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Written Question
Sanitary Protection: VAT Zero Rating
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2023 to Question 183901 on Sanitary Protection: VAT, what steps his Department is taking to ascertain whether the savings of zero-rating VAT on period products are being passed on from retailers to consumers.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

As per my answer to Question 183901, the Government is looking into whether this important zero-rating is being passed on by retailers to women as intended. The Government keeps all taxes and reliefs under continuous review, considering a range of evidence, including data and research on factors like pricing, when assessing the effects of changes to the tax system. While the Government does not control prices, a VAT relief is able to contribute to the conditions for price reductions, and the Government continues to monitor the effects of this relief to aid the policymaking process. HMT and HMRC work closely together to integrate the findings of their monitoring and evaluation processes into future tax relief policy.


Written Question
Investment: Internet
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of investment products advertised online by companies not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to sell financial products in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is taking action to further protect consumers from potentially harmful financial promotions, through the introduction of a financial promotions gateway. This regulatory gateway, which was legislated for in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, aims to improve the quality of financial promotions that are made by unauthorised firms, by allowing only those authorised firms that the FCA assesses as suitable and with sufficient expertise to approve the promotions of unauthorised firms. It will also give the FCA greater oversight of the approval of financial promotions and reduce the number of authorised firms that are able to undertake such approvals.

In addition, the FCA has worked with large online platforms to ensure that paid-for advertising for UK financial services hosted on these platforms has been approved by an FCA-authorised firm. This has had the effect of significantly reducing the opportunity for fraudsters to advertise their scams online as legitimate financial products.


Written Question
Leasehold: Mortgages
Thursday 22nd June 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes in the levels of mortgage interest rates on (a) leaseholders and (b) people in shared ownership accommodation; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene.

However, we recognise this will be a concerning time for all households with a mortgage, including those with leasehold properties and in shared ownership accommodation. If mortgage holders do fall into financial difficulty, Financial Conduct Authority guidance requires firms to offer tailored support. This could include a range of measures depending on individual circumstances.

The Government have also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans for those in receipt of an income-related benefit, and protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, which makes it clear that repossession must always be the last resort for lenders.

The Government also recognises the challenges facing households due to elevated costs of living, so has taken action at Spring Budget 2023 to go further to protect struggling families. Taken together, support to households to help with higher bills is worth £94 billion, or £3,300 per household on average, across 2022-23 and 2023-24 – one of the largest in Europe. The government’s successful economic strategy will provide further help. The Bank of England forecast that inflation will fall to 5.1% by the end of 2023, before falling close to target by the end of 2024.


Written Question
Sanitary Protection: VAT
Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2023 to Question 183901 on Sanitary Protection: VAT, what steps he is taking to assess the potential impact of the removal of VAT on period products; and what his estimated timescale is for the completion of this review.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The Government keeps all taxes under continuous review and considers a range of evidence, including data and research on factors like pricing, when assessing the effects of changes to the tax system as part of this review process.


Written Question
Sanitary Protection: VAT
Tuesday 16th May 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an impact assessment of the effect that the removal of VAT on period products has had on the cost of those products.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

While the Government does not control prices, a VAT relief is able to contribute to the conditions for price reductions. Women’s period products, including tampons and pads and reusable menstrual products, were previously subject to VAT at a 5 per cent rate. The Government kept its promise to remove the VAT and zero rated these products with effect from January 2021.

This was to ensure that every woman that needs period protection during their monthly cycle has access to a variety of zero-rated products, potentially benefiting an estimated 18 million women. The Government is looking into whether this important zero-rating is being passed on by retailers to women as intended.


Written Question
Sanitary Protection: VAT
Tuesday 16th May 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to monitor the impact that the removal of VAT on period products has on the cost of those products in shops.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

While the Government does not control prices, a VAT relief is able to contribute to the conditions for price reductions. Women’s period products, including tampons and pads and reusable menstrual products, were previously subject to VAT at a 5 per cent rate. The Government kept its promise to remove the VAT and zero rated these products with effect from January 2021.

This was to ensure that every woman that needs period protection during their monthly cycle has access to a variety of zero-rated products, potentially benefiting an estimated 18 million women. The Government is looking into whether this important zero-rating is being passed on by retailers to women as intended.


Written Question
Housing: Solar Power
Tuesday 2nd May 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of complaints submitted to the Financial Ombudsman on (a) the length of and (b) buy-out clauses in leases for solar panels on residential properties in the latest year for which data is available.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is operationally independent from the Government. The FOS is responsible for collecting and publishing data about its service and is therefore better placed to respond to this question.

This question has been passed to the FOS who will respond to the honourable member by letter.


Written Question
Arms Trade: Export Controls
Thursday 2nd March 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many fines were issued by HMRC for breaches of the arms export controls in 2022; and what the total value was of those fines.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

HMRC’s enforcement outcomes will be published in the UK Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2022. This will be available on the GOV.UK. website. This will include collated Compound Settlement details for this period.

HMRC publicises details of Compound settlements throughout the year. These details are released through Department for International Trade Notices to Exporters.

The details for each of those settlements are within each of the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-to-exporters-202303-compound-settlements-issued-for-unlicensed-exports

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-to-exporters-202231-uk-exporters-issued-compound-settlements-for-unlicensed-strategic-exports

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-to-exporters-202212-uk-exporters-fined-for-unlicensed-strategic-exports


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicles: Customs
Wednesday 18th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2023 to Question 119145 on Large Goods Vehicles: Customs, what the (a) start and (b) destination was of the vehicles affected.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The Goods Vehicle Movement Service is used at locations handling movements between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

HMRC does not hold information on all of the movements that were affected by the disruption to the Goods Vehicle Movement Service as they were not alerted to every instance a vehicle was affected by the issue. Most goods were able to move normally.


Written Question
Goods Vehicle Movement Service
Tuesday 17th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of vehicles that were unable to use the Goods Vehicle Management System on 2 January 2022.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

On 1 January 2023, there was a technical issue with the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) which affected some traders’ ability to move goods using the service. The issue was swiftly fixed and GVMS continues to work well.

We are aware that fewer than 15 vehicles were directed to attend Inland Border Facilities, due to traders’ customs declarations requiring further action following updates to the Customs Declaration Service. HMRC worked closely with affected traders to ensure their goods reached their destination as quickly as possible. We are not aware of any vehicles being directed to Inland Border Facilities due to the technical issue with GVMS.