Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of increases in car insurance premiums on consumer price inflation.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Information on inflation in transport insurance and its weight within the Consumer Prices Index basket can be found online at the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/datasets/consumerpriceinflation/current
Insurers make decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. This is usually informed by the insurer’s claims experience and other industry-wide statistics. The Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers as this could damage competition in the market.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of HM Revenue and Customs' (a) customer service standard and (b) response times.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC agrees its budget and targets with HMT on an annual basis. HMT Ministers meet regularly with senior officials from HMRC to monitor progress.
HMRC is working hard to bring all their customer service levels to where they want them to be, by implementing changes that will reduce demand on their phone and post services and enable them to improve the experience for those customers who still need to use them.
HMRC performance is published on a monthly and quarterly basis at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that HM Revenue and Customs responds to enquiries and complaints within standard response times.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
I refer the hon member to the answer that I gave on 24 March to PQ UIN 169413.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints HM Revenue and Customs received in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those were upheld.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Monthly performance data is published on GOV.UK website.
Volumes of complaints received, and outcomes can be viewed in the supporting data tables found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports
HMRC monthly performance reports - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including provision in the Energy Security Investment Mechanism for the Energy Profits Levy tax rate of 75 per cent on North Sea oil and gas production to be reapplied if oil and gas prices exceed the 20-year historic average for two consecutive quarters.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Energy Security Investment Mechanism will permanently disapply the Energy Profits Levy if oil and gas prices fall to historically normal levels for a sustained period before the levy’s March 2028 sunset date.
The Energy Security Investment Mechanism uses 20-year historic averages to the end of 2022 so that it is set at $71.40 per barrel of oil and £0.54 per therm of gas. Government will require average prices to meet or fall below the level of both price thresholds for two successive quarters before disapplying the EPL and will set out further details on how this will work in due course. Based on the latest independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast, the mechanism will not be triggered before the tax’s planned end date in March 2028.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the potential fiscal impact of the energy security investment mechanism in each financial year from 2023-24 to the end of 2027-28 in comparison with the latest published forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Energy Security Investment Mechanism will permanently disapply the Energy Profits Levy if oil and gas prices fall to historically normal levels for a sustained period before the levy’s March 2028 sunset date.
The Energy Security Investment Mechanism uses 20-year historic averages to the end of 2022 so that it is set at $71.40 per barrel of oil and £0.54 per therm of gas. Government will require average prices to meet or fall below the level of both price thresholds for two successive quarters before disapplying the EPL and will set out further details on how this will work in due course. Based on the latest independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast, the mechanism will not be triggered before the tax’s planned end date in March 2028.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has produced a timetable for implementation of the energy security investment mechanism.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Energy Security Investment Mechanism will permanently disapply the Energy Profits Levy if oil and gas prices fall to historically normal levels for a sustained period before the levy’s March 2028 sunset date.
The Energy Security Investment Mechanism uses 20-year historic averages to the end of 2022 so that it is set at $71.40 per barrel of oil and £0.54 per therm of gas. Government will require average prices to meet or fall below the level of both price thresholds for two successive quarters before disapplying the EPL and will set out further details on how this will work in due course. Based on the latest independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast, the mechanism will not be triggered before the tax’s planned end date in March 2028.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the energy security investment mechanism will apply to renewable electricity generators.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The energy Security Investment Mechanism will apply to the Energy profits Levy only. The EGL and EPL have fundamentally different designs as the EPL is applied to total profits and EGL is applied to a measure of exemptional returns.
If wholesale electricity prices consistently fall below the EGL’s benchmark price, for many generators, the levy would cease to apply. Should the crisis abate and prices fall below the benchmark price, the revenue forecast from the levy will not materialise and consideration would be given to the tax’s ongoing application.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of how much tax revenue would be raised by changing the tax classification of carried interest to income tax from capital gains tax.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government believes its approach to the taxation of Carried Interest, which is consistent with that taken in comparable jurisdictions, is a balanced one.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what date his Department plans to introduce the new method of calculating cash equivalent transfer value for pension benefits.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The government published the outcome of the public service pensions consultation on the methodology used to set the Superannuation Contributions Adjusted for Past Experience discount rate (SCAPE) on 30 March 2023. As a result, the previous guidance on setting the discount rates for calculating cash equivalent transfer values (CETV) payable by public service pensions schemes was suspended.
Subsequently, on 27 April 2023 HM Treasury published new guidance for setting discount rates for calculating transfer values. It is now necessary for the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) to calculate new actuarial factors to be used in the calculation of transfer values. GAD expects to provide these factors to administrators of public service pension schemes, by early summer. Schemes will then be able to carry out the calculations for transfer values.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basis-for-setting-the-discount-rates-for-calculating-cash-equivalent-transfer-values-payable-by-public-service-pension-schemes/basis-for-setting-the-discount-rates-for-calculating-cash-equivalent-transfer-values-payable-by-public-service-pension-schemes