Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential financial effect on charities of his Department's Making Tax Digital scheme; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting charities from liability for VAT.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government is firmly committed to helping charities and the voluntary sector and recognizes the important role they play in communities all across the UK. There is a range of generous tax reliefs to the sector worth more than £5bn, including VAT reliefs.
Following extensive consultation the Government has announced that for direct tax purposes charities will be exempt from the Making Tax Digital requirements, but that trading subsidiaries of charities will not be. In the interests of parity of treatment across all businesses, where a charity is liable to be registered for VAT and has taxable turnover above the VAT threshold, the Making Tax Digital requirements for VAT will apply.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding will be available in the next round of Libor funding for charities.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The amount of funding available in the next round of Libor funding for charities (LIBOR 2017) will be confirmed once all applications for funding support have been received. The application window closes on 25 August 2017; full details of the scheme and the application form can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/libor-funding-applications
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons no funds from Libor fines were allocated in the Spring Budget 2017.
Answered by David Gauke
The governance of LIBOR Grants complies fully with the mandated requirements of the ‘Minimum Standards for Government Grants’ which came into force on 1st December 2016. The details of any future LIBOR grants scheme open for public application will be published on the gov.uk website and advertised widely through social media and across the charity sector. All applications that meet the published criteria will be considered fully.
No funds from Libor fines were allocated in the Spring Budget 2017 due to insufficient time being available between the Autumn Statement 2016 and the Budget, in which to conduct mandated due diligence on the significant number of applications anticipated.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that charities are able to bid more effectively and transparently for any future allocation of funding from Libor fines.
Answered by David Gauke
The governance of LIBOR Grants complies fully with the mandated requirements of the ‘Minimum Standards for Government Grants’ which came into force on 1st December 2016. The details of any future LIBOR grants scheme open for public application will be published on the gov.uk website and advertised widely through social media and across the charity sector. All applications that meet the published criteria will be considered fully.
No funds from Libor fines were allocated in the Spring Budget 2017 due to insufficient time being available between the Autumn Statement 2016 and the Budget, in which to conduct mandated due diligence on the significant number of applications anticipated.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In answer to the first part of your question, the department is unable to provide spend on focus groups. The data is not held centrally, and to attempt to collect the information would engage the disproportionate costs threshold.
As to the second part of your question, I can confirm that the total spend on surveys by the department in 2013, and up to 31 October 2014 is as follows:
Financial Year April 13-March 14 | Financial Year April 14-March 15 | |
10,604.40 | 10,604.40 | Spend |
This compares to £25,203.50 in 2008/09.