Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether revenue raised through Vehicle Excise Duty will be used to fund additional infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government has no plans to hypothecate revenue from VED. VED ensures motorists contribute towards general taxation. The existing arrangement of funding for charging infrastructure - through general taxation and borrowing - allows funding priorities to be more closely aligned with need, rather than depending on where revenue is raised.
Since 2020, the government has committed £2.5 billion to support the transition to electric vehicles, with £1.6 billion of this to accelerate the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure. Further, the government will be providing industry with certainty on the scale of its ambition through the introduction of a Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate from 2024 onwards. The government will also continue to incentivise lower emissions vehicles through the continuation of favourable Company Car Tax rates for electric vehicles, and capital allowances for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the wage of NHS workers by 9.7 per cent.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The government hugely values and appreciates NHS staff and we have committed to give NHS workers a pay rise in 2023/24, asking the independent pay review bodies for recommendations on pay for staff in scope.
This year, over one million staff under the Agenda for Change contract, including nurses, have benefited from a pay rise of at least £1,400 backdated to April 2022. This is on top of the 3% pay rise they received last year, despite a wider public sector pay pause. The average basic pay for nurses has increased from around £35,600 as of March 2022 to around £37,000 and the basic pay for newly qualified nurses has increased by 5.5%, from £25,655 last year to £27,055. This follows the acceptance of last year’s recommendations in full which saw the lowest earners in the NHS receive a 9.3% pay rise.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will launch a review of the current macroeconomic and monetary policy frameworks.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor confirmed new fiscal rules which will ensure the public finances are on a stable footing in the years to come. These are:
- to have public sector net debt (excluding the Bank of England) as a percentage of GDP falling by the fifth year of the rolling forecast period
- to ensure public sector net borrowing does not exceed 3 percent of GDP by the fifth year of the rolling forecast period
The Office for Budget Responsibility confirm we are on track to get debt falling by 2027-28 and meet all our fiscal rules.
He also issued his annual remit and recommendations letters to the Bank of England’s independent Financial Policy Committee and Monetary Policy Committee.
The Chancellor reconfirmed his commitment to monetary policy independence and reaffirmed the remit of the MPC. The Chancellor also stated that this government will not change the definition of price stability from 2% CPI year on year.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of public funds that commercial banks will receive as a result of expected interest rate increases in the next 12 months; and what assessment he has made of the impact of that on his policies.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Bank transmits Bank Rate to the economy in part through the remuneration and supply of central bank reserves. Much of these reserves have funded asset purchases made by the Asset Purchase Facility (APF), which is a Bank of England facility, principally used as the vehicle for Quantitative Easing, which is a monetary policy tool used by the independent Monetary Policy Committee.
The reserves created to implement this tool pay Bank Rate to institutions holding these reserves, particularly commercial banks. HM Treasury agreed to indemnify the Asset Purchase Facility against any profits or losses when it was set up in 2009.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential revenue from removal of the Investment Allowance in the Energy Profits Levy.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Energy Profits Levy was introduced from 26 May in response to sharp increases in oil and gas prices. It is an additional 25% surcharge on UK oil and gas profits. This is on top of the existing 40% headline rate of tax and takes the combined rate of tax on profits to 65%, currently more than triple the rate paid by other businesses.
The Net Zero Strategy highlighted the North Sea basin has a key role to play in contributing to the transition towards net zero, and the Government has been clear that it wants to see the oil and gas sector reinvest its profits to support the economy, jobs, and the UK’s energy security.
That is why the levy includes a new 80% investment allowance to support capital expenditure on oil and gas related activities purposes. It means the total tax relief on investment nearly doubles - for every £1 businesses invest they will overall get a 91p tax saving.
The Government has calculated that it expects the levy to raise over £7 billion in 2022/23, and around £28 billion over the period to 2025/26. This is inclusive of the impact of investment expenditure relief.
All taxes are kept under review and any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of revising the Investment Allowance included in the Energy Profits Levy in order to incentivise investment in renewable energy and disincentivise oil and gas extraction.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Energy Profits Levy was introduced from 26 May in response to sharp increases in oil and gas prices. It is an additional 25% surcharge on UK oil and gas profits. This is on top of the existing 40% headline rate of tax and takes the combined rate of tax on profits to 65%, currently more than triple the rate paid by other businesses.
The Net Zero Strategy highlighted the North Sea basin has a key role to play in contributing to the transition towards net zero, and the Government has been clear that it wants to see the oil and gas sector reinvest its profits to support the economy, jobs, and the UK’s energy security.
That is why the levy includes a new 80% investment allowance to support capital expenditure on oil and gas related activities purposes. It means the total tax relief on investment nearly doubles - for every £1 businesses invest they will overall get a 91p tax saving.
The Government has calculated that it expects the levy to raise over £7 billion in 2022/23, and around £28 billion over the period to 2025/26. This is inclusive of the impact of investment expenditure relief.
All taxes are kept under review and any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of the Energy Profits Levy Investment Allowance on (a) the UK’s carbon emissions and ability to achieve its net zero target and (b) the UK’s ability to deliver its commitments towards international climate change targets.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Energy Profits Levy was introduced from 26 May in response to sharp increases in oil and gas prices. It is an additional 25% surcharge on UK oil and gas profits.
The Net Zero Strategy was clear that the North Sea basin has a key role to play in contributing to the transition towards net zero, and the Government has been clear that it wants to see the oil and gas sector reinvest its profits to support the economy, jobs, and the UK’s energy security
That is why the levy includes a new 80% investment allowance to support capital expenditure on oil and gas related activities purposes. It means the total tax relief on investment nearly doubles - for every £1 businesses invest they will overall get a 91p tax saving.
The Government has calculated that it expects the levy to raise over £7 billion in 2022/23, and around £28 billion over the period to 2025/26. This is inclusive of the impact of investment expenditure relief.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy about the potential merits of introducing tax reforms with the aim of both reducing the carbon consumption of the wealthiest and raising revenue for climate action.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
There are several taxes that have been designed to incentivise greener choices by individuals. For example, at Spring Statement 2022 the Government announced the expansion of the VAT relief on the installation of energy saving materials (ESMs) to residential accommodation in Great Britain. The expansion of the relief, which includes the zero-rating of solar panel, insulation and heat pump installations, represents an additional £280 million of support for investment in ESMs.
This Government also uses carbon pricing to reduce carbon emissions and to help raise revenue to support government priorities including continued climate action.
The UK has two main carbon pricing policies - the Carbon Price Support and the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The CPS rate has contributed to a significant shift in the economics of, and investment incentives for, renewable energy sources compared to coal for domestic power generation. The ETS works on the 'cap and trade' principle by setting a cap on the total amount of certain greenhouse gases that can be emitted by covered sectors.
Since March 2021, Government has committed a total of £30 billion of domestic investment for the Green Industrial Revolution.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment has he made of the potential amount of revenue that could be raised by aligning Capital Gains Tax rates with Income Tax.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In 2020, the then Chancellor commissioned the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to carry out a review of Capital Gains Tax (CGT). The OTS provided a costing on aligning CGT rates with those of Income Tax. However, this was a static costing, and so did not account for behavioural effects which would significantly reduce the yield.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the recommendations of the the UK Wealth Tax Commission's report published on 9 December 2020.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has no plans to introduce new taxes on wealth. The Government keeps all tax policy under review.