Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations they have conducted on the impact of the cap on low- to middle-income earners in the public sector, and what protections were considered when setting the level of the exit payment cap at £95,000.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government set out its proposals for the cap on public sector exit payments in the consultation document published on 31 July 2015 and confirmed the design of the cap in the consultation response document published on 16 September 2015. The consultation document gave details of the number of exits over recent years that cost the taxpayer more than £100,000.
The precise number of those affected by the public sector exit payment cap will depend on the number and type of exits in coming years. However, in recent years the large majority of exits in the public sector are below the level of the cap. For example, the Whole of Government Accounts states that, in 2013-14, 1,838 out of 72,445 pay outs were in excess of £100,000.
The exit payment clauses currently before the House of Lords in the Enterprise Bill set out how the cap is expected to apply.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they are making to protect low- to middle-income earners in the public sector from the proposed £95,000 public sector exit payment cap.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government set out its proposals for the cap on public sector exit payments in the consultation document published on 31 July 2015 and confirmed the design of the cap in the consultation response document published on 16 September 2015. The consultation document gave details of the number of exits over recent years that cost the taxpayer more than £100,000.
The precise number of those affected by the public sector exit payment cap will depend on the number and type of exits in coming years. However, in recent years the large majority of exits in the public sector are below the level of the cap. For example, the Whole of Government Accounts states that, in 2013-14, 1,838 out of 72,445 pay outs were in excess of £100,000.
The exit payment clauses currently before the House of Lords in the Enterprise Bill set out how the cap is expected to apply.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of how many public sector employees earning below £31,000 will be affected by the proposed £95,000 public sector exit payment cap.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government set out its proposals for the cap on public sector exit payments in the consultation document published on 31 July 2015 and confirmed the design of the cap in the consultation response document published on 16 September 2015. The consultation document gave details of the number of exits over recent years that cost the taxpayer more than £100,000.
The precise number of those affected by the public sector exit payment cap will depend on the number and type of exits in coming years. However, in recent years the large majority of exits in the public sector are below the level of the cap. For example, the Whole of Government Accounts states that, in 2013-14, 1,838 out of 72,445 pay outs were in excess of £100,000.
The exit payment clauses currently before the House of Lords in the Enterprise Bill set out how the cap is expected to apply.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of how many public sector employees will be affected by the proposed £95,000 public sector exit cap.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government set out its proposals for the cap on public sector exit payments in the consultation document published on 31 July 2015 and confirmed the design of the cap in the consultation response document published on 16 September 2015. The consultation document gave details of the number of exits over recent years that cost the taxpayer more than £100,000.
The precise number of those affected by the public sector exit payment cap will depend on the number and type of exits in coming years. However, in recent years the large majority of exits in the public sector are below the level of the cap. For example, the Whole of Government Accounts states that, in 2013-14, 1,838 out of 72,445 pay outs were in excess of £100,000.
The exit payment clauses currently before the House of Lords in the Enterprise Bill set out how the cap is expected to apply.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the Health Impact Assessment of the two per cent cut in spirits duty announced in the March 2015 Budget.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government published its assessment of the impacts of the spirits duty change in the Tax Information and Impact Notes published alongside the Budget document. Copies of Budget related documentation are available in the Printed Paper Office.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of likely changes in alcohol consumption in the United Kingdom as a result of changes to alcohol duty in the 2015 Budget.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The effect of alcohol consumption is referred to in the policy costing note on alcohol duties published at Budget 2015, available at the gov.uk website[1].
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to counter the expected increase in alcohol consumption following cuts in alcohol duty in the 2015 Budget, as implied by the HM Treasury Policy Costings calculations.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The government recognises the health and social harms associated with those who consume excess alcohol. The government has therefore taken targeted action through the alcohol duty system to encourage responsible alcohol consumption. For example, the government increased duty on super strength lager.
The Government is also taking other action to reduce alcohol related harms. This includes the creation of 20 Local Alcohol Action Areas with the aim of reducing alcohol health and crime harms by encouraging partnerships between industry, local agencies and the voluntary sector. Licensing changes have also been made to help tackle irresponsible alcohol consumption. For example, Local Councils have been given the ability to collect a Late Night Levy from alcohol retailers to contribute towards the cost of policing.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HM Treasury will publish the dates, agendas and minutes of any meetings that ministers and officials in that department have had regarding alcohol duty with representatives of (1) the Wine and Spirits Trade Association, (2) the Scotch Whisky Association, (3) the British Beer and Pub Association, (4) Diageo, (5) SAB Miller, and (6) the Portman Group, between 1 April 2014 and 31 January 2015.
Answered by Lord Deighton
Treasury ministers and officials routinely meet with a wide range of stakeholders as part of the policy development process. HM Treasury routinely publishes details of Ministerial and Permanent Secretary meetings with external organisations on its website[1].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated total loss to HM Treasury over the next five years as a direct result of ending the alcohol duty escalator in 2014.
Answered by Lord Deighton
Budget 2014 announced a cut in beer duty of 2 per cent, the freezing of duty rates on spirits and cider and the cancellation of the alcohol duty escalator for wine. The duty escalator for beer ended in 2013. The impact on alcohol revenues of the changes made at Budget 2014 were estimated as shown below[1]:
2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | |
Exchequer impact £m | -290 | -295 | -305 | -315 | -325 |
[1] Link to Budget 2014 document can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2014-documents