Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people claimed the Marriage Allowance in the 2018–19 financial year; and what steps they are taking to increase the uptake of that allowance.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Marriage Allowance was introduced in April 2015 to recognise the importance of marriage and civil partnerships through the tax system, and support those on low incomes by helping them keep more of the money they earn. There were 1.78m claimants for the Marriage Allowance in 2018-19.
The Government has taken significant steps to encourage people to claim for the Marriage Allowance. HM Revenue and Customs ran a series of both free and paid-for marketing campaigns, which ran between October 2015 and March 2017, and continue to raise awareness through ongoing communication on social media and on GOV.UK. Marriage Allowance can be claimed through the Personal Tax Account on GOV.UK or by phone to HMRC. The Marriage Allowance can be backdated to 2015-16 when it was introduced. This means eligible couples can claim a total of £1,150 if not claimed before.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the publication of revised figures on the uptake of the Marriage Allowance by HMRC, whether they have a revised budget for the Marriage Allowance for the 2019/20 financial year; and what the actual expenditure on the Marriage Allowance was in the 2018/19 financial year.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Anyone who applies for Marriage Allowance and meets the criteria will receive it. There is no set budget. The estimated cost to the Exchequer of Marriage Allowance in the 2018/19 financial year is £485 million. The cost will be finalised after 2018/19 Self-Assessment returns are submitted in January 2020.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many HM Treasury policies have been assessed against the Family Test; and whether they will publish any such assessments.
Answered by Lord Bates
The government is committed to supporting families. To achieve this, in 2014 we introduced the Family Test, which aims to ensure that impacts on family relationships and functioning are recognised early on during the process of policy development and help inform the policy decisions made by Minsters. There is no requirement for departments to publish the results of assessments made under the Family Test.