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 freeze duty on spirits in the Spring Budget 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government is unable to speculate on the content of the Spring Budget, which takes place on 15 March.
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 increasing the excise duty rate on spirits on small gin distillers.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government is unable to speculate on the content of the Spring Budget, which takes place on 15 March.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to review mileage rates.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are used by employers to reimburse an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle.
AMAPs are intended to create administrative simplicity and certainty by using an average rate, which reflects vehicle running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Fuel is therefore only one component. As an average, it will necessarily be more suitable for some drivers than others. This may vary across sector.
The AMAP rate is advisory and employers can choose to pay more or less than the advisory rate. It is therefore ultimately up to employers, including public sector organisations, to determine the rate at which they reimburse their employees. Employees who receive less than the AMAP rate can claim tax relief on the difference. Employees who receive more will be taxed on the difference.
Like all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rate under review.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with insurance providers on taking steps to ensure that they meet the requirements set out in the Financial Conduct Authority policy statement entitled Increasing transparency and engagement at renewal in general insurance markets – feedback on CP15/41 and final rules and guidance, published in August 2016, reference PS16/21.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Treasury ministers frequently meet representatives of insurance providers, where topics of conversation include increasing transparency and engagement around insurance policy renewals. The Government welcomes progress in this area, including the more recent rules in the Financial Conduct Authority’s policy statement 21/5 which require that firms offer a renewal price that is no greater than the equivalent new business price for a new customer, as well as providing customers with a range of options to stop their policy from auto-renewing.
When the Financial Conduct Authority becomes aware of individual firm failings it follows up with those firms appropriately. It does not have evidence to suggest widespread non-compliance with these rules.
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 allow the families of young apprentices to continue to access (a) child benefit, (b) child tax credits and (c) child support allowance for at least the first year of their apprenticeship.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Both Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit are payable for children until 31 August following their 16th birthday without any education or training conditions. Thereafter, payment is conditional upon the young person either:
This means that for young people undertaking a paid apprenticeship, where they are normally paid a wage, neither Child Benefit nor Child Tax Credit are payable in respect of them.
Where a young person moves into a waged apprenticeship, this progression marks the point at which they begin to become independent from their parents or guardians and the Government’s view is that payments for the young person as a dependent should cease from this point.
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 introduce a windfall tax on financial institutions which have made unexpected excess profits in the last 12 months.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The financial services sector already faces certain specific forms of taxation; for example, there are two additional taxes faced by banks. The Bank Corporation Tax Surcharge is an additional charge on banking profit above a set allowance, and the Bank Levy is charged on banks’ balance sheets with equity and liabilities over £20 billion. Since the introduction of the Bank Levy in 2011, these two taxes have raised over £37 billion in additional revenue from the banking sector.
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 his proposals to review financial sector regulation on house (a) prices and (b) supply.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Edinburgh Reforms, launched by the Chancellor on 9 December, take forward the government’s ambition for the UK to be the world’s most innovative and competitive global financial centre. We are committed to an open, sustainable, and technologically advanced financial services sector that is globally competitive and acts in the interests of communities and citizens across all four nations of the UK.
The reforms will help to drive growth and competitiveness in this crucial sector, while retaining our commitment to high international standards. This is the first of a series of sectoral reforms to drive growth during challenging economic times.
HM Treasury does not prepare formal forecasts for house prices, which are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). In addition, the pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene.
In its November 2022 forecast, the OBR expects house prices to fall by 1.2% and 5.7% in 2023 and 2024 respectively. The latest available data shows that UK average house prices increased by 9.5% over the year to September 2022. Further details can be found in the OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in November 2022: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-november-2022/
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 on financial stability of the proposals to amend regulation of the financial sector announced in Edinburgh on 9th December 2022.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Edinburgh Reforms, launched by the Chancellor on 9 December, take forward the government’s ambition for the UK to be the world’s most innovative and competitive global financial centre.
The government’s approach recognises and protects the foundations on which the UK’s success as a financial services hub is built: agility, consistently high regulatory standards, and openness. This approach will continue to ensure that the sector is resilient and able to support economic growth, while ensuring consumers and citizens benefit from high-quality services, appropriate consumer protection, and a sector that embraces the latest technology.
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 use public money to fund any new fossil fuel projects in the UK.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The government is fully committed to green growth and net zero by 2050, including speeding up the deployment of clean and renewable technologies such as nuclear, hydrogen, solar, carbon capture and storage and wind – where the UK is already a world leader in offshore generation. The UK’s omissions have also fallen by over 44% between 1990 and 2019. However, oil and gas are not incompatible with this, as the UK will need these fuels for decades to come to support our energy security through the transition to clean energy.
The government places additional taxes on the extraction of oil and gas, with companies engaged in the production of oil and gas in the UK and on the UK Continental Shelf subject to a combined headline tax rate on their profits of 40%. The Energy Profits Levy was introduced in May as a temporary 25% tax on top of this (the rate will rise to 35% from 1 January 2023). The Energy Profits Levy will end on 31 March 2028.
The government has always sought to balance delivering a fair return for the UK from the use of its resources while providing the right conditions to attract investment in the North Sea that is key to support domestic jobs and the nation’s energy security. That is why companies investing in new or existing projects can claim a deduction against their taxable profits taking into account the cost of their investments. The UK will receive tax revenues from these investments as and when they generate a profit.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2022 to Question 19715, when he will launch the consultation on the Technical Screening Criteria which underpin the UK Taxonomy.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Green Taxonomy Consultation is under review and the Government will be setting out next steps in due course.