Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to extend the new draught duty rate to include kegs and casks holding 20 and 30 litres.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At Budget, the Government set out its proposals for draught relief to provide support for pubs and other on-trade venues through the alcohol duty system.
The Government is currently considering all proposals put forward to it through the alcohol duty review consultation, which closed on 30 January, including the feedback received on qualifying criteria for draught relief. The Government will be publishing a response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support the Government is providing to Northern Ireland businesses to help them manage increased (a) fuel prices and (b) costs arising from the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Families and businesses in Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the UK, will benefit from the 12-month cut in fuel duty announced at Spring Statement. The main rates of petrol and diesel will be cut by 5 pence per litre. This is only the second time in 20 years that the main rates of petrol and diesel have been cut, and overall it represents the largest cash-terms cut that has ever been applied to all fuel duty rates at once.
In respect of the UK having left the EU, the UK continues to seize new opportunities as we strike trade deals with the world’s fastest growing markets. This includes the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which will help ensure businesses continue to get the support they need to trade effectively with the EU.
The Government’s current priority is to deal with the issues in the Northern Ireland Protocol and we are committed to continuing intensive talks with the EU to resolve these.
The Government also continues to support businesses in Northern Ireland. This includes £350 million spent on the Trader Support Service (TSS), which is a free service that has been set up to support businesses to adapt to changes required under the Protocol by providing education and facilitating the completion of customs and safety and security declarations.
Additionally, in December 2020, the government announced the £400 million New Deal for Northern Ireland. This financial package is aimed at supporting businesses to operate after the Transition Period, whilst also ensuring that Northern Ireland is ready to seize the trade and investment opportunities ahead.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support the Government is providing to businesses to assist with the costs associated with moving from red diesel to other fuel sources.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Chancellor confirmed at Spring Budget 2021 that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel for most uses from April 2022, other than for defined agricultural purposes and a limited number of other uses. This will help to ensure fairness between the different users of diesel fuels and that the tax system incentivises the development and adoption of greener alternative technologies.
To support the development of alternatives that affected businesses can switch to, the Government is at least doubling the funding provided for energy innovation through the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. From that portfolio, the Government announced the £40 million Red Diesel Replacement Competition, which will provide grant funding for projects that develop and demonstrate lower carbon, lower cost alternatives to red diesel for the construction, and mining and quarrying sectors.
As announced at Spring Budget 2021, from 1 April 2021 until 31 March 2023, companies can also claim 130% first-year capital allowances on qualifying plant and machinery investments.
In recognition of the unique circumstances that are currently pushing up fuel prices to unprecedented levels, the Government announced at the Spring Statement that it is cutting fuel duty on petrol and diesel by 5 pence per litre for a period of 12 months. This is a significant tax cut that will deliver considerable savings to businesses over the next year, including those that use diesel, and is the first time in over a decade that the main rates of petrol and diesel have been cut.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to increase the level of tax free childcare support available in the 2022 spring statement.
Answered by Simon Clarke
TFC is a generous scheme which provides financial support for working parents with their childcare costs. For every £8 that parents pay into their childcare account, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 in top up per year for each child aged up to 11, and up to £4,000 per disabled child until they are 17.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) reducing VAT on road fuels and (b) retaining the freeze on road fuels excise duty in the context of recent price rises.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to the vast majority of goods and services, including fuel.
In recognition of high prices at the pump and the fact that fuel represents a major cost for households and businesses, the Chancellor announced at the Autumn Budget 2021 that fuel duty would remain frozen in 2022-23.
This is the twelfth consecutive year of the fuel duty freeze, providing savings for consumers worth almost £8 billion over the next five years.
All taxes, including fuel duty and VAT, remain under review.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will explore initiatives with mortgage lenders to enable the removal of the requirement for substantial deposits for people and families that are renting.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible. Hence, in April 2021, the Government launched the mortgage guarantee scheme to help to increase the supply of 95% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages, meaning that credit-worthy borrowers only require a 5% deposit. There are now over 300 95% LTV mortgage products on the market, making it easier for those who can afford mortgage repayments, but are unable to save a large deposit to get on the property ladder.
Moreover, the Government believes that a history of paying rent should be recognised in tenants’ credit scores and affordability assessments. In 2017, the Government announced the Rent Recognition Challenge: a £2 million competition challenging the UK’s world-leading tech firms to develop applications that enable tenants to record and share their rental payment data with lenders and credit reference agencies. The three winners of the challenge (CreditLadder, Bud and RentalStep) are now all using technology to verify and record tenants’ rental payments.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the Government has allocated to the (a) Belfast Region City Deal, (b) Derry and Strabane Region City Deal, (c) Mid South West Growth Deal and (d) Causeway Coast and Glens Growth Deal in the 2021 Spending Review.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The UK Government has committed to investing £617 million into four City and Growth Deals spanning Northern Ireland. This includes:
Funding for City and Growth Deals is allocated through the Estimates process.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to extend the reduction in VAT for the hospitality sector beyond April 2022.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July 2020 to support the cash flow and viability of around 150,000 businesses and protect over 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors. As announced at Spring Budget 2021, the Government extended the 5 per cent temporary reduced rate of VAT for the tourism and hospitality sectors until the end of September 2021. On 1 October 2021, a new reduced rate of 12.5 per cent was introduced for these goods and services to help ease affected businesses back to the standard rate. This new rate will end on 31 March 2022.
This relief has cost over £8 billion and, whilst all taxes are kept under review, there are no plans to extend the 12.5 per cent reduced rate of VAT. The Government has been clear that this relief is a temporary measure designed to support the sectors that have been severely affected by COVID-19. It is appropriate that as restrictions are lifted and demand for goods and services in these sectors increases the temporary tax reliefs are first reduced, and then removed, in order to rebuild and strengthen the public finances.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of temporarily cutting VAT on energy to assist vulnerable households with rising energy costs.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. While there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.
However, in recognition of the fact that families should not have to bear all of the VAT costs they incur to meet their needs, domestic energy such as gas and electricity, as well as heating fuels and oils, is subject to a reduced rate of VAT of 5 per cent.
Although the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are currently no plans to change the VAT treatment of domestic energy.