Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of peer-reviewed research on the net effect of free ports and enterprise zone schemes on employment levels.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government will establish new freeports after the UK leaves the EU in order to drive growth, create high-skilled jobs and ensure towns and cities in the UK benefit from Brexit trade opportunities.
The Government is considering a wide range of options to develop an ambitious and attractive policy on UK freeports, providing businesses with incentives that will attract investment and boost growth.
Alongside this, Enterprise Zones continue to drive growth across the country in order to attract new investment into specific places.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to section 2.26 of the print version of the Spending Round 2019 document, whether additional funding will be made available to the (a) Northern Powerhouse and (b) Midlands Engine.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Every place in the UK has a role to play in driving growth and we are committed to levelling up opportunities across towns, cities and communities across the country. As part of this, the recent Spending Round confirmed funding to extend a wide range of programmes into 2020/21, including for the Midlands Engine and the Northern Powerhouse.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2019 to Question 246517 on the European Investment Bank, what recent progress his Department has made on establishing the UK’s future relationship with the European Investment Bank Group after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Prime Minister has been clear that we are committed to leaving the EU on October 31st. Any future relationship with the EIB would be discussed as part of wider negotiations on the UK-EU future relationship.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints relating to the tax-free childcare scheme have been received by HMRC as of 31 May 2019.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
More than half a million parents have successfully opened a childcare account, and the vast majority of parents use the childcare service without issues. Since Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) was fully rolled out in February 2018, the rate of new complaints received by HMRC in relation to the childcare service has decreased substantially, while the number of users of TFC has more than trebled.
However, it is not possible to break down complaints received about the childcare service between TFC and 30 hours free childcare complaints, as many parents receive both TFC and 30 hours free childcare.
I refer the honorable member to my answer on 28 November 2018 (193504) https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-11-20/193504/, which sets out that to 31 October 2018, HMRC received 4,560 complaints from parents who experienced technical issues with the childcare service.
From 1 November 2018 to 31 March 2019, HMRC received 943 new complaints from customers in relation to TFC and 30 hours free childcare (known as Tier 1). This includes complaints due to technical issues and customer service issues.
From 1 November 2018 to 31 March 2019, HMRC received 205 complaints from customers in relation to TFC and 30 hours free childcare where a customer was dissatisfied with our decision on their initial complaint and they have asked us to look at their concerns again (known as Tier 2).
As set out in HMRC’s monthly reports available for the 2018-19 period at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports#reporting-year-2018-to-2019, complaints are not always logged on HMRC’s live system during the month they are received and the numbers can, therefore, be revised upwards for subsequent monthly reports. The current month will be subject to greatest revision. The information to 31 May is therefore not yet available to a robust enough standard.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families have (a) a tax-free childcare account and (b) have made a payment through their tax-free childcare account.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Details of the number of families with a Tax-Free Childcare account are published quarterly by HMRC. The latest publication is available at the following address:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-free-childcare-statistics-march-2019
In March 2019 there were 313,000 families with an open Tax-Free Childcare account.
In March 2019 there were 125,000 families with a used Tax-Free Childcare account.
Table 3 shows the numbers of open and used accounts for families with a self-employed parent. The proportion of families with a used account that have a self-employed parent in March 2019, was 19,000/125,000 or 15%.
In March 2019, there were 900 disabled children in receipt of Tax-Free Childcare.
The information published in these statistics comprises all months since the policy was launched in April 2017 to March 2019. A further update, including the months April to June 2019, will be published in August.
Since Tax-Free Childcare was launched in April 2017 and up to May 2019, 8,500 accounts have been closed.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many parents have opened and subsequently closed a tax-free childcare account since 21 April 2017.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Details of the number of families with a Tax-Free Childcare account are published quarterly by HMRC. The latest publication is available at the following address:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-free-childcare-statistics-march-2019
In March 2019 there were 313,000 families with an open Tax-Free Childcare account.
In March 2019 there were 125,000 families with a used Tax-Free Childcare account.
Table 3 shows the numbers of open and used accounts for families with a self-employed parent. The proportion of families with a used account that have a self-employed parent in March 2019, was 19,000/125,000 or 15%.
In March 2019, there were 900 disabled children in receipt of Tax-Free Childcare.
The information published in these statistics comprises all months since the policy was launched in April 2017 to March 2019. A further update, including the months April to June 2019, will be published in August.
Since Tax-Free Childcare was launched in April 2017 and up to May 2019, 8,500 accounts have been closed.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of tax-free childcare accounts are used by households with one or more self-employed parents as of 31 May 2019.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Details of the number of families with a Tax-Free Childcare account are published quarterly by HMRC. The latest publication is available at the following address:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-free-childcare-statistics-march-2019
In March 2019 there were 313,000 families with an open Tax-Free Childcare account.
In March 2019 there were 125,000 families with a used Tax-Free Childcare account.
Table 3 shows the numbers of open and used accounts for families with a self-employed parent. The proportion of families with a used account that have a self-employed parent in March 2019, was 19,000/125,000 or 15%.
In March 2019, there were 900 disabled children in receipt of Tax-Free Childcare.
The information published in these statistics comprises all months since the policy was launched in April 2017 to March 2019. A further update, including the months April to June 2019, will be published in August.
Since Tax-Free Childcare was launched in April 2017 and up to May 2019, 8,500 accounts have been closed.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many children with disabilities were in receipt of tax-free childcare as of 31 May 2019.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Details of the number of families with a Tax-Free Childcare account are published quarterly by HMRC. The latest publication is available at the following address:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-free-childcare-statistics-march-2019
In March 2019 there were 313,000 families with an open Tax-Free Childcare account.
In March 2019 there were 125,000 families with a used Tax-Free Childcare account.
Table 3 shows the numbers of open and used accounts for families with a self-employed parent. The proportion of families with a used account that have a self-employed parent in March 2019, was 19,000/125,000 or 15%.
In March 2019, there were 900 disabled children in receipt of Tax-Free Childcare.
The information published in these statistics comprises all months since the policy was launched in April 2017 to March 2019. A further update, including the months April to June 2019, will be published in August.
Since Tax-Free Childcare was launched in April 2017 and up to May 2019, 8,500 accounts have been closed.