Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of potential trends in the level of inward investment due to British companies re-shoring their manufacturing in the next 12 months.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK maintains its strong position on attracting greenfield FDI, leading in Europe and third only to the US and China globally. EY’s 2023 FDI survey reported 65% of respondents planning to invest in the UK in the following 12 months, a record high.
A specific assessment around re-shoring cannot be made. The available data concerning inward investment does not distinguish reshoring from other forms of domestic investment.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to provide financial support to parents for childcare.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At Spring Budget 2023, the government announced the biggest ever investment in childcare in England, meaning eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks per year from when their child is 9 months old, to when they start school.
To support this expansion, the Government will spend over £4.1 billion by 2027-28, has provided over £400 million to substantially uplift the hourly rate paid to providers to deliver the existing childcare entitlements in 24-25, and is allocating £100 million capital funding to support childcare settings to increase their physical space. At Spring Budget 2024, the government also announced a commitment to increasing the national average hourly rate providers are paid to deliver the offers in line with the metric used at Spring Budget 2023 in 2025-26 and 2026-27, representing £500m of additional investment.
Parents who are not eligible for the 30 free childcare hours may still be able to access other offers. Parents can find more details on the support available and check if they are eligible at the following link: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce alternative arrangements for HMRC to answer calls during the self-assessment telephone helpline closure between 8 April and 30 September 2024.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC has halted its planned changes to the Self Assessment, VAT and PAYE telephone helplines between April and September 2024 while it engages with stakeholders about how to ensure all taxpayers’ needs are met as the Department shifts more people to online self-service.
HMRC encourages customers to use its online services and the HMRC App where they can. These offer quicker and easier handling of most transactions and queries.
However, for those who are vulnerable, digitally excluded, or have complex tax affairs, HMRC's helpline and webchat advisers will remain available to provide the necessary support.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much compensation HMRC has paid in each of the last five years as a result of errors made on calculating taxes about which the relevant person has made a complaint.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not hold the information requested. Information on HMRC complaints can be found within the HMRC monthly performance reports at HMRC monthly performance reports - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his expected timetable is for all clients who were mis-sold timeshares between 2014 and 2021 to receive compensation.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
In cases where a consumer took out a regulated financial product to purchase a timeshare, they may be able to make a compensation claim to the loan provider and may have recourse to Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if the product was mis-sold.
The FOS is an independent non-governmental body established to provide consumers and small businesses with a free, independent service that enables the proportionate, prompt and informal resolution of disputes with financial services firms. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it has no investigative powers of its own and cannot intervene in individual cases.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Handbook, which sets out the rules on how the FOS should handle complaints, states that ‘the ombudsman will attempt to resolve complaints at the earliest possible stage’. Ensuring timely outcomes is one of the FOS’s main priorities for 2024-25 and it has set itself the target of resolving 90 per cent of cases within 5 months.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the Financial Ombudsman Service tackle mis-sold timeshare complaints between 2014 and 2021.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
In cases where a consumer took out a regulated financial product to purchase a timeshare, they may be able to make a compensation claim to the loan provider and may have recourse to Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if the product was mis-sold.
The FOS is an independent non-governmental body established to provide consumers and small businesses with a free, independent service that enables the proportionate, prompt and informal resolution of disputes with financial services firms. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it has no investigative powers of its own and cannot intervene in individual cases.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Handbook, which sets out the rules on how the FOS should handle complaints, states that ‘the ombudsman will attempt to resolve complaints at the earliest possible stage’. Ensuring timely outcomes is one of the FOS’s main priorities for 2024-25 and it has set itself the target of resolving 90 per cent of cases within 5 months.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will increase the five year pay envelope for people working in non-ministerial departments to reflect the £1,500 cost of living payment made to those working in ministerial departments.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Civil Service Pay Remit applies to non-ministerial departments. On 2 June 2023 an addendum to the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance for 2023/24 was published. This set out that all organisations subject to the Civil Service Pay Remit – including those in a multi-year pay deal – were permitted but not required to make a fixed, non-consolidated payment of £1,500 to employees in the 2023/24 pay year.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of changes to alcohol duty implemented in August 2023 on tax receipts.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government publishes tax information and impact notes for tax policy changes when the policy is final or near final. The summary of impacts from the changes to alcohol duty at Spring Budget 2023 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-alcohol-duty-rates/alcohol-duty-rate-changes
The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the recent reforms and will evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023. This will allow time to understand the impacts on the alcohol market, and for HMRC to gather useful and accurate data with which to evaluate the effects of the reform.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the consumer price index rate for alcoholic drinks.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Consumer Price Inflation is calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS is the independent producer of official statistics and the recognised national statistical institute of the UK.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Growth Plan 2022, published on 23 September 2022, on levels of inflation in the following 12 months.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing forecasts for the UK economy. The OBR set out its latest forecast in the November Economic and Fiscal outlook.