Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the use of different economic forecasts by (a) the Bank of England and (b) the OBR on (i) monetary and (ii) fiscal decisions.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England, so the government rightly does not comment on the conduct of monetary policy. The MPC publishes its forecasts on a quarterly basis to inform its monetary policy decisions.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the UK government’s independent official forecaster and publishes economic and fiscal forecasts at least twice per year alongside fiscal events. The OBR provides independence, transparency and credibility via its assessment of the economic and fiscal position and as the official forecaster it is right that it is the basis for government fiscal policy decisions.
The MPC and the OBR have different responsibilities, so it is right that they produce their own forecasts. The MPC’s forecasts reflect policy announced by the government and fiscal assumptions from the OBR and HM Treasury.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of reinstating tax-free shopping for international visitors on the high street economy.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government published its next steps on tax-free shopping in the Spring Budget 2024 which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024/spring-budget-2024-html.
The OBR published a review of the original 2020 costing of the withdrawal of tax-free shopping in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 6 March, with a follow up supplementary document published on 11 March, which is available here: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/VAT-RES-costing-review.pdf
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a regional system for issuing of Tier 2 Skilled Worker visas.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has a single immigration system which works for the whole of the UK. Adding different rules for different locations would introduce further complexity into the system and create frictions where workers move from one location to another.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic impact on the tourism industry of delays in the processing of Tier 2 visa licences.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are currently no delays in the processing of sponsor licence applications.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the impact of ending tax-free shopping for international visitors on levels of spending by international visitors since 2020.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government published its next steps, in relation to tax-free shopping in the Spring Budget 2024 which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024/spring-budget-2024-html.