A Bill to make provision for loans or other financial assistance to be provided to, or for the benefit of, the government of Ukraine.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax free childcare accounts were set up within the seven working day timeframe communicated to parents during the application process in each of the last six months.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The quarterly and monthly Tax-Free Childcare accounts data, available on the GOV.UK, could serve as a useful reference:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-free-childcare-statistics-december-2023
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-free-childcare-quarterly-statistics
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many major infrastructure projects in the Government Major Projects Portfolio have (a) received final approval since April 2021 and (b) had their summary business cases published.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The government publishes a range of information on all major projects on the Government Major Projects Portfolio online as part of the IPA’s annual report. This includes project narratives, whole-life costs and monetised benefits where available. Further information on major projects and published business cases for relevant projects and programmes can be found on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to update the Analysis of the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline 2021, published in August 2021.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The IPA's National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline is a key publication outlining planned and projected investment in UK major infrastructure and construction over the next 10 years. The 2023 Pipeline will be published in due course.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the level of VAT applied to children’s (a) swimming lessons and (b) other sports.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to the majority of goods and services. While there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations; one exception being certain supplies of education, which are generally exempt from VAT when certain conditions are met.
VAT is the UK’s third largest tax forecast to raise £161 billion in 2022/23, helping to fund key spending priorities such as important public services, including the NHS, education and defence. Nevertheless, the Government keeps all taxes under review.