Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the use of open banking on levels of financial inclusion.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK has been a world leader in Open Banking since 2018. Open Banking providers offer innovative services using customer data, and can help with improving financial inclusion, such as by allowing customers to gain better oversight of their finances, or by improving access to credit.
The Government is committed to maintaining the UK’s leadership in this area. This is why the government set out in the National Payments Vision, published in November, that Open Banking must transition to a sustainable long-term regulatory framework. The government is committed to delivering this framework and intends to use incoming smart data powers in the Data (Use and Access) Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, to do so.
The Government is working to ensure that individuals have access to the appropriate financial products and services they need. This is why I have committed to publish a Financial Inclusion Strategy later this year, which will examine the barriers consumers face and solutions to address them.
On the 90-day Open Banking consumer consent period - this is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is independent from Government. The FCA will respond to the Honourable Member by letter, and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House of Commons.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department is taking steps to revise the open banking framework.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK has been a world leader in Open Banking since 2018. Open Banking providers offer innovative services using customer data, and can help with improving financial inclusion, such as by allowing customers to gain better oversight of their finances, or by improving access to credit.
The Government is committed to maintaining the UK’s leadership in this area. This is why the government set out in the National Payments Vision, published in November, that Open Banking must transition to a sustainable long-term regulatory framework. The government is committed to delivering this framework and intends to use incoming smart data powers in the Data (Use and Access) Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, to do so.
The Government is working to ensure that individuals have access to the appropriate financial products and services they need. This is why I have committed to publish a Financial Inclusion Strategy later this year, which will examine the barriers consumers face and solutions to address them.
On the 90-day Open Banking consumer consent period - this is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is independent from Government. The FCA will respond to the Honourable Member by letter, and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House of Commons.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will (a) increase the tax-free childcare allowance and (b) allow parents to use that allowance in place of funded hours.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The £2,000 Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) top-up, which can be claimed per year and per child up to age 11 (and £4,000 per disabled child, up to age 16), was set at this level because the Government believes it strikes the right balance between helping parents with their childcare costs and managing the public finances in a responsible way.
From September 2025, childcare entitlements for eligible working parents of children aged from nine months will increase from 15 hours to 30 hours, helping hundreds of thousands of families with the cost of childcare and supporting parents to work. This year alone, we expect to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements – which is an additional £2 billion (over 30% increase) compared to 2024. Please note that parents can claim both TFC and DfE childcare entitlements so long as they are eligible.
The government keeps all aspects of childcare policy under review.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of making private care costs tax deductible.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government keeps all tax reliefs under review. When considering a tax relief for private care costs, a range of factors must be taken into account, including how effective the relief would be at achieving its policy intent, how well-targeted the support would be, whether it adds complexity to the tax system, and overall cost.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of changing the climate change levy exemption for natural gas combined heat and power.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Climate Change Levy (CCL) is a tax on the supply of energy to businesses and the public sector, introduced in 2001 to encourage energy efficiency.
There are a number of CCL exemptions and reliefs, including for energy used by members of the Combined Heat & Power Quality Assurance (CHPQA) programme. Good CHP systems are the most energy efficient means of generating heat and power for many businesses and have more environmental benefits when compared to gas only generation. CHPQA was introduced to promote and reward best practice in CHP generation and members of the programme receive financial benefits, including tax relief on their CCL obligations.
As a tax, CCL policy is for the Chancellor and any representations will be considered as part of the tax policy making process. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero are responsible for the CHPQA programme and will continue to review the objectives of programme in line with the missions and goals of the government.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 4.6 of the consultation entitled Consultation on the VAT Treatment of Private Hire Vehicles, published on 18 April 2024, how her Department defines average passenger; and how often the average passenger would be expected to use a private hire vehicle in a given period to experience the estimated increase in fares.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
There have been a number of court cases in recent years regarding private hire vehicle (PHV) legislation. A consultation seeking views on the potential impact of these court cases on the PHV sector was recently run. Since publishing that consultation, the Court of Appeal has overturned the Uber Britannia Limited v Sefton Borough Council High Court declaration that was handed down in 2023. The Government is currently considering the responses to the consultation, as well as the impact of the recent Court of Appeal judgment and will publish a response in due course.
The expected impact of the original High Court judgments on the average PHV passenger was published in the consultation, and was calculated based on data contained in Table NTS0303 of the National Travel Survey available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts03-modal-comparisons#full-publication-update-history.
It is estimated that around two-thirds of the value of the private hire vehicle market already accounts for VAT as principal. This estimate has been calculated using the estimated size of the sector and data relating to VAT returns and receipts.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 6.2 of the consultation entitled Consultation on the VAT Treatment of Private Hire Vehicles, published on 18 April 2024, what the evidential basis is for stating that two-thirds of the private hire vehicle market by value already accounted for VAT as principal on all their work.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
There have been a number of court cases in recent years regarding private hire vehicle (PHV) legislation. A consultation seeking views on the potential impact of these court cases on the PHV sector was recently run. Since publishing that consultation, the Court of Appeal has overturned the Uber Britannia Limited v Sefton Borough Council High Court declaration that was handed down in 2023. The Government is currently considering the responses to the consultation, as well as the impact of the recent Court of Appeal judgment and will publish a response in due course.
The expected impact of the original High Court judgments on the average PHV passenger was published in the consultation, and was calculated based on data contained in Table NTS0303 of the National Travel Survey available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts03-modal-comparisons#full-publication-update-history.
It is estimated that around two-thirds of the value of the private hire vehicle market already accounts for VAT as principal. This estimate has been calculated using the estimated size of the sector and data relating to VAT returns and receipts.