Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the three month limit on backdated payments for child benefit.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Where no one has claimed Child Benefit, the government allows claims to be backdated three months. Three months backdating is already more generous than most other social security benefits. A more generous backdating would make it harder to verify evidence and establish entitlement since entitlement to Child Benefit relies upon being responsible for a child each week. For this reason, the government believes that the three-month backdating period for Child Benefit is a fair and reasonable time in which to allow those wishing to claim Child Benefit to do so.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to provide ringfenced funding to (a) local authorities and (b) integrated care systems for suicide prevention services at the Autumn Statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Government is committed to mental health support and suicide prevention. In September, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published the new Suicide prevention strategy for England and launched the Suicide Prevention Grant Fund which makes available £10 million from 2023 to 2025 to support suicide prevention. It is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) to plan services to meet the needs of their communities, including deciding how much funding they provide for mental health services.
It would not be appropriate to comment on the content of the 2023 Autumn Statement at this time.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of HMRC's communication policy on late filing penalties issued to self-employed people on incomes lower than the Personal Allowance; and whether HMRC is taking steps to reduce the number of such fines.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC issues SA tax returns to customers when the information they hold suggests that the customer meets the published criteria for completing one. HMRC often cannot determine someone’s tax liability until they have sent in a tax return, therefore they need the return to establish whether there is tax due or not.
Even where a customer has no income, or does not owe tax they may still need to file a return e.g. to pay voluntary Class 2 National Insurance or to support claims for Maternity allowance or Tax Free Childcare.
HMRC charges late final penalties to encourage customers to file on time but they can cancel a customer’s late filing penalty if they have a reasonable excuse. Customers can also ask HMRC to remove them from the SA process for future years if they no longer meet the criteria.
HMRC is currently reforming late payment and late filing penalties. Their aim is to encourage those who persistently default to comply with their tax obligations rather than penalise those who make occasional errors.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to end the issuing of late filing penalties to self-employed people with incomes below the personal allowance.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC issues SA tax returns to customers when the information they hold suggests that the customer meets the published criteria for completing one. HMRC often cannot determine someone’s tax liability until they have sent in a tax return, therefore they need the return to establish whether there is tax due or not.
HMRC charges late final penalties to encourage customers to file on time but they can cancel a customer’s late filing penalty if they have a reasonable excuse. Customers can also ask HMRC to remove them from the SA process for future years if they no longer meet the criteria.
HMRC is currently reforming late payment and late filing penalties. Their aim is to encourage those who persistently default to comply with their tax obligations rather than penalise those who make occasional errors.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of issuing late filing penalties on self-employed people with incomes below the personal allowance, in the context of increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC issues SA tax returns to customers when the information they hold suggests that the customer meets the published criteria for completing one. HMRC often cannot determine someone’s tax liability until they have sent in a tax return, therefore they need the return to establish whether there is tax due or not.
HMRC charges late final penalties to encourage customers to file on time but they can cancel a customer’s late filing penalty if they have a reasonable excuse. Customers can also ask HMRC to remove them from the SA process for future years if they no longer meet the criteria.
HMRC is currently reforming late payment and late filing penalties. Their aim is to encourage those who persistently default to comply with their tax obligations rather than penalise those who make occasional errors.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with the Minister of State for Education on the potential merits of exempting (a) colleges and (b) other further education organisations from VAT.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Many colleges and further education organisations qualify as eligible bodies so already benefit from a VAT exemption as their supplies of education are free from VAT. Whilst there are no plans to make changes to the VAT treatment of FE colleges, the Government does keep the tax system under constant review.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) families with children who receive life-saving treatment at home for chronic diseases and disabilities an (b) representatives of families with children who receive life-saving treatment at home for chronic diseases and disabilities on the impact of the rising cost of energy.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and I meet regularly to discuss a range of topics including the rises in energy bills and the cost of living. The Government also meets with disability focus groups and charities to understand the impacts the changes in the cost of living are having on disadvantaged people, which includes those who use life-saving treatment at home. The Government recognises that the rising cost of living has presented additional financial challenges to many people, and especially to the most vulnerable members of society, such as disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. That is why the Government has taken decisive action to support households while ensuring we act in a fiscally responsible way. This includes the announcement at Autumn Statement of a further Disability Cost of Living payment of £150 in 2023/24 to people in receipt of extra-costs disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA), in addition to the £150 payment from the Cost of Living package in May last year. These payments can be received in addition to the other Cost of Living Payments for households on means-tested benefits, namely the £650 payment announced in May and the additional £900 payment announced at Autumn Statement.
For those not eligible for this support, or who may need additional help, the government is making another £1bn available (including Barnett funding for the devolved administrations) from 01 April 2023 to enable a further twelve-month extension to the Household Support Fund in England. The fund will continue to enable Local Authorities to support the most vulnerable households with the cost of food, energy and other essentials.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of the impact of rises in domestic energy prices on people who receive treatment at home for chronic diseases and disabilities.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and I meet regularly to discuss a range of topics including the rises in energy bills and the cost of living. The Government also meets with disability focus groups and charities to understand the impacts the changes in the cost of living are having on disadvantaged people, which includes those who use life-saving treatment at home. The Government recognises that the rising cost of living has presented additional financial challenges to many people, and especially to the most vulnerable members of society, such as disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. That is why the Government has taken decisive action to support households while ensuring we act in a fiscally responsible way. This includes the announcement at Autumn Statement of a further Disability Cost of Living payment of £150 in 2023/24 to people in receipt of extra-costs disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA), in addition to the £150 payment from the Cost of Living package in May last year. These payments can be received in addition to the other Cost of Living Payments for households on means-tested benefits, namely the £650 payment announced in May and the additional £900 payment announced at Autumn Statement.
For those not eligible for this support, or who may need additional help, the government is making another £1bn available (including Barnett funding for the devolved administrations) from 01 April 2023 to enable a further twelve-month extension to the Household Support Fund in England. The fund will continue to enable Local Authorities to support the most vulnerable households with the cost of food, energy and other essentials.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the rate of reimbursement for public sector workers who have to drive personal vehicles to work, in the context of rising costs of running a car.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are used by employers to reimburse an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle.
AMAPs are intended to create administrative simplicity and certainty by using an average rate, which reflects vehicle running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Fuel is therefore only one component.
The AMAP rate is advisory and employers can choose to pay more or less than the advisory rate. It is therefore ultimately up to employers, including public sector organisations, to determine the rate at which they reimburse their employees. Employees who receive less than the AMAP rate can claim tax relief on the difference. Employees who receive more will be taxed on the difference.
Like all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rate under review.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to update mileage rates for public sector workers in line with real costs.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are used by employers to reimburse an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle.
AMAPs are intended to create administrative simplicity and certainty by using an average rate, which reflects vehicle running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Fuel is therefore only one component.
The AMAP rate is advisory and employers can choose to pay more or less than the advisory rate. It is therefore ultimately up to employers, including public sector organisations, to determine the rate at which they reimburse their employees. Employees who receive less than the AMAP rate can claim tax relief on the difference. Employees who receive more will be taxed on the difference.
Like all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rate under review.