Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional tax revenues would be raised by abolishing the allowance for Capital Gains Tax.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
To produce an estimate for the tax revenues raised from the abolition of the Annual Exempt Amount (AEA) on Capital Gains Tax (CGT) would require a disproportionate cost.
Estimates for the tax relief afforded by the AEA can be found in HMRC’s structural tax relief publication [1] . Please note that these estimates do not represent the gain to the Exchequer should the relief be abolished as they do not explicitly model additional behavioural responses or wider economic impacts that could result from changes to the relief. The latest published estimates also reflect the AEA being £12,300 for individuals in 2022/23, compared to the current AEA of £3,000.
You may also be interested in HMRC’s direct effects of illustrative tax changes publication [2] which includes estimates for an illustrative change to the AEA. Please note that these estimates are non-linear and asymmetrical. For example, doubling or halving the AEA estimates will not accurately predict the change in revenue for a proportionate change in the AEA.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/minor-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes-bulletin-january-2025
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will suspend aid to Pakistan following terrorist attacks in India on 22 April.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns terrorism in all forms and our thoughts are with those affected by the Pahalgam terror attack, their loved ones and the people of India. Until all the facts are established, we must not speculate on the nature of the attack. The UK has transitioned from a traditional aid relationship with Pakistan to a mutually beneficial partnership which underpins UK national interests, including in keeping us safe from irregular migration, terror threats and organised crime. Some of the technical assistance we provide through UK Official Development Assistance is integral to these efforts.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 31 March (HL Deb cols 16–18) committing to provide £2.5 billion to the steel industry, whether they will have an economic interest in the resulting assets and income streams.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has committed up to £2.5bn to support the UK steel industry, which will be available through the National Wealth Fund (NWF) and other routes.
The NWF will catalyse private capital in the UK’s world-leading clean energy and growth industries, including green steel. NWF investments are intended to deliver a positive financial return for the Exchequer, in line with its Financial Framework.
We are also considering other funding mechanisms to help achieve our vision for the sector. We will provide further details in the steel strategy when it is published in spring 2025.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of individuals who (1) were eligible to receive pension credit, and (2) received it in 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK. In the financial year ending 2023, it is estimated that 1.32 million pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit and up to 760,000 pensioner households were entitled to Pension Credit but not receiving the benefit.
The latest available Pension Credit caseload statistics cover the period up to August 2024. At August 2024, there were 1,360,660 pensioner households in receipt of Pension Credit in Great Britain. These statistics are available via DWP Stat-Xplore.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government which piece of legislation originally granted exemptions to the Duchy of Cornwall from paying corporation tax and capital gains tax; and what is the monetary value of these exemptions for the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Duchy of Cornwall is not liable to pay corporation tax as it is a Crown body subject to Crown exemption. This is a matter of common law.
The Prince of Wales receives the annual income generated by the Duchy of Cornwall, but is not entitled to the capital of the Duchy. While the Crown exemption applies to income received from the Duchy, the Prince of Wales pays tax voluntarily on his income received from the Duchy of Cornwall to the extent that is not used to meet official expenditure. The Prince of Wales is otherwise subject to taxation in the normal way. These arrangements are set out in The Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation, which is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/memorandum-of-understanding-on-royal-taxation-2023
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much uncollected tax they have written off in each of the past 10 years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Financial Year | Write-offs | Remissions | Total Losses |
2023-24 | £5,049m | £567m | £5,616m |
2022-23 | £3,154m | £596m | £3,750m |
2021-22 | £1,892m | £515m | £2,407m |
2020-21 | £1,517m | £445m | £1,962m |
2019-20 | £3,538m | £546m | £4,084m |
2018-19 | £3,669m | £794m | £4,463m |
2017-18 | £3,370m | £367m | £3,737m |
2016-17 | £3,564m | £303m | £3,867m |
2015-16 | £3,171m | £604m | £3,775m |
2014-15 | £3,865m | £372m | £4,237m |
HMRC revenue losses are made up of remissions and write-offs. Remissions are debts capable of recovery, but HMRC has decided not to pursue the liability on the grounds of value for money. Write-offs are debts that are considered to be irrecoverable because there is no practical means for pursuing the liability.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of pensioners living below the poverty line in 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Households below average income (HBAI) statistics contain estimates of the number and percentage of people living in low-income households in the UK. This is published by the Department annually. The latest data covers financial year ending 2024.
In financial year ending 2024, it is estimated that 1.9 million pensioners were in relative poverty after housing costs, and 1.6 million pensioners were in absolute poverty after housing costs.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has, so far, been (1) the highest, and (2) the lowest, amounts of compensation actually paid to sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office as a result of the Horizon software.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As of 31 March 2025, the total amount of redress paid to victims across all schemes has increased by more than three and a half times since the General Election, nine months ago, with £892 million having now been paid to over 6,200 claimants across all schemes. During this same time period, more than 3,300 victims have received compensation for the first time.
We are unable to share details of individual claims. Releasing this type of information risks the identification of vulnerable individuals if combined with other information that may become available via other means outside of our control.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the "transformation incentive" scheme authorising bonuses to be paid to Post Office directors for co-operating with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry was designed, approved and implemented; and which Ministers, if any, approved it.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
These questions relate to the performance metrics for the Post Office Limited ‘Transformation Incentive Scheme’ in place 2020-2022. The Government at the time agreed to the original targets but were not consulted on whether the Post Office could legitimately say that it had achieved those targets.
The Department for Business and Trade does not hold information on which directors and executives received bonuses relating to cooperation with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Whilst Post Office will hold this information, it is personal information and therefore not appropriate for publication. We understand that all Post Office employees who received bonuses voluntarily returned the remuneration associated with the metric relating to the Post Office’s support for the Inquiry except for one who was on long term absence.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will list the names of Post Office directors and executives, and the amount of bonus paid to each for co-operating with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
These questions relate to the performance metrics for the Post Office Limited ‘Transformation Incentive Scheme’ in place 2020-2022. The Government at the time agreed to the original targets but were not consulted on whether the Post Office could legitimately say that it had achieved those targets.
The Department for Business and Trade does not hold information on which directors and executives received bonuses relating to cooperation with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Whilst Post Office will hold this information, it is personal information and therefore not appropriate for publication. We understand that all Post Office employees who received bonuses voluntarily returned the remuneration associated with the metric relating to the Post Office’s support for the Inquiry except for one who was on long term absence.