Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the number of small businesses that will begin to operate over the VAT threshold as a result of complying with the new minimum wage.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Department has not made an assessment of the interaction between VAT thresholds and the minimum wage.
Businesses are only required to register for VAT when the total value of their taxable supplies of goods and services in the preceding 12 months exceeds the current VAT registration threshold, which was increased to £82,000 with effect from 1 April 2015.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations have been made to his Department on the effect of the increase in the minimum wage on small businesses.
Answered by Nick Boles
This Department has regular and frequent discussions with businesses of all sizes and across all sectors on a wide range of issues including the National Minimum Wage (NMW). In addition, the Low Pay Commission (LPC) will continue to play a key role in recommending the NMW and National Living Wage (NLW) rates going forward. In their report to Government the LPC consults widely and considers and reflects the views and representations from a wide range of businesses and sectors of the economy.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations have been made to his Department on the effect of the increase in minimum wage on small businesses.
Answered by Nick Boles
This Department has regular and frequent discussions with businesses of all sizes and across all sectors on a wide range of issues including the National Minimum Wage (NMW). In addition, the Low Pay Commission (LPC) will continue to play a key role in recommending the NMW and National Living Wage (NLW) rates going forward. In their report to Government the LPC consults widely and considers and reflects the views and representations from a wide range of businesses and sectors of the economy.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Financial Conduct Authority made an estimate of the potential liability of (a) Lloyds and (b) RBS under the interest rate hedging products redress scheme during the development of that scheme.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Whether the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made an estimate of the potential liability of any banks is a matter for the FCA. However, it is reasonable to assume that for any conduct issue that arises, the FCA would seek to understand the potential financial impact.
Several meetings took place between Treasury Ministers and the FCA in January 2012 (then the Financial Services Authority), although I understand that FCA’s interest rate hedging products redress scheme was not on the agenda for any of these meetings.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Ministers in his Department met representatives of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss the FCA interest rate hedging products redress scheme in January 2013.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Whether the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made an estimate of the potential liability of any banks is a matter for the FCA. However, it is reasonable to assume that for any conduct issue that arises, the FCA would seek to understand the potential financial impact.
Several meetings took place between Treasury Ministers and the FCA in January 2012 (then the Financial Services Authority), although I understand that FCA’s interest rate hedging products redress scheme was not on the agenda for any of these meetings.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the increase in the minimum wage on small businesses operating under the VAT threshold.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Department has not made an assessment of the interaction between VAT thresholds and the minimum wage.
Businesses are only required to register for VAT when the total value of their taxable supplies of goods and services in the preceding 12 months exceeds the current VAT registration threshold, which was increased to £82,000 with effect from 1 April 2015.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of increasing the VAT threshold so that small businesses complying with the new national minimum wage can continue to operate below the VAT threshold.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government has chosen to maintain the highest VAT registration threshold in the EU (set at £82,000 from 1 April 2015). The Government may not increase this threshold further, aside from maintaining its value in line with inflation, without the consent of the European Commission and the unanimous agreement of all EU Member States.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart on the human rights situation in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) most recently raised concerns about the Iranian human rights situation during his visit to Tehran on 23-24 August. The Foreign Secretary raised human rights issues during his meetings with President Rouhani, Foreign Minister Zarif and Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Larijani.Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions (a) she, (b) other Ministers in her Department and (c) officials in her Department have had with the Surveillance Camera Commissioner about compliance to Principle 1 of the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice 2013 by local authorities in England and Wales.
Answered by Mike Penning
My officials are in regular discussions with the Surveillance Camera Commissioner and his team, and those discussions cover a range of issues in relation to the regulation of overt CCTV and other surveillance camera systems in public places. We are aware that he has recently written to all local authorities reminding them of their obligations under the code and requested that they complete and publish the self-assessment tool, that covers all the principles.
The Commissioner will be presenting his Annual Report to the Home Secretary in the near future, and I anticipate that this will include commentary on the surveillance camera use by local authorities and other relevant authorities under S33(5) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. That report is intended to provide the Government, Parliament and the public an opportunity to reflect on the regulation of surveillance.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what provision his Department has made in the sales prospectus for RBS shares for the cost of litigation (a) that has commenced and (b) that complainants have given notice of their plans to commence in respect of interest rate swap mis-selling.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
As detailed by the Chancellor in his speech to the Mansion House, the Government has decided to begin a sale of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
The Government’s shareholding in RBS is managed at arm’s length from HM Treasury by UK Financial Investments (UKFI). UKFI will be responsible for the design and execution of any future sale.
Provision for the potential impact of regulatory fines or penalties is regularly published by RBS as part of the bank’s accounts process. This information is available to any prospective investor.