Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to ensure pension remediation for public sector workers affected by the McCloud judgement.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 provides remedy for discrimination that arose when new public service pensions schemes were introduced between 2014 and 2016. The remedy has two main elements: older “legacy” pension schemes were closed as of 1 April 2022 to equalise future accrual in newer “reformed” schemes; and, from 1 October 2023 all affected members are being given a choice at retirement (or within 18 months of 1 October 2023 for those who have already retired) as to whether to receive legacy or reformed scheme benefits for the remedy period.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support his Department is providing to small and medium-sized enterprises to help with costs in the context of the rate of inflation.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the challenges facing businesses and that is why we have made it a priority to halve inflation this year, on the path back to the target of 2%.
We have taken several steps to support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), including a substantial package of business rates support worth £13.6bn over the next five years; additional tax relief at a higher rate of 14.5% for R&D intensive SMEs; and the Small Profits Rate will mean 70% of businesses will see no increase in Corporation Tax this year.
The supply side policies announced at Spring Budget – such as action on childcare support – will also provide a boost to growth without fuelling inflation and ease the pressures faced by SMEs by delivering the workforce they need to succeed.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Consistent with the answer given to a written question on 17 May 2022, the information requested on recruitment consultant expenditure is not available, as we do not hold detail of expenditure on recruitment costs at this level of granularity for any of the financial years in question.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his department has spent on headhunters in each of the last three years.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
HM Treasury does not hold information on head-hunters separately within its recruitment costs.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse has been of Ministerial severance pay in their Department in each year since 1 January 2016 to 8 November 2022.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Provision of severance payments for Ministers is set out in legislation.
Details of the severance payments made to ministers when leaving office are published in departments’ annual reports and accounts.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government's Growth Plan 2022 on the rate of inflation.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee will limit average household energy bills to £2,500. External forecasts expect this intervention to reduce inflation by around 5 percentage points this winter.
The Government’s Growth Plan will enhance UK competitiveness and lead to greater opportunities. By targeting 2.5% trend growth, the Growth Plan will ensure sustainable improvements in living standards.
The Office for Budget Responsibility is the government’s official forecaster and will publish its next forecast on the economy, including for inflation, on the 31st October.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2022 to Question 30119 on Income Tax: Older People, if he will publish the constituency-level breakdown of HMRC’s Income Tax liabilities statistics containing the number of taxpayers aged 65 and over since 2019.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I refer the hon. Member for Edinburgh West to the answer that was given on the 7 July 2022 to the Question UIN 30119.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a constituency-level breakdown of HMRC’s Income Tax liabilities statistics: tax year 2019 to 2020 to tax year 2022 to 2023, containing the number of taxpayers aged 65 and over since 2019.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC’s Personal income by tax year statistics contains constituency-level breakdown of taxpayer numbers for 2019-20, the latest available outturn can be found in Table 3.15 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1066946/Table_3.15_1920.ods.
Further breakdowns of this information are not readily available and cannot be provided within the time available.
HMRC’s Income Tax liabilities statistics publish a high-level regional breakdown containing the number of taxpayers in each Income Tax bracket and numbers over 65, these can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1086257/Table_2.2.ods.
For projection years, HM Treasury does not publish this information at constituency level.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a constituency-level breakdown of HMRC’s Income Tax liabilities statistics: tax year 2019 to 2020 to tax year 2022 to 2023, containing the number of taxpayers in each income tax bracket since 2019.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC’s Personal income by tax year statistics contains constituency-level breakdown of taxpayer numbers for 2019-20, the latest available outturn can be found in Table 3.15 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1066946/Table_3.15_1920.ods.
Further breakdowns of this information are not readily available and cannot be provided within the time available.
HMRC’s Income Tax liabilities statistics publish a high-level regional breakdown containing the number of taxpayers in each Income Tax bracket and numbers over 65, these can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1086257/Table_2.2.ods.
For projection years, HM Treasury does not publish this information at constituency level.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will adjust the 45p per mile allowance to reflect the sustained increase in petrol prices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government sets the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rates to minimise administrative burdens. AMAPs aim to reflect running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Depreciation is estimated to constitute the most significant proportion of the AMAPs.
Employers are not required to use the AMAPs. Instead, they can agree to reimburse the actual cost incurred, where individuals can provide evidence of the expenditure, without an Income Tax or National Insurance charge arising.
Alternatively, they can choose to pay a different mileage rate that better reflects their employees’ circumstances. However, if the payment exceeds the amount due under AMAPs, and this results in a profit for the individual, they will be liable to pay Income Tax and National Insurance contributions on the difference.
The Government keeps this policy under review.