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Written Question
Business: Coronavirus
Friday 12th November 2021

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has mechanisms to claw back covid-19 support funding from organisations with links to activities that are deemed not compatible with British values.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

This Government has provided around £400 billion of direct support, to the economy during this financial year and last, which has helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in the UK. Financial support during the pandemic included job and income support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, as well as business grants and loans.

The eligibility requirements for these schemes do not include a specific test around the activities of an organisation, nor do they prevent access by organisations that have been censured by the Charity Commission provided they meet the requirements of the schemes.

Across the schemes, the Government has consistently taken steps to protect public money against error, fraud and abuse. Where the recipients of payments or loans are found not to have been entitled to the money they have received, the Government has made provision for relevant powers and mechanisms to allow the money to be recovered and, where appropriate, penalties issued. These mechanisms have already been used to make recoveries and further compliance work across the schemes is ongoing.


Written Question
Charities: Coronavirus
Friday 12th November 2021

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department used to screen potential recipients of covid-19 support funding for links to (a) activities not conducive to the public good and (b) activities censured by the Charities Commission.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

This Government has provided around £400 billion of direct support, to the economy during this financial year and last, which has helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in the UK. Financial support during the pandemic included job and income support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, as well as business grants and loans.

The eligibility requirements for these schemes do not include a specific test around the activities of an organisation, nor do they prevent access by organisations that have been censured by the Charity Commission provided they meet the requirements of the schemes.

Across the schemes, the Government has consistently taken steps to protect public money against error, fraud and abuse. Where the recipients of payments or loans are found not to have been entitled to the money they have received, the Government has made provision for relevant powers and mechanisms to allow the money to be recovered and, where appropriate, penalties issued. These mechanisms have already been used to make recoveries and further compliance work across the schemes is ongoing.


Written Question
Islamic Centre of England: Government Assistance
Friday 12th November 2021

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to audit covid-19 support funding provided to the Islamic Centre of England.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

This Government has provided around £400 billion of direct support to the economy during this financial year and last, which has helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK. In doing so, the Government has struck a balance between making sure that support is available to those who need it most, while also protecting public money against error, fraud and abuse.

HM Treasury does not comment on the commercial or financial matters of private firms.


Written Question
Self-employment Income Support Scheme: Taxation
Monday 25th January 2021

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to use 2019-20 tax returns to determine eligibility for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Government recognises that taxpayers have faced immense challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and it has prioritised delivering support to as many people as possible while guarding against the risk of fraud or abuse.

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is one of the most generous in the world and has received claims from almost 2.7 million people so far, totalling over £18.5 billion.

The practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include the newly self-employed in 2019-20 in the SEISS, namely that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) do not have access to the full set of 2019-20 self-assessment returns needed to verify their eligibility, still remain. The latest year for which HMRC have tax returns for all self-employed individuals is 2018-19.

The SEISS continues to be just one element of a substantial package of support for the self-employed which includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.


Written Question
Freezing of Assets: Libya
Thursday 20th December 2018

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the (a) date granted, (b) purpose, (c) recipient and (d) value of the licences issued for the release of funds frozen as result of financial sanctions against Libya.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Where there are derogations set out in the Libya sanctions regimes, HM Treasury may authorise dealing with frozen assets. In some instances, that includes releasing frozen funds for at least one of the following purposes: basic needs, extraordinary expenses, legal fees, prior contract, routine holding and maintenance.

The detailed information requested in relation to parts (a), (b), and (d) could only be made available at disproportionate cost.

In relation to part (c) of the question, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) is unable to release this information as disclosure would contravene data protection principles.


Written Question
Freezing of Assets: Libya
Thursday 20th December 2018

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has accrued to the public purse in taxation from (a) Libyan frozen assets and (b) transactions relating to Libyan frozen assets in each financial year.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

This information is not held centrally within government and would involve disproportionate costs to collect and collate.


Written Question
Local Government: Public Private Partnerships
Thursday 1st December 2016

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the value of local authority debts accrued from public-private partnership developments since 2010 in (a) England and (b) Wiltshire.

Answered by David Gauke

The values of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) liabilities included in the Statement of Financial Position of the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) are:

Financial year

English local authorities £m

Wiltshire Council £m

2014-15

11,985.3

51.7

2013-14

11,610.3

53.4

2012-13

10,850.9

37.1

2011-12

9,935.4

30.4

2010-11

8,930.1

31.0

2009-10

8,039.0

42.2

The most recent WGA is for the 2014-15 financial year and was published in May 2016. The 2015-16 WGA is currently being prepared and will be published in 2017.


Written Question
Inflation: Housing
Tuesday 25th October 2016

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reflect house prices in the calculation of inflation.

Answered by Simon Kirby

Inflation statistics are produced independently of government by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The current main measure of inflation is CPI. This does not include house prices as these are an asset price and in line with international practice are not included in a consumer price index. However, it does include some costs associated with housing, such as rental prices and the costs of renovating and repair and maintenance of homes. The ONS also produces CPIH, which does include housing costs but is currently undergoing development work after the UK Statistics Authority found faults in its production.
Written Question
Pensions: Lump Sum Payments
Wednesday 2nd March 2016

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have withdrawn more than the 25 per cent tax-free allowance from their pension fund as a lump sum since 2014.

Answered by David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs does not have information on all types of taxable pension payments taken since 2014. However, information on the taxable element of pension flexibility lump sums taken since April 2015 is collated and published quarterly. This also provides details of the number of people who have taken these payments. The publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/flexible-payments-from-pensions.


Written Question
Apprentices: Taxation
Friday 12th February 2016

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of businesses and other organisations in (a) Wiltshire and (b) the UK that will be required to pay the apprenticeship levy.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The apprenticeship levy will apply across the UK and will be collected from employers on a UK wide basis. An allowance of £15,000 means those with a paybill exceeding £3million will have to pay the levy.

Regional level estimates of those likely to pay the Apprenticeship Levy is not available.