Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants are employed through Skilled Worker visas in (1) His Majesty’s Treasury, and (2) His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We do not disclose the exact number of visas sponsored for data privacy reasons, but can confirm that fewer than five civil servants at HM Treasury are on Skilled Worker visas. Information requested on other departments is not held centrally.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are employed by non-departmental public bodies of the Treasury through Skilled Worker visas.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Information on non-departmental public bodies of the Treasury is not held centrally, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of bookmakers promoting more harmful online gaming products over sports betting as a result of the proposed Remote Betting and Gaming Duty.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is consulting on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three taxes that cover remote gambling, including online gambling, into one. The Government welcomes views from stakeholders as part of the consultation process.
The Government will consider all evidence provided as part of the consultation before taking a final decision on the proposed reform.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 5 February (HL4291), how many individuals have made partial contributions towards state pension through National Insurance between 2006 and 2018.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
With regards to how many individuals are eligible to make voluntary contributions for gaps in their National Insurance records for 2006-2018 before the 5 April deadline, HMRC is not able to provide this information as it is not centrally held and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
HMRC are confident that all voluntary payments are accurately recorded on customers’ accounts and these are visible to the customer in the ‘Check your National Insurance record’ available via GOV.UK.
HMRC does not record how many people have made partial contributions between 2006 and 2018. Since the enhanced online Check your State Pension forecast service launched on 29 April 2024, it has enabled 60,000 people to top up £62 million.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 5 February (HL4291), why HMRC does not hold this information on National Insurance contributions by individuals.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
With regards to how many individuals are eligible to make voluntary contributions for gaps in their National Insurance records for 2006-2018 before the 5 April deadline, HMRC is not able to provide this information as it is not centrally held and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
HMRC are confident that all voluntary payments are accurately recorded on customers’ accounts and these are visible to the customer in the ‘Check your National Insurance record’ available via GOV.UK.
HMRC does not record how many people have made partial contributions between 2006 and 2018. Since the enhanced online Check your State Pension forecast service launched on 29 April 2024, it has enabled 60,000 people to top up £62 million.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals are eligible to make voluntary contributions for gaps in their National Insurance records for 2006–2018 before the 5 April deadline.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of individuals who could be eligible to make voluntary contributions for gaps in their National Insurance record for 2006-2018 is not centrally held.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2024 to Question 21018 on Holiday Accommodation: Taxation, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the abolition of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime on business resilience and diversification of farms.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government recognises the important role that Furnished Holiday Lets (FHLs), including those located on farms, have in the visitor economy. This measure does not penalise or prohibit the provision of FHLs and brings their tax treatment in line with other rentals.
The Government will publish draft legislation, explanatory notes, and a tax information and impacts note in due course. These will set out how the announced changes will apply in practice.
As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the taxation of property under review and any decision on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the abolition of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime on farms.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government recognises the important role that Furnished Holiday Lets (FHL), including those located on farms, have in the visitor economy. This measure does not penalise or prohibit the provision of FHLs and simply brings their tax treatment in line with other rentals.
As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the taxation of property landlords under review and any decision on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of cash withdrawal facilities in Suffolk.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including by those in vulnerable groups.
The government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities, on both a national and local basis. The FCA expects to finalise its regulatory rules in the third quarter of this year.
The most recent analysis undertaken by the FCA on cash access coverage across the UK found that in Q1 2023, over 99% of people in urban areas are within 1 mile of a cash access point offering withdrawals, and over 98% of people in rural areas are within 3 miles of a cash access point offering withdrawals. Further details of this analysis, including a breakdown of cash access coverage by Local Authority District is available on the FCA website: Access to cash coverage in the UK 2023 Q1
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many voluntary donations have been paid to the Government in each of the last 20 years; and what the total amount paid in voluntary donations is over that time period.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HM Treasury received a total of 137 voluntary donations for a total of £4,111,587.79 from January 2003 up to 13th March 2024. The breakdown for each year is in the table below.
Calendar year | No. of donations | Value of donations |
2003 | 4 | £3,103.00 |
2004 | 7 | £97,518.13 |
2005 | 1 | £5.00 |
2006 | 7 | £821,669.41 |
2007 | 3 | £4,270.66 |
2008 | 4 | £5,411.17 |
2009 | 7 | £452,208.81 |
2010 | 7 | £972,621.71 |
2011 | 7 | £60,657.19 |
2012 | 1 | £670.00 |
2013 | 1 | £99,423.00 |
2014 | 0 | - |
2015 | 0 | - |
2016 | 2 | £47,078.41 |
2017 | 3 | £92,847.53 |
2018 | 1 | £800.00 |
2019 | 3 | £65,000.00 |
2020 | 1 | £1,193,875.76 |
2021 | 10 | £13,334.00 |
2022 | 29 | £150,120.55 |
2023 | 38 | £28,212.26 |
2024 (to 13th Mar) | 1 | £2,761.20 |
TOTAL | 137 | £4,111,587.79 |