Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 8 July (HL8809), whether (1) a certificate of sponsorship fee, and (2) an immigration skills charge, constitute a taxable benefit for employers in circumstances where those costs cannot be passed on to employees.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
If an employer pays for a certificate of sponsorship fee and the immigration skills charge, as a result of sponsoring a worker from overseas, these costs could be liable to Income Tax. Whether tax is payable will depend on individual circumstances as tax exemptions may apply. For this reason, each circumstance will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis. The Government has no plans to change the tax treatment of immigration fees. However, all taxes are kept under review as part of the tax policymaking process.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 26 June (HL8470), when they intend to announce the revised formula for allocating the growth and skills levy (formerly the apprenticeship levy), including (1) the total for each year of the spending review period, and (2) the amount to be held back by the Treasury.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Spending Review 2025, the Government allocated an additional £1.2 billion per year for skills by 2028-29. Final allocations for all skills programmes, including the growth and skills offer, will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what taxes are payable on immigration fees paid by employers on behalf of employees and their dependents, and whether they plan to review the level of such taxes.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
If an employer pays for certain immigration fees on behalf of prospective or current employees, these costs could be liable to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions for the employee as earnings or a benefit-in-kind.
Whether tax is payable will depend on individual circumstances as tax exemptions may apply. For this reason, each circumstance will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The Government has no plans to change the tax treatment of immigration fees. However, all taxes are kept under review as part of the tax policymaking process.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 10 December (HL3181), when they expect the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to respond to the correspondence sent by Lord Blunkett on 21 October.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has responded to The Rt. Hon. the Lord Blunkett.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what targets the Treasury have for the time to respond to letters from parliamentarians specifically addressed to Treasury ministers; and what percentage of such correspondence is answered within that timeframe.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In line with Cabinet Office guidance, HM Treasury aims to respond to ministerial correspondence from parliamentarians within 20 working days. Correspondence performance data is published within HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts. The 2023-24 Report noted that 62% of replies to parliamentarians were answered within the timeframe.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 19 March (HL Deb cols 93–96), what progress, if any, they have made in ensuring that there is automatic provision of accessible flat screen payment devices to hospitality and retail outlets, and specifically tactile covers to ensure these payment systems comply with the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to ensuring high standards of financial inclusion across the financial services sector. It is important that all payment methods are accessible for those with disabilities, including those with visual impairments.
The Treasury has been engaging with UK Finance, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and other Government departments on this matter. UK Finance will soon be assessing potential initiatives to encourage stakeholders to adopt common standards for point-of-sale terminals and drive improvements and adoption. The Government is closely monitoring progress in this important area.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money (1) was raised by the apprenticeships levy, and (2) was passed onto the devolved nations from levy receipts, in each financial year since 2017–18.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
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[1] at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
While the Apprenticeship Levy is UK wide, apprenticeship policy and spending is devolved. From FY2017-18 to FY2019-20, the devolved administrations received a population share of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s apprenticeship Levy forecast. Beyond 2019-20, the devolved administrations received funding through the Barnett formula in relation to English apprenticeship spending. The Block Grant Transparency publication which is available on GOV.UK sets out all Barnett consequentials generated at both departmental and programme level. It is for the devolved administrations to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit, including investing in their skills programmes.
[1] HM Revenue & Customs (2024), HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many unclaimed Child Trust Funds are (1) currently outstanding and (2) outstanding where there is a continuing requirement for court approval to parents being able to access the Fund on behalf of their adult children.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Information on Child Trust Funds (CTFs) are available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics[1].
(1) As of April 2022, there were 428,000 matured accounts continuing as CTFs that had not been claimed or automatically transferred to an ISA.
(2) The Government does not hold information relating to the number of unclaimed Child Trust Funds where there is a need for a Power of Attorney or other court order to control their financial resources.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2023
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual loss to the Exchequer of revenue from domestic sales of cigarettes, cigars and tobacco from the 2028 financial year onwards, as a result of the proposed gradual phasing out of their legal sale.
Answered by Baroness Penn
As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 October 2023, the Government is creating the first smokefree generation, by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. This will prevent future generations from ever taking up smoking, as there is no safe age to smoke. The ‘Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation’ command paper sets out the proposed actions the Government will take to tackle smoking and youth vaping[1]. The Government launched the ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’ consultation on 12 October on the smokefree generation policy detailed in the command paper[2].
Once final policy decisions are confirmed, the impact of those decisions on the public finances will be assessed and reflected in the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.
A smokefree generation will save the NHS billions over the long-term and put cash back in the pockets of millions of families across this country.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the likely change in smuggling of tobacco products as a result of the proposed gradual phasing out of their legal sale.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government does not expect to see a significant change in smuggling of tobacco products. However, HMRC and Border Force will continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate action, and respond to any additional risks.
Work is already underway to update the current HMRC and Border Force Illicit Tobacco Strategy ‘Leaf to Light’. A new Strategy will be published in the coming months, and this will set out the Government’s approach to addressing the current and future challenges in tackling illicit tobacco, including smuggling.