Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will (a) make a statement on his assessment of the impact of the loan charge on families and (b) make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a right of court appeal for people experiencing significant contested charges.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government takes concerns about the wellbeing of all taxpayers very seriously and recognises that the Loan Charge can add a significant pressure for some taxpayers.
The impact of the Loan Charge on those affected was assessed ahead of the introduction of the policy and was considered as part of the Independent Loan Charge Review, led by Lord Morse in 2019.
The November 2017 Tax Information and Impact Note which covered the Loan Charge stated that it was not expected to have a material impact on family formation, stability, or breakdown, because the impact was assessed across the entire UK population, of which users of affected avoidance schemes make up a very small minority.
In his independent review, Lord Morse recommended that future published Government impact notes of tax changes should consider the direct impact on the affected population, rather than looking at the impact across the entire UK population. This is one of the 19 recommendations that the Government accepted to mitigate the impact of the Loan Charge and to ensure that the right support is in place for those who need it.
HMRC’s powers are balanced by a comprehensive suite of safeguards for taxpayers, and the Loan Charge follows these. All taxpayers have the right to appeal tax decisions made by HMRC, and that right includes the opportunity to appeal to an independent tribunal. Where someone disagrees with HMRC’s assessment that the Loan Charge applies, they are able to appeal that decision.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the covid-19 vaccination programme, whether GPs may invite adults for their second vaccination from six weeks after the first vaccination once all other adults in a local area have been offered their first vaccination in the event that GPs have a local surplus of vaccines.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
All adults are now eligible for their first dose. Currently, all adults aged 40 years old and over and those in phase one priority groups are offered a second dose within eight weeks of the first. Adults aged 18 to 39 years old not in a phase one priority group are offered a dose within 12 weeks of the first. Where a general practitioner has no patients available on their reserve list eligible for their first or second dose within the recommended timeframe and the doses would be wasted, they are able to administer a second dose ahead of the eight week interval.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made by the rural roads working group established by the hon. Member for Northampton North; and what steps are being taken to improve road safety in rural areas to reduce fatal accidents.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Rural Roads Working Group was announced as part of the Road Safety Statement 2019 – ‘A Lifetime of Road Safety’. The work to establish the group was well underway but then paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The scope of the group is new being reassessed to ensure it addresses relevant matters in a post-COVID landscape.
The Department’s Safer Roads Fund continues to improve road safety in rural areas. Some of the initial schemes that were funded in 2017/18 have now completed and the final allocation of £35.3m was paid to Local Authorities in March 2021.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve his Department's response times to correspondence from members of the public.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In April 2021, the Department’s central correspondence unit replied to 90.1% of correspondence from members of the public within 18 working days of receipt, achieving its target.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people who are waiting for driving licences from the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency receive those licences in a timely manner in the event of planned strike action by staff at that agency.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The quickest and easiest way to apply for or renew a driving licence is online, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online services are working as normal.
Paper driving licence applications must be dealt with in person and are taking longer to process as the DVLA has a reduced number of staff on-site to comply with social distancing requirements and ensure staff safety. Drivers with a medical condition may experience delays because the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from medical professionals before a licence can be issued to ensure drivers can meet the required medical standards.
Drivers who have submitted an application to renew their driving licence may be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, provided they meet certain criteria.
Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect shopworkers from abusive customers.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government conducted a call for evidence on violence and abuse toward shop staff to understand the extent of the issue and how we can improve the response to these crimes. The Government’s formal response was published 7 July 2020 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-and-abuse-toward-shop-staff-call-for-evidence
To address the actions raised in the call for evidence the Home Office has worked closely with retailers and trade organisations through the National Retail Crime Steering Group. We have developed resources to assist retailers to report crimes when they occur, resources for shop staff who are victims of violence and abuse, and the #Shopkind communications campaign. The downloadable resources are free to use and are available here: https://brc.org.uk/nrcsg-against-shop-worker-abuse-and-violence/
The next phase of the work will look at the causes of retail violence, such as drug and alcohol addiction, and what can be done to address these in the retail setting.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason HMRC did not reject tax returns where loan charge schemes were listed in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC cannot reject Self-Assessment tax returns on the basis of information contained within the returns, including information relating to the Loan Charge or disguised remuneration schemes. Self-Assessment is a process now, check later regime. A Self-Assessment tax return would only be rejected if it fails to satisfy the filing requirements to constitute a statutory return. The Self-Assessment regime also gives HMRC the powers to open an enquiry into a return up to the end of a period of 12 months if the return was filed on or before the statutory filing date.
HMRC have also recently provided guidance on GOV.UK for taxpayers following the outcome of the independent Loan Charge Review which includes information for those taxpayers who have filed or are yet to file their 2018-19 Self-Assessment tax return: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disguised-remuneration-independent-loan-charge-review/guidance.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the potential infringement of privacy as a result of amendments to HMRC’s civil information powers.
Answered by Jesse Norman
There are strong legal restrictions on HMRC’s use of their civil information powers. These restrictions protect taxpayer privacy and have not been affected by the amendments to HMRC’s civil information powers.
All HMRC requests for documents and information issued under these powers must adhere to strict criteria. These must be reasonably required for the purpose of checking the tax position or collecting a tax debt of a taxpayer. Safeguards introduced with the Financial Institution Notices ensure that HMRC will maintain this standard. For example, the notices must be approved by an authorised officer who must pass a test every three years to retain their status. Taxpayers and financial institutions can challenge HMRC’s decision to issue a notice using the judicial review procedure. A review on the use of this power will also be reported annually to Parliament.
HMRC have consulted with the Information Commissioner’s Office to ensure this legislative change complies with UK GDPR and identify and minimise any associated data protection risks.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the retrospective application of the Loan Charge with the standard principles of the UK's tax regime.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Loan Charge was legislated in Finance Act 2017, following the normal Parliamentary process.
The Loan Charge is not retrospective. It is a new charge on disguised remuneration loan balances outstanding at 5 April 2019 and was announced three years before the legislation took effect.
Lord Morse conducted an independent Review of the Loan Charge. His report was published in December 2019 and the Government welcomed his finding that the Loan Charge was a justified policy to draw a line under use of disguised remuneration tax avoidance.
The Government accepted all but one of the Review’s 20 recommendations. This included a recommendation that the Loan Charge should only apply to disguised remuneration loans which were entered into after 9 December 2010.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what urgent financial support he is planning to put in place for directors of small businesses who have so far been ineligible for covid-19-related support.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has provided a substantial package of measures throughout this pandemic to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods and to support businesses and public services across the UK, spending over £407 billion. In order to support businesses and employees through the next stage of the pandemic, the Chancellor announced at Budget the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) until September.
Directors who pay themselves a salary through PAYE are eligible for the CJRS. Those paid annually through PAYE have been and still are eligible to claim, as long as they meet the relevant conditions including being notified to HMRC on an RTI submission within the relevant cut-off dates.
There is no practical way to identify directors who have been unable to access the SEISS or CJRS, and then identify the value of support they should receive, without exposing the taxpayer to significant fraud, legal risk and poorly targeted use of public money. The Government has worked closely with business groups on proposals to support directors who pay themselves through dividends. However, no proposal has been able to address the significant fraud risks in relying on self-certification.
The CJRS and SEISS are only two elements of the wider economic support package. Businesses and individuals may have access to further funding announced in the Budget such as the Restart Grant of up to £18,000 to business premises, and an additional £425 million to English local authorities for discretionary business grant funding. The Government is also extending previous VAT reductions and business rates relief, extending the temporary £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit, and has announced a £500 one-off payment to provide similar support to eligible Working Tax Credit claimants.