Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2022 to Question 87732 on Duty Free Allowances, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of evidence from Norway and Switzerland of the impact of the introduction of arrivals duty stores in those countries; and if he will commission a cost benefit analysis of such a policy being applied in the UK.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As mentioned in the answer to Question 87732, duty-free on arrival, which would apply to inbound passengers, could undermine the UK high street and run counter to public health objectives. Any new tax relief will also impose additional pressure on the public finances, to which excise duty makes a significant contribution. Any loss in tax revenue would have to be balanced by a reduction in public spending, increased borrowing or increased taxation elsewhere.
Although there are no plans to introduce such a scheme, the government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what safeguards his Department has implemented to ensure that companies who act as tax agents have the full and informed consent of the taxpayers on whose behalf they accept rebates; how many payments his Department has made in the last three months to Ensign Advisory Ltd; and whether companies acting as tax agents are authorised to deduct a fee from a rebate they receive before passing it on to the taxpayer on whose behalf they act.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Individuals can claim tax repayments from HMRC and HMRC will refund them directly. However, HMRC will issue a tax repayment to a third party when a taxpayer has either nominated or assigned the repayment to them.
Companies which specialize in claiming tax refunds often use assignments as part of the sign-up process, which means the repayment then legally belongs to that agent. When a taxpayer signs an assignment, HMRC is obliged to make payment directly to the repayment agent. Repayment agents may deduct a fee from the repayment before they forward the repayment to their client. This will be set out in their terms and conditions.
When a customer has used a repayment agent and has an assignment in place, HMRC completes essential checks to satisfy that the assignment is valid. HMRC takes firm action against any agent who does not comply with the law.
HMRC launched the “Raising standards in tax advice: protecting customers claiming tax repayments” consultation on 22 June 2022. The consultation sought views on restricting the use of assignments for tax repayments, and introducing measures designed to ensure taxpayers see material information about a repayment agent’s service before entering into a contractual agreement.
The consultation ran for 12 weeks and closed on 14 September 2022. We will publish a summary of responses in due course.
The Autumn Statement announced changes to Research & Development relief from 1 April 2023, reducing the risk of abuse. The new requirement for claimants to provide additional information with their claim includes providing details of any agent involved with the claim.
HMRC does not comment on identifiable businesses due to strict confidentiality rules.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the creation of arrivals duty free stores at airports and ferry terminals across the UK to serve inbound passengers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Following a consultation, the Government announced on 11 September 2020 that duty-free sales on departure would be extended to EU-bound passengers for the first time in over 20 years from 1 January 2021. This is a significant boost to all airports and international rail terminals in England, Scotland and Wales, including Bournemouth, and smaller regional airports and rail hubs, which have not been able to offer duty-free to the EU before.
The Government would need to consider the cost of introducing a duty-free on arrival scheme. Any new tax relief will impose additional pressure on the public finances, to which excise duty makes a significant contribution. Any loss in tax revenue would have to be balanced by a reduction in public spending, increased borrowing or increased taxation elsewhere.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the level of income-tax exemption for foster carers was last revised in respect of care allowances; and if he will make a new adjustment to take account of the rising level of foster care allowances.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Qualifying Care Relief (QCR) is a tax relief available to support foster carers, in addition to some other carers. QCR was first introduced as Foster Care Relief in 2003-04. This allowance is £10,000 per household per year, plus £250 per week per adult or child aged 11 or over (£200 for a child under 11).
It is important to consider that the QCR operates in addition to other reliefs and allowances. Foster carers are also entitled to the Personal Allowance, which may be available to cover any foster care income above the QCR allowance. The Government has increased the Personal Allowance (PA) by over 40 per cent in real terms since 2010, ensuring some of the lowest earners do not pay income tax. The PA is the highest basic personal tax allowance of all countries in the G20, and it remains one of the most generous internationally.
The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March to Question 146546 on Health and Social Care Levy, if he will take steps to ensure that the NHS also reports regularly to Parliament on steps taken to meet the efficiency target.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government is committed to ensuring that Parliament is able to scrutinise public spending effectively.
The NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care report regularly to Parliament, including through the Health and Social Care Committee and the Public Accounts Committee. The Government’s Mandate and Financial Directions to NHS England are presented to Parliament ahead of the start of each Financial Year, and the Government’s subsequent assessment of how the NHS performed against the objectives set by the Government is also presented to Parliament. The NHS also publishes its board papers online, which include their in-year assessment of their financial position.
