Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has designated additional financial support in this financial year for the mitigation of the potential impact of heatwaves on the economy.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is working to develop a third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), due for publication later this year, that addresses all 61 risks and opportunities identified in last year’s UK Climate Change Risk Assessment. Building on the policies and actions outlined in the Second National Adaptation Programme, NAP3 will update on the Government’s plans to address risks arising from changing climatic conditions and extreme weather events, including higher temperatures and heatwaves.
Using the policies and processes already in place to manage challenges posed by adverse weather events, Departments across Government worked to respond to last year’s heatwave, including as part of the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) Heatwave Plan for England.
The UKHSA has since published in April 2023 its first edition of the new Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) to help prepare for, plan, and respond effectively to adverse weather events, and protect the population from the health effects of extreme heat. The UKHSA has also implemented a heat-health alert system, which went live earlier this month.
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 impose additional taxes on the profits of water companies.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
From April 2023, the Corporate Tax (CT) rate increased from 19% to 25% for the most profitable companies with more than £50,000 of profits per annum. This ensures a greater contribution from the most profitable companies.
The Government keeps the UK tax system under constant review to ensure fairness for all taxpayers.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of recent alcohol duty changes on the competitiveness of the UK spirits industry.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the assessment of impacts from changes to the duty rates made at the Spring Budget 2023.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending small producer relief beyond 8.5 per cent for small English distilleries and vineyards; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government discussed the design of the new Small Producer Relief with industry as part of the consultation process.
Having considered the thresholds carefully, and the need to balance the needs of businesses with public health objectives, the Government felt it was right to extend the relief only to products below 8.5% alcohol by volume, to mirror existing schemes.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that bank savings accounts offer interest rates of at least the same level of the Bank of England base rate.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The pricing of financial products, including savings accounts, is a commercial decision for firms and the Government does not seek to intervene in such decisions. The Bank of England’s independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets the base rate of interest, which is known as the Bank Rate, to achieve its primary objective of maintaining price stability. MPC decisions over Bank Rate guide commercial banks’ decisions over the retail interest rates they charge on loans and pay on deposits.
More broadly, the Government is committed to ensuring people are supported to save, and that they can access a wide range of competitive savings products. The retail savings market currently offers a range of competitive options to savers, who can now access the highest rates in recent years on a variety of instant access and fixed-term products.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of tariffs placed on the UK’s trade with European countries on the UK's inflation rate.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since mid-2021, UK inflation has been pushed higher by global pressures, such as supply chain disruptions from Covid-19 and Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
These pressures have in turn made it challenging to disaggregate the impact of EU Exit on the UK economy and households from these global pressures. In our view, there is not yet sufficient evidence to decisively conclude the wider impacts of EU Exit, including on inflation.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of proposals to abolish the lifetime allowance cap per worker who is incentivised not to retire early.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Information on the abolition of the lifetime allowance can be found in the Pension Tax Limits Policy paper Pension Tax Limits - 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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Spring Budget 2023 on employment rates.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Spring Budget 2023 takes significant action to tackle inactivity, by removing barriers that prevent people from working, and supporting them into the labour force.
The OBR has provided analysis of the Spring Budget’s labour supply package, which can be found in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook section of their website: https://obr.uk/economic-and-fiscal-outlooks/
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in the UK economy.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
At Spring Budget, the Chancellor set out how the government will re-invigorate a culture of enterprise with support for business investment and innovation, including in the pharmaceutical industry. Companies across the life sciences sector will benefit from fiscal policies included in the Budget, such as full expensing of capital expenditure, research and development (R&D) tax relief reform and tax simplification. Government is also focusing on smarter regulation to support innovation, and with £10m extra funding over the next 2 years, the MHRA will maximise its use of Brexit freedoms and accelerate patient access to treatments developed by the sector.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps in the Spring Budget 2023 to support small gin distilleries.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On 19 December, I announced that the Government would extend the freeze to UK alcohol duty rates for six months to 1 August 2023. If any changes to duty are announced then, they will not take effect until 1 August 2023. This will align with the introduction of the alcohol duty reforms and ensure gin distilleries will face just one single industry wide change in the summer. Gin distilleries also benefit from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and will continue to receive discount on their energy bills until 31 March 2024 under the new Energy Bills Discount Scheme.