Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that people receive prompt responses from HMRC caseworkers on (a) inheritance tax payments and (b) other matters.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Since 6 April 2018, 95.65% of new Inheritance Tax accounts submitted to HMRC are processed within 15 working days. This enables the customer to obtain Grant of Representation.
In April 2018, HMRC changed its account handling process in response to customer feedback. Now, if a compliance check is required, HMRC will write to the customer and provide them with a timeline and a date indicating how long the check will take.
For the week ending 31 August 2018, HMRC responded to 66.38% of inheritance tax post within 15 working days. In order to bring performance in line with the target of responding to 80% of post within 15 working days, additional resource has been deployed.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average amount of time is for a person to receive a response from HMRC caseworkers for queries on (a) inheritance tax payments and (b) other subjects; and whether his Department has any target times for such responses to be sent.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC aims to respond to 80% of correspondence within 15 working days and answer telephone calls within an average time of 5 minutes.
Since 6 April 2018, 95.65% of new Inheritance Tax accounts submitted to HMRC are processed within 15 working days. This enables the customer to obtain Grant of Representation.
If compliance checks are required, then HMRC will write to the customer and provide them with a timeline and a date indicating how long the checks will take.
For the week ending 31 August 2018, HMRC responded to 66.38% of inheritance tax post within 15 working days. We answered the phone within an average of 5 minutes
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on changes in the level of funding for adult social care since 2010.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
In line with the practice of successive administrations, the details of ministerial discussions are not normally discussed. Adult social care funding will be discussed during the forthcoming 2019 Spending Review.
Councils have access to £9.4 billion more dedicated funding for social care between 17/18 and 19/20 as a result of measures introduced since 2015. The government will also publish a Green Paper on social care by autumn 2018.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on funding for the NHS.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
At the last Spending Review the Government funded the NHS’s Five Year Forward View plan, with a settlement that provided a £10 billion a year real terms increase to the NHS’s budget by 2020-21.
Even with that significant investment, we recognise that the NHS remains under pressure – with high demand on its services caused by the UK’s ageing population and rapidly advancing technology. That is why we have committed £10 billion of additional funding for the NHS at the Budget and since. This includes making available over £4 billion for a new pay deal for the 1.2 million NHS staff on the Agenda for Change contract, in return for wider reform.
In terms of next steps – as the Prime Minister set out recently at the Liaison Committee, we will come forward this year with a long-term plan for the NHS, and provide a new multi-year funding settlement in support of this plan – consistent with our fiscal rules and balanced approach – ahead of the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) consultation, (b) decision-making process and (c) timetable he plans for deciding the final rules for the Government's Lifetime Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) scheme; and whether he plans to conduct a consultation on what life events in addition to the purchase of a first home will be eligible for penalty-free withdrawal of such investments before the age of 60.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Following the Budget, the Government has engaged with industry on the detailed design of the Lifetime ISA, including on penalty-free withdrawals.
The Queen’s Speech for the 2016-17 session announced the Government’s intention to legislate for the Lifetime ISA. The legislation which will enact this measure will be introduced to Parliament in due course.
The Government will continue to talk to industry and interested parties about the Lifetime ISA while the Bill is being considered by the House, leading up to its planned launch.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if HM Revenue and Customs will end its requirement for hon. Members' case correspondence to be submitted by fax and accept such correspondence from a verified Parliamentary email account.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have reviewed this requirement and, from August, will begin providing email responses to hon. Member Parliamentary email accounts when they contact HMRC by email.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for public expenditure control of the conclusions of the NHS Five Year Forward View published in October 2014.
Answered by Danny Alexander
The funding announced in the Autumn Statement is a down-payment on the NHS's own long-term plan, fully delivering the investment required to make the Five Year Forward View a reality in 2015-16.
It also provides funding to start delivering the changes necessary to ensure a sustainable NHS in future years.
This has only been possible through good financial management of the Government’s budget, and through the success of the Government’s long term economic plan.