Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any officials in his Department receive remuneration for paid work for organisations or companies outside of government.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
On 23 April, the Cabinet Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the management of outside interests in the Civil Service.
The Committee published this letter on 26 April. It can be found here:
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/5623/documents/55584/default/
The Cabinet Secretary’s letter sets out a series of steps to improve processes. This programme of work will also take account of any recommendations that emerge from
Nigel Boardman’s review.
The Civil Service Management Code sets out, at paragraph 4.3.4, the requirement that civil servants must seek permission before accepting any outside employment which might affect their work either directly or indirectly. The applicable principles are those set out in the Business Appointment Rules. The Civil Service Management Code is published here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-servants-terms-and-conditions .
Where the civil servant is a member of the departmental board, any outside employment, as well as other relevant interests will be published as part of the Annual Report and Accounts or other transparency publication.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect on revenue to the Exchequer of the change to the Statutory Residence Test announced on 9 April 2020 in the (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21 financial years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
COVID-19 measures and guidance related to the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) have been estimated to have a negligible cost to the exchequer. This is because they will in most cases preserve what an individual's tax residence determination would be in the absence of COVID-19.
The number of individuals affected by the change is expected to be small.
Further information is available in the corresponding Tax Information and Impact Note on GOV.UK:
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of people who have been affected by the change to the Statutory Residence Test announced on the 9 April 2020 in the (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21 financial years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
COVID-19 measures and guidance related to the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) have been estimated to have a negligible cost to the exchequer. This is because they will in most cases preserve what an individual's tax residence determination would be in the absence of COVID-19.
The number of individuals affected by the change is expected to be small.
Further information is available in the corresponding Tax Information and Impact Note on GOV.UK:
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the communication between (a) himself and his Department, (b) the Prime Minister and (c) the Prime Minister’s Office on the changes to the Statutory Residence Test announced on 9 April 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
At the start of the pandemic, HMT and HMRC received a large number of requests for easements, all of which were considered, resulting in more than 80 COVID-19 related easements and exemptions being introduced to support businesses and individuals since March 2020, with many of these still in place.
The Government took a principled approach to changing the rules for the Statutory Residence Test so that any individual within certain critical sectors working on COVID-19 related activity would have benefited from the exemption.
For further details, please see the statement published by the Prime Minister’s office on 23 April:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/information-relating-to-the-ventilator-challenge-and-the-statutory-residence-test
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) individuals and (b) organisations made representations to his Department on the change to the Statutory Residence Test announced on 9 April 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
At the start of the pandemic, HMT and HMRC received a large number of requests for easements, all of which were considered, resulting in more than 80 COVID-19 related easements and exemptions being introduced to support businesses and individuals since March 2020, with many of these still in place.
The Government took a principled approach to changing the rules for the Statutory Residence Test so that any individual within certain critical sectors working on COVID-19 related activity would have benefited from the exemption.
For further details, please see the statement published by the Prime Minister’s office on 23 April:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/information-relating-to-the-ventilator-challenge-and-the-statutory-residence-test
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the news story, Business rates relief boosted with new £1.5 billion pot, published on 25 March 2021, what the planned timescale is for local authorities to set up local relief schemes to distribute business rates relief.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has announced a £1.5bn pot of additional business rates relief for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that are not eligible for the retail, hospitality and leisure business rates holiday. The statement by the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government of 25 March 2021 explained the relief will be allocated to local authorities based on the stock of properties in the area and the sector-specific economic impacts of COVID-19.
Formal guidance will follow in due course, setting out the specific considerations that Local Authorities (LAs) should have regard for when providing relief. Relief will be for LAs to award on a discretionary basis. Funding will be available once the legislation relating to MCC provisions has passed and LAs have established their own local relief schemes. The Government will support LAs to do this as quickly as possible, including through new burdens funding.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what official data on the effects of the pandemic on different sectors will be used to distribute business rates relief announced on 25 March 2021, and if he will place a copy of that data in the Library.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has announced a £1.5bn pot of additional business rates relief for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that are not eligible for the retail, hospitality and leisure business rates holiday. The statement by the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government of 25 March 2021 explained the relief will be allocated to local authorities based on the stock of properties in the area and the sector-specific economic impacts of COVID-19.
Formal guidance will follow in due course, setting out the specific considerations that Local Authorities (LAs) should have regard for when providing relief. Relief will be for LAs to award on a discretionary basis. Funding will be available once the legislation relating to MCC provisions has passed and LAs have established their own local relief schemes. The Government will support LAs to do this as quickly as possible, including through new burdens funding.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the news story, Business rates relief boosted with new £1.5 billion pot, published on 25 March 2021, how many of the 170,000 claims for material change in circumstances have been successful.
Answered by Jesse Norman
None of the Material Change of Circumstances (MCC) cases relating to Covid-19 restrictions has been settled by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). All cases were still within the statutory time limits for resolving cases under the Check Challenge Appeal legislation.