Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which service providers are contracted to carry out third party cleaning contracts for his (a) Department and (b) its executive agencies; if he will list all of the services delivered by third party contractors to his (i) Department and (ii) its executive agencies; and how many people working for those third party contractors are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Building and facilities services for HM Treasury at 1 Horse Guards Road are provided by Exchequer Partnerships through a PFI agreement. Exchequer Partnerships sub-contract the cleaning service to OCS. All OCS contracted cleaning staff are paid in line with National Living Wage requirements. Cleaning services provided by OCS include:
Office space/operational space/recreational space
Toilets/Showers
Window cleaning
Cleaning services at the UK Debt Management Office in Eastcheap Court are provided by Envirotec Integrated Services Ltd (EIS). All their contracted cleaning staff are paid in line with National Living Wage requirements. Cleaning services provided by EIS include:
Office space/operational space/recreational space
Toilets/shower room
Internal window cleaning
Buildings and facilities services, including cleaning, at both the National Infrastructure Commission and the UK Government Internal Audit Agency are covered under the terms of their lease agreements. Neither agency is party to the sub contracts that their landlords have in place for the provision of these services.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a tax on the gambling industry to provide funding for people that have been made destitute as a result of gambling addiction.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Gambling Commission is consulting on its new national strategy to reduce gambling harm, this includes a review of the financial contributions made by the industry. The license conditions of gambling companies require them to make a financial contribution to organisations that tackle gambling harm.
As announced at Autumn Budget, Remote Gaming Duty will be increased to 21% from 1 April 2019.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of staff in his Department including those employed in executive agencies and non-ministerial Departments declared a disability in 2017-18.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Disability data for HM Treasury, Government Internal Audit, DMO, OBR, and NIC are published in the ONS Annual Civil Service Employment Survey. Numbers between 1 and 5 employees are shown as “-“.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has plans to included the debts owed to (a) HMRC, and (b) other government bodies in the Breathing Space scheme.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government published a consultation on a single policy proposal for the breathing space scheme in October 2018. The consultation proposed that as wide a range of an individual’s personal debts as possible would be included in the scheme, including certain tax and benefit debts.
The consultation closes on 29 January and the Government intends to confirm its approach to these aspects of the scheme in its response.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the blind person's allowance, what the criteria for for people register with (a) central government and (b) local authorities as severely sight-impaired.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Blind Persons Allowance (BPA) for the 2018/19 tax year is £2,390 for all eligible individuals.
The eligibility criteria for BPA varies across the UK. In England and Wales the individual must be registered by a local authority as severely sight-impaired. For those in Scotland or Northern Ireland the individual must be unable to do any work for which eyesight is essential.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to increase levels of research and development expenditure in UK manufacturing industries.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
According to the latest business statistics published by the ONS, the UK manufacturing sector invested £7.6 billion in research and development in 2016, accounting for around a third of privately funded R&D in the UK that year. In 2017, the sector invested £28 billion overall – a 46% increase against the level in 2010.
It is important that UK manufacturing continues to pioneer new and innovative advanced manufacturing technologies. In August, the Chancellor of the Exchequer invested £536 million in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which, together with the £107 million announced by the Prime Minister at the July Regional Cabinet, means this Government has invested £643 million in supporting British manufacturers to conduct R&D and maintain their position at the cutting-edge of technology.
This is possible because Government has invested an additional £7 billion in research and innovation since Autumn 2016 – delivering the biggest increase in public research and development investment for 40 years and demonstrating clear progress towards the Government’s ambition to raise investment in R&D in the economy to 2.4% of GDP by 2027
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the level of (a) research and development expenditure, and (b) overall investment in UK manufacturing industries in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
According to the latest business statistics published by the ONS, the UK manufacturing sector invested £7.6 billion in research and development in 2016, accounting for around a third of privately funded R&D in the UK that year. In 2017, the sector invested £28 billion overall – a 46% increase against the level in 2010.
It is important that UK manufacturing continues to pioneer new and innovative advanced manufacturing technologies. In August, the Chancellor of the Exchequer invested £536 million in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which, together with the £107 million announced by the Prime Minister at the July Regional Cabinet, means this Government has invested £643 million in supporting British manufacturers to conduct R&D and maintain their position at the cutting-edge of technology.
This is possible because Government has invested an additional £7 billion in research and innovation since Autumn 2016 – delivering the biggest increase in public research and development investment for 40 years and demonstrating clear progress towards the Government’s ambition to raise investment in R&D in the economy to 2.4% of GDP by 2027
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to bank accounts by community benefit societies; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Treasury has not made an assessment of community benefit societies’ access to banking. However, the RBS alternative remedies package will see a £775m investment in business banking facilities, helping businesses benefit from greater choice and offers on banks’ services. Community benefit societies may also find it helpful to know that the UK Finance website hosts an online guide to help small businesses prepare when opening or switching to a new business current account. This can be found here: https://business-account-opening-guide.ukfinance.org.uk
The government recognises the important role of community benefit societies and other forms of social enterprise, which tackle some of the most challenging problems our society faces. In January 2018 DCMS announced £135m allocated to social investment, which social enterprises will benefit from. The Civil Society Strategy, published in August 2018, sets out a long term vision to build stronger communities by bringing business, charities and the public sector together.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what resources HMRC has allocated to the inspection of the non-payment of travel time for care workers for the purposes of calculating the (a) national living wage and (b) national minimum wage in each of the last five years for which data are available.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100 or via the online complaints form at gov.uk.
HMRC uses its resources to tackle all NMW risks identified in the course of responding to all complaints and undertaking targeted enforcement activity in high risk sectors. The HMRC NMW enforcement budget for 2018/19 is £26.3 million, up from £20m in 2016/17.
When investigating an employer’s compliance HMRC considers all NMW risks that might be present, including when travel time can be working time for NMW purposes.
If NMW arrears are identified HMRC will always take action to ensure workers receive what they are legally entitled to.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are in receipt of child benefit and for how many children.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
As at 31st August 2017, the total number of families in receipt of Child Benefit in the United Kingdom was 7,376,965 and the total number of children for whom Child Benefit is received was 12,847,100. These figures are on page 4 of the HM Revenue and Customs Child Benefit Statistics: Geographical Analysis August 2017 publication, which can be found by following the link below: [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/691948/Child_Benefit_Commentary_August_2017.pdf]