Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of funding from the UK Infrastructure Bank went to female-led (a) projects and (b) businesses in the last 10 years.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The National Wealth Fund does not record the gender of the leadership teams of the projects and businesses, in which it invests. The National Wealth Fund makes investment decisions in line with its investment principles, which can be found on its website. The UK Infrastructure Bank operated from 2021-24.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many hours have been spent by his Department's staff on costing the policies of HM Opposition since 1 January 2024.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
The Treasury does not record information relating to the allocation of staff time to specific tasks such as opposition costings. However, all work undertaken by HM Treasury staff (or officials from other departments) on opposition costings was completed in line with the guidance on ‘Costing the policies of Opposition parties’ set out in the Directory of Civil Service Guidance. Final versions of the costing documents produced by Civil Servants have also been published online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/opposition-policy-costings-2024.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff in his Department have been involved with costing the policies of HM Opposition.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
The Treasury does not routinely record information relating to the allocation of individual members of staff to specific tasks such as opposition costings. However, all work undertaken by HM Treasury officials (or officials from other departments) on opposition costings was completed in line with the guidance on ‘Costing the policies of Opposition parties’ set out in the Directory of Civil Service Guidance. Final versions of the costing documents produced by Civil Servants have been published online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/opposition-policy-costings-2024.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full time equivalent staff are dedicated to the work of the Illicit Tobacco Taskforce; how often will the taskforce meet; has the taskforce met to date; whether illicit vaping products will be included as part of its remit; and what recent estimate has he made of losses in tax revenue from the illicit trade in (a) tobacco and (b) vaping products in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
We plan to establish the taskforce during 2024/25. We are not yet able to give details on meeting frequency or staff numbers.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 5.81 of the Autumn Statement 2023, published in November 2023, what his planned timetable is to open the consultation on the VAT treatment of private hire vehicles.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
As announced at Spring Budget, the Government will launch the consultation on the impacts of the July 2023 High Court ruling in Uber Britannia Ltd v Sefton MBC in April.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce a track and trace system for imported vaping products.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
Track and Trace requirements for cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco have been in place, in the UK, since 20 May 2019. These requirements are due to be extended to other tobacco products, such as cigars, cigarillos and pipe tobacco from 20 May 2024. This does not include vaping products.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of resources available to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to (a) consider referrals in a reasonable timeframe and (b) to manage the demand on its services.
Answered by John Glen
The Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO), as an independent organisation, requested and received an increase in funding at the 2021 Spending Review, with its total Resource budget £41.8m in 2023/24 and Capital budget £11.7m.
As it is independent from Government and accountable to Parliament with its work is scrutinised by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. It is therefore, not for HM Treasury to comment on the adequacy of the resources available to the PHSO.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to reform requirements to date (a) Vehicle Excise Duty and (b) other taxes from the first of the month.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Government has to balance simplicity and fairness when making decisions on the administration of taxes. The administration of different taxes will vary depending on the nature of the tax base.
It is a longstanding feature of the vehicle tax system that VED is issued from the first of a month. Issuing VED from a date other than the first of the month would add complexity to the vehicle tax system.
All taxes, including VED, are kept under review, and any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on publishing a policy statement on free access to cash services for low-income families, as part of the digital pound initiative.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel
While the adoption of digital payments continues to develop at pace, the government recognises that millions of people continue to use cash, particularly those in vulnerable groups. Therefore, the government is currently taking legislation through Parliament to protect access to cash across the UK as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he supports Ghana's request for an expedited process for debt relief through the G20 Common Framework.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The UK welcomes Ghana’s request for a debt treatment under the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative. We stand ready to deliver a debt treatment for Ghana under the Common Framework in a timely and efficient manner.