Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many pensioners will become eligible to pay income tax as a result of the increase in the state pension.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve. The Personal Allowance is currently set at a level high enough to ensure that those pensioners whose sole income is the full rate of the new State Pension or basic State Pension do not pay any income tax.
As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the Personal Allowance under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to expand the pilot No Interest Loan Scheme to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government funded No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) is being run by Fair4AllFinance, in conjunction with their partners. The pilot is designed to test the impact that NILS could have on addressing the needs of vulnerable consumers across the UK.
Fair4AllFinance have now rolled out the pilot in England, Scotland and Wales. Fair4AllFinance will continue to engage closely with stakeholders, including the Northern Ireland Executive, in an effort to deliver our shared ambition to launch a pilot site in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department received in Emissions Trading Scheme fees from (a) Belfast International, (b) Belfast City and (c) Londonderry airport in the financial year 2022/23.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Belfast International, Belfast City and Londonderry airports are not covered by the UK Emissions Trading Scheme and therefore do not contribute to Emission Trading Scheme revenue.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to publish a report on the impact of Consumer Duty on consumer contact with financial services firms in the 12 months since it's establishment.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has no plans to publish a report on the impact of the Consumer Duty.
The Consumer Duty was introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government and is directly accountable to Parliament for how it carries out its functions. The FCA has committed to monitoring the outcomes experienced by different consumer groups, including those in vulnerable circumstances, to check they are not being disadvantaged as a result of the Duty. It also publishes information about the implementation of the Consumer Duty by firms, including examples of good practice and areas for improvement, on its website: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/consumer-duty
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 introduced a new requirement on the financial services regulators to keep their rules under review, and to publish a statement of policy for how they conduct rule reviews. The FCA’s rule review framework can be found at: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/corporate-documents/our-rule-review-framework.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress the Financial Sanctions Implementation Office has made on establishing the foundation to manage and distribute monies from the proceeds of the sale of Chelsea FC.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC are currently frozen in a UK bank account while independent experts establish a foundation to manage and distribute the money. A licence from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation will then be needed to move the funds to the foundation. We are working hard to reach an arrangement that delivers this money to humanitarian causes in Ukraine as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterparts on access to pensions held by the Mandatory Provident Fund in Hong Kong for people with British National (Overseas) status.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are aware that individuals who have chosen to take up the British Nationals (Overseas) Visa (BN(O)) route are having difficulties in accessing their pensions held in the Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Funds (MPF).
We continue to urge the Hong Kong authorities to facilitate early drawdown of funds as is the case for other Hong Kong residents who move overseas permanently. The Minister for Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, raised this issue with the Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury on 18 April 2023 and pressed for a pragmatic solution. The Investment Minister, Lord Johnson, raised the matter with Hong Kong's Commercial Secretary, during his visit to Hong Kong in May 2023.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the preparedness of (a) self-employed people and (b) landlords with an income over £50,000 to begin using Making Tax Digital for income tax self-assessment from April 2026.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC published research in 2022 indicating that two thirds of those with income above £10,000 felt capable of changing to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD for ITSA). Those with income over £50,000 are already more likely to be using digital tools than smaller businesses; many will already be using MTD for VAT.
HMRC has an established programme of social research, focused on understanding the characteristics and support needs of its customers. This will inform an ongoing communications campaign, raising awareness of MTD for ITSA and supporting HMRC’s customers to prepare.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of people who have bought buy-now pay-later interest-free products in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury regularly monitors the consumer credit market as part of its normal process of policy development.
The department does not hold precise information on the number of consumers who used Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL) products in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023. Instead, HM Treasury draws on the research of various stakeholders to inform policy development. The Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Lives surveys include findings on the number of people using BNPL and can be accessed here: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/research-notes/deferred-payment-credit-findings-financial-lives-survey.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people paid the higher rate of income tax in each year since 2018.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
This data is available in HMRC’s published Income Tax Liabilities statistics for the estimated number of taxpayers per tax band. This includes outturn estimates from 2018-2019 up to 2020-2021 as well as projected estimates from 2021-22 to 2023-24. This information is contained in Table 2.1, Number of individual Income tax payers, tab ‘2_1_IT_payers_by_demographic’, column F, published 29th June 2023:
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his latest estimate is of when the pilot No Interest Loan Scheme run by Fair4AllFinance will be launched in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government funded No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) is being run by Fair4AllFinance, in conjunction with their partners. The pilot is designed to test the impact that NILS could have on addressing the needs of vulnerable consumers across the UK.
Fair4All Finance have now rolled out the pilot in England, Scotland and Wales. The lack of an Executive in Northern Ireland has impacted the ability of Fair4All Finance to access lending capital to extend the pilot to Northern Ireland. Fair4All Finance will continue to engage closely with stakeholders in an effort to deliver our shared ambition to launch a pilot site in Northern Ireland.