Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made as to the potential merits of designating Northern Ireland as a freeport.
Answered by Steve Barclay
We want to ensure that the whole of the UK can benefit. We continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to establish a Freeport in Northern Ireland as soon as possible.
Our priority is to ensure we design a Freeport model which meets our international legal obligations and provides an attractive and competitive offer for ports, businesses and communities in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the number of businesses in the hospitality and tourism sectors that have benefited from the temporary cut in Value Added Tax.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has temporarily applied a reduced rate of VAT (5 per cent) to tourist attractions and goods and services supplied by the hospitality sector. It came into effect on 15 July 2020 and will end on 12 January 2021 and applies across the UK.
The temporary reduced rate will support over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs following the lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown.