Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list the values of the Barnett consequential funding for Northern Ireland relating to his spending decisions in the Autumn Statement 2022.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As a result of the decisions taken at Autumn Statement 2022, the Northern Ireland Executive’s funding is increasing by around £650m over 2023-24 and 2024-25.
The Block Grant Transparency publication will set out a full breakdown of funding for the Northern Ireland Executive in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the £85,000 VAT threshold for businesses.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government recognises that accounting for VAT can be a burden on small businesses. This is why at £85,000 the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU Member State and the second highest in the OECD. This keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether.
In 2018, the Government consulted on how the design of the VAT registration threshold could better incentivise growth. However, there was no clear option for reform, and it was announced at Budget 2021 that the VAT threshold will be maintained at its current level of £85,000 until 31 March 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether assessment he has made of the potential merits of levying a windfall tax on banks.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Banks already face two additional taxes. The Bank Corporation Tax Surcharge is an additional charge on banking profit above a set allowance, and the Bank Levy is charged on banks’ balance sheets with equity and liabilities over £20 billion. Since the introduction of the Bank Levy in 2011, these two taxes have raised over £33 billion in additional revenue from the banking sector.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of rising (a) inflation and (b) refinancing costs on the cost of servicing Government debt.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Inflation has a range of impacts on the public finances and previous OBR forecasts have shown how inflation can increase spending on welfare and debt interest, as well as tax revenues. With respect to debt interest, the most recent OBR forecast in March projected that government spending on debt interest would reach £83.0 billion in 2022-23. The OBR also publish a ‘ready reckoner’ to estimate the effect of changes in economic determinants, such as inflation and gilt rates. This shows the estimated change in debt interest costs from a 1 percentage point increase in inflation and gilt rates throughout the forecast.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has been made of the potential merits of extending Tax Free Childcare to students embarking on studies in areas that are deemed economically or socially necessary for future UK skills needs.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Tax-Free Childcare has been designed with the specific policy aim of supporting parents to return to paid work or work more, by providing support with their childcare costs. For this reason, to be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, each parent must be in work and earning at least the equivalent of 16 hours’ work a week at the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage.
Students who are working alongside their studies and earning at least this minimum threshold are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare.
Alternative Government support is available for those who are studying and have childcare responsibilities, such as the Student Childcare Grant. This supports students with childcare costs by providing eligible full-time students with 85% of their childcare costs, up to a fixed maximum amount.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of levying a windfall tax on commercial banks.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Banks already face two additional taxes. The Bank Corporation Tax Surcharge is an additional charge on banking profit above a set allowance, and the Bank Levy is charged on banks’ balance sheets with equity and liabilities over £20 billion. Since the introduction of the Bank Levy in 2011, these two taxes have raised over £33 billion in additional revenue from the banking sector.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government's Energy Price Guarantee on the Barnett consequential entitlement for Northern Ireland.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Energy Price Guarantee is a scheme that will cap the unit price households pay for electricity and gas, which means that a typical household in Great Britain will have to pay bills equivalent to no more than £2500 a year on their energy bills this winter.
The Prime Minister announced that equivalent support will be available for Northern Ireland and this will be in place by November, and backdated to cover October bills from November.
As the UK Government is providing support directly across the UK, there will be no associated Barnett consequentials for the devolved administrations in line with the usual operation of the Barnett formula.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will set the timescale for the implementation of tariff reimbursement scheme in relation to movements covered by the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Answered by Richard Fuller
The Government remains committed to establishing a reimbursement scheme for goods which have attracted a tariff upon entering Northern Ireland that can subsequently be shown to have remained in Northern Ireland or the rest of the UK.
Traders can use the customs duty waiver scheme where they are eligible. Further guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-waiver-for-duty-on-goods-that-you-bring-to-northern-ireland-from-great-britain.