Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to extend the 100 per cent first year allowance on the purchase of electric vehicles to include the rental sector in order to facilitate the transition from petrol and diesel cars to electric vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The existing 100 per cent first year allowances, which are available for the purchase of electric vehicles in respect of business cars and zero emission goods vehicles, are being extended to 2025 in order to continue to incentivise the transition to zero CO2 emission vehicles. First year allowances are not available for equipment purchased for leasing; there are no plans to introduce this for zero emission goods vehicles or to reintroduce it for low emission cars, as such assets could be leased overseas. This ensures that the environmental benefits of such incentives remain within the UK to assist the Government in achieving its wider commitment to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a new annual investment allowance for electric vehicle infrastructure which would allow 100 per cent of investment costs for all electric vehicle infrastructure to be offset against corporation tax.
Answered by Jesse Norman
A specific capital allowance is currently available to businesses investing in new equipment for electric vehicle charging points. This can provide a tax deduction of 100 per cent of the investment for the tax period in which it is incurred. It is available for qualifying expenditure for businesses chargeable to UK corporation tax until 31 March 2023, and those chargeable to income tax until 5 April 2023.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to announce Additional High Needs funding to March 2024; and whether he plans that funding will be based on an assessment of local need rather than historical spend.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As a part of our major investment in education, the department has announced significant increases to high needs funding. This year, we have already provided an £780 million increase into high needs, which will be followed up by an additional £730 million in the 2021-22 financial year. This means that the high needs budgets will have grown by over £1.5 billion, nearly 25%, in just 2 years.
High needs funding for the 2022-23 financial year will be drawn from the overall core schools budget. As announced last year, the core school budget for the 2022-23 financial year will total £52.2 billion, which is a year-on-year increase of £4.8 billion. We will announce the high needs budget for 2022-23 in due course. Funding for the 2023-24 financial year will be determined in the next Spending Review.
This additional high needs funding will be allocated via the high needs national funding formula. This formula was introduced in the 2018-19 financial year after extensive consultation and was a significant step forward in making the allocation of funding fairer. The formula is based on the population of 2 to 18-year olds in a local authority area, and includes a number of factors which together are intended to reflect the level of need in the area.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans in the forthcoming spending review to announce Additional High Needs funding to March 2024, with that funding allocated to councils based on an assessment of local need rather than historical spend.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The upcoming Spending Review is a one-year exercise that will set departmental resource and capital budgets for 2021-22.
My RHF the Chancellor will set out the government’s spending plans that will focus on tackling Covid-19.
The government is committed to the multi-year resource settlement for schools that was announced at Spending Round 2019. This has provided for a £780 million boost to high needs funding this year, and an additional £730 million next year, which will bring the total high needs budget to over £8 billion in 2021-22.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to amend the VAT liability on garages let to non-council tenants in order to remove the discrepancy between council and non-council tenants in respect of garage rental charges.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Under the current VAT rules, the supply of a garage or parking is exempt from VAT if supplied at the outset at the same time as the residential accommodation. This VAT treatment is consistent for both council and non-council tenants.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to reduce VAT on health and leisure sector memberships to promote healthy living.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Services linked with sport or physical education provided by certain bodies are exempt from VAT provided they are not run for profit. The services of profit making bodies are subject to the standard rate of VAT in line with the rules for normal business activity.
Extending the current exemption would come at a cost to the Exchequer. The Government has no plans to change the current VAT treatment of health and leisure memberships.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to extend the business rates holiday to the 2021-22 financial year for sectors affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government will continue to look at how to adjust its support in a way that ensures people can get back to work, protecting both the UK economy and the livelihoods of people across the country. The Government considers all reliefs in the round, against the broader fiscal and economic impacts of COVID-19, as part of the Business Rates Review.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2020 to Question 93582 on Local Government Finance, for what reason he did not state in that Answer how many local authority accountable officers have indicated to his Department that they may have to consider issuing Section 114 notices in the financial year 2020-21.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
As noted in the answer to Question 93582 on 30 September, throughout the Covid-19 pandemic the department has encouraged local authorities with concerns about unmanageable financial pressures to approach MHCLG in the first instance for discussion. The department has also taken the decision to proactively approach councils at an early stage to understand the challenges they are facing as a result of the pandemic.
The complex nature of many local authorities’ financial positions, particularly at this time, means that in each case there are many different financial scenarios leading to different outcomes. In advance of a decision from the relevant Section 151 officer on whether to issue a Section 114 notice, the department would treat any such discussions as confidential in nature.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authority accountable officers have indicated to his Department that they may have to consider issuing Section 114 notices in the financial year 2020-21.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the additional costs and pressures councils are facing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout, the department has encouraged local authorities with concerns about unmanageable financial pressures to approach MHCLG in the first instance. If the Section 151 officer of a council judges that the council is unable to set or maintain a balanced budget, they must consider the possibility of a Section 114 notice. As is appropriate, that judgement rests with individual authorities.
The department has worked closely with CIPFA (The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) who have temporarily amended their guidance on the use of Section 114 notices to further encourage local authorities to make contact with the department in the first instance to advise it of any immediate financial concerns. In advance of a decision from the relevant Section 151 officer, the department would treat such conversations as confidential in nature.
The department is continuing to engage closely with local government to understand what further support is needed to help them manage the impact of the pandemic. This includes monthly data collection, as well as a proactive approach to speaking with individual councils at an early stage.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide support to leaseholders in flats that require cladding safety works.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is providing £1.6 billion to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding and make homes safer, quicker. We have also appointed construction experts who are reviewing remediation timescales and identifying what can be done to increase pace. Where building owners have failed to act, despite government support, the Government has supported enforcement action.
However,?we recognise that there are wider remediation costs which will need to be met to ensure the safety of existing blocks of flats. We have asked MHCLG advisor Michael Wade to accelerate work on identifying options for financing solutions that remove barriers to fixing historic defects and protect leaseholders from unaffordable costs; but we must also ensure that the bill does not fall on taxpayers.
The new building safety regime will prevent similar safety defects occurring in new builds in the future. It will also systematically address historic defects by requiring safety case reviews and reasonable improvements.