Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made for the implications of his policies of the Institution of Civil Engineer’s recommendation that the National Infrastructure Strategy should be placed on a statutory footing to provide more clarity and guidance on where the UK Infrastructure Bank should focus.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The government is committed to the approach to infrastructure that was set out in the National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) in November 2020. This addresses the long-term issues that have held back investment in and delivery of UK infrastructure, and ensures a coherent cross-sectoral approach to decision-making. Given this clarity, there are no plans to legislate for the NIS.
The Chancellor wrote to the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) on 18th March 2022 to set out his strategic priorities for the Bank. The Chancellor’s first non-statutory strategic steer provided further details on the Bank’s objectives and scope. This letter has been published and is available on gov.uk. The Bank’s first strategic plan was published on 23rd June 2022, and is in line with the NIS and the Chancellor’s strategic steer, setting out the Bank’s focus and its plans for the next twelve months. The Government is currently legislating to place the UKIB on a statutory footing, in order to complete the Bank’s set-up as an operationally independent institution and to enshrine its objectives and activities in law.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the analysis by the Institution of Civil Engineers that improving strategic planning of infrastructure investment would unlock more benefits than the current, siloed sector-by-sector approach, as outlined in its policy position statement, Evolving the UK strategic infrastructure planning system post-National Infrastructure Strategy, published July 2021.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government is committed to the approach to infrastructure that was set out in the National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) in November 2020. This addresses the long-term issues that have held back investment in and delivery of UK infrastructure, and ensures a coherent cross-sectoral approach to decision-making.
As committed to in the NIS, last year the government reviewed the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC’s) role and responsibilities, and the NIC’s fiscal remit. As a result of those reviews, at Spending Review 2021 the government updated the NIC’s objectives to reflect the government’s climate commitments and increased the NIC’s fiscal remit. These changes will inform the NIC’s Second National Infrastructure Assessment, to be published in 2023, which launched recently with the publication of a baseline report and will set out the NIC’s expert independent assessment of the UK’s economic infrastructure needs. ICE’s policy statement was one of the sources that informed the reviews, and ongoing engagement with industry stakeholders and representative organisations remains central to the government’s infrastructure strategy.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to publish a policy paper on regulatory reform; and if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the advice of the Institution of Civil Engineers that the Government, via its National Infrastructure Strategy, should outline clear, long-term and strategic policy objectives that allow better alignment between regulatory, industry and policy activity.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will publish an overarching policy paper on economic regulation in due course. The paper will consider how best to provide long term cross-sector strategic direction to the utility regulators, in order to provide greater clarity for regulators, investors and consumers.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether build-to-rent developments will be exempt from the Residential Property Develop Tax in (a) their entirety and (b) perpetuity.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Residential Property Developer Tax will apply to companies that make trading profits from residential property development activities and are part of a group that is generating relevant profits in excess of £25 million.
This means the tax will not apply to companies that construct properties to hold as investments.
It will, however, apply to companies that make trading profits from selling residential property, including where the purchaser is a member of the same group, or is acquiring the property for investment purposes.
As with all other taxes, the Government will keep this under review.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether build-to-rent developments which are transferred or sold within a group for accounting purposes will be exempt from the Residential Property Developer Tax in (a) their entirety and (b) perpetuity.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Residential Property Developer Tax will apply to companies that make trading profits from residential property development activities and are part of a group that is generating relevant profits in excess of £25 million.
This means the tax will not apply to companies that construct properties to hold as investments.
It will, however, apply to companies that make trading profits from selling residential property, including where the purchaser is a member of the same group, or is acquiring the property for investment purposes.
As with all other taxes, the Government will keep this under review.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of a further independent review of the Loan Charge since Lord Morse's 2019 Review.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
A comprehensive independent review of the Loan Charge has already taken place. In September 2019, the Government commissioned Lord Morse to lead this Review. There are no plans for a further review of the Loan Charge.
Lord Morse’s report was published in December 2019 and concluded that it was right for the Government to collect the tax due, but also recommended changes to how the Loan Charge works.
The Government accepted all but one of the Review’s 20 recommendations, which is estimated to benefit over 30,000 individuals, removing 11,000 from the Loan Charge entirely.
These changes have improved how the Loan Charge operates, which ensures that individuals pay the right amount of tax and ensures fairness for all taxpayers and the wider public.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to extend the deferral of VAT payments due to the implementation of a further period of covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The VAT payments deferral scheme ended on 30 June 2020 as planned.
As part of the Winter Economy Plan, the Government announced that businesses which deferred VAT due from 20 March to 30 June 2020 will now have the option to pay in smaller payments over a longer period up to March 2022. They will need to opt-in to the scheme, and for those that do, this means that their deferred VAT liabilities do not need to be paid by the end of March 2021.
Businesses that need extra help can contact HMRC and agree a Time to Pay arrangement.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing people who receive less than 50 per cent of their income from self-employment to claim support from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant Extension.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The self-employed are very diverse and have a wide mix of turnover and profits, with monthly and annual variations even in normal times, and in some cases with substantial alternative forms of income too. The design of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), including the eligibility requirement that an individual’s trading profits must be at least equal to their non-trading income, means it is targeted at those who need it most, and who are most reliant on their self-employment income.
Those ineligible for the SEISS may still be eligible for other elements of the package of financial support available. The Government has temporarily increased the Universal Credit standard allowance for 2020-21 and relaxed the Minimum Income Floor for the duration of the crisis meaning that where self-employed claimants' earnings have significantly fallen, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. In addition to this they may also have access to other elements of the package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing self-employed limited company directors to claim for support from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant Extension.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The practical issues that prevented the inclusion of Company Owner-Managers in the original Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), namely not being able to verify the source of their dividend income without introducing unacceptable fraud risk, still remain.
As with the previous SEISS grants, it is not possible for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to distinguish between dividends derived from an individual’s own company and dividends from other sources, and between dividends in lieu of employment income and as returns from other corporate activity.
This means, unlike the SEISS grants that use information HMRC already holds, targeting additional support would require owner-managers to make a claim and submit information that HMRC could not efficiently verify to ensure payments were made to eligible companies for eligible activity. This is about managing and securing the SEISS Grant Extension against fraud risk and misuse.
These eligibility criteria strike the right balance between ensuring support is granted to those who need it, whilst protecting value for the taxpayer.
Those ineligible for the SEISS Grant Extension may still be eligible for other elements of the unprecedented financial support available. This includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing people who have become self-employed since April 2019 to claim for support from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant Extension.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The practical issues that prevented us from being able to include the newly self-employed in 2019-20 in the original Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), namely that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will not have access to their self-assessment returns to be able to verify their eligibility, still remain. The latest year for which HMRC has tax returns for all self-employed individuals is 2018/19. 2019/20 returns are not due until the end of January 2021.
Unlike for employees, self-employed income is not reported monthly, but at the end of each tax year on the individual’s Income Tax Self Assessment return. This means that the most reliable and up-to-date record of self-employed income is from the 2018-19 tax returns.
The SEISS continues to be just one element of a comprehensive package of support for individuals and businesses. This package includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support,?increased levels of Universal Credit, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants.