save.
However, individuals aged 40 or over who have not previously opened a LISA are still able to save into another ISA type, benefitting from the annual subscription limit to £20,000.
The Government has no current plans to amend the terms of the LISA but keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that workers are adequately remunerated in the context of the recent increase in the cost of living.
Answered by Simon Clarke
On 1 April 2022, the Government increased the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour for workers aged 23+. This helps keeps us on track to meet our target to end low pay by 2024-25.
The April 2022 increase in the National Living Wage represents an increase of over £1,000 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage and is expected to benefit over 2 million workers.
We are also delivering a significant tax cut for low-income families by reducing the Universal Credit taper rate from 63p to 55p, and increasing Universal Credit work allowances by £500 p.a. This is essentially a tax cut for the lowest paid in society worth £2.2bn next year and means that around 2m families will save an extra £1,000 a year on average.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to (a) mitigate and (b) tackle the impact on people's personal finances of the recent increase in the cost of living.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Millions of households across the UK are struggling to make their incomes stretch to cover the rising cost of living. The government is providing over £15bn of additional support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need. This package builds on the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year.
The government is helping all domestic electricity customers in Great Britain to cope with the impact of higher energy bills, with £400 off their bills from October through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS). This is a doubling of the £200 of support announced in February, and there will no longer be any repayments. The government will deliver equivalent support to people in Northern Ireland.
The government is supporting over 8 million households across the UK in receipt of means tested benefits with a one-off Cost of Living Payment of £650, paid in two instalments.
The government is giving additional UK-wide support to help disabled people with the particular extra costs they will face, with 6 million people who receive non-means tested disability benefits receiving a one-off disability Cost of Living Payment of £150.
The government is also providing extra support to help all pensioners across the UK stay warm this winter. Over eight million pensioner households will receive an extra one-off £300 this year to help them cover the rising cost of energy this winter.
For households that are not eligible for Cost of Living Payments or for families that still need additional support; the government is providing an extra £500 million of local support, via the Household Support Fund. The Fund will be extended from this October to March 2023, bringing total funding for the scheme to £1.5 billion.
Millions of the most vulnerable households will receive at least £1,200 of one-off support in total this year to help with the cost of living.
The government is also committed to tackling the underlying, long-term factors driving cost of living challenges. This includes: helping people into work and supporting them to keep more of what they earn; solidifying our supply chains and boosting our energy security; and driving economic growth through a lower tax, dynamic market economy.