Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people opted out of auto-enrolment workplace pension schemes in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The data requested for the number of people who opted out of automatic enrolment workplace pension schemes in each of the last ten years is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
The department makes regular publications of the data that is held, including the Workplace Pension Participation and Savings Trends, which is available on GOV.UK. This publication includes aggregated data from large private pension providers in which the proportion of new member enrolments to have opted-out of workplace pension saving stood at 11.79% in July 2023. Over the period from January 2020 to July 2023, these opt-out rates have fluctuated between a low of 7.03% and a high of 12.23%. From the same aggregated private pension provider data, the proportion of pension scheme members making an active decision to cease saving was 0.50% in July 2023.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he recused himself from pre-Budget discussions on reducing the higher rate of Capital Gains Tax.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The OBR have confirmed that residential property transactions will be around 60,000 higher over the 5-year forecast, owing to the cut to the higher rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on residential property gains from 28 per cent to 24 per cent.
The published costings note which covers underlying assumptions and methodologies, can be found here:
Further information on the methodology also can be found here:
https://obr.uk/letters-to-john-mcdonnell-mp-and-sir-geoffrey-clifton-brown-mp/
As set out in the Ministerial Code, there is an established process in place for the declaration and management of private interests held by ministers. This process ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any potential or perceived conflicts of interest. These interests were properly declared in line with ministerial code. The Chancellor has also said: “I’ve decided that when it comes to properties I own, it would be wrong for me to benefit from a direct decision like that. So I will pay tax on the previous rate.”
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish his Department's modelling of the impact of a reduction in the higher rate of Capital Gains Tax on the number of property transactions.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The OBR have confirmed that residential property transactions will be around 60,000 higher over the 5-year forecast, owing to the cut to the higher rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on residential property gains from 28 per cent to 24 per cent.
The published costings note which covers underlying assumptions and methodologies, can be found here:
Further information on the methodology also can be found here:
https://obr.uk/letters-to-john-mcdonnell-mp-and-sir-geoffrey-clifton-brown-mp/
As set out in the Ministerial Code, there is an established process in place for the declaration and management of private interests held by ministers. This process ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any potential or perceived conflicts of interest. These interests were properly declared in line with ministerial code. The Chancellor has also said: “I’ve decided that when it comes to properties I own, it would be wrong for me to benefit from a direct decision like that. So I will pay tax on the previous rate.”
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an (a) estimate of the potential costs and (b) assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for HMRC's compliance functions.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government regularly reviews the levels of funding provided to HMRC.
The government is committed to tackling tax avoidance, evasion and all other forms of non-compliance. The UK’s tax gap is at an all time low at 4.8 per cent of theoretical tax liabilities in 2021-22, down from 7.5 per-cent in 2005-06. It is amongst the lowest worldwide.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact on (a) economic growth and (b) inequality of introducing a higher earners minimum tax rate of 35% for people earning over £100,000 a year.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to a fair tax system in which those with the most contribute the most. The income tax system is highly progressive, with different rates of tax sitting above an internationally high Personal Allowance.
The Government keeps tax policy under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an (a) estimate of the potential costs and (b) assessment of the potential merits of (i) reducing and (ii) removing (a) Business Relief, (B) Agricultural Property Relief and (C) other inheritance tax reliefs.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes the cost of structural and non-structural tax reliefs. The information is available at www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-relief-statistics.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will place sanctions on Israeli (a) ministers and (b) members of parliament who participated in the conference entitled Settlement Brings Security on 28 January 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We were alarmed by the conference in Jerusalem calling for the resettlement of Gaza, and the fact that Israeli ministers participated. The UK's position is clear: Gaza is occupied Palestinian territory and will be part of the future Palestinian state. Settlements are illegal. No Palestinian should be threatened with forcible displacement or relocation.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to lift the freeze on personal tax allowance.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to keeping taxes low to support people to keep more of what they earn. However, the Government must also ensure the UK’s economic stability and provide confidence in the commitment to fiscal discipline. The Chancellor has made clear that the UK’s public finances must be on a sustainable path into the medium term.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any tanks other than Challenger 2 are in storage.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I can confirm that Challenger 2 is the only tank currently held in storage.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, Defence how many Aardvark AMCS Mk4 mine flail vehicles (a) are in storage, (b) are in use and (c) were donated to Ukraine between February 2022 and June 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Aardvark AMCS Mk4 is not in service with the British Armed Forces. There are none in storage nor have any been Granted in Kind to Ukraine by the UK.