The delivery of the increased efficiency target is a key priority, and as such the Government is committed to ensuring that information on its delivery is made available through existing Parliamentary reporting processes.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his oral contribution of 23 March 2022, Official Report, column 340, where he stated plans to reform healthcare will ensure every pound of taxpayers money is well spent, what steps he plans to take to (a) monitor and (b) assess the value for money of Government expenditure related to plans to reform healthcare.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Chancellor has launched a new Cabinet Committee on Efficiency and Value for Money, which will clamp down on wasteful spending and ensure a relentless focus on delivering the highest quality services at the best value.
To support this goal, and ensure every penny is spent wisely, the NHS have agreed to double their annual efficiency target from 1.1% to 2.2% a year, freeing up £4.75bn to fund NHS priority areas over the next three years. The NHS will report regularly to Government on action it is taking to meet this commitment. The Government has also launched a review of leadership in health and social care led by Sir Gordon Messenger which will report to the Secretary of State in early 2022.
The Treasury will support departments – like DHSC - in delivering their commitments and will hold the NHS and DHSC to account for meeting the new efficiency target, including via the new Cabinet Committee on Efficiency and Value for Money and usual spending control processes.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to allow the backdating of eligibility for access to covid-19 business support based on rateable value in cases where the Valuation Office Agency has backdated a reduction in rateable value to before the pandemic in response to an appeal made before the covid-19 outbreak but only determined in November2021; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
To ensure payments could be made quickly and efficiently to businesses, eligibility for COVID-19 business grants was linked to the business rates system and a property’s rateable value.
The £51,000 threshold for the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLG), which both closed in August 2020, was based on the existing small business rates multiplier. This served as an established definition that local authorities could use to quickly make payments to businesses that were less likely to have sufficient cash reserves to meet their fixed costs. However, as the pathway of the virus evolved, the economic impact on businesses changed and the Government responded by adapting the scope and qualifying criteria for various support schemes. In the case of grants, business premises with a rateable value of over £51,000, and in the most impacted sectors, were eligible for the grant schemes introduced from August 2020. From August 2020 to July 2021, businesses have been able to benefit from the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG), a pro-rata grant payment of up to £3,000 a month. This is in addition to the Closed Business Lockdown Payment, a one-off payment of up to £9,000, and a Restart Grant of up to £18,000.
The guidance for local authorities for the grant schemes stipulated that any changes to the rating list after the date in which a grant scheme started, including changes which have been backdated to this date, should be ignored for the purposes of eligibility. Local authorities were not required to adjust, pay or recover grants where the rating list was subsequently amended retrospectively. This means that businesses whose rateable value was over the threshold of £51,000 but has since been reduced will not be eligible for the SBGF or the RHLGF, nor will they have to repay the more generous grants they subsequently received between August 2020 and July 2021.
The rateable value of any non-domestic property is intended to represent the annual rent a property would achieve if let on the open market at a valuation date which is set in law. All non-domestic properties are assessed on this basis by the Valuation Office Agency in England, independently of central Government.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 revoking the regulations setting a maximum limit on public sector exit payments in (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We do not have an estimate of the costs which may be incurred for future years for exit payments, as they are determined by the number and type of exits which take place in the year.
From 2018/19 data reported in Whole of Government Accounts, the combined total cost of exit payments over £100,000 in 2018/19 was £200million. The Regulations set a maximum limit of £95,000 for in scope exit payments. We expected most exit payments that previously would have been above £100,000 to decrease in line with the cap. Therefore, overall savings would be less than the total cost of exits. Data for 2019/20 is not currently available.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals for limiting public sector exit payments.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is working at pace to deliver a new controls procedure for Special Severance exit payments by June 2021. We remain committed to bringing forward new policy measures to address the wide-ranging arrangements that result in six-figure pay-outs across the public sector.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it the policy of the Government to raise the maximum purchase price of a house outside London which is eligible for purchase by people using the Help to Buy ISA.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Help to Buy: ISA scheme aims to help those struggling to save enough to get onto the housing ladder. The property price cap allows the Government to target support at the first-time buyers who need it the most. The scheme includes a higher property value cap of £450,000 for properties in London compared to £250,000 anywhere else in the UK.
The latest statistics show that since the scheme was launched in 2015 359,250 property completions, including more than 25,000 completions in London, have been supported through the scheme with a mean property value of £174,281 compared to an average first-time buyer house price of £204,964 and a national average house price of £244,513. The Government keeps all aspects of savings policy under review.