Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of making not-for-profit organisations that provide welfare services VAT exempt.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Whilst there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.
Welfare services provided by local authorities and similar bodies and charities are exempt from VAT, meaning no VAT is charged to the final consumer.
Welfare services provided by state regulated private welfare organisations are also exempt from VAT. State regulated suppliers are those that are registered with the Care Quality Commission, and are eligible for the VAT exemption where they are providing services that are state regulated.
The regulation requirement ensures that VAT relief is limited to providers certified as offering safe and high-quality welfare services. This is a long-standing requirement, and there are no plans to make changes to these rules.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what (a) investigative powers and (b) sanctions are available to the Strategic Investment Board to tackle any reported misuse of Strategic Development Funding.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
All awards of Strategic Development Funding are granted under a formal funding agreement made between the Archbishops’ Council and the recipient of the funding. The Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board is able, on behalf of the Archbishops’ Council, to commission any necessary investigations into reported misuse, or misuse identified through various accountability processes, of Strategic Development Funding. Under the funding agreement, the Archbishops’ Council has the right to withhold a grant or require repayment if any part of the grant is misused. No report of misuse of funds has ever been received.