Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy not to charge VAT on defibrillators.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government currently provides various VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of defibrillators and other first aid equipment. For example, when an AED is purchased with funds provided by a charity or by voluntary contributions, and then donated to an eligible body (such as an NHS body or a charitable care institution), this purchase can then be zero rated, meaning no VAT is charged. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT.
Beyond this, the Government has agreed to provide funding of £1 million to design a grant scheme that expands public access to AEDs. The Government continues to encourage communities and organisations across England to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of their first-aid equipment, specifically in densely populated areas. In addition, last year the Government committed to supplying state-funded schools in England with defibrillators to make sure there is a device in every school, with deliveries completed in June 2023. This means that every state-funded school in England, over 21,500 schools, now has access to an AED.
The Department of Health and Social Care are examining whether there are ways to further expand public access to defibrillators.
The Government keeps all taxes under constant review.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to require banks to offer interest rates on saving accounts at least at the level of the Bank of England interest rate.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Chancellor has made clear his expectation that savers benefit from rising interest rates. On 28 June, the Chancellor secured agreement with the regulators to act urgently in areas where consumers need most support. This included agreeing with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that it would report on the savings market. As part of this review, the FCA published a 14-point action plan setting out expectations of firms and actions it will take to ensure savers are not missing out on Bank Rate rises.
The FCA has committed to review the timing of savings rates changes after any changes in the Bank of England’s Base Rate, and to publish analysis of firms’ easy access savings rates, listing best to worst, every six months. In addition, the FCA’s new Consumer Duty requires firms to explain the pace and extent of their pass through of interest rates, and how they are proactively supporting savers to switch to high interest rate products.
Under the Consumer Duty, firms are required to ensure that the savings products they offer delivery fair value to customers and the FCA will act if it finds this is not the case. The FCA will publish an update on this, including any steps it plans to take, later in autumn 2023.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to issue penalties to banks that offer savings accounts with interest rate levels below the Bank of England Bank Rate.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Chancellor has made clear his expectation that savers benefit from rising interest rates. On 28 June, the Chancellor secured agreement with the regulators to act urgently in areas where consumers need most support. This included agreeing with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that it would report on the savings market. As part of this review, the FCA published a 14-point action plan setting out expectations of firms and actions it will take to ensure savers are not missing out on Bank Rate rises.
The FCA has committed to review the timing of savings rates changes after any changes in the Bank of England’s Base Rate, and to publish analysis of firms’ easy access savings rates, listing best to worst, every six months. In addition, the FCA’s new Consumer Duty requires firms to explain the pace and extent of their pass through of interest rates, and how they are proactively supporting savers to switch to high interest rate products.
Under the Consumer Duty, firms are required to ensure that the savings products they offer delivery fair value to customers and the FCA will act if it finds this is not the case. The FCA will publish an update on this, including any steps it plans to take, later in autumn 2023.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to alter his policies on inheritance tax; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to tackle excess profits in the energy sector.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government introduced the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) to respond the exceptional profits being made by the oil and gas sector driven by global circumstances. The EPL is a temporary 35 per cent surcharge on the exceptional profits being made by the sector and comes on top of the default 40 per cent headline tax rate applied to profits from UK oil and gas production, bringing the overall combined tax rate to 75 per cent. The EPL will end in 2028 if the Energy Security Investment Mechanism (ESIM) is not triggered.
Additionally, the Government introduced the Electricity Generator Levy (EGL), a temporary 45% tax on extraordinary returns made by some UK electricity generators from 1 January 2023. The levy will end in 2028. EGL is applied to extraordinary returns defined as selling electricity for a period at an average price of more than £75/MWh, which is approximately 1.5 times the average price of electricity over the last decade and well beyond pre-crisis expectations.
At its most recent forecast, the OBR forecasted that together, the EPL and EGL would raise approximately £40 billion while in force. This significant source of tax revenue has helped fund vital cost of living support.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK’s financial sanctions regime.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government undertakes extensive assessment of the effectiveness of the sanction regimes, which are eroding Russia’s financial base.
The UK has sanctioned 28 Russian banks covering over 80% of Russia’s banking sector, frozen £18bn of Russian assets and implemented unprecedented trade sanctions, including sanctioning over £20 billion of UK-Russia goods trade compared to 2021.
We have worked in close coordination with international partners to deliver an unprecedented package of sanctions. Sanctions imposed by the G7+ on Russian oil – including the Oil Price Cap - have constrained Russian revenues from their most lucrative export. Oil export revenues for May are down 36% year on year.
Over 60% of Putin’s ‘war chest’ foreign reserves have been immobilised. Russia suffered an annual deficit of $47bn in 2022, the second highest of the post-Soviet era. Additionally in 2023 Russia exceeded its forecast 2% federal budget deficit by April.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce a windfall tax on banks to account for excess profits in the banking sector generated by the interest rate rise on 22 June 2023.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Banks already face an additional rate of tax on their profits in the form of the Bank Corporation Tax Surcharge – meaning they pay 3% more on their profit than most other businesses. This is in addition to a charge on the largest banks’ balance sheets in the form of the Bank Levy.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to (a) allow Parliament to set interest rates and (b) reverse recent increases in interest rates.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England and this includes decisions on Bank Rate. The Government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.
The Government has made it a priority to halve inflation this year. Any plans to undermine the independence and role of the Bank of England, or embark on unfunded borrowing sprees to the tune of £28bn would only serve to harm the economy and increase inflation.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the Government’s economic policies during the covid-19 pandemic on the economy.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the UK economy. Between 2019 Q4 and 2020 Q2, according to the Office for National Statistics the economy contracted by 23% - the steepest recession on record.
The success of the UK’s vaccination campaign led to a strong recovery in GDP, with annual growth of 7.5% in 2021 and 4.1% in 2022. In both these years, GDP growth in the UK was the fastest in the G7.
The Government acted quickly to prevent catastrophic increases in unemployment during the pandemic. The Government provided up to £400 billion of direct support for the economy which helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK.
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Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of The Growth Plan 2022, published on 23 September 2022, on mortgage rates.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The pricing of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene.
However, we recognise this will be a concerning time for mortgage holders, particularly those who are due to come to the end of their existing deal in the immediate future. The Prime Minister has been clear, the best and most important way that we can keep costs and interest rates down for people is to halve inflation, and then return it to the 2% target.
On Friday 23 June the Chancellor met with mortgage lenders, UK Finance and the FCA to discuss a new package of support for those who encounter problems keeping up with their mortgage payments. These commitments include an agreement permitting customers to switch to an interest only mortgage, or extend their mortgage term, for 6 months, after which they can switch back without a new affordability check or it affecting their credit score. Lenders also agreed borrowers won’t have their home repossessed within 12 months from their first missed payment without their consent or unless in exceptional circumstances.