Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the next round of International Climate Finance from April 2026 has already been allocated under future spending plans.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The next round of International Climate Finance falls outside of this Spending Review period. Decisions on how spending is allocated after 2024-25, including for International Climate Finance, will be made at a future Spending Review.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that the Apprenticeship Levy will raise in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The latest receipts forecast for the Apprenticeship Levy is published by Office for Budget Responsibility which can be found online at:
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June to Questions 188238, 188239 and 188240 on Apprentices: Finance, whether the (a) Scottish, (b) Welsh and (c) Northern Ireland government receives funding under the Barnett formula for the provision of apprenticeships.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The devolved administrations receive Barnett consequentials as a result of changes to UK government department DEL associated with spending in devolved areas. Rather than receiving funding for specific programmes or policy areas, the devolved administrations receive block grants from the UK Government. It is generally for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their block grant funding in devolved areas.
A full breakdown of how the block grants for the devolved administrations are calculated is published in Block Grant Transparency (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-december-202) which will be updated on 20th July. The Statement of Funding Policy (Statement_of_Funding_Policy_update_Feb_2023.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) also lists the breakdown of comparability factors for each programme the devolved administrations receive funding from.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the Northern Irish Government has received in each year since 2015-16 for the training provided for apprenticeships.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Rather than receiving funding for specific programmes or policy areas, the devolved administrations receive block grants from the UK Government. It is generally for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their block grant funding in devolved areas.
All changes to devolved administration block grants are published in the Block Grant Transparency document, which is due to be updated shortly. The latest publication is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-december-2021
The devolved administrations are well-funded to deliver all their devolved responsibilities, each receiving over 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK. This is around 25% more for the Scottish Government and around 20% more for the Welsh Government and NI Executive.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the Welsh Government has received in each year since 2015-16 for the training provided for apprenticeships.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Rather than receiving funding for specific programmes or policy areas, the devolved administrations receive block grants from the UK Government. It is generally for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their block grant funding in devolved areas.
All changes to devolved administration block grants are published in the Block Grant Transparency document, which is due to be updated shortly. The latest publication is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-december-2021
The devolved administrations are well-funded to deliver all their devolved responsibilities, each receiving over 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK. This is around 25% more for the Scottish Government and around 20% more for the Welsh Government and NI Executive.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the Scottish Government has received in each year since 2015-16 for the training provided for apprenticeships.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Rather than receiving funding for specific programmes or policy areas, the devolved administrations receive block grants from the UK Government. It is generally for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their block grant funding in devolved areas.
All changes to devolved administration block grants are published in the Block Grant Transparency document, which is due to be updated shortly. The latest publication is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-december-2021
The devolved administrations are well-funded to deliver all their devolved responsibilities, each receiving over 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK. This is around 25% more for the Scottish Government and around 20% more for the Welsh Government and NI Executive.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was generated by the apprenticeship levy in each year since its creation.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced in April 2017. Monthly receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy is published by HM Revenue and Customs in their Tax and NIC Receipts publication which can be found online at:
HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reclassifying sunscreen products as essential healthcare items for VAT purposes.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
VAT rules do not distinguish between supplies on the basis of whether they might be considered essential. The standard rate of VAT applies to most goods and services, including sun safety products.
High-factor sunscreen is on the NHS prescription list for certain conditions and therefore is provided VAT free when dispensed by a pharmacist.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, however, there are currently no plans to change the VAT treatment of sunscreen products.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help (a) young people with disabilities and (b) other children to access (a) Child Trust Funds and (b) Junior ISAs.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to helping people access the savings and money they are entitled to, including the money held in Child Trust Funds (CTF) and Junior ISAs (JISA).
While primary responsibility for communicating with account holders and their registered contact lies with CTF providers, HMRC works closely with providers, the wider industry and the Money and Pensions Service to ensure that young people are aware of, and can access, their CTFs, particularly those opened by HMRC on their behalf.
The government’s current plans will reunite the vast majority of CTF accounts with their owners, but there may be some cases where further action will be required. The government will monitor how many accounts remain open and judge when it is appropriate to intervene in other ways.
Only parents or a guardian with parental responsibility can open a JISA for an under 16-year old. Young adults are likely to be aware of JISAs opened for them.
If the child lacks the mental capacity to manage their account when they turn 18 then the parent, or a close friend or relative, needs to apply to the Court of Protection (or equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland) for a financial deputyship order. This allows them to manage the young person’s adult ISA or matured CTF account or take out money on their behalf once they turn 18. Responsibility for the process and legislation relating to mental capacity rests with the Ministry of Justice and devolved administrations.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, If he will publish the findings of his Department's review of the issuing of a special licence to Yevgeny Prigozhin by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
HM Treasury does not comment on specific licensing cases.
HM Treasury’s Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) takes operational decisions relating to the implementation of financial sanctions in line with the relevant regulations. However, OFSI has not considered it appropriate for the Treasury to effectively decide on whether a case has sufficient merit to be permitted to proceed by deciding whether to license legal fees. Rather, OFSI's position has been that the merits should be decided by the appropriate court. OFSI assesses cases on a costs-basis only, ensuring that the fees requested are reasonable in accordance with the derogations available under the sanctions regimes.
We need to carefully balance the right to legal representation - which is a fundamental one - with wider issues, including the aim and purpose of the sanctions. It is right therefore that HM Treasury are examining whether there are any changes that can be made to this policy. We will update the House in due course.