Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the revenue impact in 2022-23 of introducing zero-rate contributions on secondary class 1 contributions for employees at freeport tax sites.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The National Insurance contribution relief will be important in supporting the Government’s objectives for the Freeports programme, which includes regeneration through job creation. The Government has considered the costs of the tax reliefs that will be granted across each of the eight English Freeport locations. However, as a result of these tax reliefs applying only in tax sites agreed and confirmed by Government, estimates of their cost will be dependent on the final locations once agreed.
Bidders were required to submit initial proposals for their tax sites as part of their bids. The Government will outline the process for confirming tax sites in due course and expects to score the costs of tax reliefs, including zero-rate contributions, at the next fiscal event. These costings will undergo the usual scrutiny from the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of employees that will benefit in 2022-23 from the introduction zero-rate contributions on secondary class 1 contributions for employees at freeport tax sites.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The National Insurance contribution relief will be key in supporting the Government’s objectives for the Freeports programme, which includes regeneration through job creation. The Freeports tax sites have not yet been confirmed and so the Government is currently unable to give an accurate estimate of the number of employees that benefit in 2022-23 as this will depend on how many employers use the relief and will vary depending on a number of circumstances, including the location of the Freeport tax site.
The Government will publish an updated Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN), when further information is available following confirmation of the tax sites.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimates his Department has made of the revenue impact of expanding the scope of dormant assets scheme in the Dormant Assets Bill.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HM Treasury and the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport have worked extensively with industry stakeholders to estimate the potential impact of expanding the Dormant Assets Scheme. According to industry estimates, this expansion could result in a further £1.7bn of dormant assets being transferred into the Scheme. After a portion is reserved for any future reclaims, the Government estimates £880m will be available for distribution to initiatives across the UK. The Government’s consultation response, “Government response to the consultation on expanding the Dormant Assets Scheme” has further detail on the impact of Scheme expansion.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2019 to Question 284253 on Revenue and Customs: Equal Pay, when his Department plans to complete its 2019 Equal Pay Audit.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Publication of HMRC’s next Equal Pay Audit was delayed from its originally scheduled publication date of 2019 while the department was working with trade unions last year to negotiate a set of reforms to its pay and working arrangements. The department took the decision to delay publication as this programme of work and the changes proposed to its pay system were likely to have a significant impact on the report’s results. Following agreement by HMRC union members of a final pay and contract offer put forward at a members’ ballot in January 2021, HMRC are now in the process of implementing these workforce reforms and HMRC expect to publish their next Equal Pay Audit before the end of 2021.
HMRC have continued to meet their statutory obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and in January 2021 also published equality objectives until 2024 that describe HMRC’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-equality-objectives-2020-to-2024. HMRC have embedded pay gap reduction actions into the work already being undertaken to review and improve policies and processes, and HMRC’s analyses show that they reduced their gender pay gap (ordinary and bonus) from 2019 to 2020. HMRC continue to take an evidence-based approach, using quantitative and qualitative insight to inform action taken.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the Average Working Days Lost for civil servants working in the Debt Management directorate of HMRC in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
This directorate report is based on the most recent organisational structure. The average working days lost for civil servants working in Debt Management was as follows:
April 2019 – March 2020 = 8.77 days average
April 2018 – March 2019 = 8.69 days average
April 2017 – March 2018 = 7.58 days average
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the Average Working Days Lost for civil servants working in the Benefits and Credits directorate of HMRC in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
This directorate report is based on the most recent organisational structure. The average working days lost for civil servants working in Benefits and Credits was as follows:
April 2019 – March 2020 = 10.62 days average
April 2018 – March 2019 = 8.15 days average
April 2017 – March 2018 = 8.19 days average
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the Average Working Days Lost for civil servants working in the Personal Tax Operations directorate of HMRC in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
This directorate report is based on the most recent organisational structure. The average working days lost for civil servants working in Personal Tax Operations was as follows:
April 2019 – March 2020 = 8.90 days average
April 2018 – March 2019 = 8.68 days average
April 2017 – March 2018 = 8.13 days average
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the Average Working Days Lost for civil servants working in the Campaigns and Projects directorate of HMRC in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Campaigns and Projects is a sub-directorate within Individuals and Small Business Compliance (ISBC) directorate; HMRC are unable to break down data further than directorate level. This directorate report is based on the most recent organisational structure for ISBC. The average working days lost for civil servants working in ISBC was as follows:
April 2019 – March 2020 = 7.34 days average
April 2018 – March 2019 = 6.53 days average
April 2017 – March 2018 = 7.11 days average
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the Average Working Days Lost for civil servants working in the Customer Service Group of HMRC in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
This report is based on the most recent organisational structure. Customer Service Group (CSG) is a collective of individual directorates.
Customer Service Group |
Benefits & Credits Delivery |
Business Tax & Customs |
CS Director General |
CSG Transformation |
Debt Management |
Finance Planning & Performance |
Operational Excellence & Output Mgmt |
PT Operations |
Surge & ODP |
The average working days lost for civil servants working in CSG was as follows:
April 2019 – March 2020 = 8.90 days average
April 2018 – March 2019 = 8.68 days average
April 2017 – March 2018 = 8.13 days average
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the Average Working Days Lost for civil servants working in the Business Tax and Customs directorate of HMRC in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
This directorate report is based on the most recent organisational structure. The average working days lost for civil servants working in Business Tax and Customs was as follows:
April 2019 – March 2020 = 9.84 days average
April 2018 – March 2019 = 8.30 days average
April 2017 – March 2018 = 8.17 days average