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 - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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 - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the current size of the unallocated Covid-19 reserve is for 2021-22.
Answered by Steve Barclay
At Budget 2021 the Chancellor announced £18.8bn of funding is available from the COVID-19 reserve in 2021-22.
Treasury officials continue to work with departments to establish COVID-19 funding need as part of the Mains Estimates process, which will be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimates his Department has made of the total annual cost of tax reliefs granted to the freeports announced in Budget 2021; and if he will place a copy of those estimates in the Library.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Due to the site-specific nature of reliefs, it is not appropriate to comment on estimates at this stage. The total annual cost of tax reliefs will depend on the exact location and size of the Freeport tax sites. We will consider these costs when agreeing tax sites, and they will therefore be scored at a future fiscal event. The estimated costs will undergo the usual scrutiny from the OBR.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will publish guidance on which plant and machinery is eligible for the super deduction capital allowances announced in Budget 2021, including any lists of eligible assets that have been prepared by his Department.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Most tangible capital assets used in the course of a business are considered plant and machinery. HMRC publish more detail in the capital allowances manual, available at: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-allowances-manual.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of non-structural tax reliefs in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20; and if he will place a copy of those estimates in the Library.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Information on the costs of reliefs is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs. These statistics, published annually by HMRC, contain estimates of the costs of non-structural tax reliefs. The estimates reflect the total amount by which users benefit from each relief and not the gain to the Exchequer should the relief be removed. Some reliefs are uncosted, usually due to data limitations.
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 report of the UN High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (the FACTI panel), what steps he is taking to ensure that the (a) panel meets (i) nationally and (ii) across the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories and (b) recommendations of that panel to tackle illicit finance including international tax abuse are implemented.
Answered by John Glen
The UK welcomes and supports efforts to enhance financial accountability, transparency and integrity and notes the recommendations within the FACTI Panel’s report.
In relation to illicit finance, the UK shares many of the concerns related to the negative impact of illicit finance, both in its impact on the volume of funds available for development, and the significant costs that the illicit activities related to the financial flows place on society. The UK recognises the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as the international standard setter on anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing. The FATF found that the UK has one of the strongest systems in the world for combatting illicit finance.
In relation to international tax abuse, the UK has long been a standard-setter and early adopter of OECD international tax standards. This includes international commitments on tax transparency aimed at tackling tax avoidance and evasion, offshore financial centres, and money laundering. The UK will continue to advance international cooperation and develop international standards on tax through the OECD as the primary standard-setting body on global tax matters.
The Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies have full control over their own fiscal matters. They have the right to set their own policy to support their economies, within international standards and determine their own tax rates. All Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories with a financial centre have made commitments to implementing global OECD standards on tax transparency and have agreed to introduce publicly accessible registers of company beneficial ownership.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's transparency data on HMT Ministers' meetings, published on 29 October 2020, if he will publish the names of the academics he met on (a) 4 May 2020, (b) 23 May 2020 and (c) 1 June 2020.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Treasury is not providing details of the individuals listed in the HMT transparency return of 29 October 2020, due to UK GDPR considerations.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will publish the dates of the five most recent occasions any Minister in his Department met with (a) Greensill Capital or (b) representatives of Greensill Capital.
Answered by John Glen
Ministers routinely meet with a range of private sector stakeholders. Transparency releases are published on a quarterly basis, and are currently publicly available for Ministerial meetings up to and including September 2020, which is in line with normal reporting timelines on disclosures.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings (a) he or (b) Ministers in his Department had with (i) Greensill Capital or (ii) representatives of Greensill to discuss access to covid-19 support schemes in 2020.
Answered by John Glen
Ministers routinely meet with a range of private sector stakeholders. Transparency releases are published on a quarterly basis, and are currently publicly available for Ministerial meetings up to and including September 2020, which is in line with normal reporting timelines on disclosures.