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Written Question
Pay: Inflation
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are considering to mitigate the potential inflationary effects of the increase in the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In March 2020 the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that meeting the National Living Wage target of 2/3rds of median earnings by 2024 would increase the level of consumer price inflation by less than 0.1 per cent across that period. Evidence shows employers respond to minimum wage increases in a variety of ways, most commonly by absorbing the additional cost and accepting lower profits.

Inflation reduces real incomes, creates uncertainty, and slows economic growth. It’s essential that the government continues with its efforts to keep inflation down. Inflation has more than halved, falling from its peak of 11.1% in October 2022 to 3.4% in February. The OBR forecasts that inflation will return to the 2% target in the second quarter of this year, a year earlier than forecast in November.


Written Question
Tax Avoidance
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 19192 on Tax Avoidance, whether it is his Department's policy to cease recovery of any liabilities incurred before December 2010 in cases where a taxpayer has not received an update for a period of 12 months or more from the initial date of an open enquiry or assessment.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

In the 2019 Independent Loan Charge Review, Lord Morse recommended that the Loan Charge should only apply to loans made on or after 9 December 2010. The Government accepted this recommendation.

Lord Morse was also clear that, for years before this date, where there is an open enquiry or assessment under appeal, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) should still have the ability to pursue the tax due under the existing rules. HMRC has proceeded on this basis and it is its policy to collect tax where it has the ability to do so.

As part of its overall compliance processes and its commitment to update taxpayers at least annually, all of these taxpayers should have received correspondence from HMRC in the last 12 months.

When HMRC opens an enquiry, the information sheet provided includes information about a taxpayer’s right to apply to the First Tier Tribunal for the enquiry to be closed. One of the grounds for making such an application is where there has been an excessive delay during which a taxpayer has not received any communication from HMRC.


Written Question
Audiobooks: VAT
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made representations to the Minister for Women and Equalities in support of a 0% VAT rate on audiobooks to prevent discrimination against people with (a) dyslexia, (b) sight (i) loss and (ii) impairment and (c) disabilities preventing them from holding a physical book.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is committed to supporting those with disabilities who may struggle to access physical books and therefore rely more heavily on audiobooks. In line with its statutory obligations under the Equality Act, the Government carefully considers the impact of VAT policy on those with disabilities.

However, there is never any guarantee that any VAT cut is passed onto consumers. It is therefore not clear that cutting the VAT on audiobooks would actually benefit consumers, including those with disabilities.

Given this, the government does not currently have any plans to change the VAT treatment of audiobooks.


Written Question
Audiobooks: VAT
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of charging VAT on (a) academic and (b) other educational audiobooks on access to education for people with (i) dyslexia, (ii) sight loss and (iii) impairment who cannot hold books.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is committed to supporting those with disabilities who may struggle to access physical books and therefore rely more heavily on audiobooks. In line with its statutory obligations under the Equality Act, the Government carefully considers the impact of VAT policy on those with disabilities.

However, there is never any guarantee that any VAT cut is passed onto consumers. It is therefore not clear that cutting the VAT on audiobooks would actually benefit consumers, including those with disabilities.

Given this, the government does not currently have any plans to change the VAT treatment of audiobooks.


Written Question
Economic Growth
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the evidential basis is for his Department's tweet of 29 September 2023 that the UK was the fastest growing European G7 country since 2010.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The calculations underlying this statistic were based on public information available on the 29 September 2023, including quarterly GDP data published by the Office for National Statistics for the UK and OECD data for the remaining G7 European economies.

The data showed that cumulative GDP growth in the UK from the beginning of 2010 (change on 2009 Q4) through to 2023 Q2 of 24.2% was greater than that of France (16.4%), Italy (3.5%) and Germany (21.2%).


Written Question
Payment Methods
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure the National Payments Vision results in meaningful competition in retail payments.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Payments are essential to the UK’s economy, both for individuals and for businesses, and are a cornerstone of growth and competitiveness. The government is committed to maintaining the UK’s reputation for a world-leading payments ecosystem and will publish the National Payments Vision as soon as possible later this year.


Written Question
Payment Methods
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which stakeholders he is consulting on the National Payments Vision.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Payments are essential to the UK’s economy, both for individuals and for businesses, and are a cornerstone of growth and competitiveness. The government is committed to maintaining the UK’s reputation for a world-leading payments ecosystem and will publish the National Payments Vision as soon as possible later this year.


Written Question
Payment Methods
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the National Payments Vision.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Payments are essential to the UK’s economy, both for individuals and for businesses, and are a cornerstone of growth and competitiveness. The government is committed to maintaining the UK’s reputation for a world-leading payments ecosystem and will publish the National Payments Vision as soon as possible later this year.


Written Question
Mortgages
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) mortgage term extensions, (b) interest-only payment switches and (c) repossessions in relation to a mortgaged property since the publication of the Mortgage Charter on 26 June 2023.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government’s Mortgage Charter - in addition to the significant safeguards already in place - is providing support to vulnerable households, and mortgage arrears and repossessions remain low.

On 22 March the Financial Conduct Authority published data on the uptake of the Mortgage Charter since July 2023. (https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mortgage-charter-uptake).

More broadly, there is a wide variety of data and statistics about the mortgage market in the UK available from the Bank of England (https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics), the Financial Conduct Authority (https://www.fca.org.uk/data) and UK Finance (https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data).


Written Question
Mortgages
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the Mortgage Charter on levels of (a) forbearance, (b) arrears and (c) repossessions.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government’s Mortgage Charter - in addition to the significant safeguards already in place - is providing support to vulnerable households, and mortgage arrears and repossessions remain low.

On 22 March the Financial Conduct Authority published data on the uptake of the Mortgage Charter since July 2023. (https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mortgage-charter-uptake).

More broadly, there is a wide variety of data and statistics about the mortgage market in the UK available from the Bank of England (https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics), the Financial Conduct Authority (https://www.fca.org.uk/data) and UK Finance (https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data).