Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) her Department and (b) HMRC was in each of the last three years.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMT Response
HM Treasury offers two-weeks’ paternity leave with pay for staff who meet the qualifying conditions. Staff can choose to take the two weeks together or in separate blocks of one week each.
The information below covers the average length of paternity leave in calendar days for the past three financial years in HM Treasury:
Financial years: | Average length of paternity leave: |
1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022 | 12.78 |
1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023 | 13.16 |
1 April 2023 – 31 March 2024 | 12.35 |
HMRC Response
Financial year April-23 to March-24: The average number of calendar days taken for paternity leave per person is 27.79 days.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a levy on foreign ownership of residential properties.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Non-UK residents purchasing residential property in England or Northern Ireland currently pay a 2 percentage point Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) surcharge on top of the standard residential SDLT rates.
The Government keeps all tax policy under review and would have to consider the merits of any new taxes in the round as part of a fiscal event. The Chancellor will set out her Budget on the 30th October.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which schemes the UK Infrastructure Bank has (a) accepted and (b) declined, by local authority area; and how much and what proportion of infrastructure finance available to the bank remained as of 4 July 2024.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) sets out financial information in their Annual Reports and Accounts, which are published on their website at https://www.ukib.org.uk/publications and provided to the house on a yearly basis. Further UKIB provides factsheets for each deal it enters into via their website, which can be found at https://www.ukib.org.uk/factsheets.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of reducing the onward interest charge of the Public Works Loan Board to local councils on (a) housing growth, (b) economic growth, (c) job creation and (d) local government viability.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The PWLB lending facility exists to provide cost effective loans to local authorities to support investment and service delivery. HM Treasury keeps the interest rates of PWLB loans under review to ensure that PWLB lending remains supportive of prudent investment by local authorities, while meeting the requirement in the National Loans Act 1968 that HM Treasury does not lend at a loss. This includes keeping under review the discounted rate for investment in social housing through Housing Revenue Accounts that is currently available until June 2025.