Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the loss in revenue as a result of fuel laundering activities in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimate the difference between expected revenues and the tax that is actually paid in the annual publication, Measuring Tax Gaps: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps. These estimates cannot be disaggregated by type of fraud, for example laundering.
HMRC have estimated the oils (fuel duty) tax gap (including VAT) in Northern Ireland as follows:
The estimates for 2015-16 and earlier years were calculated using a different methodology and therefore cannot be compared to the estimates for subsequent years.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have registered for the tax free childcare scheme in each constituent part of the UK since its inception.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Statistics relating to Tax-Free Childcare account usage are published quarterly in “Tax-Free Childcare Statistics” on the gov.uk website. The latest publication, containing information up to September 2019 is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-free-childcare-quarterly-statistics
Table 5 of the publication shows the number of families, by Government Office Region, that have a Tax-Free Childcare account. The table below shows the number of accounts that are open, regardless of whether or not they have been used.
Region | Year | |
2017-18 | 2018-19 | |
Families with Open Tax-Free Childcare accounts |
|
|
United Kingdom | 272,320 | 449,355 |
England | 263,255 | 426,130 |
North East | 11,355 | 18,200 |
North West | 37,310 | 59,495 |
Yorkshire and Humber | 25,395 | 40,750 |
East Midlands | 23,580 | 38,215 |
West Midlands | 26,615 | 43,220 |
East of England | 30,045 | 50,140 |
London | 33,800 | 54,550 |
South East | 45,535 | 74,660 |
South West | 29,625 | 46,900 |
Wales | 2,285 | 6,745 |
Scotland | 3,400 | 9,700 |
Northern Ireland | 1,340 | 3,240 |
In September 2019 15% of families with an open Tax-Free Childcare account had at least one self-employed parent.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of people registered for the tax-free childcare scheme are self-employed.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Statistics relating to Tax-Free Childcare account usage are published quarterly in “Tax-Free Childcare Statistics” on the gov.uk website. The latest publication, containing information up to September 2019 is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-free-childcare-quarterly-statistics
Table 5 of the publication shows the number of families, by Government Office Region, that have a Tax-Free Childcare account. The table below shows the number of accounts that are open, regardless of whether or not they have been used.
Region | Year | |
2017-18 | 2018-19 | |
Families with Open Tax-Free Childcare accounts |
|
|
United Kingdom | 272,320 | 449,355 |
England | 263,255 | 426,130 |
North East | 11,355 | 18,200 |
North West | 37,310 | 59,495 |
Yorkshire and Humber | 25,395 | 40,750 |
East Midlands | 23,580 | 38,215 |
West Midlands | 26,615 | 43,220 |
East of England | 30,045 | 50,140 |
London | 33,800 | 54,550 |
South East | 45,535 | 74,660 |
South West | 29,625 | 46,900 |
Wales | 2,285 | 6,745 |
Scotland | 3,400 | 9,700 |
Northern Ireland | 1,340 | 3,240 |
In September 2019 15% of families with an open Tax-Free Childcare account had at least one self-employed parent.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the Government has allocated under the tax-free childcare scheme in Northern Ireland since its creation.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Tax-Free Childcare is accessible UK-wide. It provides the same level of support to parents - 20% of childcare costs up to a cap of £2000 per child per year - regardless of the region in which they live. Therefore, the spending in Northern Ireland is not pre-allocated and will depend on the uptake of the service in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Air Passenger Duty on route development at airports in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government established a technical working group to explore the operational and legal challenges to changing APD in Northern Ireland.
Members include representatives from industry, experts, and civil servants from both the UK government and Northern Ireland.
Additionally, HM Treasury is currently reviewing Air Passenger Duty to ensure regional connectivity is strengthened while meeting the UK’s commitment to meet net zero emissions by 2050.